# Early bit parts by actors famous later. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2002, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434 "2002-08-05T14:09:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/41 "2002-08-06T16:30:14Z")
In an early episode of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_, **Christian Slater** turns up at the door of Captain Picard’s office, says “Sir…” and is promptly told to f\*\*\* off unless he has something important to say. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/42 "2002-08-06T16:49:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Zorro \* > **In an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Christian Slater turns up at the door of Captain Picard’s office, says “Sir…” and is promptly told to f** _ off unless he has something important to say. \*\* That was one of the movies…“Generations” I believe. And Christian Slater was already quite famous, so I’d say this one would be considered a cameo rather than a bit part by an actor who was famous later. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/43 "2002-08-06T16:52:24Z")
**Jack Nicholson** was also in a couple of episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, one of them being the episode called “Aunt Bea the Juror”; he plays the guy accused of theft. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/44 "2002-08-06T17:03:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > **Jeff Goldblum** has an early appearance as an X-ray technician in Ken Russell’s _Altered States_. Don’t blink. Umm…no. That was **John Larroquette** , dude. Francis Ford Coppola’s **The Outsiders** (1983) featured a treasuire trove of soon-to-be major star hunks: Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, and Rob Lowe, long before ANY of them were popular. I was also surprised to see **Ed O’Neill** (aka Al Bundy) in a small role in the 1980 movie **Dogs of War**. By the way, I totally do not get the Jerry Seinfeld/Sharky’s Machine reference… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/45 "2002-08-06T17:23:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > That was one of the movies…“Generations” I believe. And Christian Slater was already quite famous, so I’d say this one would be considered a cameo rather than a bit part by an actor who was famous later. It was a movie, but it was _Undiscovered Country_. And it was Captain Sulu’s quarters, not Picard. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/46 "2002-08-06T17:26:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KGS \* > By the way, I totally do not get the Jerry Seinfeld/Sharky’s Machine reference… Follow the link at the end of my “full points” post. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/47 "2002-08-06T17:33:09Z")
Even better than just a cameo: Dick Clarkwas the killer in the very last of the original _Perry Mason_ episodes. Though, admittedly, he was already famous by then. Erle Stanley Gardner also appeared in that episode. Though, of course, he _too_ was already famous by then. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/48 "2002-08-06T17:39:42Z")
John Larroquette also played a cop in an episode of Three’s Company. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/49 "2002-08-06T18:06:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\* > It was a movie, but it was _Undiscovered Country_. > > And it was Captain Sulu’s quarters, not Picard. \*\* Hey, at least I knew it was one of the movies… \ I’m losing my geek cred, aren’t I. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/50 "2002-08-06T18:15:25Z")
Golly, almost _everyone_ started out as an extra or bit player, or in short subjects: Garbo, Harlow, Dietrich, Gable, Valentino, Swanson, Grable, Garland . . . It’s harder to name stars who started out as stars in their first film: Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Theda Bara and Mae West come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/51 "2002-08-06T18:30:41Z")
Hmm, off the top of my head: K. Hepburn: \* Morning Glory \* (1933)? M. West: _She Done Him Wrong_ (1933) C. Colbert: _It Happened One Night_ (1934) Don’t know Theda Bara, though. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/52 "2002-08-06T18:31:04Z")
Redford also appeared in a Twilight Zone episode playing a policeman who is shot and cared for by an elderly woman who is afraid of Death. Guess who is really Death in disguise? Buck Henry played the desk clerk in The Graduate. The Man Who Has No Name (that I can remember) played the following characters: the young guy who gives Jon Voight head in the movie theater and then throws up in “Midnight Cowboy,” the pilot that paddles to Sweden in “Catch 22,” one of the scientists who translates for Jean Luc Goddard in “Close Encounters,” the slimy Assistant District Attorney who leaks the story to Sally Fields in “Absent Malice,” Mr. Dalrymple (head of Programming at NBC) in “Seinfeld” (he throws up in that episode, too, and later falls for Elaine), and Mr. Weisbaum, the producer with the young male lover in “Gosford Park.” ---
**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:** [August 6, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/53 "2002-08-06T18:33:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > **Nicolas Cage is one of Judge Reinhold’s character’s buddies in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."** And his other buddy was a young Anthony Edwards, of _ER_ fame. (And _Revenge of the Nerds_, _Northern Exposure_, etc). John Laroquette was also one of the racists in the episode of _Twilight Zone: The Movie_ where Vic Morrow goes through time enduring the worst racism events in history. He was in the lynch mob, and says “We got you now - n\_\_\_\_\_!!” Another great source for seeing actors before they were stars: _Hill Street Blues_. Just last night I saw an episode with the Mother from _Six Feet Under_ in a small role. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/54 "2002-08-06T18:41:06Z")
Wrong on all counts, **Dan** , but kudos for trying: Kate Heburn: _A Bill of Divorcement_ (1932) Theda Bara: _A Fool There Was_ (1915) Mae West: _Night After Night_ (1932) Claudette Colbert: _For the Love of Mike_ (1927) ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/55 "2002-08-06T19:09:49Z")
Ah, see. I haven’t seen any of those, but I guess I was thinking more of the movies in which they starred for the first time - was Hepburn the “star” of Bill of Divorcement? IMdB has her listed as the fourth billed (and second female). Same with West, she’s billed fourth. Guess it depends on whether you define “star” as the lead role or as the person’s first “big” role. 🙂 Either way… damn! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/56 "2002-08-06T19:17:25Z")
Well, true, not _the_ star, I’ll give you that . . . But not a bit player or extra. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/57 "2002-08-06T19:19:47Z")
“Buck Henry played the desk clerk in The Graduate.” Yep, he also was one of the writers and in fact wrote the famous line “Plastics” and refused to allow it to be cut out by Nichols. You people have put some great stuff down that I’m definately going to be looking for. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/58 "2002-08-06T19:25:14Z")
How about Gene Wilder in _Bonnie and Clyde_? Also, Estelle Parsons had a part in that - she later went on to play Roseanne and Jackie’s mom in _Roseanne_. Sheri ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/59 "2002-08-06T19:37:33Z")
Someone mentioned John Larroquette - how about him as the narrator in a little horror movie called **The Texas Chainsaw Massacre**? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/60 "2002-08-06T19:38:40Z")
What part was Gene in B & C? I never noticed that, and I’ve seen that movie a gazillion times. How 'bout Sly Stallone, Henry Winkler, and Perry King from **“The Lords of Flatbush”**? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434.md?page=4)