# Oddest cameo in a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213 "2016-12-20T06:35:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/1 "2016-12-20T06:35:07Z")
Today I had “Ski Party” (one of the beach party movies inexplicably set in a ski resort) on the TV, strictly as backing noise. So guess my surprise when a rescue patrol appears… [it’s James Brown and the Fabulous Flames!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_xBT_xavzM) So it got me thinking, what really unlikely or out of nowhere cameos have you seen in a movie or TV show? ---
**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:** [December 20, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/2 "2016-12-20T07:38:52Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Today I had “Ski Party” (one of the beach party movies inexplicably set in a ski resort) on the TV, strictly as backing noise. So guess my surprise when a rescue patrol appears… > [it’s James Brown and the Fabulous Flames!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_xBT_xavzM) Greeted by Batgirl, herself. The year before was _Muscle Beach Party_, with a brief appearance by Little Stevie Wonder. And listening to a conversation between Luciana Paluzzi (one of the sexiest voices ever) and Buddy Hackett is really going from the sublime to the ridiculous. There are some odd bit parts in _Casino Royale_ (1967), like Orson Welles and William Holden. I think my favorite might be how Alfred Hitchcock managed to get his cameo into _Lifeboat_. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/3 "2016-12-20T10:21:41Z")
[Cannibal Corpse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjiCh88q4kA) in _Ace Ventura: Pet Detective._ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/4 "2016-12-20T11:54:52Z")
_Wayne’s World_ had Charleton Heston as a random gas station attendant, as a joke. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/5 "2016-12-20T12:21:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > _Wayne’s World_ had Charleton Heston as a random gas station attendant, as a joke. That wasn’t odd. That was _wonderful_. And quite possibly my favourite Heston role. David Bowie as “The Shark” in _Yellowbeard_ was definitely a weird one though. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/6 "2016-12-20T12:31:03Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I think my favorite might be how Alfred Hitchcock managed to get his cameo into _Lifeboat_. He apparently got tons of letters asking for his weight loss secret. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/7 "2016-12-20T12:36:03Z")
Hook (1991) has some odd cameos including Glen Close, Carrie Fisher, David Crosby, George Lucas, Kelly Rowan, etc. \*Back to the Future II \*had a Michael J. Fox cameo as his own daughter. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/8 "2016-12-20T13:16:21Z")
_Airplane!_ has a cameo of Howard Jarvis sitting in a cab waiting for the driver (Hays) to come back. Howard Jarvis was the leader of the infamous Prop 13 campaign in California. That’s it. That was all he was known for. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/9 "2016-12-20T13:46:27Z")
Mine would be from the 2001 sequel 2010. There is one scene at a nursing home where a nurse lays down a magazine with the headline “WAR?” and two pictures on the front page. The pictures are of Stanley Kubrick (director) and Arthur C. Clarke (author). ---
**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:** [December 20, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/10 "2016-12-20T14:18:16Z")
The Blues Brothers had a trifecta: prison property manager Frank Oz, county tax collector Steven Spielberg, and swimming prisoner Joe Walsh. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/11 "2016-12-20T14:46:24Z")
Not a movie, but Jimmy Fallon’s appearance in \*Band of Brothers \*seemed to be the result of winning a bet and nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/12 "2016-12-20T14:48:28Z")
_Around the World in 80 Days_ had cameos galore. The one that yanked me out of the picture was Frank Sinatra as the honky-tonk piano player in a San Francisco saloon. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/13 "2016-12-20T14:48:40Z")
In _Airplane!_, there’s a shell-shocked war veteran named Lt. Hurwitz who thinks he’s Ethel Merman. He’s played by Ethel Merman. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/14 "2016-12-20T14:51:58Z")
For totally weird how about The Three Stooges in _4 For Texas_? The movie is a lightweight Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin western(?), wherein the Stooges appear for a 2 minutes bit as movers carrying a nude painting of Ursula Andress. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/15 "2016-12-20T14:54:42Z")
The Stainless Steel Rat, Clarke does another cameo in _2010_. There’s a scene where two of the main characters are sitting on a bench in front of the White House. Clarke plays a man who happens to be sitting there too. However, he is out-of-frame in the pan-and-scan version of the film on DVDs or videotapes. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/16 "2016-12-20T14:56:33Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > _Around the World in 80 Days_ had cameos galore. The one that yanked me out of the picture was Frank Sinatra as the honky-tonk piano player in a San Francisco saloon. _It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World_ did, too. It looks as if they were trying to get every comedian in America into that film. Arguably the weirdest cameos are in the movie _The List of Adrian Messenger_. It features five cameos by famous and easily recognizable stars who are so heavily made up that it’s virtually impossible to tell who they are. Their real identities are shown in clips at the end of the film when they peel off the makeup. Some posters and the video cover have pictures of the actors. You can find out who they are by going to the Wikipedia or imdb page for the film: > **[The List of Adrian Messenger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_List_of_Adrian_Messenger#/media/File:AdrianMessengerVHS.png)** > > The List of Adrian Messenger is a 1963 American mystery film directed by John Huston starring Kirk Douglas, George C. Scott, Dana Wynter, Clive Brook, Gladys Cooper and Herbert Marshall. It is based on a 1959 novel of the same name written by Philip MacDonald. > A writer named Adrian Messenger believes a series of apparently unrelated "accidental" deaths are actually linked murders. He asks his friend Anthony Gethryn, recently retired from MI5, to help clear up the mystery, and provides him with a... ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/17 "2016-12-20T15:02:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The year before was _Muscle Beach Party_, with a brief appearance by Little Stevie Wonder. And listening to a conversation between Luciana Paluzzi (one of the sexiest voices ever) and Buddy Hackett is really going from the sublime to the ridiculous. Not really a cameo, but the most amusing bit of casting in _Muscle Beach Party_ had to be the personal trainer of all those body builders, played by that well-known athlete and fitness expert, Don Rickles! Most of the Beach Party series had random cameos by fairly big name stars, starting with Vincent Price as “Big Daddy” in the first _Beach Party_, and including people like Boris Karloff, Mickey Rooney, Dorothy Lamour, and Buster Keaton (in three movies). ---
**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:** [December 20, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/18 "2016-12-20T15:20:13Z")
A favorite was one in an episode of _Green Acres_ when they go to Washington, DC. They meet with with their senator. Lisa: “What Actor are you?” Senator: “Actor?” Lisa: "Yes. All senators were actors before. What actor are you?\* Senator (after a pause): “Lyle Talbot.” He was, of course, played by Lyle Talbot, and dependable character actor of the time. His most visible role these days is an army general in one scene of _Plan 9 from Outer Space_, and he’s notable as the only competent actor in the film. \*Referring to people like California Senator George Murphy and, of course Ronald Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/19 "2016-12-20T15:32:14Z")
It has to Be Oscar the Grouch in the Muppet Movie [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tcOVNlpS2uA/maxresdefault.jpg "A Very Brief Cameo") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcOVNlpS2uA) ---
**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:** [December 20, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/20 "2016-12-20T15:41:42Z")
Kevin McCarthy is arguably most famous as the hero of Don Seigel’s original version of _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. The film was supposed to end with his character on the California freeway, yelling at all the drivers “You’re next! You’re next!” People treat him like a madman, and there was supposed to be a shot of him taken from inside one of the cars. It didn’t end up that way. The studio powers-that-be thought the ending was too much of a downer, so the shot of him from inside looking like he’s crazy is out, and they tacked on a more hopeful scene where people start to believe him. When Philip Kaufman remade the film in 1979 they brought McCarthy back at the very beginning to reprise the scene, this time shot from inside the car, as originally intended. It’s arguably a bit longer than a cameo. But McCarthy got to reprise it again for the movie _Loonie Tunes: Back in Action_ during the “Area 52” scene. It’s like McCarthy gets to re-do the character every 25 years or so. Maybe they can digitally resurrect him for it in 2028. The movie, directed by Joe Dante, has cameos by Roger Corman and others. Dante like cameos – his film _The Howling_ is full of cameos by genrte actors and directors (and Forrest J. Ackerman, holding a copy of _Famous Monsters of Filmland_) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213.md?page=2)