# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/61 "2016-12-21T15:04:43Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > There’s an old 1960s art-house flick called “Petulia” which used to be considered a big deal, but is now mostly forgotten. […] the very surreal sight of quintessential humorless adult George C. Scott wandering around a Grateful Dead concert. It sounds like he might have drawn on this role for the lead in _Hardcore_. (In which he played a very straight midwestern furniture factory owner searching for his daughter in the sleaze of the LA porn industry.) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/62 "2016-12-21T16:04:56Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > \*Back to the Future II \*had a Michael J. Fox cameo as his own daughter. :dubious: I don’t consider that to be a cameo. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/63 "2016-12-21T16:19:58Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > Cate Blanchett played someone’s ex-girlfriend in _Shaun of the Dead_. > > She had a few lines, but it was hard to recognize her under the mask. I think you mean _Hot Fuzz_, as a crime scene investigator. She was Simon Pegg’s ex-girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/64 "2016-12-21T16:38:58Z")
Sting had a cameo in _The Adventures of Baron Munchausen_ as a soldier. I expected he was going to have some kind of glamorous role because he was such a big sex symbol at the time. Instead, he only had one line, and then some bureaucrat-in-charge ordered him to be executed for being too heroic. “Can’t have everybody thinking they can disrupt the nature of things.” _Shakes the Clown_, starring Bobcat Goldthwait as the titular clown, opens with him waking up in his skanky girlfriend’s bathroom, who turned out to be Florence Henderson. LaWanda Page (Aunt Esther from _Sanford & Son_) and Milton Berle also had cameos as clown barflies. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/65 "2016-12-21T17:02:19Z")
•Colonel Sanders, as himself, in 1970’s biker/crime drivein film, _Hell’s Bloody Devils_. (Quite logically, as it turned out—KFC was into providing free catering for such films, as long as they got featured onscreen. Very effective, low-cost advertising.) •Glenn Close in 1991’s _Hook_, as a pirate. [A bearded, male pirate.](http://neverpedia.com/pan/Glenn_Close) ---
**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 21, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/66 "2016-12-21T17:25:14Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > •Colonel Sanders, as himself, in 1970’s biker/crime drivein film, _Hell’s Bloody Devils_. > > (Quite logically, as it turned out—KFC was into providing free catering for such films, as long as they got featured onscreen. Very effective, low-cost advertising.) > > •Glenn Close in 1991’s _Hook_, as a pirate. [A bearded, male pirate.](http://neverpedia.com/pan/Glenn_Close) Colonel Sanders also had a cameo in the 1967 Jerry Lewis film **The Big Mouth**. They promoted it at KFC outlets with a picture of Jerry mugging next to the Colonel > **[The Big Mouth (1967) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061401/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast)** > > The Big Mouth (1967) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Dean Martin and Groucho Marx(!!!) both have cameos in Soupy Sales’ forgettable\* 1966 comedy **Bird Do It** > **[Birds Do It (1966) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060169/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast)** > > Birds Do It (1966) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. - Even Sales later said he didn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/67 "2016-12-21T17:30:54Z")
Mel Blanc as (the voice of) Father McKenzie in _Strange Brew_ always puzzled me. ---
**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 21, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/68 "2016-12-21T17:48:42Z")
Alfred E. Neuman had a cameo in a [Peanuts comic strip](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/peanuts/images/9/95/19730705.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140324013355). ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/69 "2016-12-21T17:57:57Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Alfred E. Neuman had a cameo in a [Peanuts comic strip](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/peanuts/images/9/95/19730705.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140324013355). These days, with Pastis and Tatulli and others sort of openly brawling, parodies, cameos and pastiches are almost common. Even tired old Parker and Hart have been dabbling in the game lately. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/70 "2016-12-21T19:44:44Z")
**Spies Like Us** is loaded with cameos, most of them well-known directors: Sam Raimi, the Coen Brothers, Michael Apted, Terry Gilliam, , Martin Brest, Costa-Gavras, Bob Swaim and Larry Cohen. Also in it were Frank Oz, B.B. King, Ray Harryhausen and (of course) Bob Hope. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/71 "2016-12-21T19:49:41Z")
I keep wanting to read the thread title as _Oldest_ cameo in a movie. Carry on. ---
**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:** [December 21, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/72 "2016-12-21T19:58:55Z")
[Count Basie and his band](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2xYaL_Mheg) in the middle of the desert in _Blazing Saddles_ And of course, [reverent tone][Randolph Scott!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGYoChoijvY)[/rt] ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/73 "2016-12-21T21:43:13Z")
Brad Pitt and Matt Damon as dating game contestants in \*\*Confessions of a Dangerous Mind \*\* [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VxkXpKHdkfE/hqdefault.jpg "Brad Pitt - Matt Damon - CAMEO in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxkXpKHdkfE) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/74 "2016-12-21T23:49:05Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > I keep wanting to read the thread title as _Oldest_ cameo in a movie. > > Carry on. Possibly [_Womanhood, the Glory of the Nation_](https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womanhood,_the_Glory_of_the_Nation&prev=search)? ---
**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 22, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/75 "2016-12-22T01:17:56Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > **Spies Like Us** is loaded with cameos, most of them well-known directors: Sam Raimi, the Coen Brothers, Michael Apted, Terry Gilliam, , Martin Brest, Costa-Gavras, Bob Swaim and Larry Cohen. > > Also in it were Frank Oz, B.B. King, Ray Harryhausen and (of course) Bob Hope. Ray Harryhausen and Terry Moore both had cameos in the Disney remake of _Mighty Joe Young_ ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/76 "2016-12-22T02:55:56Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Somebody named Cyril Lord “The Carpet King” on a bat climb in the 1960s “Batman” tv Series. Cyril Lord? I remember him. A carpet salesman from the UK in the '60s. > **[Cyril Lord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Lord)** > > Cyril Lord (12 July 1911 – 29 May 1984) was a British entrepreneur, known principally for the manufacture of carpets during the 1960s. Born in Droylsden in Lancashire, Lord spent his early years living in a community of textile mill-workers. His main carpet factory was at Donaghadee in the north of County Down in Ulster. This factory was largely designed by Billy McAlister, a Belfast architect, and his team. > Lord was married three times. In 1936 he married Bessie Greenwood, and they had one son... > [@](#): > > In the 1960s Lord sold some expensive rugs to film and television producer William Dozier and was paid by a cameo on the Batman TV series. The TV advertising jingle “This is luxury you can afford from Cyril Lord” was very well known in the 1960s. > It was parodied in the song “I’m Bored” by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band as “This is boredom you can afford from Cyril Lord” on their debut album Gorilla (1967). Gorilla is one of my favourite albums, for what its worth. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/77 "2016-12-23T18:56:52Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Possibly [_Womanhood, the Glory of the Nation_](https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womanhood,_the_Glory_of_the_Nation&prev=search)? Neat. Somebody asked me that once and the only thing I could think of was the old Bob Hope movies with cameos by Bing Crosby. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/78 "2016-12-23T19:04:07Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Neat. Somebody asked me that once and the only thing I could think of was the old Bob Hope movies with cameos by Bing Crosby. I was thinking of author Elinor’s Glyn’s appearance in _It_ just to explain what “It” was and why Clara Bow had It–but that wasn’t until the 1920s. Two presidents cameoing in the 1910s has that beat. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/79 "2016-12-23T19:06:43Z")
Kurt Vonnegut wrote “Mother Night” so it’s not surpring he’d be offered a cameo spot in the movie. His appearance in “Back to School” was a surprise, though. He got the role because he was a neighbor of Rodney Dangerfield. So was spy novelist Robert Ludlum, who got a shout out in that same movie. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213/80 "2016-12-23T19:09:11Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > In _Airplane!_, there’s a shell-shocked war veteran named Lt. Hurwitz who thinks he’s Ethel Merman. He’s played by Ethel Merman. That’s not odd, is it? It’s the point of the joke. > [@Kron](#): > > I think you mean _Hot Fuzz_, as a crime scene investigator. She was Simon Pegg’s ex-girlfriend. Peter Jackson, the director, also cameos in Hot Fuzz. Martin Freeman appears very, very briefly as well. They would go on to make The Hobbit series later. What a world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddest-cameo-in-a-movie/775213.md?page=5)