# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/61 "2011-03-14T15:43:16Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Bill Paxton is the only actor to be killed by a Terminator, a Predator, and an Alien. Range, the man has _range!_ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/62 "2011-03-14T15:43:52Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Lawrence Fishburne, mentioned earlier, has a small role as a hospital orderly in **Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors**. The credits list him as “Larry Fishburne”. I spotted him in **Death Wish 2** on television a few months ago in that strangely-stylized gang regalia you only see in 1980s movies. However, given that he’d already had a significant role in **Apocalypse Now** a few years earlier I’m not sure this is entirely in line with the OP. ---
**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 14, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/63 "2011-03-14T15:50:23Z")
> [@](#): > > And Krull viewers may spot the lurking of Liam Neeson in a minor role (as well as Todd Carty, for you EastEnders fans). Neeson was in _lots_ of movies at that time – he had pretty prominent roles in **The Mission** and **The Bounty** , but for some reason people don’t remember them. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/64 "2011-03-14T15:55:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Neeson was in _lots_ of movies at that time – he had pretty prominent roles in **The Mission** and **The Bounty** , but for some reason people don’t remember them. Just checking - Krull was 1983, Bounty was 1984 and Mission was 1986 - but I’d missed that he was in **Excalibur** in 1981 (as was pretty much every other English actor at the time). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8491ac/32.png) [@GorillaGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaGirl)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/65 "2011-03-14T17:15:19Z")
Alfred Molina as Indiana Jones’ treacherous guide Satipo in the beginning of **Raiders of the Lost Ark**. ---
**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 14, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/66 "2011-03-14T17:15:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Just checking - Krull was 1983, Bounty was 1984 and Mission was 1986 - but I’d missed that he was in Excalibur in 1981 (as was pretty much every other English actor at the time). I saw Excalibur recently, and I’d completely forgotten that **Helen Mirren** played Morgana la Fey in it! Pretty sexy, too. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/67 "2011-03-14T17:56:50Z")
I don’t think that Paul Reubens had achieved much fame prior to his role in **The Blues Brothers** as the waiter at the ritzy restaurant where they go to get Mr. Fabulous. ---
**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 14, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/68 "2011-03-14T17:58:12Z")
Harrison Ford in [Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-NehUB_7l0). Someone mentioned Jane Lynch in _The Fugitive_, but another actress makes one of her earliest films roles. [Julianne Moore](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsM/12278-6905.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx%3FFilmID%3D6905&usg=__8hA_U5_-tSlBsryFnn9AHG7TjM0=&h=240&w=320&sz=52&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=6rkvOFH3yDxdSM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=200&ei=tVV-TdD2Dcn7qgH59vXDAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djulianne%2Bmoore%2Bfugitive%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1600%26bih%3D799%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=140&vpy=86&dur=1318&hovh=192&hovw=256&tx=118&ty=106&oei=tVV-TdD2Dcn7qgH59vXDAQ&page=1&ndsp=34&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0) was the doctor who threatened to call security on Harrison Ford. She was also Willem Dafoe’s wife in [Body of Evidence](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106453/). AND played the best friend of Annabella Sciorra in [The Hand that Rocks the Cradle](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104389/). Bill Paxton was the human in the Barnes and Barnes video for “Fish Heads,” and he and Judge Reinhold were pilots in the video to Pat Benatar’s “Shadows of the Night.” ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/69 "2011-03-14T18:22:16Z")
> [@zoog](#): > > I don’t think that Paul Reubens had achieved much fame prior to his role in **The Blues Brothers** as the waiter at the ritzy restaurant where they go to get Mr. Fabulous. Another great cameo in that movie is [Steven Spielberg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8MApxKsCyU) as the Cook County assessor. He was sorta famous at the time but not quite “OMFG STEVEN SPIELBERG”- famous yet. ---
**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 14, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/70 "2011-03-14T18:32:58Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Someone mentioned Jane Lynch in _The Fugitive_, but another actress makes one of her earliest films roles. [Julianne Moore](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsM/12278-6905.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx%3FFilmID%3D6905&usg=__8hA_U5_-tSlBsryFnn9AHG7TjM0=&h=240&w=320&sz=52&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=6rkvOFH3yDxdSM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=200&ei=tVV-TdD2Dcn7qgH59vXDAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djulianne%2Bmoore%2Bfugitive%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1600%26bih%3D799%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=140&vpy=86&dur=1318&hovh=192&hovw=256&tx=118&ty=106&oei=tVV-TdD2Dcn7qgH59vXDAQ&page=1&ndsp=34&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0) was the doctor who threatened to call security on Harrison Ford. She was also Willem Dafoe’s wife in [Body of Evidence](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106453/). AND played the best friend of Annabella Sciorra in [The Hand that Rocks the Cradle](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104389/). I can beat you on Julianne Moore. She played Frannie and her “twin cousin” Sabrina on “As The World Turns”, for YEARS before she started acting in movies. See also: Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/71 "2011-03-14T18:34:59Z")
Its a little weird seeing Harrison Ford with a minor role in Apocalypse Now, given that by the time the film came out he definitely was famous, and one would think beyond the need to do bit parts. IIRC, he was cast and filmed in Apocalypse before Star Wars came out, but the former movie took so long to finish Star Wars had already been screened and made him famous. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/72 "2011-03-14T18:46:38Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Its a little weird seeing Harrison Ford with a minor role in Apocalypse Now, given that by the time the film came out he definitely was famous, and one would think beyond the need to do bit parts. IIRC, he was cast and filmed in Apocalypse before Star Wars came out, but the former movie took so long to finish Star Wars had already been screened and made him famous. Hadn’t he already been in _American Graffiti_ before either of those? He wasn’t exactly a superstar yet, but he was on the map. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/73 "2011-03-14T18:54:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Hadn’t he already been in _American Graffiti_ before either of those? He wasn’t exactly a superstar yet, but he was on the map. 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. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/74 "2011-03-14T18:58:17Z")
It’s hard to watch _The Lords of Flatbush_, American Graffiti\*\*\* and _The Color Purple_\*\*\* and remember that when these three films were released, none of the major actors had received any type of stardom! \*Perry King as Chico Tyrell Sylvester Stallone as Stanley Rosiello Henry Winkler as Butchey Weinstein Paul Mace as Wimpy Murgalo Susan Blakely as Jane Bradshaw Paul Jabara as Crazy Cohen Ray Sharkey as Student \*\*Richard Dreyfuss as Curt Henderson Ron Howard as Steve Bolander Paul Le Mat as John Milner Charles Martin Smith as Terry “The Toad” Fields Cindy Williams as Laurie Henderson Mackenzie Phillips as Carol Morrison Harrison Ford as Bob Falfa Suzanne Somers as The Blonde \*\*\*Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Harris Johnson Danny Glover as Mr. Albert Johnson Oprah Winfrey as Sofia[3] Margaret Avery as Shug Avery[4] Rae Dawn Chong as Squeak Larry Fishburne as Swain ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/75 "2011-03-14T19:04:33Z")
My wife was in a class in college with Glenn Close, so we went to see her on Broadway in a Sherlock Holmes play “Crucifer of Blood.” This was before she was in Garp. My daughter was in a commercial for Hess Toy Trucks with Lacey Chabert (who was not a lead performer in it) before she was on Party of Five. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/76 "2011-03-14T19:50:08Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Did he have a big role in American Graffiti? My memory of that movie is pretty vague. Not big, but more than a walk on. He was a sort of nominal villain, the guy who Paul Lemat drag raced against at the end. > [@](#): > > 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. According to his wiki, he still kept working as a carpenter until he got _Star Wars_, so I guess he couldn’t have been that big before then. It’s kind of an [interesting story, though](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Ford): > [@](#): > > He was then hired to build cabinets at the home of George Lucas, who subsequently cast him in a pivotal supporting role for his film American Graffiti (1973). His relationship with Lucas was to have a profound effect on Ford’s career. After director Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to do expansions of his office and Harrison was given a small role in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979)… > > …Ford’s work as a carpenter would land him his biggest role to date. In 1975, George Lucas hired him to read lines for actors being cast for parts in his upcoming space opera, Star Wars (1977). However, Lucas was eventually won over by Ford’s portrayal and decided to cast him as Han Solo Note: he had been an actor before he was a carpenter, and done several bit parts on television. The carpentry was to pay the rent, but it looks like he lucked out getting to work for Lucas. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/77 "2011-03-14T19:59:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Note: he had been an actor before he was a carpenter, and done several bit parts on television. The carpentry was to pay the rent, but it looks like he lucked out getting to work for Lucas. Definitely. The story goes that Lucas’s original intent was to use actors with whom he had not worked before for Luke, Leia, and Han (and, as he had previously worked with Ford on _American Graffiti_, that would have made Ford ineligible). Apparently, after seeing dozens of actors reading for the part of Han, Lucas never saw anyone he really liked, but he did like Ford’s interaction with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, and was won over. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/78 "2011-03-14T20:11:59Z")
Michael Cera was Gordo’s kid in **Frequency**. He’s about 11 or so. My favorite though is probably Sergeant Paine from **The Third Man**. The guy that’s actually a fan of Holly’s pulp westerns and helps him out of a couple of tight spots. He went on to become a little more well known as [M](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0496866/). ---
**Author:** ![Stooge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Stooge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stooge)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/79 "2011-03-14T20:36:17Z")
For me, one of the wildest “before they were famous” moments was seeing Dennis Franz playing a singing/dancing thug in Popeye. I had seen the movie as a kid and watched it with my daughter a couple years ago and had to back it up to confirm if I had actually confirm what I had seen. I still didn’t believe it had to go check IMDB. Much different from all of the cops he played over the years. ---
**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 14, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/80 "2011-03-14T20:48:48Z")
Gwyneth Paltrow played the young Wendy in _Hook_. She was also uncredited as a student in _Higher Learning_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=5)