# 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:** 13
**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 15, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/241 "2013-01-15T21:43:53Z")
And in the short-lived series [E/R](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086704/) ---
**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:** [January 15, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/242 "2013-01-15T21:52:07Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And in the short-lived series [E/R](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086704/) And in the wonderful bad-film sequel **Return of the Killer Tomatoes** ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/243 "2013-01-15T22:04:23Z")
Matt Damon played the anti-Semetic cheater who pinned it on Brendan Fraser in _School Ties_. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/244 "2013-01-16T06:13:22Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Charles Buchinsky was Wascylewski, Jack Warden was Tommy Morse, Lee Marvin was Radio Man in You’re in the Navy Now. > > also interesting on TV, lots of actors showed up in westerns and crime shows in the 50’s, though particularly rich were anthology shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Kraft Television Theater, Playhouse 90, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone. those are interesting and in current rebroadcast. He also had a nice part in Pat and Mike before he changed his name to Charles Bronson ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/245 "2013-01-16T06:29:16Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Charles Buchinsky was Wascylewski, Jack Warden was Tommy Morse, Lee Marvin was Radio Man in You’re in the Navy Now. > > also interesting on TV, lots of actors showed up in westerns and crime shows in the 50’s, though particularly rich were anthology shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Kraft Television Theater, Playhouse 90, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone. those are interesting and in current rebroadcast. He also had a nice part in Pat and Mike before he changed his name to Charles Bronson. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/246 "2013-01-16T16:31:18Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > George Clooney was in both “Facts of Life” and “Roseanne.” He can also be seen in the Bill Murray movie “Scrooged” as a dinner guest in all his mullet haired glory. And Damon Wayans is one of the firemen in the movie “Roxanne” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/247 "2013-01-16T17:23:20Z")
Lindsay Wagner, prior to getting outfitted for her bionic limbs, was a salesgirl in an Adam-12 episode; she couldn’t help get the shoplifter because she was too vain to wear the glasses she needed and so couldn’t identify the face. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/248 "2013-01-16T18:56:46Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I was rewatching \*Firefly \*on blu-ray the other day and in one of the episodes (Ariel?) it shows a flashback or memory of a much younger Simon and River Tam at home with their parents. I’ve watched the whole series multiple times, but this time that boy playing young Simon looked familiar. I looked up Zac Efron’s imdb page and, sure enough, that was him. As a follow-up to my post above: Having rewatched _Firefly_, I of course concluded with the movie, _Serenity_. This time I recognized the actress in the video that Mal and his crew sees when they land on the planet Miranda. The video is a holographic projection of a woman explaining what happened to the people of Miranda, and the video ends with her being attacked by one of the crazies. The actress in the video is [Sarah Paulson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005299/). Maybe not a household name, but she’s been in some high-profile stuff lately. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/249 "2013-01-16T19:14:26Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I saw the 1979 “Dating Game” ep with PeeWee Herman as Bachelor #2. I had no idea who he was at the time, and it would be several years before I’d see him again, but he definitely left an impression. Yeah, in a movie theater seat… ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/250 "2013-01-16T20:11:02Z")
Not before they were famous, but the other night I caught an old episode of _Kojak_ with F. Murray Abraham, Eli Wallach, Jerry Orbach, and Michael V. Gazzo (Pentangeli in _The Godfather: Part II_). That’s a hell of a lineup. Charles Kimbrough (Jim Dial on _Murphy Brown_) and Richard Herd (lots of stuff) were in it as well. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/251 "2013-06-02T20:09:21Z")
I remember [this 1979 PSA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVxn4s4-LvQ), but at the time no one knew who Robin Givens was. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/252 "2013-06-02T21:58:42Z")
There was a show in the 50s called “Circus Boy” starring an 11 year old actor named Mickey Braddock. He became famous under his real name a decade later in a TV show about a struggling rock band called The Monkees. His real name? Micky Dolenz. He is still touring with his Monkees bandmates Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork, minus the late Davy Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/253 "2013-06-03T01:21:17Z")
Jimmy Stewart in _After the Thin Man_ Jack Black in _Mars Attacks_ Hugh Laurie in\* Sense and Sensibility\* Johnny Galecki in _National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation_ Sarah Silverman in _Greg The Bunny_ ---
**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:** [June 3, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/254 "2013-06-03T02:03:32Z")
[McLean Stevenson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEUHV20kH9g) in the boat at the beginning of this 1967 Benson and Hedges commercial. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/255 "2013-06-03T06:06:30Z")
Rachael Leigh Cook did a [This Is Your Brain on Drugs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXFN4ocN_o) PSA. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/256 "2013-06-03T07:31:03Z")
I just saw Brittany Murphy in a season one episode of “Frasier”. She had one line. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/257 "2013-06-03T15:02:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In _[Zoolander](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU0NLheu8mU)_, you have the then little known Vince Vaughn and Judah Friedlander playing Ben Stiller’s brothers. [Nitpick] Vince Vaughn had been a working actor for over a decade when Zoolander came out, including some pretty high profile roles in Swingers and Psycho. [/nitpick] ---
**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:** [June 3, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/258 "2013-06-03T22:13:41Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Rachael Leigh Cook did a [This Is Your Brain on Drugs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXFN4ocN_o) PSA. She spoofed herself in the first episode of _Robot Chicken_. https://www.youtube.com/embed/k4H517oi7pU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque Any questions? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/259 "2013-06-03T22:34:38Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > [Nitpick] Vince Vaughn had been a working actor for over a decade when Zoolander came out, including some pretty high profile roles in Swingers and Psycho. [/nitpick] And also the small indie film _The Lost World: Jurassic Park_. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/260 "2013-06-03T22:44:11Z")
> [@Renifer](#): > > Hugh Laurie in\* Sense and Sensibility\* That was ten years after he started on Black Adder. It was after he had a TV show called \*A Bit of Fry and Laurie \* (which it could be assumed he starred in). It was after _Jeeves and Wooster_ (since he was Wooster its safe to say he got some screen time). Also after _Peter’s Friends_ in which he was a equal part of an ensemble cast. He was certainly famous before \*Sense and Sensibility \*even if you were not aware. I still think of him as the guy from Black Adder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=14)