# "One Hit" Actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569 "2021-09-12T23:02:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [September 13, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/81 "2021-09-13T16:57:12Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > He was in a lot of films after that but rarely rated much higher than a B list action staple. Hey – **Ladyhawke** was at least A-list ---
**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:** [September 13, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/82 "2021-09-13T17:40:45Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Heath Ledger and Cesar Romero would respectfully disagree. And they’d be wrong, but that’s okay! They are still better than whats-his-face (had to look it up, Jared Leto)… ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/83 "2021-09-13T18:17:27Z")
Kate Dollenmayer played the lead role in Andrew Bujalski’s **Funny Ha Ha** , regarded by many as the first mumblecore movie. Since then, she’s had one other acting role (in the same director’s “Mutual Appreciation”) and now works as a film archivist. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/84 "2021-09-13T18:31:57Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I think the first time most of us noticed **Rutger Hauer** was in _Blade Runner_ (a charismatic performance topped off with that magnificent soliloquy). He was in a lot of films after that but rarely rated much higher than a B list action staple. He was creepy as hell, tormenting C. Thomas Howell in the original _The Hitcher_. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/85 "2021-09-13T18:34:54Z")
Having the starring role in the recent Aretha Franklin biopic doesn’t count? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/86 "2021-09-13T18:36:30Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I think the first time most of us noticed **Rutger Hauer** was in _Blade Runner_ (a charismatic performance topped off with that magnificent soliloquy). He was in a lot of films after that but rarely rated much higher than a B list action staple. Isn’t that more of the case of a B-Movie staple who has one great role in an actually good movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/87 "2021-09-13T18:43:19Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Isn’t that more of the case of a B-Movie staple who has one great role in an actually good movie. I don’t think Hauer was a B-Movie staple until after _Blade Runner_. With the exception of _Nighthawks_, he was more of an Indie/Art House actor before that. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/88 "2021-09-13T18:49:23Z")
He did star in the greatest sci-fi B-movie ever made, **Split Second**. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/89 "2021-09-13T18:50:14Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Having the starring role in the recent Aretha Franklin biopic doesn’t count? Honestly, I was completely unaware of this movie until you mentioned it. From what I’ve seen the review were middling and the box office was terrible (although you can blame that on the pandemic), so no I wouldn’t classify it as another “hit” for Hudson. ---
**Author:** ![Ziberian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/919ad9/32.png) [@Ziberian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ziberian)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/90 "2021-09-13T19:07:59Z")
Louise Fletcher, who was maybe a little too good as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She, and a number of other actors whose names that have been posted, are considered victims of the ‘Oscar Curse’. [https://www.cnbc.com/2011/02/22/13-Actors-Hit-With-The-Oscar-Curse.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2011/02/22/13-Actors-Hit-With-The-Oscar-Curse.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/91 "2021-09-13T19:12:35Z")
I thought that Star Wars was the greatest sci-fi B movie ever made. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/92 "2021-09-13T19:15:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Seems to me that a lot of these fall into two categories- child/teen actors who had one big role, and then never really found their footing Two in this category are the leads in Zeffirelli’s 1968 _Romeo and Juliet_. Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting both won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor and Actress. Hussey worked consistently for years after but never had another big hit. Whiting had a couple more roles and that was it. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/93 "2021-09-13T19:16:42Z")
Speaking of Mark Hamill and Tom Hulce in Amadeus, Hamill played Mozart when the play was on Broadway and also was part of the first touring production (I saw him in Los Angeles at the Schubert). When the film was announced, Hamill auditioned and got call backs, but the director decided he wanted to go with relative unknowns in all the parts - he thought the audience would be too distracted by “It’s Luke Skywalker!” to buy him as Mozart. Pinto was not a problem, I guess. So in this case, Star Wars was a hindrance to continuing his film career. Instead, he did a lot of stage work in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/94 "2021-09-13T19:27:16Z")
With the debate about Mark Hamill i thought of another Star Wars actor—Hayden Christensen. Hayden starred in all three prequel films but never had any other role as a high profile as that again. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/95 "2021-09-13T19:30:29Z")
And come to think of Anthony Daniels really doesn’t have an acting career outside of playing C-3PO. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/96 "2021-09-13T19:41:20Z")
His career was over because Sydney Greenstreet retired after 8 years in pictures and died soon after. He wasn’t washed up by any means. He was a successful stage actor for decades and at age 62 he first dipped his foot in motion pictures. Hardly a one hit actor. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/97 "2021-09-13T19:52:45Z")
Bunch a’ nobodies in that thing! ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/98 "2021-09-13T19:53:24Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Stacey Dash also comes to mind. She starred in clueless along with a bunch of other actors who went on to some pretty successful careers (Paul Rudd and Brittany Murphy, for example). But I think people only know her as an actress from Clueless. (I would put “news contributor” in a separate category from acting.) The only other movie I’ve ever heard about her being in was showtime or Cinemax found some unreleased softcore “thriller” where a former cop helps her get revenge on a night club owning gangster who killed her sister she was in a couple of longish sex scenes the softcore part mainly came from the gangster’s hobby of having two girls do each other on a couch in the office while he watched which was in every scene he was in … apparently, her sister was one of the couch girls and overheard something she shouldn’t of and was killed by bad coke so she started singing at the club to get dirt and close enough to kill him … the subplot was the hero was a cop that was run out of the force for reporting drug dealer rip-offs by the rest of the crooked force and because he and the dash character were in… something … he buys off the homicide detectives by lying about the drugs payoff … ---
**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:** [September 13, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/99 "2021-09-13T19:53:47Z")
My favorite weird fact along these lines – Duncan “Dean” Parkin’s entire movie acting career consisted of playing inarticulate one-eyed bald giants in Bert I. Gordon movies. He replaced Glenn Langan as Lt. Col. Glenn Manning ( **The Amazing Colossal Man** ) for the sequel, **War of the Colossal Beast** , and he played Bruce Barton, “The Cyclops” in **The Cyclops** After that there was no further need for his thespian skills. He was an uncredited stagehand for **The Beginning of the End**. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569/100 "2021-09-13T20:04:25Z")
This far down and no one has mentioned Alicia Silverstone? Aside from _ **Clueless** _, I think I’ve only ever seen her in _ **Batman and Robin** _ and _ **Blast from the Past** _. I know she’s been in lots of other films, but none that I even knew existed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hit-actors/950569.md?page=6)