# Seeing famous actors before they were famous **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516 "2011-03-13T09:59:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**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:** [March 28, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/181 "2011-03-28T06:17:13Z")
Viggo Mortensen played “Moses Hochleitner,” one of the Amish, in [Witness](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090329/). ---
**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:** [March 28, 2011, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/182 "2011-03-28T07:41:36Z")
I just saw a little bit of _Cleopatra_ on TV today. I had no idea Archie Bunker had been a Roman senator. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/183 "2011-03-28T11:30:36Z")
**George Clooney** in _Return of the Killer Tomatoes_. Not a small role. Here’s a compilation of scenes from his early appearances: > **[George Clooney video gallery: the early years](https://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/george-clooney-video-gallery-the-early-years/)** > > Since Oscar-winning actor and director George Clooney is in Ann Arbor this week, shooting his newest project, "The Ides of March," we thought it woud ... ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/184 "2011-03-28T12:26:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And I’m kinda annoyed at people thinking Leslie Neilsen was unknown before **Airplane!**. They got him _because_ he was a familiar face – and not just from **Forbidden Planet**. I certainly knew who he was before then. Look him up on the iMDB. He starred with Debbie Reynolds in Tammy and the Bachelor. That’s where I knew him from. (I’m not that old, but I have watched a few old movies). ---
**Author:** ![icallbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ac91a4/32.png) [@icallbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icallbull)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/185 "2011-03-28T15:18:31Z")
Was watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (movie) and was surprised to see Ben Affleck as one of the opponents on the basketball team. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/186 "2011-03-28T15:31:21Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > And Floyd the stoner in _True Romance_. That could qualify as his first comedic role. Jeez but he nailed the funny there. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/187 "2011-03-29T10:52:25Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Also, for a non-human appearance, one of the first issues of [Games Magazine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_%28magazine%29) was in National Lampoon’s Vacation. Well, since inanimate objects count: There’s an episode of _Leave It To Beaver_ with the Munster’s house in it. There’s no gate or fence around it, but it’s supposed to be a creepy vacant house. Then it guest starred on _Dragnet_ after it was washed up and out of work. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/188 "2011-03-29T15:35:48Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I used to watch Law and Order: Criminal Intent a lot, and it’s still jarring to see a young Vincent D’Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket. Or even better, his role as Dawson (Thor) in Adventures In Babysitting. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/189 "2011-03-30T06:17:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I just saw a little bit of _Cleopatra_ on TV today. I had no idea Archie Bunker had been a Roman senator. He also played a British General, both 1960s and his ancestor at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, on “The Time Tunnel”. He was turned down for the Skipper on “Gilligan’s Island”. Apparently casting someone who could be frustrated at Gilligan yet not perceived as a bully was a hard job until they found Alan Hale Jr. Ruth Gordon (born 1896) appeared as an extra in some 1915 silent films and didn’t work in films again until 1940. When she won an Oscar in 1968 for “Rosemary’s Baby” she said how encouraging this was for her career. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/190 "2011-03-30T07:50:01Z")
I have _Judgment at Nuremburg_ (1961) on my DVR. I noticed that William Shatner had a significant role as Army Capt. Harry Byers, the assistant to Spencer Tracy’s Judge Haywood. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2011, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/191 "2011-03-30T11:49:07Z")
Shatner’s actually in plenty of stuff before _Star Trek_. He appeared in several Tv series – _Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone_ (twice, most famously for Nightmare at 20,000 Feet), _The Outer Limits, \* and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (with Leonard Nimoy!). He also appeared in a number of flicks, including **The Outrage** a western remake_ of Akira Kurasawa’s **Rashomon**. That’s an interesting flick, as far as the casting goes – besides a young Shatner, it has Paul Newman (as a Mexican !), Claire Bloom, Howard da Silva (before he played Ben Franklin), and Edward G. Robinson. But it’s like nobody noticed him until he sat in the Captain’s chair. \*Remaking Kurasawa’s samurai films as westerns seemed to be required. They did it to _The Seven Samurai_ and _Yojimbo_, too. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/192 "2011-03-30T13:20:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Outrage**. . . [is] an interesting flick, as far as the casting goes – besides a young Shatner, it has Paul Newman (as a Mexican !), Claire Bloom, Howard da Silva (before he played Ben Franklin), and Edward G. Robinson. As well as Laurence Harvey. Who knew just how Jewish the Old West was! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/193 "2011-03-30T13:22:46Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > As well as Laurence Harvey. Who knew just how Jewish the Old West was! “They called him…Irving.” ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/194 "2012-09-08T16:22:25Z")
Old thread but fascinating. Cobie Smulders appeared on Smallville as Lexs girlfriend one episode. David Boronez gets beaten up by Al Bundy in one episode of Married with Children. Emily Dechanel has a small part in the Alamo and Cold Mountain. The Star Wars prequels are full of this. Kiera Knightley as a decoy Queen. Rose Byrne as a Handmaiden. Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars. ---
**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 8, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/195 "2012-09-08T16:51:07Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Did he have a big role in American Graffiti? My memory of that movie is pretty vague. > > I’m pretty sure he was still working as a carpenter when Coppala hired him for Apocalypse, so he can’t have been _that_ famous at the time. Ford played Bob Falfa, the guy in the cowboy hat who races against Paul LeMat toward the end of the flick: “That car looks like a cross between piss yellow and puke green!” IIRC, he had just finished filming _Star Wars_ when Coppola cast him in _Apocalypse Now._ (I don’t recall if _Star Wars_ had been released yet, but he was certainly a megastar by the time his scenes were filmed.) If you look at the name tag on his Army uniform, you’ll see his character was named Col. Lucas at his request. This may or may not be his first film appearance; I don’t know if he’s ever confirmed or denied it: [http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=17482](http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=17482) _In re_ “Columbo”: A very young Katey Sagal (aka “Peg Bundy,” “Leela”) was the hot secretary/mistress in the episode where Jackie Cooper was running for the Senate. Kim Catrall was in one episode when she was about 15. Somebody may have mentioned it already, but Richard Dreyfus was also a college student in _The Graduate_: “You want me to call the cops? I’ll call the cops!” Walter Koenig (aka “Ensign Chekov”) was a GI in an early episode of “Combat!” Leonard Nimoy was also in a couple of episodes as a German-speaking GI (but his characters had different names). ---
**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 8, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/196 "2012-09-08T16:58:53Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > I’d say anything pre-Nanny would count for Drescher. She played a nymphomaniac with a split personality on one episode of “Night Court.” Dan Fielding managed to get her into the broom closet for a quickie and ended up regretting it. It was hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/197 "2012-09-08T17:06:05Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I often keep an eye out when watching older movies to see if there are any famous people in early roles. Today, I was watching the Green Mile, and recognized Sam Rockwell as Wild Bill. I used to watch Law and Order: Criminal Intent a lot, and it’s still jarring to see a young Vincent D’Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket. Watch him in Adventures in Babysitting. ---
**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 8, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/198 "2012-09-08T17:10:40Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I once saw Burt Reynolds in an episode of _Flipper_. > > Or was it _Sea Hunt_? It had water in it. Nimoy was also in an episode of “Sea Hunt” as a Latin American revolutionary or something similar (it must have been right about the time of the Cuban revolution). ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/199 "2012-09-08T18:20:22Z")
Heh, I just resurrected a similar thread yesterday because I was watching _The Fugitive_ last night and recognized Jane Lynch as a colleague of Harrison Ford’s character. Also, Kirsten Nelson–who plays Chief Vick on _Psych_–has a bit part. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/200 "2012-09-08T23:20:12Z")
The other day I saw an episode of _Law & Order_ circa 1993 with a very young Fred Weller. I didn’t even know he was acting then, since I hadn’t heard of him before _In Plain Sight._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=11)