# 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:** 11
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/201 "2012-09-09T01:21:44Z")
[Sylvester Stallone meets Woody Allen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blOUfHFaNvs)in 1971. ---
**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 9, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/202 "2012-09-09T01:52:53Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > 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. Virginia Christine (aka “Mrs Olsen” of Folger’s Coffee fame) was the German _Hausfrau_ in that movie. She also played Eva, the Scandinavian immigrant, in the unintentionally hilarious _Billy the Kid vs. Dracula_ (1966). ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/203 "2012-09-09T02:09:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner _both_ guest-starring in a pre-Star Trek episode of **The Man from U.N.C.L.E.** “The Project Strigas Affair,” 24 Nov 1964. ---
**Author:** ![Bohomite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bohomite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bohomite)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/204 "2012-09-09T07:47:28Z")
Jane Lynch was in an episode of _Gilmore Girls_, as ‘nurse’. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/205 "2012-09-09T08:52:20Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > There is a movie in which Audrey Hepburn plays a girl who lights the leading man’s cigarette at a cafe… I can never remember which movie it was, and whether the leading man was Carey Grant or Jimmy Stewart (or someone else tall dark & handsome). Does anyone know what film it was? Oooh oooh oooh - I know this; _The Lavender Hill Mob_; she lights Alec Guinness’ cigarette. One of the best actors ever in one of the best films ever. And Hepburn wasn’t bad, either… ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/206 "2012-09-09T15:52:14Z")
> [@Bohomite](#): > > Jane Lynch was in an episode of _Gilmore Girls_, as ‘nurse’. About 8 years before that, she had a minor role in the movie _The Fugitive_. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/207 "2012-09-09T16:48:49Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > 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. Wanna play THAT game… Floyd the Barber’s shop, from Mayberry in [Star Trek - City on the Edge of Forever.](http://io9.com/5941608/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-star-trek-the-original-series) They reused the Mayberry set and Kirk and Edith Keeler walked right past his store. Ooh. And even better link of [Mayberry and Star Trek!](http://www.imayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/startrek/index.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/208 "2012-09-09T23:46:18Z")
Andy Garcia in _Stand and Deliver_. You get a glimpse of his future badass self when he yells his outrage (“No one has the right to accuse me of racism. \ NO ONE has the RIGHT to ACCUSE ME OF RACISM!” :::hair flopping everywhere::: ) when Escalante confronts him at the testing office. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/209 "2012-09-09T23:56:02Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > About 8 years before that, she had a minor role in the movie _The Fugitive_. Which also included a young Julianne Moore. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/210 "2012-09-10T00:12:01Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > Which also included a young Julianne Moore. Hell, I can beat that…I remember Julianne Moore (and Meg Ryan, and Marisa Tomei) when they were on _As The World Turns_! [Moore](http://www.people.com/people/gallery/0,,700342_733938,00.html) [Ryan](http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/as-the-world-turns/photos/194484/47914) [Tomei](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fKKmYFG_il8/0.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/211 "2012-09-10T00:44:33Z")
Patrick Swazye near the end of Toto’s “Roseanna” video. He’s one of the street gang fighters in the end. Of course, I didn’t know it was him when I first saw the vid. TY Youtube. I first saw Jenna Elfman in Depeche Mode’s Halo video. Same situation of me not knowing it was Jenna. And also, Brad Pitt on Head of the Class, a blond bimbo dating the brunette artist student (that actress went on to marry the drummer of INXS). ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/212 "2012-09-10T00:52:47Z")
whoops I meant mimbo! Has anyone seen Frankie and Johnny with Pacino and Pfeiffer? The food delivery guy who drops off the food while Frankie and Johnny were getting it on…was that Frank Black?? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/213 "2013-01-06T03:59:45Z")
Heh surprised to see this thread still around… Morgan Freeman as Easy Reader on the old Electric Company. It seems like he perpetually [looks like an old guy](http://ferrellgummit.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/easyreader.jpg). Jennifer Lopez as one of the Fly Girl dancers on In Living Color. New people that are famous since this was first posted: Tom Hardy as the Jean Luc Picard clone in Star Trek Nemesis. Shia Lebouf as the adopted Bosley in Charlies Angels 2. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/214 "2013-01-06T04:12:40Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Shia Lebouf as the adopted Bosley in Charlies Angels 2. [Shia LeBeouf in Even Stevens](http://epguides.com/EvenStevens/cast.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/215 "2013-01-06T11:29:09Z")
Nathan Fillion as Joey Buchanan on One Life to Live from 1994 to 1997. That’s when I started keeping an eye out for him. (In '94 he would have been about 23…Good I wasn’t being a perv after all.) ---
**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:** [January 6, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/216 "2013-01-06T12:56:42Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I just saw a little bit of _Cleopatra_ on TV today. I had no idea Archie Bunker had been a Roman senator. And Rose Buck (Jean Marsh from “Upstairs, Downstairs”) was Octavian’s sister Octavia and married to Mark Antony (Richard Burton). Cloris Leachman made her film debut in an uncredited role in 1947’s “Carnegie Hall” that featured a whole bunch of long haired classical musicians. Hard to believe now, but classical music used to be referred to as “longhair”. > **[Cloris Leachman | Actress, Soundtrack](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001458/)** > > Known for: The Last Picture Show, Young Frankenstein, Spanglish ---
**Author:** ![Mattie\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@Mattie\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mattie_Blue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/217 "2013-01-06T17:09:47Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Richard Linklatter’s wonderful Dazed and Confused with a just starting out Matthew “all right, all right, all right” McConaghey and pre-Good Will Hunting Ben Affleck. Look for a brief cameo by an unknown Renee Zellwegger. IMDB says she was in an uncredited role as “girl in blue pickup”. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/218 "2013-01-06T17:26:56Z")
I haven’t read through this whole thread but thought I’d mention that I just watched _Freaks And Geeks_ for the first time and spotted a young[Rashida Jones](http://images.starpulse.com/pictures/2009/03/19/previews/Rashida%20Jones-ALO-061869.jpg) as the girl that bullies Sam and paints “geek” on his locker (until Kim straightens her ass out). I’ve had a crush on her since she was on _The Office_. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/219 "2013-01-06T17:49:49Z")
A very young George Takei (StarTrek) had a bit part in “West Side Story”. I don’t think he got knifed in a gang rumble. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/220 "2013-01-06T18:36:00Z")
Nobody’s mentioned the movie [Stand By Me](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_by_Me_(film)). Lots of pre-stardom stars in that one! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=12)