# Film Cameos **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831 "2003-11-07T04:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/1 "2003-11-07T04:20:46Z")
I love cameos. For whatever reason, they make a film more interesting just for the fun factor alone. Especially the unbilled ones. For example, years ago there was a movie “The Wild Life” that starred Chris Penn. Somewhere in the film there was a party scene and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones is there. No speaking lines…he’s just carrying on drinking and smoking. What are your faves? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/2 "2003-11-07T04:49:43Z")
Well, going back a little bit farther, Moe Howard has an unbilled cameo in “The Best Years of Our Lives.” He leans his head (but only about halfway, so you don’t see his whole face) out a car and says something to someone. It’s unmistakably Moe. Older brother Shemp had a “real” role in the film. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/3 "2003-11-07T11:08:03Z")
I saw _The Player_ on IFC last night. That was a cameo-fest, but all were credited. _Pretty Woman_ : Director Garry Marshall sweeping the sidewalk in front of the **HO** TEL - and yah, only the HO was lit. Ha hah. Ed Wood (director) as a mourner at Bela Lugosi’s funeral in **Plan 9 from Outer Space** ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/4 "2003-11-07T11:47:41Z")
Peter O’Toole during the dream sequence in _Casino Royale_ where he claims to be Richard Burton. All those Bing Crosby cameos in old Bob Hope movies, like where he’s the disappointed executioner in _My Favorite Brunette_. That Bob Hope, “Doctors. Glad I’m not sick,” line in a movie I otherwise hated, _Spies Like Us_. It was a cute acknowledgement that the film was a take off of those old Hope/Crosby Road pictures. Michael Keaton playing his _Jackie Brown_ character for one scene in _Out Of Sight_. Bill Wyman in the British cannibalism/class satire/black comedy _Eat The Rich_, where you see him get bonked on the head and carried into the kitchen, presumably to be an upcoming menu item. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/5 "2003-11-07T13:46:24Z")
Do you mean cameos or uncredited appearances? Some cameos are credited, and some fairly large roles are uncredited (e.g., Robin Williams in “Dead Again”). There’s always Joseph Cotton in “Touch of Evil.” He happened to visit the set, and Welles put him in the picture. Mercedes McCambridge also appears uncredited in the film. I’m also partial to John Huston’s appearance in “The Maltese Falcon.” He plays Captain Jacobi, who staggers into Sam Spade’s office with a package and dies. Mel Gibson has a neat cameo in “Father’s Day,” but he may be credited. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/6 "2003-11-07T14:19:30Z")
Jerry Garcia appears at the banjo playing bum in the remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” ---
**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 7, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/7 "2003-11-07T14:33:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\* > I’m also partial to John Huston’s appearance in “The Maltese Falcon.” He plays Captain Jacobi, who staggers into Sam Spade’s office with a package and dies. > > \*\* That was actually Walter, John’s pop. Robin Williams has done a lot of uncredited work over the years. Maybe I’m misremembering, but I don’t think he got onscreen credit for being The Moon in **Erik the Viking**. Speaking of Jerry Garcia, **plnr** , the entire band was in **Petulia** (1968) as the house band. You don’t see much of them, though, and they were credited. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/8 "2003-11-07T15:39:46Z")
Steven King often appears in some inconsequential small part in movies based on his books. I’m not sure if he is routinely credited or not, though. ---
**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 7, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/9 "2003-11-07T15:48:08Z")
He sometimes is. He had a fairly large role in **Creepshow** as Jordy (?) and was a beer-guzzlin’ spectator in George Romero’s **Knightriders** (1981). ---
**Author:** ![DaPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DaPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPearl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/10 "2003-11-07T17:59:17Z")
Gene Hackman in _Young Frankenstein_. Best cameo ever. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/11 "2003-11-07T18:15:50Z")
More recently in _The Rundown_, Arnold Schwarzeneggar passed Dwayne Johnson in a bar and told him to “Have fun.” ---
**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 7, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/12 "2003-11-07T18:18:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earl Snake-Hips Tucker \* > \*\*Well, going back a little bit farther, Moe Howard has an unbilled cameo in “The Best Years of Our Lives.” He leans his head (but only about halfway, so you don’t see his whole face) out a car and says something to someone. It’s unmistakably Moe. > > Older brother Shemp had a “real” role in the film. \*\* And among the zillions of cameos in **It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World** (1963), the Three Stooges can be glimpsed as firemen getting ready to put out the fire that occurs when the plane with Jim Backus, Mickey Rooney, and Buddy Hackett crashes at the airport. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/13 "2003-11-07T18:18:58Z")
Thats a good one **DaPearl** but I was also partial to Merv Griffen (as himself) in Steve Martin’s “The Man With Two Brains”. ---
**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 7, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/14 "2003-11-07T18:51:50Z")
Stan Lee makes cameos in Marvel comic-book movie adaptations like _Spiderman, Hulk, Daredevil,_ and I think _X-Men_. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/15 "2003-11-07T21:40:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > **That was actually Walter, John’s pop.** John does have a memorable cameo in _The Treasure of the Sierra Madre_ though, as the well-dressed man who keeps giving Bogart money and finally chews him out. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/16 "2003-11-07T21:47:13Z")
Favorite recent cameo: Brad Pitt and Matt Damon in _Confessions of a Dangerous Mind_. On an episode of The Dating Game, we see the very unattractive Bachelor #3 as he lamely answers the bachelorette. When she chooses him, the camera pans–as if incidentally–past the other bachelors, the ones she didn’t choose: Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. Hoot. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/17 "2003-11-08T01:07:15Z")
Walter Matthau appeared uncredited in two scenes, as a drunk, in _Earthquake_. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/18 "2003-11-08T02:06:07Z")
Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) had a small cameo in Scream 3. Hulk Hogan made a cameo appearance in Gremlins 2. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/19 "2003-11-08T03:14:19Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by dantheman_ > Robin Williams has done a lot of uncredited work over the years. Maybe I’m misremembering, but I don’t think he got onscreen credit for being The Moon in _Erik the Viking_. I think you mean _The Adventures of Baron Munchausen_. I don’t recall Robin Williams in _Erik the Viking_. Or the moon, for that matter. In _Munchausen_, Williams was credited as Ray DiTutto, which is dog-Italian for “King of Everything.” Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman did have a great cameo in the animated Bloom County Xmas special, _A Wish for Wings that Work_, playing a suicidal kiwi and a crossdressing cockroach, respectively. Other good cameos, often in very bad movies: Sean Connery as Richard the Lionhearted in _Robin Hood: The Sucky Version_. Similarly, Patrick Stewart in the same role in _Robin Hood: The Sucky Version that’s Supposed to Be Funny, but Isn’t._ Christian Slater waking up James Kirk in _Star Trek VI_. Mel Gibson with five tons of metal in his face, in _Father’s Day_. I’m actually kind of bitter that the N’Sync cameo got cut from _Attack of the Clones_. Not like it could have made the movie _worse_. ---
**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 8, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831/20 "2003-11-08T03:18:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > **I think you mean _The Adventures of Baron Munchausen_. I don’t recall Robin Williams in _Erik the Viking_. Or the moon, for that matter. In _Munchausen_, Williams was credited as Ray DiTutto, which is dog-Italian for "King of Everything."** Yeah, that’s the one. Ah, similar movies. No, really. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-cameos/211831.md?page=2)