# Bit parts when they were not so famous **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521 "2004-10-27T19:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/21 "2004-10-27T21:08:56Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Actually, is TV okay for this question? Because Quentin Tarantino played a cop on an episode of _Golden Girls_. That cracked me up. I thought he was just a video store clerk back then. > > Also, if you watch old episodes of _Hill Street Blues_ you’ll spot just dozens of people - Ally Sheedy, Tim Robbins, that woman from _Fargo_ who’s married to that director. Taentino also turned up on **Golden Girls** playing one of a group of Elvis impersonators. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/22 "2004-10-27T21:13:22Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > the sadistic dentist in the original (1960s, non-musical) LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS… Masochistic patient. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/23 "2004-10-27T21:19:23Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Harrison Ford as an uncredited bellboy in _Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round_. I think he had one line. > > [http://imdb.com/title/tt0060287/](http://imdb.com/title/tt0060287/) One of my favorite show biz anecdotes comes from Harrison Ford (it could be in relation to this role, but I can’t remember). Harrison Ford is sitting in the office of the head of one of the studios, telling Ford that he (Ford) will never amount to anything because he’s not believable, and doesn’t embody “movie star” type. The studio head tells Ford that Tony Curtis’ first screen appearance was playing a grocery delivery boy (I think it’s Curtis, anyway). The studio head says something to the extent of, “when you look at him (Curtis), you just see ‘movie star’.” Ford looks at him and says, “I thought you were supposed to see ‘grocery delivery boy’.” ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/24 "2004-10-27T21:19:34Z")
I remember hearing that Treat Williams was a Storm Trooper in Return of the Jedi. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/25 "2004-10-27T21:21:16Z")
Dana Carvey as a mime waiter in _This Is Spinal Tap_. For the longest time I didn’t know it was him. “Mime is money!” (Which is not his line, but whatever.) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/26 "2004-10-27T21:24:19Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > And of course Jack Nicholson as the insipid hero of Roger Corman’s THE RAVEN, and as the sadistic dentist in the original (1960s, non-musical) LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS… Jack Nicholson does have a connection to the dentist’s office in the musical remake of _Little Shop of Horrors_, though: The scary-looking dental implements wielded by Steve Martin in that film were also used by the hack plastic surgeon to transform Jack into The Joker in Tim Burton’s _Batman_. How cool is that? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/27 "2004-10-27T21:28:27Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > One of my favorite show biz anecdotes comes from Harrison Ford (it could be in relation to this role, but I can’t remember). > > Harrison Ford is sitting in the office of the head of one of the studios, telling Ford that he (Ford) will never amount to anything because he’s not believable, and doesn’t embody “movie star” type. > > The studio head tells Ford that Tony Curtis’ first screen appearance was playing a grocery delivery boy (I think it’s Curtis, anyway). > > The studio head says something to the extent of, “when you look at him (Curtis), you just see ‘movie star’.” > > Ford looks at him and says, “I thought you were supposed to see ‘grocery delivery boy’.” [From the IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000148/bio): > [@](#): > > (After his first screentest) “The studio guy told me, ‘Kid, you have no future in this business.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said, 'When Tony Curtis first walked onscreen carrying a bag of groceries – a bag of groceries – you took one look at him and said, ‘THAT’S a movie star!’ I said, 'Weren’t you supposed to say, 'That’s a grocery delivery boy?” ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/28 "2004-10-27T21:36:02Z")
Just realized this the other day, in “Mars Attacks” the “redneck brother who joins the army and dies by alien fire when the clip falls out of his gun” was played by none other than Jack Black. -lv ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/29 "2004-10-27T21:37:30Z")
One day back in 1998 a friend and I popped in a tape of the _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ movie. One scene in the middle takes place during a high school basketball game. One of the players on Buffy’s team has been turned into a vampire and uses his fangyness to intimidate an opposing player, played by 19-year-old Ben Affleck. He only has one line, and it sounds like it was looped by someone else. Clint Eastwood plays a lab assistant in _Revenge of the Creature_, the sequel to _The Creature from the Black Lagoon_. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/30 "2004-10-27T21:38:04Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > Also Goldblum in the first _Death Wish_, as one of the rapists. Don’t remember if he had any lines, though Wasn’t the actor who played Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington from “Welcome Back Kotter” one of them too? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/31 "2004-10-27T21:38:57Z")
> [@LordVor](#): > > Just realized this the other day, in “Mars Attacks” the “redneck brother who joins the army and dies by alien fire when the clip falls out of his gun” was played by none other than Jack Black. He turns up in the funniest places. I didn’t realize until recently that he was one of the gay ventriloquism students in _Cradle Will Rock_. Not a bit part, but still a pretty small one. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/32 "2004-10-27T21:49:03Z")
Ooh, I just thought of another one! In _Back to the Furure II_, when Michael J. Fox goes into the “Cafe 80s,” two little kids are playing video games. One of them is our future Frodo, Elijah Wood. You have to look fast, though – he’s only on screen for a few seconds. I think it was his first part. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/33 "2004-10-27T21:55:31Z")
Harrison Ford had a small part in Apocalype Now. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/34 "2004-10-27T22:04:38Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > He turns up in the funniest places. I didn’t realize until recently that he was one of the gay ventriloquism students in _Cradle Will Rock_. Not a bit part, but still a pretty small one. He’s also one of Sean Penn’s brothers in _Dead Man Walking_. John Ratzenberger, aka Cliff Clavin, was in _The Empire Strikes Back_. Oh, and **Nightwatch Trailer** , Dana Carvey’s boss in that scene (the one who says, “Mime is money”) is Billy Crystal. And Fran drescher hosts a party for the band. The Stonehenge prop (the one that the dwarves danced around) was made by Angelica Houston (well, her character did, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/35 "2004-10-27T22:05:27Z")
I just saw this last night: In _Ghost Story_ (1981), Ken Olin, later a star of the TV show _thirtysomething_, played one of the main characters a a young man. This game is fun: go to imdb and search for a favorite actor, then scroll down to their first few credited gigs, and see if you can remember them. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/36 "2004-10-27T22:07:05Z")
In the late 80s, there was a Steve Martin/Jason Robards/Rick Moranis movie called **Parenthood** with a late teenage Keanu Reeves and an early teenage Joaquin Phoenix (I think he was still Leaf Phoenix back then). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/37 "2004-10-27T22:29:26Z")
Robert Duvall as Boo Radley, in _To Kill a Mockingbird_. Leonard Nimoy was in the movie _Them!_, about the giant ants. He’s in one scene I think, playing an Army lieutenant in a communications room. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/38 "2004-10-27T22:32:01Z")
Rob Morrow, who later starred in Northern Exposure was an extra in a Saturday Night Live skit. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/39 "2004-10-27T22:33:08Z")
I was watching **Mahogany** (Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Perkins – it’s phenomenally bad) today – Bruce Vilanch appears as a clothing manufacturer who rejects poor Diana’s designs. I didn’t know he wasnted to be an actor! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/40 "2004-10-27T23:16:16Z")
What I enjoy is when I’ve seen a movie dozens of times, but not since the actor had become famous. I almost always recognize actors from a bit part I’ve seen them in and follow their careers from that point on, so when it happens it’s quite a hoot. (For example, Kevin Spacey will always be Mel Profit, Melissa George will always be the hooker from **Dark City** , Tom Hanks was the kid that the Fonz picked on that taught himself karate, etc). The most recent example of this for me was when I rewatched **Manhunter** a couple weeks ago. Of course I remember the blind woman that unfortunately shows interest in Dollarhyde…but I didn’t remember that it was [Joan Allen](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000260/). :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521.md?page=3)