# Humorous Allusions to Actors' Previous Roles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191 "2020-12-16T16:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**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:** [March 11, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/221 "2021-03-11T14:58:39Z")
My brain hurts. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/222 "2021-03-11T17:39:41Z")
Last weekend’s _Family Guy_ was a parody of _The Terminator_. When the Terminator robot looks at Joe, his visual display thingy reads “Puddy from Seinfeld”, which of course was one of Patrick Warburton’s previous roles. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/223 "2021-03-11T19:00:46Z")
Yet another one from “Arrested Development”: Dr. Stein, played by Dan Castellaneta (the voice of Homer Simpson) gives Michael the results of his appendectomy: > “The operation went pretty smoothly. But once I got in there, the appendix wasn’t so inflamed. D’oh!” ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/224 "2021-03-11T23:45:19Z")
I don’t know if this fits exactly, but towards the beginning of Ocean’s Eleven, when Rusty is teaching the tv actors how to play poker, Danny, who has crashed their session, is commenting on how it must be hard to go from tv to movies, which is exactly what he, George Clooney, did leaving ER to pursue a movie career. `//i\\` ---
**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:** [March 12, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/225 "2021-03-12T12:26:10Z")
More _Arrested Development_: a woman scornfully refers to Michael as “Opie” and the narrator (Ron Howard) says she “has gone to far and best watch her mouth.” Howard also has a line about not saying anything bad about Andy Griffith. When Charlize Theron guest starred, it’s revealed she had plastic surgery. There’s a quick cut to a photo of her as Aileen Wuornos fom _Monster_ ---
**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:** [March 12, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/226 "2021-03-12T14:33:58Z")
In an episode of _L.A. Law_, **Dan Castellaneta** plays a man who is suing his former employer for wrongful termination. His job was to put on a big foam rubber costume and walk around a theme park interacting with the guests. His costume was Homer Simpson. In the episode, he’s mostly very shy and quiet, and sounds nothing like Homer, until he puts the costume on and gets instantly into character. I can think of a couple others that may not have been deliberate. In _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_, when Wonka is greeting the kids who have won the tour, Mike Teevee is dressed in a cowboy outfit and pulls one of his guns on Wonka. Three years later in _Blazing Saddles_, Jim tells the story of how he gave up gunfighting when he was challenged by a six-year-old kid. Both were played by **Gene Wilder**. There’s a scene in _A Few Good Men_ where Tom Cruise is describing to the two other lawyers how he plans to question Col. Jessup, and he breaks into an impromptu impression of Jack Nicholson. One of those lawyers in **Kevin Pollak** , who used to do a pretty good Nicholson impression as a stand-up comic. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/227 "2021-03-12T14:42:57Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > In an episode of _L.A. Law_ , **Dan Castellaneta** plays a man who is suing his former employer for wrongful termination. His job was to put on a big foam rubber costume and walk around a theme park interacting with the guests. His costume was Homer Simpson. In the episode, he’s mostly very shy and quiet, and sounds nothing like Homer, until he puts the costume on and gets instantly into character. What I find weird about that is L.A. Law was so long ago; it’s such an 80s show, and yet it overlapped with The Simpsons, which is still on the air decades later. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/228 "2021-03-12T18:40:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …In _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_, when Wonka is greeting the kids who have won the tour, Mike Teevee is dressed in a cowboy outfit and pulls one of his guns on Wonka. Three years later in _Blazing Saddles_, Jim tells the story of how he gave up gunfighting when he was challenged by a six-year-old kid. Both were played by **Gene Wilder** … Wow, good catch! I didn’t remember that line from _Blazing Saddles_. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/229 "2021-03-12T18:42:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > > …In _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_, when Wonka is greeting the kids who have won the tour, Mike Teevee is dressed in a cowboy outfit and pulls one of his guns on Wonka. Three years later in _Blazing Saddles_, Jim tells the story of how he gave up gunfighting when he was challenged by a six-year-old kid. Both were played by **Gene Wilder** … > > Wow, good catch! I didn’t remember that line from _Blazing Saddles_. - I remembered the line but I didn’t remember Mike specifically pulling the gun on Wonka. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/230 "2021-03-13T01:46:22Z")
I always took that line to mean that Spock was descended from A.C. Doyle. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/231 "2021-03-13T16:32:13Z")
I think it’s purposefully ambiguous. I remember a 1970s article comparing Spock to Holmes in brains, intellectual dispassion and even appearance. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/232 "2021-03-13T17:00:56Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > > …In _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_, when Wonka is greeting the kids who have won the tour, Mike Teevee is dressed in a cowboy outfit and pulls one of his guns on Wonka. Three years later in _Blazing Saddles_, Jim tells the story of how he gave up gunfighting when he was challenged by a six-year-old kid. Both were played by **Gene Wilder** … > > Wow, good catch! I didn’t remember that line from _Blazing Saddles_. I’m thinking that was just a coincidence. The script was written and the scene when Bart met Jim was being filmed with Gig Young when he had to be hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal. Gene Wilder flew in and jumped into the scene the next day. It was not written with Gene Wilder in mind. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/233 "2021-03-14T17:55:40Z")
In an episode of _Young Sheldon_, Sheldon’s sister, Missy, makes a reference to Joey Lawrence. Sheldon says “Who’s that?” Missy: He’s Blossom’s brother. Sheldon: Who? Missy: On TV. She wears these hats? Sheldon: Never heard of her. It’s more of a sly wink at the future than the past, since _Young Sheldon_ is a prequel, but I think it fits the topic. More off-topic, but still, a reference from YS to TBBT that jumps out at me now is when the Adult Sheldon voiceover says his son is named Leonard Cooper. Just as you start to “awwww” Adult S. says "I wanted to name him “Leonard Nimoy Cooper, but Amy wouldn’t let me,” and then Mayim Bialik has her only line so far in the show, “Be glad I let you name him Leonard.” This got me thinking that early in their relationship, when Sheldon still found humans icky, he may have found unkempt Leonard Hofstadter uniquely tolerable _because his name was **Leonard.** _ That may be why Leonard “passed all the tests” to roommate-hood. And why Sheldon allowed himself to rely on Leonard to the extent that he did. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/234 "2021-03-14T20:16:46Z")
As I mentioned [in another thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-memory-is-like-a-sieve-except-for-useless-crap/934018), I’ve been watching old episodes of _America’s Funniest Home Videos_ on YouTube. In a February 1992 episode, the opening theme cuts away midway through to the _Full House_ set. Jesse and Joey are revealed to be watching the show and remark that Danny resembles the host. At the time, Bob Saget both hosted AFHV and starred as Danny on _Full House_, but he got the latter gig first, so I guess technically it’s still a humorous allusion to a previous role. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7A9l2bjplk) ---
**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:** [March 14, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/235 "2021-03-14T20:56:02Z")
Nothing in the OP says they must be deliberate allusions. I read somewhere that Cruise’s Nicholson impression was ad-libbed; so not an intentional reference to Pollak’s stand-up career, but it’s there nonetheless. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/236 "2021-03-14T21:42:30Z")
I don’t think it is possible to have a _non-deliberate_ allusion. Kinda by definition: al·lu·sion /əˈlo͞oZHən/ _noun_ 1. an expression **designed** to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. (My bold.) (You made me look that up, so thank you for making me learn something a little better today.) ---
**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:** [March 14, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/237 "2021-03-14T22:02:46Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > …This got me thinking that early in their relationship, when Sheldon still found humans icky, he may have found unkempt Leonard Hofstadter uniquely tolerable _because his name was **Leonard.** _ That may be why Leonard “passed all the tests” to roommate-hood. And why Sheldon allowed himself to rely on Leonard to the extent that he did. Noice. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/238 "2021-03-14T22:29:01Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Nothing in the OP says they must be deliberate allusions. I read somewhere that Cruise’s Nicholson impression was ad-libbed; so not an intentional reference to Pollak’s stand-up career, but it’s there nonetheless. > [@silenus](#): > > I don’t think it is possible to have a _non-deliberate_ allusion. Kinda by definition: An ad-lib by an actor that is not part of the script is not an allusion by the scriptwriter, who designed the story, and wrote the rest of it. Describing such an allusion as “non-deliberate” is maybe not quite the right descriptor, but I can see the need to distinguish between allusions placed intentionally by the writer, and arising from the deep structure of the script, and serving a larger purpose, as opposed to a joke by an actor, that the actor may not have imagined would make it into the final cut of the film, but some editor found it funny. It could even be there under the objections of the writer. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2021, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/239 "2021-03-15T00:47:14Z")
On **The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel** , Susie (Alex Borstein) imitates a telephone-answering secretary by speaking in a high-pitched nasal voice…which sounds uncannily like Lois Griffin from **Family Guy**. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2021, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/240 "2021-03-15T01:18:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I don’t think it is possible to have a _non-deliberate_ allusion. Kinda by definition: > > al·lu·sion > > /əˈlo͞oZHən/ > > _noun_ > > 1. an expression **designed** to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. > > (My bold.) > (You made me look that up, so thank you for making me learn something a little better today.) Some of the ones mentioned are just some viewers reading a bit to much into it like the Blazing Saddles one. No one was thinking about Willy Wonka when that was written and Mel Brooks was dead set against Gene Wilder playing the role. He wanted an old western actor and even approached John Wayne. No one planted a very thin Willy Wonka reference. \*Wayne read the script and loved it. He said he would be the first one on line to see it but it wasn’t right for his image. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=13)