# How actors that have been typecast deal with it **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [April 16, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321 "2026-04-16T19:31:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/21 "2026-04-16T22:57:23Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Tina Louise is an example of the latter, sadly. And yet she’s the last one standing. ---
**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 16, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/22 "2026-04-16T23:03:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You really needed to own a piece of a show to make money off it (and still do, I suspect). Indeed. It’s why a lot of actors who have been on a successful show or movie or two – particularly sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero stuff – but aren’t “A-list” actors, wind up doing the fan convention circuit. They didn’t necessarily make a ton of money from the popular show/movie, and while they may still be working actors, that may mean that they get a couple of small roles a year; convention appearances wind up being a pretty important (and reliable) income for them. > [@terentii](#): > > William Shatner was given a percentage of _ **Star Trek** _ when he signed on to play Captain Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy got one too after he agreed to remain as Spock after the first season. Possibly because of that, Shatner and Nimoy were never as regular on the Trek convention circuit as their co-stars were. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/23 "2026-04-16T23:05:37Z")
I find it hard to believe that Bob Denver resented being typecast as a “goofy guy” after getting his start by playing Maynard G Krebs\* on _ **The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis** _. What’s he gonna do, take up classical theatre? 🤨 \*The “G” stood for “Walter,” after his aunt. It was “silent.” ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/24 "2026-04-16T23:11:47Z")
Don Adams who played Maxwell Smart in the Get Smart spy series was generally unsuccessful later. ---
**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 16, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/25 "2026-04-16T23:16:23Z")
Max Baer Jr., who played Jethro Bodine on _The Beverly Hillbillies_, wound up typecast as a handsome lunkhead. He initially dealt with it by moving behind the camera, to directing and producing, and later, went into various business ventures; he had very few acting roles after _The Beverly Hillbillies_ ended, and he apparently hasn’t done any acting at all since the early '90s. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/26 "2026-04-16T23:20:25Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Tina Louise was a little bitter, but I can understand that as well because she felt as though she might have been more successful if it weren’t for the island. But in more recent years, Louise has walked back that bitterness and said she wasn’t resentful of the show. It could be she just wanted to distance herself from the show once it ended. Don’t forget that Tina Louise was a member of the Actors’ Studio. A serious actor in a model/centerfold body. She always seemed to trying to be trying to get better roles than she was offered. Becoming typecast as “Ginger” was the crowning touch. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/27 "2026-04-17T00:19:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It’s why a lot of actors who have been on a successful show or movie or two – particularly sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero stuff – but aren’t “A-list” actors, wind up doing the fan convention circuit. Anyone else keep thinking of Galaxy Quest? You’ve got Tim Allen: “I love the fans of the old show!”… and Alan Rickman: “I played Richard III. There were five curtain calls. I was an actor once, damn it. Now look at me. Look at me!” ---
**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 17, 2026, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/28 "2026-04-17T00:24:41Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Anyone else keep thinking of Galaxy Quest? Pretty much! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/29 "2026-04-17T00:40:54Z")
I’m acquainted with an actor who was one of the stars of a very popular TV show in the 1980s (ranked in the top 20 shows for six years and the top 10 for two years). But he was strongly typecast by that role. I once asked him how he felt about it. He said that that role was the only reason he had any enduring clout in the business; he was able to direct, write scripts for other shows and produce his own plays for years afterwards solely because he appeared in that show. He said that role was the best thing that ever happened to him, regardless of the typecasting. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/30 "2026-04-17T00:53:01Z")
It’s alluded to in the OP! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/31 "2026-04-17T00:56:51Z")
My wife and I are “playing” Trivial Pursuit (Baby Boomer edition) at tea. We alternate asking each other questions until one of us fills up the pie. For some reason, there are a ton of questions about Dobie Gillis, and neither of us has ever seen an episode. We are both late boomers (she is probably Gen-x), so it’s a much harder game for us than the genus edition. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/32 "2026-04-17T01:19:09Z")
I was born in 1955, and my favorite TV show from 1962 to '67 was _ **Combat!** _ Guess which series was the lead-in on Minneapolis’s KSTP at six o’clock? _ **Dobie Gillis** _. For five years, my world pretty much centered around watching those two every Tuesday night (with _ **McHale’s Navy** _ coming on at 19:30). Some of the high school/college material might have gone over my head at the time, but I dearly loved the show. (My mother hated it, as was her wont.) I especially liked Bob Denver as Maynard G Krebs and thought it must be cool to be a beatnik without a care in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/33 "2026-04-17T02:01:06Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > And yet she’s the last one standing. Yea, I dunno. She seems bitter in subsequent interviews. Seems to have given up after GI. I genuinely feel bad for her. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/34 "2026-04-17T02:06:29Z")
He probably could have retired on his _Get Smart_ earnings if not for his gambling problem. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/35 "2026-04-17T02:11:36Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > If you are middling-to-low-tier actor, you probably embrace it because it’s your lifeline and what lets you continue to have a career. You hone it as your main expertise, grateful to be in any movie. I agree. A career in acting is very difficult and depends on a lot of luck, even if you have talent. There’s plenty of actors who would be happy to be offered one type of role, rather than not be offered any roles. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/36 "2026-04-17T02:13:55Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Yea, I dunno. She seems bitter in subsequent interviews. Seems to have given up after GI. I genuinely feel bad for her. She didn’t give up after Gilligan’s Island. She appeared in several movies, some television movies, and guest spots on television shows but wasn’t able to really break into something bigger. Was she typecast? I don’t know. A lot of beatiful people fail to really break it big in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/37 "2026-04-17T02:16:24Z")
Re: Tina Louise > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Seems to have given up after GI. WTF? Have you checked her post-_GI_ credits? - [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001481/?ref\_=nv\_sr\_srsg\_0\_tt\_0\_nm\_8\_in\_0\_q\_tina%20louise](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001481/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_0_nm_8_in_0_q_tina%20louise) _GI_ ran from 1964-67. Ms. Louise has credits for every year after that until 1991 and usually more than one per year. Work became a little more sporadic in the '90s, likely the result of her having been typecast since _GI_ and over 50. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/38 "2026-04-17T02:59:48Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I always wonder how Betsy Sodaro feels about being in Ghosts as one of the basement ghosts with cholera sores on her face, and also in a commercial as some kind of parasitic bug. Jeez, she’s not _hideous_. I heard her doing the voiceover in a commercial for something or other. You can’t **not** recognize her voice. Being in _Ghosts_ probably gave her a shot of exposure and opened some opportunities for her. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/39 "2026-04-17T03:19:40Z")
There’s a difference between being typecast and continuing to work as a certain type of character and finding it hard to get work because you can’t shake one particular role. Vincent Price had no problem with being typecast. It allowed him to have steady work and the financial stability to pursue his other interests. Others wind up falling into that bad category of famous and poor. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321/40 "2026-04-17T03:24:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You really needed to own a piece of a show to make money off it (and still do, I suspect). And even then you had to keep an eye on things. James Garner had to sue a studio to get the earnings he was due for _The Rockford Files_. As I recall, the studio packaged TRF and _Quincy_ (a show the studio owned all the rights to) together for syndication. Stations bought the package so that they could show _Rockford_, but only half the money was credited toward _Rockford_ and its rights holders. As luck would have it, I happened to be reading the IMDb trivia for _Cleopatra_ today. Apparently that movie took ten years to start making a profit, at which point the studio closed the books on it so that anyone who was owed a share of the profits would be out of luck. Hollywood accounting can be creative, and not in a good way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-actors-that-have-been-typecast-deal-with-it/1029321.md?page=3)