# "It should have been me!!" or former co-stars of the now rich & famous **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628 "2005-05-19T20:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/21 "2005-05-19T22:33:47Z")
I believe Peter Scolari played the dad on the syndicated TV series _Honey, I Shrunk the Kids_, which ran for a few seasons. I just checked his [IMDb page](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0778642/) and he’s worked pretty consistently, but he’s certainly not a “big star”. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/22 "2005-05-19T23:10:54Z")
I don’t think it’s fair to put Alex Winter in this category. He purposely dropped out of acting and is happy being a director of smaller stuff. However, you just know that Lacey Chabert has a Jennifer Love Hewitt dart board in her house. Just look at Not Another Teen Movie. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/23 "2005-05-20T03:27:15Z")
Well, this isn’t quite the same, but I imagine Jeffrey (Captain Pike) Hunter must’ve seen lines around the block for Star Trek movies and conventions, and thought “Cripes, I’m a better actor than that Canadian ham Shatner! That should be ME!” Beyond that, Han Solo was a secondary character in “Star Wars.” Mark Hammill must wonder why Harrison Ford became such a huge star, while he’s done little except cartoon voices. Several members of the “In Living Color” cast have done all right for themselves, but all must wonder why Jim Carrey is the one getting 20 million bucks per picture. Oh, but the best example I can think of is… “Rawhide.” Clint Eastwood was a second banana on “Rawhide,” but became the biggest star (and one of the biggest directors) in Hollywood. Eric Fleming must’ve wondered how that happened! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/24 "2005-05-20T03:47:50Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Well, this isn’t quite the same, but I imagine Jeffrey (Captain Pike) Hunter must’ve seen lines around the block for Star Trek movies and conventions, and thought “Cripes, I’m a better actor than that Canadian ham Shatner! That should be ME!” Not likely. He died in 1969. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/25 "2005-05-20T04:47:02Z")
Jeff Conaway from _Taxi_ must really be the king of this category. His co-stars included Andy Kaufman (an inexpicably bigger-than-ever-in-death legend), Judd Hirsch (several TV series, movie appearances and B’way runs), Christopher Lloyd (one of the busiest character actors in Hollywood for many years), Danny Devito (by far the greatest on and offscreen success), Tony Danza (two successful series and a successful talk show), Marilu Henner (bestselling books and continued series work- made millions from some shopping channel tie-in thingy), while Conaway has never been more than a third banana on series (never the star like his former co-workers). Jack Burns (b.k.a. Warren from Andy Griffith) was part of a comedy team with George Carlin (who became a superstar of stand-up after the act dissolved) and later teamed with Avery Schreiber (who while not as big as Carlin certainly kept busy in commercials and guest appearances) while Burns made an embarassing SNL appearance and then faded from view. Cheech Marin has had a very successful career as a character actor playing everything from homeless lowlifes to successful businessmen while former partner Tommy Chong played the same stoner character on _That 70s Show_ and went to prison (very unfairly, imo). Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff became horror superstars the same year and starred in several movies together, though by the end Bela was making a fraction of Boris’s paycheck and of course wound up penniless doing some of the worst movies ever made while Karloff only became more respected, richer and accoladed as he got older. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/26 "2005-05-20T05:14:55Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Joyce DeWitt > > you know, the really pretty one I’m told I resemble her quite frequently, so let me just say, thanks for the compliment! ---
**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:** [May 20, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/27 "2005-05-20T05:24:25Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > I remember noticing him in _That Thing You Do_, and thinking how nice it was that his old friend Hanks gave him a job. Also, did you notice that two of the boys in the band resembled a younger Scolari and Hanks?\* > > \*The one boy was actually the same actor who played the 12-year-old boy Tom Hanks grew up from in _Big_ I don’t think this is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/28 "2005-05-20T05:46:56Z")
Scolari also provided at least one voice in Tom Hanks’ _Polar Express_. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/29 "2005-05-20T05:55:42Z")
Bruce Willis far eclipsed Cybill Shephard in spite of her head start on his career. She hasn’t done terribly (a moderately successful sit-com), but no $15 million paydays. (OTOH, considering she has no talent and Christine Baranski carried her on the show that bore her name she’s done fantastically.) There’s a major gender dichotomy even when talent is equal. Tom Cruise never slowed down after RISKY BUSINESS while Rebecca DeMornay just survived, and the same is true of Harrison Ford/Kelly McGillis from WITNESS, Patrick Swayze/Jennifer Grey from DIRTY DANCING and other programs. I think the intention in STAR TREK: TNG was to bring Patrick Stewart on board for authority figure and Jonathan Frakes for Sex Appeal. Now Patrick is earning millions in major summer releases and Frakes is voicing video games and lodged in everybody’s mind as Piscopo and Fairchild’s poker partner in the ubiquitous discount software bin. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/30 "2005-05-20T06:11:39Z")
Well, that could be because Stewart is about a googleplex times sexier (this coming from a straight guy). Phillip Michael Thomas hade four letters on a gold chain around his neck when Miami Vice peaked: E G O T. When asked what they stood for, he replied: “It’s for every award I’m gonna win.” I wonder if Calista Flockhart is happy being with Harrison Ford, now that [Jane Krakowski](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005105/) won a Tony and is turning into a sex symbol, considering Flockhart had the lead and Krakowski was brought on as a rather tragic figure. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/31 "2005-05-20T07:42:21Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > \*The one boy was actually the same actor who played the 12-year-old boy Tom Hanks grew up from in _Big_ That’s incorrect. The four guys in the band were played by Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, Tom Everett Scott and Ethan Embry, while the kid in _Big_ was played by David Moscow. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/32 "2005-05-20T12:29:57Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff became horror superstars the same year and starred in several movies together, though by the end Bela was making a fraction of Boris’s paycheck and of course wound up penniless doing some of the worst movies ever made while Karloff only became more respected, richer and accoladed as he got older. Bela also became a drug addict, which might have had something to do with his declining fortunres. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/33 "2005-05-20T12:40:56Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > That’s incorrect. The four guys in the band were played by Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, Tom Everett Scott and Ethan Embry, while the kid in _Big_ was played by David Moscow. I thought I heard Tom Hanks say that it was the same boy in a featurette for this movie, but I must have either misunderstood or misremembered. Either way, consider the statement withdrawn, and I’ll just crawl away in shame… (and get back to work). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/34 "2005-05-20T12:41:49Z")
The other guys in Bonanza have to resent Michael Landon’s huge success. He was just an unknown kid when the series started. Michael McKean has done more than his Spinal Tap cohorts. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/35 "2005-05-20T12:43:36Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The other guys in Bonanza have to resent Michael Landon’s huge success. He was just an unknown kid when the series started. > > Michael McKean has done more than his Spinal Tap cohorts. More work, perhaps, but I’d venture to say that Christopher Guest has had greater success by any other measure. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/36 "2005-05-20T13:05:05Z")
Of the two guys in _Two Guys and a Girl_, [Ryan Reynolds](http://us.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/2953/Events/2953/RyanReynol_Wargo_4791845_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Reynolds,%20Ryan%20(I)) has been the one to parlay it into a big-time movie career (albeit several years after the show folded). This surprises me somewhat, as I thought for sure [Richard Ruccolo](http://us.imdb.com/gallery/hh/0748483/HH/0748483/iid_893862.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Ruccolo,%20Richard) had more star power. Not that I’d kick either one of 'em out for eating crackers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/37 "2005-05-20T13:15:42Z")
Jeff Conaway stared in the movie _Grease_, but I heard he turned super fundamental Christian. He may not be interested in Hollywood anymore. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/38 "2005-05-20T13:25:06Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > More work, perhaps, but I’d venture to say that Christopher Guest has had greater success by any other measure. Harry Shearer is no slouch, either, between the Simpsons paycheck and his popular NPR talk show (_Le Show_). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/39 "2005-05-20T13:31:28Z")
> [@Licentious Ectomorph](#): > > Of the two guys in _Two Guys and a Girl_, [Ryan Reynolds](http://us.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/2953/Events/2953/RyanReynol_Wargo_4791845_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Reynolds,%20Ryan%20(I)) has been the one to parlay it into a big-time movie career (albeit several years after the show folded). I’m hoping Nathan Fillion will be the guy from that cast to really makle it big, come September. What’s the name of the other guy who was with Paul Reiser in “My Two Dads”? Paul goes on to do “Aliens” and “Mad About You”…I think that other guy landed up in TV hell - lots of made-forTV films and soaps ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628/40 "2005-05-20T14:00:40Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > I remember noticing him in _That Thing You Do_, and thinking how nice it was that his old friend Hanks gave him a job. Also, did you notice that two of the boys in the band resembled a younger Scolari and Hanks? Scolari was the first person I thought of too. Back in _Bosom Buddies_ I liked him better – I like that short, muscular type. And I also noticed the resemblance between Scolari and Steve Zahn and Hanks and that other kid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-should-have-been-me-or-former-co-stars-of-the-now-rich-famous/304628.md?page=3)