Sorry if the title sounded weird. An example of this is I first saw Ringo Starr and George Carlin when they were playing Mr. Conductor on “Shining Time Station” but had no idea they were famous for other stuff.
Or when I just thought of Joe Pesci as the Home Alone robber.
What are your examples?
Richard Wagner. The first time I heard some of his actual opera music, I thought: “Hey, it’s that Bugs Bunny music!” (from What’s Opera Doc?). Ditto the Rabbit of Seville.
I was first exposed to Bill Cosby on “The Electric Company”, and in “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids”.
For that matter, “The Electric Company” was where I first became familiar with Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman.
Not sure if this counts, but the old Bugs Bunny cartoons that featured him as a waiter in a restaurant patronized by Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall/Mickey Rooney [during his heyday]/Sidney Greenstreet/etc. was the first exposure I can remember to Golden Age stars.
As for the stars themselves, I remember watching a children’s version of The Canterville Ghost that starred John Gielgud and of course STAR WARS with Alec Guinness and thinking both times “Those old men are good… I hope they get another role sometime”.
As for famous works, I used to read the Classics Illustrated comic books religiously. There are still a few books (Kidnapped and Black Beauty come to mind) that I’ve never read but will catch references to due to those comics.
I also hate to admit this…but when I was little, the Beach Boys were just that band that guest starred on Full House once in a while and didn’t Uncle Jesse drum with them sometimes? ::hangs head::
Harry Warren, Raymond Scott, and Rossini – all from Warner Brothers cartoons, which used their music.
Pinky Lee and Soupy Sales.
I don’t know if this counts, but my grandmother had a book of Shakespeare’s plays summarized in child-appropriate language, so I read all of the Bard’s plays before I was about 10.
My first exposure to Tom Lehrer was on “The Electric Company”.
I first saw Pete Seeger and James Earl Jones (reciting the alphabet!) on “Sesame Street”.
I also first saw Rita Moreno & Morgan Freeman on “the Electric Company.”
I still sometimes think of Angela Lansbury as Miss Price from “Bedknobs & Broomsticks.” Also, I first saw Darren McGaven, Don Knotts and David Niven In Disney’s “No Deposit, No Return.”
I think the first time I saw Bette Davis, she was in “Return from Witch Mountain” (a looooooow point in her later career. She wasn’t even the main bad guy - she was a flunky sidekick to the villain.)
my childhood self on Richard Pryor:
“This black guy in the movie ‘The Toy’ is hiiiii-larious. Where have I seen him before? Oh yeah, he was the balloon guy in ‘The Muppet Movie’. He must have got a lucky break to be starring in a movie like this. Good for him. I can see him going places.”
Wait! George Carlin was Mr. Conductor? Holy shit! :eek:
Yo Yo Ma is that neato cello player from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.
My mom used to rent Faerie Tale Theater videos for me when I was a kid. It was hosted by Shelly Duvall and there were a lot of famous people who showed up in the series.
I still think of Elliot Gould as The Giant from “Jack & The Beanstalk” from that series.
I didn’t watch all of them, but a lot of them had commercials talking about the famous people. In particular I remember hearing, “Mick Jagger in the Nightingale” and “Jean Stapleton in Jack and the Beanstalk” and not knowing who they were. Also, Paul Reubens was in Pinocchio but I did actually know who he was. 
Wow you totally just jogged my memory. I remember all three from the shows!
Although…I think by that time I had already known Jagger and Stapleton (my parents firmly entrenched us in the 70’s even tho I was born in 79)…and it’s possible that by the time I got the videos, Reubens was already Pee Wee.
But, nevertheless, still some great memories 
This totally makes me want to go back and rewatch Fairy Tale Theatre. Actually, I didn’t really know Shelly Duvall as anyone other than the Fairy Tale lady. Now I think of her as Wendy Torrance in the Shining.
I didn’t know Elliot Gould was the giant! I love that guy.
Going through the cast list, I’m already seeing Terri Garr, Michael Richards, Robin Williams, Eric Idle, Jeff Bridges, Jerry Hall (also in the Nightingale!), Anjelica Huston, Bernadette Peters, Malcolm McDowell, Roddy McDowell, John Lithgow, Tatum O’Neal, Frank Zappa, Billy Crystal, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Dennehy and Helen Mirren. Wow! Were these the cool fairy tales of the day or something?
ETA: With Roman Grant/Harry Dean Stanton as Rip Van Winkle! This I gotta see.
I read those too, and I still hate Charles Dickens in novel format even though I really liked the comic book versions.
I was introduced to caricatures of stars from the forties and some classical works from the old Warner Bros. cartoons.
The only other ones I can think of are Woody Allen and Joan Worley from a program I seem to recall as Bananas.
I first knew of Kevin Bacon from Balto, an animated movie in which he voices a wolfdog. It was only much later that I made the connection: “Man, the guy from Sleepers and Flatliners sounds familiar. Holy crap, it’s Balto!”
And when I saw Ralph Fiennes in Red Dragon, I didn’t know that he was Voldemort in Harry Potter and Rameses from The Prince of Egypt. When I figured all that out, it was a very :eek: moment.
The Lion King introduced me to a whole lot of voice actors as well. It was weird to go back later in life and figure it all out. Holy crap, the guy from Ferris Bueller is Simba! Darth Vader is Mufasa! Gah!
(And I only just figured out from Wikipedia that James Earl Jones was the guy with the dog in The Sandlot. My mind is officially blown.)
The first time I ever saw a Get Smart rerun, I thought “Holy crap! It’s Tennessee Tuxedo!”
Same thing with just about anyone who played a villain on the old Batman: Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eartha Kitt, Victor Buono, etc.
I first knew Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl in the Robin Williams’ Popeye.