# 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:** 15
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/282 "2024-04-10T14:50:56Z")
9th post in the thread, Dec. 2020. (For those who havent noticed it, there is an option in search you can check to search inside of a single thread.) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/283 "2024-04-10T15:05:46Z")
I have looked for something like that but haven’t found it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/284 "2024-04-10T15:31:02Z")
The search function? From inside this thread, click on search. Directly below the search box there is a checkbox labeled “search this topic”. Check that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/285 "2024-04-11T03:48:19Z")
Tonight’s _Animal Control_ was very Changy, but I didn’t see any special mentions beyond tge no doubt deliberate casting. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/286 "2024-04-11T05:20:07Z")
There’s a bit on Married with Children, where Jefferson D’Arcy (Ted McGinley) is mobbed by some kids K: What was it like working on Happy Days? J: I’m telling you, kid, I was not on Happy Days, okay? My name is D’Arcy. Jefferson D’Arcy. K: Was that your name on Love Boat? J: Oh, beat it! Come on. Get out of here. Damn kids. I can hardly go out in public anymore. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/287 "2024-04-11T12:46:50Z")
This may be the most obscure one yet. In the very bad film _The Return of Swamp Thing_, Louis Jorudan’s character has a parrot named “Gigi.” Jourdan was the star of the very creepy 1958 musical _Gigi_. I may have been the only one in the audience to get that joke. And yes, I saw _The Return of Swamp Thing_ in a theater. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/288 "2024-04-11T13:28:14Z")
In **Horrible Histories: The Movie** , Derek Jacobi plays the Roman emperor Claudius, whom he also played in the eponymous “I, Claudius” television series in the 1970s. He even loudly proclaims, “I, CLAUDIUS…” in case anyone is missing the joke. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/289 "2024-04-11T13:31:48Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Someone earlier mentioned Supernatural. Here is when the mention of Gilmore Girls struck fear into Sam. I don’t have a clip handy, but the Season 5, Episode 5 episode “Fallen Idols” guest stars Paris Hilton as a pagan goddess disguising herself as Paris Hilton. There’s a _House of Wax_ joke at one point: both Hilton and Padalecki starred in that flick as well. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/290 "2024-04-11T13:33:22Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > In an episode of _Mad About You,_ someone asks Paul (Paul Reiser) whether he’d seen the Aliens movies. He replies, “Only the first one!” > > (Reiser, of course, played a memorably loathsome bad guy in the second movie of the series). In another episode, Jamie (Helen Hunt) arrives home to find her sister and (…? I’m blanking, it’s been a long time) playing a popular party game. She says, “Twister? No thanks.” Ba-dum-bump. ---
**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 11, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/291 "2024-04-11T14:22:26Z")
Still yet another one from **Arrested Development** , Season Four: > **G.O.B.:** You don’t have to worry about Ron Howard. I mean, he’s not competition for you. > **Michael:** Really? > **G.O.B.:** No, the guy’s like a hundred years old. What’s he gonna do, poke you in the eyes? > **Michael:** Oh, you’re confused. Ron Howard directed Apollo 13. You’re thinking of Moe Howard, the angry stooge who’s been dead for a quarter century. In the same season, Michael’s sister Lindsay runs off with a character played by Chris Diamontopolous, who had played Moe in **The Three Stooges** one year earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/292 "2024-04-11T17:01:27Z")
I just remembered another. In _St. Elsewhere_ Dr. Mark Craig(William Daniels) has badly injured his hand. He and his wife travel to Philadelphis, to consult with a surgeon who specializes in hands. As the couple is taking a walk Mrs Craig asks her husband _“Mark, why did we have to come to Philadelphia in the summer, it’s too damned hot.”_ And then he breaks into a song _“It’s hot as hell in Philadel-phia.”_ I leave it to the reader to know what was being referenced. ---
**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 11, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/293 "2024-04-11T17:20:08Z")
_ **1776** _, in which Daniels played John Adams. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/294 "2024-04-11T21:28:55Z")
In _Casino_, Joe La Due played one of the guys cheating at blackjack - specifically the one who had his hand broken with a hammer. In _Ocean’s Eleven_, he played Billy Tim Denham, the car dealer who had his hand crushed by Bernie Mac’s enthusiastic handshake while they were negotiating. ---
**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 11, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/295 "2024-04-11T22:28:59Z")
Once or twice a year our local Shakespeare company does a parody of a popular movie or series. The last one they did was the original Star Wars trilogy in 60 minutes. Every time Lando Calrissian came on stage he carried a can of Colt 45 malt liquor. I thought it was brilliantly hilarious, but most of the audience didn’t even notice. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pK5HmuCMBM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pK5HmuCMBM) ---
**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:** [April 11, 2024, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/296 "2024-04-11T22:43:39Z")
Not sure if this counts, but in _Dead Again,_ Derek Jacobi starts to stutter as his plan falls apart. Jacobi came to attention in _I, Claudius_ as Claudius, who had a stutter. ---
**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 12, 2024, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/297 "2024-04-12T00:16:55Z")
Jacobi also starred in _Breaking the Code_, a stage play, later turned into a film by the BBC, about Alan Turing. Turing also stuttered. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/298 "2024-04-13T18:52:06Z")
I came across one today. David Tennant does the voice of an alien dog creature in an episode of _Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur_ at the end of the episode he flies off in a large, blue, box like ship. Also his line “I’ve got a bone to pick with you.” sounds like something The Doctor or Scrooge McDuck would say. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/299 "2024-04-16T04:35:12Z")
This one is kind of reaching, but bear with me… _Clue_ (1985): Wadsworth the butler answers the door during a rainstorm. The guy standing there says his car broke down and could he use the telephone… The key being: Wadsworth is played by Tim Curry, whose most famous movie was… ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/300 "2024-04-16T14:07:19Z")
The writers may or may not have intended it (the scene was probably written long before Tim Curry was cast), but every Rocky Horror fan notices it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/301 "2024-04-16T14:21:42Z")
In “The Lion King”, young Simba tells his uncle Scar, played by Jeremy Irons, that he’s so weird. Scar replies “You have no idea”, an exact repeat of his line from “Reversal of Fortune”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=16)