# 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:** 8
**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:** [November 15, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/141 "2002-11-15T22:58:10Z")
His first one was actually a few years earlier, a movie called **Cornbred, Earl, and Me**. That might not have been a theatrical release, though. ---
**Author:** ![TommyWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@TommyWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyWalker)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/142 "2002-11-15T23:41:36Z")
Robert Duvall’s first role was Boo in “To Kill A Mockingbird” ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/143 "2002-11-16T00:03:22Z")
Didn’t Fran Drescher play the part of Robert Wuhl’s girlfriend in “The Hollywood Knights” where she was so hot to trot that Robert actually…“peaks” before getting in the back seat with Fran. Who could blame him? ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/144 "2002-11-16T08:37:34Z")
I’ve got one that most folks don’t believe. In the early 80’s cult hit “Breakin’”, in the beginning there is a scene with a man on roller-skates skating at Venice Beach. In the crowd watching him, shaking his hips and clapping his hands is Jean Claude Van Dam. I swear. Someone verify this for me? He’s wearing what almost looks like a High School Wrestling outfit thing… it’s black. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2002, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/145 "2002-11-16T13:05:20Z")
Wow, great catch, **Tristan**! According to IMDb, [Van Damme was a passerby in a dance sequence](http://us.imdb.com/Credits?0086998) in the 1984 film _Breakin’_. Spooky! I wouldn’t have picked that out, even if I’d seen it. Incidentally, one of the very earliest Bruce Willis films is 1980’s _The First Deadly Sin_, also as an extra. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/146 "2002-11-16T13:24:58Z")
You know, I thought I looked at IMDB when I first saw that, but maybe I didn’t. And dantheman, I can assure you that if you were a fan of MA films, even the craptacular ones that van Dam has done, you would recognize him in an instant in that crowd. He’s shaking his gaulic fanny, and looking like an absolute 'tard. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/147 "2002-11-16T16:15:11Z")
**Teri Garr** was also in Star Trek:TOS as a secretary to a time-traveler in 20th-century Earth. (Or has this been mentioned already and I missed it?) ---
**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:** [November 16, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/148 "2002-11-16T16:59:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tristan \* > **You know, I thought I looked at IMDB when I first saw that, but maybe I didn’t.** You have to click on “more” at the bottom of the credits, and there he is. ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/149 "2002-11-16T20:00:01Z")
I watched The Twilight Zone over the 4th of July weekend. Episode {name ? - began when a flipped coin landed on edge} was about a guy who, for one day only, could hear people’s thoughts. It was Dick York from _Bewitched_ (where he played Darren.) ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/150 "2002-11-16T20:41:42Z")
Leonard Nimoy played an alien in the serial _Zombies of the Stratosphere_. Lloyd Bridges played the pilot of the plane taking the dead to heaven in _Here Comes Mister Jordan_ (later re-made as _Heaven Can Wait_ with Warren Beatty). Helen Hunt appeared as George Segal’s 12-year-old daughter in _Rollercoaster_. Also in that film was Craig Wasson as the guy who gave up his seat on the first ride of a new coaster to the bomber. Harrison Ford’s appearance in _Apocalypse Now_ should not count since it came after _Star Wars_. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/151 "2002-11-16T20:47:03Z")
IMDB says Martin Milner was in _Sands of Iwo Jima_ at the age of 18. Helen Hunt was one of the Robinson kids in a _Swiss Family Robinson_ TV series even before _Rollercoaster_; Milner was the father. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/152 "2002-11-17T11:17:38Z")
Dennis Hopper in Rebel Without a Cause i think that what’s her name that plays monica on friends was alex’s girlfriend on family ties i once heard an urban legend that Alain Jorgenson of Ministry was Jimmy on H R Puffinstuff before he adopted his stagenemae, but i don’t know how accurate that is. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/153 "2002-11-17T22:34:01Z")
Wow! Unless I’ve missed it, no one’s mentioned **Dazed and Confused** yet. Its cast from 1993 includes: Ben Affleck Matthew McConaughey Parker Posey Milla Jovovich Joey Lauren Adams Jason London and MANY other young actors whose faces are recognizable if not their names (to me at least). Also, Jerry O’Connell was of course the fat kid in **Stand By Me**. And, IIRC, Bill Paxton was the asshole brother, “Chet,” in **Weird Science**. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/154 "2002-11-17T23:24:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Funkalicious \* > \*\*Lawerence Fishburn had a somewhat important role in his first film, Apocalypse now, in which he actually lied about his age to get the part. Got credited as Larry Fishburn. \*\* He was also Cowboy Carl on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. Dennis Weaver was in the episode “Shadow Play” on The Twilight Zone. Future _Superman_ director directed the TZ episode “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet”, which starred William Shatner. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/155 "2002-11-18T14:34:09Z")
**Jumpin’ Jack Flash** was on last night. I hadn’t seen it in a while and was surprised to hear Phil Hartman’s voice as one of the terminal operators. The movie was probably released around the same time he joined SNL. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/156 "2002-11-18T17:38:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\ ***Jumpin’ Jack Flash** was on last night. I hadn’t seen it in a while and was surprised to hear Phil Hartman’s voice as one of the terminal operators. The movie was probably released around the same time he joined SNL. \*\* This reminds me – there’s a bit in Die Hard II where the bad guys are hooking up some surveilance equipment. There’s a very clear shot of John Leguizamo leaning over to say something in his walkie-talkie which comes out in what is very clearly not Leguizamo’s voice. If he hadn’t become at least reasonably famous a few years later, no one would ever know that that voice had been dubbed in. Also, I just rewatched Pulp Fiction this weekend, and I noticed that Kathy Griffin (the crazy redheaded pal from “Suddenly Susan”) was one of the women who helped up Marcellus Wallace when Butch ran over him. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/157 "2002-11-18T17:44:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\ ***Jumpin’ Jack Flash** was on last night. I hadn’t seen it in a while and was surprised to hear Phil Hartman’s voice as one of the terminal operators. The movie was probably released around the same time he joined SNL. \*\* Phil Hartman Carol Kane and Jon Lovitz were all in that one, as fellow terminal operators of Whoopi Goldberg’s. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/158 "2002-11-18T18:06:44Z")
Brad Pitt and Lou Diamond Phillips had bit parts on Dallas. Noah Wyle in A Few Good Men Samuel L. Jackson in Patriot Games. The latter two crack me up because when they show them on TV now, it will say something like “Patriot Games, starring Harrison Ford and Samuel Jackson” ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/159 "2002-11-19T04:59:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CaptMurdock \* > [B **Superdude** : Seth Green appeared in a 1986 movie called _My Stepmother Is An Alien_\*. The 14-year-old year girl whose alien stepmother (Kim Basinger) is married to her father (Dan Aykroyd) and whom Seth Green’s character is sorta dating is none other than **Alyson Hannigan**. Years later, they would be Oz and Willow on _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_. \*\* Seth Green was _also_ in a really bad 80’s teen movie, **Can’t Buy Me Love**. He played Patrick Dempsey’s little brother. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434/160 "2002-11-19T06:28:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BurnMeUp \* > **i think that what’s her name that plays monica on friends was alex’s girlfriend on family ties** Courteney Cox. She was also in Springsteen’s video _Dancing in the Dark_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-bit-parts-by-actors-famous-later/122434.md?page=9)