# Serious actors, or non-actors, doing comedy later on… **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529 "2022-04-08T16:25:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/21 "2022-04-08T19:35:52Z")
Liam Neeson on “Life’s Too Short” as himself, attempting to break into comedy: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/huJ81Mq2y34/hqdefault.jpg "Improvisational Comedy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huJ81Mq2y34) ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/22 "2022-04-08T19:59:59Z")
One of the best loved British Sitcoms was **Only Fools and Horses**. **Buster Merryfield** who portrayed **Uncle Albert** worked full time in a high street bank (rising to an area manager) before taking early retirement and becoming a professional actor at the age of 57. Admittedly he had been involved all his life in amateur acting as a hobby. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/23 "2022-04-08T20:18:05Z")
I think James Caan pulled off some comedic roles like **Honeymoon in Vegas**. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/24 "2022-04-08T20:23:04Z")
Since the OP includes “non-actors”, both Dwayne Johnson and John Cena have shown a definite flair for comedy. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/25 "2022-04-08T20:35:00Z")
Ed Asner acted in mostly serious roles before The Mary Tyler Moore Show. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/26 "2022-04-08T20:38:41Z")
Hip-hop duo Method Man & Redman starred in the stoner comedy **How High** and had their own short-lived sitcom called **Method & Red**. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/27 "2022-04-08T21:11:24Z")
How do we count Dustin Hoffman? His early TV work was all serious roles. Then came _The Graduate_, which I’d describe as dramatic with comic moments. Then _Midnight Cowboy_, a purely dramatic role, then _Little Big Man_, then a whole string of purely dramatic roles, then _Tootsie_, and on and on. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/28 "2022-04-08T21:22:49Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > (Regarding Robt DeNiro) > > Great example…I liked him in “Analyze This” _Analyze This_ (1999) actually came before _Meet the Parents_ (2000); I think that the former was probably his first real comedic role in a major film. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/29 "2022-04-08T21:30:44Z")
Chris Hemsworth started out doing dramatic work, including the Australian soap opera _Home and Away_, Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, and _Snow White and the Huntsman_. In more recent work, he’s shown his comedy skills, as Thor was transformed into a much funnier character in later MCU movies (_Thor: Ragnarok_ and _Avengers: Endgame_), and in other films, like _Ghostbusters_. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/30 "2022-04-08T21:38:49Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Ed Asner acted in mostly serious roles before The Mary Tyler Moore Show. …and then right back into a serious role playing the same character in the “Lou Grant” spin-off. Btw, not to hijack, but I imagine that’s unusual for a spin-off to be so different in tone and / or genre. I mean, there may have been comedy elements to LG but as I recall it was pretty much a straight-up hour long drama. Hey, that would be a good thread topic- “spin-offs that very different in tone from their source”. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/31 "2022-04-08T21:42:15Z")
Lloyd Bridges was so gut-bustingly funny in Hot Shots and Hot Shots Part Deux that it made me wish he had done comedy all his life. He was great in Airplane! too. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/32 "2022-04-08T21:48:03Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > both Dwayne Johnson and John Cena have shown a definite flair for comedy. Hulk Hogan did some comedic roles, too. Like _Suburban Commando_. (I didn’t say it was any _good_. But I do want to see it. The trailer looks funny.) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/33 "2022-04-08T21:57:30Z")
DiCaprio might count. He was unexpectedly hilarious in the Wolf of Wall St, and Don’t Look Up is mostly a dark comedy, especially his role. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/34 "2022-04-08T22:29:53Z")
I don’t know about that as a thread - because I’m 99% sure that “Lou Grant” would be the only example. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/35 "2022-04-08T22:34:59Z")
A recent animated _Star Trek_ spinoff - _Lower Decks_ - would be another good example, as it’s a comedy. But, I agree, it’d be a short list. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/36 "2022-04-08T22:47:25Z")
_Trapper John, M.D._ and _AfterMASH_ Just guessing. Never seen a single episode of either. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/37 "2022-04-08T23:03:44Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t know about that as a thread - because I’m 99% sure that “Lou Grant” would be the only example. I know, that’s why I didn’t go ahead and start a thread right away- I thought it might just be DOA. But then, Dopers will surprise you… > [@Gatopescado](#): > > _Trapper John, M.D._ and _AfterMASH_ > > Just guessing. Never seen a single episode of either. I have no memory of AfterMASH whatsoever, but Trapper John, M.D. is a great example. Similar to the ‘MTM to Lou Grant’ example, a spinoff from an iconic half hour comedy (M\*A\*S\*H did have its serious side, especially as the seasons went on, but still) to an hour long drama. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > A recent animated _Star Trek_ spinoff - _Lower Decks_ - would be another good example, as it’s a comedy. But, I agree, it’d be a short list. That does sound like another good example, though I’ve never seen it. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/38 "2022-04-08T23:15:32Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I have no memory of AfterMASH whatsoever I think I remember watching one episode – it aired during my freshman and sophomore years of college, when I mostly didn’t have a TV set. From what I recall, it was, broadly, like _MASH_ in tone: comedy, with some drama. Both IMDB and Wikipedia list its genre as “comedy,” and they were 30-minute episodes, which were far more typical of comedies than dramas in the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/39 "2022-04-09T01:01:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [Jake LaMotta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_LaMotta#Post-boxing), former middleweight boxing champion whose life was portrayed in the film [Raging Bull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raging_Bull), ended up doing stand up comedy and acting after his boxing career ended. Other athletes have gone that route, Former baseball player [Bob Uecker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Uecker#Humor) comes to mind, and recently professional wrestler [Dolph Ziggler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolph_Ziggler#Stand-up_comedy) has done standup and some acting while continuing his athletic career. Alex Karras. He was a pro football player who first got into films playing himself in _Paper Lion_\*. He then went into full-time acting, and did comic roles and became known by playing Mongo in _Blazing Saddles_. It ended as a full-time acting career, usually in comedy. Max Baer\*\* went into acting after leaving the ring, often in comic roles and even had a short-lived short subject series with another ex-boxer, “Slapsie” Maxie Rosenbloom, though Rosenbloom did more drama than comedy. \*Ironically, Karras was under suspension for gambling when Plimpton trained with the Lions, but Plimpton did include some stories about him. \*\*Father of Jethro Bodine ---
**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:** [April 9, 2022, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529/40 "2022-04-09T01:06:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Ironically, Karras was under suspension for gambling when Plimpton trained with the Lions, but Plimpton did include some stories about him. There is a sort-of sequel book to _Paper Lion_, which Plimpton wrote several years later, called _Mad Ducks and Bears_. Karras (with whom Plimpton became good friends) was the “Mad Duck” in the title, and it’s full of stories about Karras being hilarious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serious-actors-or-non-actors-doing-comedy-later-on/962529.md?page=3)