# 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:** 9
**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 20, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/161 "2011-03-20T23:28:29Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > _Stay Hungry_, 1976, directed by Bob Rafelson (5 Easy Pieces,) stars Jeff Bridges and Arnold Schwarzenegger long before either of them were famous. This is a great and very quirky film with a lot of local color from the city of Birmingham. (Sally Field is also naked in it - though, unfortunately, from the rear only.) It was based on a novel by Charles Gaines, an eccentric genius and adventurer (who I have corresponded with repeatedly) - he invented the game of paintball, competed in the first international fly-fishing tournament, and launched Arnold Schwarzenegger to stardom with his documentary “Pumping Iron”, based on a photo-essay that he had co-authored. Great guy. Bridges was not an unknown before _Stay Hungry_. He had a run of movies before that, including _The Last Picture Show_ and _Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,_ for which he had been nominated for an Oscar. Not all of his films were big box-office successes, but I was certainly aware of who he was at the time. It didn’t hurt that he was the son of a famous actor, Lloyd Bridges. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/162 "2011-03-21T03:41:25Z")
Tim Robbins in Top Gun. ---
**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 21, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/163 "2011-03-21T04:10:13Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Tim Robbins in Top Gun. Meg Ryan, also. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/164 "2011-03-21T06:42:59Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Who could forget Tom Hanks in [Mazes and Monsters](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084314/)? And he was on episodes of _Taxi_ and _Happy Days_. And _The Love Boat_. And he played Merideth Baxter Birney’s’ brother on 3 episodes of _Family Ties_. Some of those were after _Bosom Buddies_, but before he became extremely famous with films like _Splash_. > > And Geena Davis was also on 3 episodes of _Family Ties_ before she moved onto _Beetlejuice_. > > And George McFly himself, _Crispin Glover_ was on an episode of _Family Ties_ the year before _Back to the Future_. Before guesting on Family Ties, Geena Davis was a main character on the series [Buffalo Bill](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084992/), also starring Dabney Coleman, Joanna Cassidy, and Meshach Taylor, which ran for two seasons. She was already something of a name based on her reputation on that critically acclaimed series. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/165 "2011-03-21T07:10:57Z")
> [@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. > > Who else had unnoticed early career roles in big films? This is who I would pick (and how, he was and still is, cute), but the movie I’m thinking of is “Adventures in Babysitting”. He played Thor. Both movies were in 1987, but I don’t know which was first. ---
**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 21, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/166 "2011-03-21T13:42:21Z")
I just spotted a very young Bruno Kirby Jr in an episode of Columbo. Bruno’s dad Bruce (nee Bruno Sr) played the gullible Sgt Kramer in the Columbo shows. ---
**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 21, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/167 "2011-03-21T22:44:50Z")
Before they became rich by writing trashy novels, both Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann appeared in several films and tv shows. ---
**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 21, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/168 "2011-03-21T22:53:23Z")
[Brittany Murphy](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005261/) was the younger daughter, Brenda, on the Dabney Coleman sit-com _Drexell’s Class_. She had also appeared on an episode of _Murphy Brown_. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/169 "2011-03-22T00:21:13Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Mel Gibson was already widely-known by 1984, Okay, but do I get any points for Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Day-Lewis, Bernard Hill, and Liam Neeson? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/170 "2011-03-22T02:18:30Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > . > Brad Pitt in a blink-and-miss roll in **Less Than Zero**. You see him for a second in the fight scene at the end of the movie. He’s also the guy that Geena Davis hooks up with in Thelma and Louise. ---
**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 22, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/171 "2011-03-22T02:28:58Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > He’s also the guy that Geena Davis hooks up with in Thelma and Louise. And Floyd the stoner in _True Romance_. ---
**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 22, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/172 "2011-03-22T11:56:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Okay, but do I get any points for Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Day-Lewis, Bernard Hill, and Liam Neeson? It’s sometimes hard to tell when people are joking, and when there’s a generational divide, or something. Anthony Hopkins? You might have cited **The Lion in Winter** from 1968 as “Before they were well known”, but Hopkins had already starred in **The Elephant Man** and **Magic** and a host of other films well before 1984. 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. ---
**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 22, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/173 "2011-03-22T13:22:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And I’m kinda annoyed at people thinking Leslie Neilsen was unknown before **Airplane!**. For all his many pre-Airplane roles, the one that I most remember was the “Night Gallery” vignette in which he played an old soldier of fortune who was being offered some large some of money (by Fritz Weaver) to spend a night alone in a “house of terrors.” But now that I rememeber “Night Gallery,” if featured some early appearances by Lindsay Wagner and Randy Quaid, neither of whom I would have recognized had I not known it. ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/174 "2011-03-22T22:15:56Z")
I happened upon a young Jude Law on an episode of\* [Sherlock Holmes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0536968/)\* a couple of months ago (the series with Jeremy Brett). He was onscreen for mayyybe 60 seconds, and had only a couple of lines. ---
**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 23, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/175 "2011-03-23T08:07:03Z")
Ian McShane was in a really early episode of **Magnum P.I.**. Doesn’t completely look like him, but the voice is a dead giveaway - he sounds just like he did as Tai Lung. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/176 "2011-03-24T09:37:41Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Okay, but do I get any points for Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Day-Lewis, Bernard Hill, and Liam Neeson? > 😉 Dude, I’ll hook you up with 200 points. 😃 ---
**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 24, 2011, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/177 "2011-03-24T09:48:22Z")
In “The Execution of Private Slovik,” (1974) starring Martin Sheen, there is a scene at Slovik’s wedding reception in which a young boy is shown wandering about. The boy was one of Sheen’s sons, Carlos, better known as Charlie. Charlie is now known for his strange ramblings in interviews and his own internet show, I believe. ---
**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 24, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/178 "2011-03-24T11:59:13Z")
**Carrie Fisher** plays one of Warren Beatty’s conquests in **shampoo** , well before _Star Wars_. She was even caricatured in the _Mad_ parody of it, well before SW came out. One of the weirdest was an appearance on a 1950 TV show called _Little Theater_ of a playlet called “The Bitter End”, about a man trying to commit suicide and failing. It wasn’t until his last line “Well, whaddaya know! i couldn’t do it!” that I realized who the hell it was. He said “Well whaddaya know! I finally got the last word” _exactly_ the same way at the end of an episode of _Star Trek_. It was a much younger De Forest Kelley, looking different enough that I hadn’t recognized him. The show appears with the bogus title _Suicide Theater_ on various “Bloops and Blunders” and “Star Trek Bloopers” compilations. Here’s one appearance of it: > **[Deforest Kelley's Unseen Scenes](http://www.tvparty.com/unseende.html)** > > Deforrest Kelley's Unseen Scenes > **[Mania Mania-V01-Commercial Mania/TV Mania DVD Movie](https://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7417087)** > > Mania Mania-V01-Commercial Mania/TV Mania DVD movie video at CD Universe, For the first time on DVD, Johnny Legend presents classic double bills of his famous. I note, by the way, that it isn’t listed on his iMDB page. But it definitely exists. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/179 "2011-03-26T04:42:05Z")
I’m watching Robocop 1 now, and did you know that Leeza Gibbons was also the newscaster in the film? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516/180 "2011-03-26T05:58:38Z")
We had that issue at home, before the movie. Famous skyscrapers on the cover, right? Then I saw the movie and there’s the whole Beverly D’Angelo thing… After the film, I was a little bit mixed up about buildings and boobs for a month or two, but I think I figured it out. Yeah, puberty was fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-famous-actors-before-they-were-famous/574516.md?page=10)