# Hardest working man (or woman) in show business **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641 "2008-04-16T20:19:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/1 "2008-04-16T20:19:54Z")
I think we’ve done threads like this before but I happened upon an actor that has appeared on all the following TV shows: Dragnet, Bonanza, Perry Mason, The Donna Reed Show, I Dream of Jeanie, Dukes of Hazard, Gomer Pyle, Bob Newhart, Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-O, All in The Family, Starsky and Hutch, Charlies Angles, Lou Grant, Taxi, Different Strokes, Dallas, Fantasy Island, A-Team, Seinfeld, Doogie Howser M.D., X-Files, Home Improvement, Ellen, Friends, The Drew Carey Show, Charmed, Alias, West Wing, Law and Order, King of Queens, Las Vegas, Big Bang Theory, and Zoey 101. And has appeared in memorable roles in the following movies: Chinatown, Airplane!, Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China, Tango & Cash, Revenge of the Nerd II, Wayne’s World 2, Balls of Fury, and will supply a voice to this summer’s Kung Fu Panda. I humbly submit [James Hong](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0393222/) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/2 "2008-04-16T20:26:33Z")
I recently saw him on a re-run of Bones, and almost the next day in The Big Bang. And I remember him most clearly from Seinfeld. I asked my kid if they just go out and get this guy every time they want a generic Asian character. He is everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/3 "2008-04-16T20:33:17Z")
Holy crap! My standard answer for this question is either Cheech Marin or Tim Curry. I’m pretty sure Mr. Hong wins hands down now. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/4 "2008-04-16T20:41:30Z")
Hong certainly has been a prolific character actor over the years. Finding an old asian guy not played by him is like trying to find a movie about American Indians that doesn’t have Wes Studi. However, just in terms of actual stuff going on simultaneously, I have to go with [Ryan Seacrest](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0780435/). He hosts American Idol and "[has since gone on to host E! News Live, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, as well as such radio shows as On Air with Ryan Seacrest on KIIS-FM in LA and American Top 40. He also hosts The Entertainment Edge in the United Kingdom which is broadcast simultaneously across GCap Media’s radio stations."](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Seacrest) The guy also does cameos including Knocked Up as well as commercials and he produces a ton of shit. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/5 "2008-04-16T20:47:30Z")
Yep, Ryan Seacrest gets my vote, obviously for current person only, and for most things going on at once. I have a lot of respect for that guy, even when he seems something like a tool. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/6 "2008-04-16T22:49:35Z")
I dunno - every time you turn around, [Stephen Fry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry) is appearing in something, hosting something, directing something or writing something. He has a lot of work in television, movies, radio and print. He doesn’t seem to be as well known in the USA, but I’d bet they’re nearly sick of him in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/7 "2008-04-16T23:40:23Z")
My first thought was [Keye Luke](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0525601/) who, of course, played Charlie Chan’s #1 son in 8 of the movies or so. He later appeared in over 50 TV series… among them My Little Marge, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, I Spy, The FBI, The Andy Griffith Show, Family Affair, Dragnet, Star Trek, Hawaii 5-0, It Takes a Thief, Marcus Welby M.D., Adam-12, Kung Fu (of course), Cannon, Harry O., Quincy M.E., Vega$, How the West was Won, Charlie’s Angels, Remington Steele, Voyagers!, Magnum P.I., Falcon Crest, The A-Team, Trapper John M.D., Miami Vice, T. J. Hooker, Night Court, and McGyver. Edited: Perry Mason… not Parry… ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/8 "2008-04-17T13:25:07Z")
Hong’s filmography lists something like 450 credits. That’s 10 a year every year for 45 years. Sure, many of them were voiceovers and such, but I wonder who - if anyone - has more recorded credits than that. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/9 "2008-04-17T14:49:18Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale] Hong’s filmography lists something like 450 credits. That’s 10 a year every year for 45 years. Sure, many of them were voiceovers and such, but I wonder who - if anyone - has more recorded credits than that. [/QUOTE] Mel Blanc’s filmography lists 980 actor credits (over 53 years). Again, almost all voiceovers, but that’s still quite a workload. Ron Jeremy has over 1000 acting credits. Don’t think many of those are voiceovers. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/10 "2008-04-17T16:02:36Z")
[William Shallert](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0769974/) is up there, with over 300 credits in TV and movies, starting in 1947 and still going (he was in a recent episode of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody”!) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/11 "2008-04-17T17:10:50Z")
[QUOTE=jk1245] Ron Jeremy has over 1000 acting credits. Don’t think many of those are voiceovers. [/QUOTE] Whatever else one might think of male porn actors, they had to have a deep commitment to their role (or at least in the days before Viagra). Jeremy has a tendency to play the tummler, but he is a decent actor. If he hadn’t stumbled into porn, he’d probably have had a decent career as a character actor in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/12 "2008-04-17T17:21:52Z")
Jackie Chan, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/13 "2008-04-17T17:29:09Z")
Christopher Lee has got to be in here somewhere - number of films, many in a leading role, length of career, types of roles, etc. I can’t quickly find stats, but he’s still going strong in his eighties. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hardest-working-man-or-woman-in-show-business/445641/14 "2008-04-17T17:35:06Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] [William Shallert](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0769974/) is up there, with over 300 credits in TV and movies, starting in 1947 and still going (he was in a recent episode of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody”!) [/QUOTE] Oh, yeah. Schallert is maybe best known to Dopers as the officious Federation bureaucrat Nilz Baris in ST:TOS “The Trouble with Tribbles.”