# Spotting a Familiar Actor in a Surprising Place - Part Deux **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931 "2017-06-26T19:06:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [June 27, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/21 "2017-06-27T13:36:16Z")
Charles Bronson as the “half-breed” Harry Star on Bonanza’s [The Underdog](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0529850/fullcredits/) > [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Kate Mulgrew was also the heroine of a 1970s era soap opera [Ryan’s Hope](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3KXl_8zIAY). I discovered this one day while I was home sick and idly watching the soap opera channel (with a 101 F fever, I wasn’t too picky about what I was watching.) Seeing Captain Janeway/Red back in the day was quite a surprise to me. And her daughter Ryan Fenelli was played by a very young Yasmine Bleeth, later of Baywatch fame. Speaking of young actors, Robert Sean Leonard played Douglas Bridge in Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (opposite Newman and Woodward) and was also a student in Dead Poets Society. Then he went on to get an MD and work opposite Gregory House. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/22 "2017-06-27T13:57:36Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I was recently watching ALF (part of the Summer programming on MeTV), and there was an episode where Willy went to see a shrink. The shrink was played by Bill Daily, who was the neighbor across the hall from shrink Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart). He was also Major Healey, Larry Hagman’s buddy at NASA on _ **I Dream of Jeannie** _. I’ve been watching \*\*\*Twilight Zone \*\*\* on Space the last couple of months. Every episode, I recognize someone who would make it big later—Robert Redford, William Windom, Lloyd Bochner, Edgar Buchanan, Sherry Jackson, _ad infinitum_. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/23 "2017-06-27T14:26:39Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Charles Bronson as the “half-breed” Harry Star on Bonanza’s [The Underdog](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0529850/fullcredits/) > > . Charles Bronson was famously in the Vincent Price 3D movie **House of Wax** under his real name, Charles Buchinsky. He played Price’s silent assistant. I can’t say that I spotted him, though. I was clued in before I saw the film. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/24 "2017-06-27T14:32:16Z")
I was surprised to see Torin Thatcher, who played so many wonderful villains (almost invariably without hair , in _Seventh Voyage of Sinbad_, _Hawaii_, _Witness for the Prosecution_, and the Star Trek episode _Return of the Archons_, although he DID have hair playing Pendragon in _Jack the Giant Killer_. ) showing up much younger and with his hair in the H.G. Wells fantasy _The Man Who Could Work Miracles_. It was like suddenly recognizing Patrick Stewart with his hair (and John Rhys Davies without his facial hair) in the BBC/PBS _I, Claudius_. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/25 "2017-06-27T19:34:00Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Keith David is unmistakeable as Reverse Giraffe – and, for that matter, as President of These United States – but, as far as I can tell, he ain’t Fart. Jemaine Clement. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/26 "2017-06-27T20:14:06Z")
John Ratzenberger from _Cheers_ was an extra in the boat assault scene in _A Bridge Too Far_, right behind Robert Redford. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/27 "2017-06-27T20:14:12Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Kate Mulgrew was also the heroine of a 1970s era soap opera [Ryan’s Hope](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3KXl_8zIAY). I discovered this one day while I was home sick and idly watching the soap opera channel (with a 101 F fever, I wasn’t too picky about what I was watching.) Seeing Captain Janeway/Red back in the day was quite a surprise to me. She also played an officer in the wonderfully awful **Remo Williams – The Adventure Begins**. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/28 "2017-06-27T20:33:54Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > John Ratzenberger from _Cheers_ was an extra in the boat assault scene in _A Bridge Too Far_, right behind Robert Redford. I swear, I’m starting to think Ratzenberger has been in more movies than the Wilhelm scream. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/29 "2017-06-27T20:42:47Z")
We went to a Shakespeare production at a festival in Ashland, Oregon a few years back. One of the extras caught my attention as being familiar, but I couldn’t place him for a bit. Then it hit me: The creepy prison director Dr. Frederick Chilton (Tony Heald) of Silence of the Lambs! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/30 "2017-06-27T21:25:26Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I swear, I’m starting to think Ratzenberger has been in more movies than the Wilhelm scream. He was the Navy chief in charge of the refueling detail in _ **Firefox** _, and a rebel commander at the base on Hoth in _ **The Empire Strikes Back** _. ---
**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 27, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/31 "2017-06-27T21:34:30Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I swear, I’m starting to think Ratzenberger has been in more movies than the Wilhelm scream. He has played a character in every single Pixar movie to date, since _Toy Story_. Not always a main character every single time, but he’ll have at least a line or two. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/32 "2017-06-27T22:31:56Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Kate Mulgrew was also the heroine of a 1970s era soap opera [Ryan’s Hope](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3KXl_8zIAY). I discovered this one day while I was home sick and idly watching the soap opera channel (with a 101 F fever, I wasn’t too picky about what I was watching.) Seeing Captain Janeway/Red back in the day was quite a surprise to me. Speaking of Star Trek actors, while channel surfing one time, I ran across a scene that I thought had to be from a Holodeck Episode, as it had all of LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks and Kate Mulgrew. Turns out, it was a TV movie, [Roots: The Gift.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096009/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_17) ETA: and reading that page, apparently it also had Tim Russ, but I didn’t see him personally. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/33 "2017-06-27T23:38:05Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He was the Navy chief in charge of the refueling detail in _ **Firefox** _, and a rebel commander at the base on Hoth in _ **The Empire Strikes Back** _. And around the same time, one of the NASA employees in **Superman II** , trying to figure out if the Moon astronauts said they saw “a girl” or “a curl.” ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/34 "2017-06-28T00:16:08Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Werner Herzog in _Jack Reacher,_ _Parks And Recreation_, and _Rick and Morty_. He’s also in Metalocalypse. There’s is always a surprising amount of big names in Metalocalypse. Most are metal related, but others like Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell are regulars. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/35 "2017-06-28T00:32:55Z")
Jason Alexander in this [McDonalds commercial.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJGfNX7aCzk) He also shows up as a [hardware store cashier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICRCmFVeShs) in _The Mosquito Coast._ ---
**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 28, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/36 "2017-06-28T02:17:57Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Speaking of Star Trek actors, while channel surfing one time, I ran across a scene that I thought had to be from a Holodeck Episode, as it had all of LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks and Kate Mulgrew. > > Turns out, it was a TV movie, [Roots: The Gift.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096009/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_17) > ETA: and reading that page, apparently it also had Tim Russ, but I didn’t see him personally. Tim Russ was in _Spaceballs_, in the scene where they’re combing the desert. He’s the one dragging the Afro pick through the sand who says, “We ain’t found shit!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/37 "2017-06-28T11:24:11Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > And around the same time, one of the NASA employees in **Superman II** , trying to figure out if the Moon astronauts said they saw “a girl” or “a curl.” He was in _Superman, the Movie_, also, as a missile officer who tries and fails to tell the rogue missiles to self-destruct (“Function negative, sir!”) Interestingly, his credits for the two films are: _Superman_: 1st Controller _Superman II_: Controller #1 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/38 "2017-06-28T11:40:22Z")
**Seth Macfarlane** was on a couple of episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Mind you, this was after his success with Family Guy. I wonder if he got paid for that gig, or if he was just doing it for shits and grins? ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/39 "2017-06-28T11:50:15Z")
Chandler Bing as the voice of Benny in Fallout: New Vegas ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/40 "2017-06-28T11:52:35Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > **Seth Macfarlane** was on a couple of episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Mind you, this was after his success with Family Guy. > > I wonder if he got paid for that gig, or if he was just doing it for shits and grins? In light of his upcoming series _The Orville_, I think we can assume him a fan of the genre. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931.md?page=3)