# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/101 "2011-03-17T05:38:25Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I’m not familiar with when they became famous…was it before _This Is Spinal Tap_ that Fran Drescher, Bruno Kirby, Billy Crystal and Dana Carvey became well-known? I didn’t know Fran until _UHF_… I’d say anything pre-Nanny would count for Drescher; UHF also has pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/102 "2011-03-17T07:41:52Z")
Found another obscure film chock full of future stars: [Glory Daze](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116422/). The main stars were Alyssa Milano and Ben Affleck, but the supporting cast included Sam Rockwell, Matt Damon, a pre-George of the Jungle Brendan Fraser and a young Matthew McConaughey. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/103 "2011-03-17T14:19:01Z")
**Paul Giamatti** making out with his girlfriend in public in **Singles**. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/104 "2011-03-17T14:27:13Z")
A little while back I watched the original '60s version of **Psycho** to the end for the first time, having only caught the shower scene before. I was shocked when at the very end as Norman was being locked in his cell, the jailer shutting the cell door was of all people **Ted Knight** of Mary Tyler Moore and Caddyshack fame. I mentioned a couple of years ago in a similar thread that it’s **Richard Dreyfus** as one of the students responding to Katherine Ross’ scream in the tennament building when she learns her mom and Dustin were having an affair in **The Graduate**. ---
**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 17, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/105 "2011-03-17T14:45:33Z")
Courtney Cox was a total unknown before she went dancing in the dark with Springsteen ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/106 "2011-03-17T15:55:42Z")
I watched Superman (1978 with Christopher Reeve) recently and noticed John Ratzenberger, cast as “Controller 1,” with two or three lines. ---
**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 17, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/107 "2011-03-17T17:43:12Z")
O.J. Simpson shows up uncredited in an old “Dragnet” ep. IIRC, Sgt. Friday has a classroom full of inner city youths in an attempt to recruit them to join LAPD. O.J. is in the class, and has a full-screen shot of him with his one line “Are the tests hard?” Also, in that same class, there’s a guy that has a slight similarity to Samuel L. Jackson, but I’m pretty sure it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/108 "2011-03-17T17:52:53Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Samuel L Jackson in “Coming To America” as the guy who attempts to rob the fast food place where the main characters work. He was also in “Goodfellas” as Stacks Edwards. Michael Imperioli was Spider, the kid that Joe Pesci’s character shoots in the restaurant. Zac Efron played young Simon Tam in “Serenity”. And the mother of all Lawrence Fishburne before-he-was-famous roles- as Tyrone in Apocalypse Now. Tom Hardy played Janovec in “Band of Brothers”. Oh, and Bradley Cooper as the villain in “Wedding Crashers”. (not sure if that counts or not; I hadn’t heard of him at that point) ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/109 "2011-03-17T17:58:55Z")
In _A Bridge Too Far_, Robert Redford leads a harrowing river crossing to take the bridge at Njimegen. In the crossing scene, the paratrooper directly behind him is a pre-_Cheers_ /pre-Pixar John Ratzenberger. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/110 "2011-03-17T18:20:38Z")
One I forgot: Jackie Chan is a henchman who gets his neck snapped by Bruce Lee in **Enter the Dragon**. ---
**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 17, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/111 "2011-03-17T23:20:15Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#): > > I watched Superman (1978 with Christopher Reeve) recently and noticed John Ratzenberger, cast as “Controller 1,” with two or three lines. And, of course, John Ratzenberger has a bit part in _The Empire Strikes Back_. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/112 "2011-03-18T00:40:32Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Jack Nicholson in Roger Corman’s LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, as the masochist dental patient. Just watched it on Netflix a couple of nights ago. I had to have Ms Hook come in and watch it again with me. ---
**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 18, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/113 "2011-03-18T12:50:54Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > A little while back I watched the original '60s version of **Psycho** to the end for the first time, having only caught the shower scene before. I was shocked when at the very end as Norman was being locked in his cell, the jailer shutting the cell door was of all people **Ted Knight** of Mary Tyler Moore and Caddyshack fame. > > I mentioned a couple of years ago in a similar thread that it’s **Richard Dreyfus** as one of the students responding to Katherine Ross’ scream in the tennament building when she learns her mom and Dustin were having an affair in **The Graduate**. Richard Dreyfuss also appears at the end of “Valley of the Dolls” There are several episodes of the “Combat!” tv series where Ted Knight appears as a German soldier. When he speaks German, I always wonder if he is saying “it all started with a 5,000 watt station in Heidelberg”. The DVDs have a 1999 radio interview with Rick Jason on one track where Jason praises Knight’s ability as an actor, saying the often-repeated thought that actors will tell you that comedy is hard. Of course very few Academy awards go to actors in comedy roles. Robert Blake as the Mexican kid who sells a winning lottery ticket to Humphrey Bogart in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” ---
**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 18, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/114 "2011-03-18T13:19:48Z")
I was in the room when a rerun of The Andy Griffin Show was on and heard a very familar voice. “That’s Jack Nicholson’s voice” I said. Yes, it was him in a very early role. ---
**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 18, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/115 "2011-03-18T13:51:43Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Robert Blake as the Mexican kid who sells a winning lottery ticket to Humphrey Bogart in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” Blake was Mickey in the _Our Gang_ shorts well before that. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/116 "2011-03-18T14:32:37Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > And, of course, John Ratzenberger has a bit part in _The Empire Strikes Back_. And in _Gandhi_. He was the king of bit parts back then. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/117 "2011-03-18T15:12:48Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > And, of course, John Ratzenberger has a bit part in The Empire Strikes Back. [QUOTE=Spoke] And in _Gandhi_. [/QUOTE] In _Gandhi_ though, they dubbed over his lines with someone else’s voice, which is jarring if you’re expecting his normal voice. I assume it was a bad sound recording that had to be fixed in post-production, and Ratzenberger was busy elsewhere. (But I’m just guessing.) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/118 "2011-03-18T15:21:40Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Zac Efron played young Simon Tam in “Serenity”. Actually, that was in the _Firefly_ episode, “Safe.” ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/119 "2011-03-18T16:42:59Z")
> [@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’ll see your **Elm Street** and raise you **Apocalypse Now**. He played ‘Clean’ Miller, the kid on the boat and was fourteen (having lied about his age). ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/120 "2011-03-18T23:32:40Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Bill Paxton is the only actor to be killed by a Terminator, a Predator, and an Alien. _cough_ Lance Hendrickson _cough_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=7)