# Entertainers who "got out of their lane" and failed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, tv-shows-scripted, music\ **Created:** [April 10, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621 "2022-04-10T16:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/141 "2022-04-29T18:23:49Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > TV stardom and movie stardom are two different skills. Jimmy Stewart, for instance, couldn’t translate to TV. This reminded me of one: Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold, who had a long and successful career in movies, was cast to star as Captain Elizabeth Janeway on the television series _Star Trek: Voyager_ (though, at Bujold’s request, the character was renamed Nicole). Bujold had done little work in episodic television, nor had she previously worked on a franchise like Star Trek, which tends to have substantial demands for interviews and press appearances. She wasn’t prepared for the production schedule of an episodic series, and wasn’t interested in participating in interviews – after two days of shooting for _Voyager_, she quit the role, and was replaced by Kate Mulgrew (and the character was renamed, again, to Kathryn). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/142 "2022-04-29T18:53:25Z")
> [@solost](#): > > (unless it was planned to go off the rails- with Kaufman involved it was always hard to tell). Richards was the only cast member that knew Andy had _carte blanche_ from the director and producer to go off the rails. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/143 "2022-04-29T19:35:23Z")
Elvis Presley, squandering his talents in a series of forgettable movies. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/144 "2022-04-29T19:37:26Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Richards was the only cast member that knew Andy had _carte blanche_ from the director and producer to go off the rails. OK, so the cue card bit becomes less funny and spontaneous. I kinda figured when Andy and the skit runner broke out into a physical fight, it was probably fake. Seemed very Kaufmanesque. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/145 "2022-04-29T19:38:15Z")
That was more “forced out of his lane.” Blame Col. Tom. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/146 "2022-04-29T19:41:58Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Elvis Presley, squandering his talents in a series of forgettable movies. Elvis probably was the greatest talent in pop history with the worst manager in pop history. ETA: dang, ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/147 "2022-04-29T19:49:38Z")
I thought his movie interlude was brilliant and perfectly timed to avoid competition with the Beatles and other hipper, younger acts. While his contemporaries were forced into C&W or Easy Listening or even retirement, Elvis pulled down a heathy paycheck and kept his face in front of the public until nostalgia kicked in around 1969. He wasn’t making _Lawrence of Arabia_ or _8½_ but his films weren’t any worse than the average output of Hollywood, and as an actor he was as good as any other silver screen heartthrob in the 1960s. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/148 "2022-04-29T20:47:02Z")
Elvis wanted a movie career. Also, virtually every singer crossed over to movies, or attempted to cross over. Elvis had some ability as an actor. He wasn’t great. They should have kept up the quality more, mixed it up more and less formula dreck. Do some live shows during that period as well. Instead of endless movies, followed by endless touring. The results were suboptimum, but Elvis going to the movies was the correct career move. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/149 "2022-04-29T21:16:03Z")
I seem to remember hearing that Elvis wanted to take acting classes and be a serious actor, and that he had the potential to be a very good actor. But the only thing Hollywood would put him into were those awful “musicals”. He quit trying to be an actor because he couldn’t get any part other than handsome singer, the lone exception being a John Wayne western that he did a decent job. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/150 "2022-04-29T21:26:00Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I think of Richards as another McLean Stevenson-- a marginally talented performer who lucked out, found a niche, and became a one-hit wonder on a hit show. My understanding from watching many behind-the-scenes and outtakes from Seinfeld was that Michaels was by far the most professional of the performers, constantly rehearsing, improvising, and getting irritated when scenes had to be reshot when one of the other actors broke character/started laughing. Now, that doesn’t mean he didn’t luck out with his role on Seinfeld, necessarily, but the man seems to have worked hard and had a lot of talent. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/151 "2022-04-29T21:26:51Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > the lone exception being a John Wayne western that he did a decent job. You sure about that? Because I’ve seen pretty much every Elvis movie made, and I don’t recall him ever co-starring with The Duke. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/152 "2022-04-29T21:32:18Z")
Hmmm. Maybe I’m conflating that with a story of how Wayne wanted Elvis to be in one of his movies? I heard this a long time ago, and my memory has a strong resemblance to a steel trap: everything that gets into it gets crushed and mangled. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/153 "2022-04-29T21:33:50Z")
Or you are thinking of Ricky Nelson, who co-stared with Wayne in **Rio Bravo**. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/154 "2022-04-29T21:58:34Z")
Honestly, I thought he was in Chisolm with Wayne. Maybe that was the movie Wayne wanted him for? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/155 "2022-04-29T22:21:33Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I seem to remember hearing that Elvis wanted to take acting classes and be a serious actor, and that he had the potential to be a very good actor. But the only thing Hollywood would put him into were those awful “musicals”. He quit trying to be an actor because he couldn’t get any part other than handsome singer, the lone exception being a John Wayne western that he did a decent job. Yeah, maybe Elvis had the talent for better movies than the stereotypical ones he starred in with usually five of the most inane songs he recorded in his career squeezed in, but the Colonel was only looking for the next big easy bucks. He was never concerned about Elvis Presley, the artist, whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/156 "2022-04-30T00:36:13Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Speaking of McLean Stevenson, did anybody mention him in this thread yet? I think I remember hearing somewhere while he was on MASH he had sycophants and handlers telling him he was too big for MASH, he needed his own show to showcase his huge talent > [@Henry Blake's plane was shot down over the Sea Of Japan](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-blakes-plane-was-shot-down-over-the-sea-of-japan/806031/44): > > Ran across a quote from Maclean Stevenson the other day - “The mistake was that I thought everybody in America loved McLean Stevenson. That was not the case. Everybody loved Henry Blake. So if you go and do ‘The McLean Stevenson Show,’ nobody cares about McLean Stevenson.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/157 "2022-04-30T01:36:49Z")
TV stars of the 50s and 60s often tried to have musical careers. Shatner is the best known of these, but he’s not the only one. Here’s Jack (Dragnet) Webb doing “Try a Little Tenderness.” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-PyHIqOPlnA/hqdefault.jpg "Jack Webb - Try a Little Tenderness") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PyHIqOPlnA) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/158 "2022-04-30T16:45:48Z")
Ah, but how about those who got out of their lane to _get into_ entertainment, hmm? [Quite brilliant example.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQpbLOF3SCE&t=88s) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/159 "2022-04-30T17:12:00Z")
Context? I just see a youtube link. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/160 "2022-04-30T17:13:49Z")
Bookie Robert de Niro in _Casino_ trying his hand at being a talk show host. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621.md?page=9)