# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/101 "2021-01-09T19:10:30Z")
She also was on an episode of Mad About You playing an actress who once had the role ‘Spy Girl’. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/102 "2021-01-09T20:31:44Z")
George Raft in _Some Like It Hot_ had a habit of flipping a coin in one hand. This and some of his other films was a reference to his breakthrough role in _Scarface,_ where he has constantly flipping a coin. In one of the _Golddigger_ films, Ruby Keeler is turned down in an dance audition by a stage director played by Busby Berkeley, who directed and created most of the dances that made her a star. Bette Davis was shown to be a terrible actress in _Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?_ on the strength of clips of her actual films. (Davis chose the clips from movies she hated.) In _His Girl Friday_, Cary Grant referred to Earl Williams (hidden in a roll top desk) as “Mock Turtle,” his role in the Paramount _Alice in Wonderland._ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/103 "2021-01-09T21:58:22Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > George Raft in _Some Like It Hot_ had a habit of flipping a coin in one hand. This and some of his other films was a reference to his breakthrough role in _Scarface,_ where he has constantly flipping a coin. Raft was still flipping that coin in the 1967 non-EON James Bond film **Casino Royale** ---
**Author:** ![TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiberiusNeroClaudius)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/104 "2021-01-09T23:27:21Z")
“Bob Newhart 19th anniversary special” where Newhart talks about having a dream where he owned an inn in Vermont. Howard (Bill Daily) says he once dreamed he was an astronaut. At the end when the elevator opens, Larry, Darryl and Darryl were in it so Bob decided to take the stairs. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/105 "2021-01-10T00:04:45Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Bette Davis was shown to be a terrible actress in _Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?_ on the strength of clips of her actual films. Along those lines, Gloria Swanson had a film that was shot in 1932, but not released until 1985 (actually, it had a very limited release in S. America in the 1930s, but was never shown in the US until 1985). It was about “white slavery,” ran afoul of the brand new Hays code. When the code began to relax, no complete print was known, but one was found in 1984, and cleaned up with the new computer technology being used to restore old films, and the film, _Queen Kelly_, was released in the US. However, when a film was needed for Norma Desmond to view as she relived her glory days in _Sunset Boulevard_, some scenes from _Queen Kelly_ were used. The director was Erich von Stroheim, her butler and general manservant in _Sunset Boulevard_. Also interesting, is the fact that there was a remake of _Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?_ starring Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave, with Vanessa as the serious actress, and Lynn as the washed up joke. It was particularly meta, because within the context of the film, Lynn is actually required to execute a much more complex performance (and does) than her sister. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/106 "2021-01-10T00:59:18Z")
Re_Sunset Boulevard_ there was the line by Max von Meyerling (Erich von Stroheim), “There were three young directors who showed promise in those days: D. W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille, and Max Von Mayerling.” Of course that was certainly true if you use Von Stroheim for the third name. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/107 "2021-01-10T01:21:59Z")
That line is a conceit, and usually gets laughs, because while von Stroheim was a good director, I would not say that he was in the top three. If you are considering von Stroheim, you surely have to consider King Vidor, Howard Hawks, Charlie Chaplin, just in the US. Then, there are twice as many more directors outside the US that rank above von Stroheim. Moreover, DW Griffith was the first director who was an auteur; possesses a singular greatness; and most of all, was also well-established by the time von Strohheim first picked up his bull horn. Griffith began directing in 1908, and made _Birth of a Nation_ in 1915. Von Stroheim did not even begin directing until 1919; he had only 12 directing credits, while Griffith had more than 12 blockbusters; and von Stroheim’s only tour de force was 1924’s _Greed_ (albeit, that was a great one). Von Stroheim really is mostly known as an actor, who had one great moment when he dabbled in directing, ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/108 "2021-01-10T02:26:10Z")
Most of those (except Chaplin) established themselves after Von Stroheim. But Andrew Sarris did consider Von Stroheim as one of his pantheon directors, and his work was far in advance of others of the silent days. But the quote acknowledges Griffith and if you only count dramatic directors, Von Stroheim certainly belongs among the top three. Even the mangled version of _Greed_ is better than 99% of films of the era. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/109 "2021-01-10T02:49:58Z")
Although they weren’t working together, Griffith drew the template for a uniquely American style of cinema, and Chaplain and Vidor rounded it out. Hawks showed how to fit genre stories into it. Every Hollywood film (and many independent ones) operate under this paradigm. Hitchcock, Lubitsch, Lang, Eisenstein, were off inventing styles of cinema for other countries. When WWII brought many of them here, and took soldiers overseas to see films in other countries, that’s when independent films reflecting other sensibilities began to be made. When the great directors left, so did the great actors, and many became very patriotic Americans. Marlene Dietrich made the first “Buy War Bonds!” ad for showing in theaters, and was very vocally pro-US, anti-3rd Reich. Von Stroheim got lucky once, and made a heart-wrenching film. But he didn’t have the people skills to be a good director. He wasted a lot of the budget of his films paying actors to stand around arguing period underwear with him. He made only 12 films because he had a reputation for being difficult to work with, and couldn’t find producers. What he was, was a powerhouse actor, and he should have stuck to it. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/110 "2021-01-10T06:58:12Z")
When Todd describes the Margo Martindale character in _Bojack Horseman_, he says something like “She could be an aging southern belle, or a Russian spy, or [some other stuff I forgot]”, all references to Margo Martindale’s previous roles. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/111 "2021-01-10T07:29:16Z")
There’s an episode of DOCTOR WHO where our hero dismissively notes that, while the authorities _thought_ they’d captured The Master, they’d merely succeeded in arresting a man who turned out to be the Spanish ambassador. Which was, of course, Roger Delgado’s old role. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/112 "2021-01-10T08:51:22Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/113 "2021-01-10T11:41:31Z")
The 200th episode of TV series **Stargate SG-1** (an episode which was called “200”) was an all out comedic episode parodying and referencing many other films and TV shows. Mainly SciFi shows. One of the TV shows parodied was **Farscape** , a show which starred **Ben Browder** (by then a **Stargate SG-1** regular) and **Claudia Black** (previously a regular and by then an occasional guest star in **Stargate**.) For the spoof **Browder** did NOT portray his own **Farscape** character but **Black** did portray hers. > **[200 (Stargate SG-1)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/200_(Stargate_SG-1))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > "200" is the sixth episode of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1's tenth season, and the 200th episode of the series overall. Unlike the more serious nature of the season's story arc, "200" is a light-hearted parody of both Stargate SG-1 and other sci-fi shows, as well as popular culture like The Wizard of Oz. > "200" won the 2007 Constellation Award for Best Overall 2006 Science Fiction Film or Television Script, and was nomina... TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/114 "2021-01-10T19:44:14Z")
In The Road to Bali, Harold (Bob Hope) and George (Bing Crosby) are on an island in the Pacific when they spot Humphrey Bogart with The African Queen. George holds up the Academy Award Bogart won for that role to prove they weren’t imagining him. Harold grabs the Oscar away. Harold (to George): That’s mine. You’ve got one. (Bing Crosby had won an Oscar for Going My Way.) ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/115 "2021-01-10T22:03:27Z")
Selfish bastard. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/116 "2021-01-10T22:08:18Z")
I think it was on Herman’s Head that Yeardley Smith’s character mentioned someone saying that she sounded like Lisa Simpson. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/117 "2021-01-11T00:15:04Z")
Yeah, I remember that ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/118 "2021-01-11T03:51:52Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > More likely it is a reference to her role in the short-lived “That 80’s Show” I’d completely forgotten about that show. But, reviewing the cast shots, I’d say she was more punk there than goth. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/119 "2021-01-14T15:54:25Z")
In _The Mission_, Robert De Nero plays a would-be aristocrat and notorious duellist. Whenever he sets out to kill someone, he starts the conversation with a stilted “At whom do you laugh?” It just occurred to me that this was probably an allusion to the well-rehearsed “You talkin’ to me?” from _Taxi Driver._ ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/120 "2021-01-14T18:08:02Z")
When I saw her image here, I remembered her as being really funny but couldn’t place her in any shows. Oh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=7)