# Once-great Actors on the Skids **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2001, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341 "2001-10-24T17:10:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/1 "2001-10-24T17:10:24Z")
Last night, I went to a free preview of the new re-make of of William Castle’s “13 Ghosts” at the Cineplex Odeon Outer Circle in DC (overall lousy movie with some good scary scenes and one VERY gory scene). In the opening scene, we see Matthew Lillard as a ghost-hunting psychic and as his sinister employer is…F. Murray Abrahams. I cannot believe that a guy who won a freakin’ Academy Award[sup]TM[/sup] for playing Antonio Salieri in “Amadeus” 16 years ago is reduced to playing the heavy in a schlocky low-budget horror flick. What the hell happened to his career? He’s done movies, Broadway, and now “13 Ghosts.” He really needs to fire his agent. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/2 "2001-10-24T17:20:58Z")
Sean Astin. From leads in _Toy Soldiers_ and _Rudy_ to a bit part as a cameraman in _Bullworth_. ---
**Author:** ![whatmove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecc23a/32.png) [@whatmove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatmove)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/3 "2001-10-24T17:23:45Z")
Paul Ruebens – went from Saturday Morning television as Pee Wee Herman to a completely different role on _Murphy Brown_…oh wait, scratch that ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/4 "2001-10-24T17:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Sean Astin. From leads in _Toy Soldiers_ and _Rudy_ to a bit part as a cameraman in _Bullworth_. \*\* He’s playing Sam Gamgee in _Lord of the Rings_! So he’s certainly off the skids now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![whatmove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecc23a/32.png) [@whatmove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatmove)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/5 "2001-10-24T17:27:31Z")
Jim Varney – went from the lovable Ernest P. Warrel in _Ernest Goes to Camp_ to the mean, ruthless lead he had in _Ernest Saves Christmas_…oh wait, scratch that ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/6 "2001-10-24T17:32:59Z")
I dunno. I thought F. Murray Abraham was pretty good in _Finding Forrester_. That’s one of the curses that can happen to an Oscar winner. I mean, what’s greater than winning an Oscar? After that, everything you do seems to be crap. You’ve already reached the top, the only place you can go is down. That doesn’t happen to all actors or actresses that win an Oscar, but in a lot of cases that does happen. At least, that’s my opinion. But in response to the OP…I would have to say Anthony Perkins. _Psycho_, and then some years later _Blackhole_, or the numerous (and stupid) _Psycho_ sequels. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/7 "2001-10-24T18:20:40Z")
Christ, he had it all. What a loser! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/8 "2001-10-24T18:39:02Z")
Wow, I forgot all about him. Jan Michael vincent used to be so hot. I lusted after him bigtime watching “Airwolf.” Now, he’s fat, alcoholic, old and ugly. Damn, that’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/9 "2001-10-24T18:47:53Z")
You could have been describing Brando. ---
**Author:** ![Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommy_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/10 "2001-10-24T20:03:39Z")
You could almost say that about Michael Caine. Playing the bad guy opposite Steven Segal in **On Deadly Ground**. What’s up with that? OK, then again, I think he just does films to get out of the house. For every **Cider House Rules** and **Little Voice** there’s a **Jaws III - 3-D**. Just can’t pin him down. Michael Caine has got to be strung out on crank. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/11 "2001-10-24T21:54:17Z")
I think the poster child for this is Bela Legosi. From Dracula to the Ed Wood crap that he ended up in, strung out on heroin and being replaced by Ed Wood’s dentist because he had, um, died. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/12 "2001-10-24T22:21:15Z")
A number of careers appear to have either taken a dive or were temporarily interrupted as a result of the film _Caligula_. A certain someone went so low as to be cast as Mr. Roarke on the _remake_ of “Fantasy Island.” That’s low, dude. Speaking of Rourkes, well… Some would argue that you had to be great at some point to meet the qualifications of this thread. And **gobear** , what the hell were you doing watching a film last night when the Drag Race was on? Even I was there. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/13 "2001-10-24T22:48:08Z")
I haven’t seen _13 Ghosts_, but the part F. Murray plays reminded me of another good-but-maybe-not-great Johnny Depp film, _The Ninth Gate_. Frank Langella played an evil super-powerful businessman trying to raise the devil. I couldn’t help but be disappointed at the aging, round Frank, while fondly remembering the sexy _Dracula_ Frank. Not that it was terrible or anything, just odd. He does do a great “evil guy” even in bad films- see _Bad Company_ with Ellen Barkin & Lawrence Fishburne as a prime example. Good flick, BTW, worth a rental. And **Sofa King** , don’t tease me. If you are going to gossip, spill it. Otherwise, don’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/14 "2001-10-24T22:52:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tommy the Cat \* > \*\* > Michael Caine has got to be strung out on crank. IMHO. \*\* You are, of course entitled to your opinion, but in all fairness to Mr. Caine, a bad choice of films does not put him “on the skids”. One cannot gauge public reaction to a film until the numbers are in, and the “numbers” have not been kind to quite a few great actors. The late Henry Fonda had _his_ “dogs”, as did James Cagney and Sean Connery (In my opinion he should have never reprised James Bond in _ **Never Say Never…** _). Be that as it may, I don’t think the OP meant for us to take the choice of a few bad films as an indication that these celebrities have “hit the skids”. Instead, how have they gone “downhill” in their private lives? If I misinterpreted that, then my apologies to you and the OP. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_O.Pinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/839c29/32.png) [@Frank\_O.Pinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_O.Pinion)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/15 "2001-10-24T23:36:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*You could have been describing Brando. \*\* Hey! He is not an alcoholic!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/16 "2001-10-24T23:50:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tommy the Cat \* > **OK, then again, I think he just does films to get out of the house. For every Cider House Rules and Little Voice there’s a Jaws III - 3-D. Just can’t pin him down.** Nitpick: Caine was in _Jaws IV_. Dennis Quaid was in _Jaws 3D_. And I think John Travolta qualifies for this catagory every seven years or so. His career is similar to Haley’s comet - shows up really big and shiney for a while, then just wanders off again. ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/17 "2001-10-25T00:19:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Telemark \* > \*\*strung out on heroin and being replaced by Ed Wood’s dentist because he had, um, died. \*\* Chiropractor. Tim Roth. Many great performances, including one of the best villians of all time in _Rob Roy_, has made nothing but shite for the past four or five years. ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/18 "2001-10-25T01:29:21Z")
Michael Caine has never made a secret of the fact that he will act in anything if the money is good enough, He grew up dirt poor and openly admits he has had one goal only in being an actor: making money. Art of any kind is a very distant secondary consideration. He probably shouldn’t even be on this list, he’s being doing shithouse movies like ‘Killer Bees’ for the last 40 years but his acting always seems to be on about the same level. He plays Michael Caine remarkably well, but he’s only in it for the money. Now Steven Segal is a definite contender, not that he was ever an actor. He was all set to become the next Arnie or Sly when the ‘Under Siege’ movies were released, and since then everything he’s been in has flopped. He was even reduced to doing a walk-on in some Kurt Russell flick. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/19 "2001-10-25T01:36:24Z")
Of course, when you can do a good movie _and_ get paid well enough, that’s great too. I was thinkin of Micheal Caine in **The Man Who Would Be King**. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341/20 "2001-10-25T01:49:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whatmove \* > \*\*Paul Ruebens – went from Saturday Morning television as Pee Wee Herman to a completely different role on _Murphy Brown_…oh wait, scratch that \*\* He did. And that was a problem. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-great-actors-on-the-skids/89341.md?page=2)