# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/41 "2017-06-28T12:35:17Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > 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. Similarly, John Turturro has a part in every single Spike Lee movie, even if its just a quick voiceover (such as the voice of the dog that orders Son of Sam to kill people in “Summer of Sam”.) ---
**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:** [June 28, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/42 "2017-06-28T12:45:19Z")
> [@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? If you appear – and especially if you have a line of dialog – you get paid. But I’m sure he did it for the SAG minimum. ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/43 "2017-06-28T16:30:53Z")
Most famous movie people have early careers and it is interesting to see where they turn up. One that caught me off guard was watching a rerun of “Have Gun Will Travel” and seeing Gene Roddenberry credited as the writer of the episode. Was watching the 1967 movie “Countdown” last night on Turner Classic Movies (irtatttfl). A sci-fi about sending the first man to the moon on a one way trip to live in a previously landed habitat until a ship that could make the round trip was built. I came into the show fairly late and every time a character in the control room turned around it was a case of I recognized the face and usually put a name to it. Some of which were… It was a James Caan festival so it wasn’t surprising to see him as the astronaut. CapCom was Robert Duvall - Frank Burns in the original M_A_S_H movie. Michael Murphy - Me Lai Marston in the original M_A_S_H movie Charles Aidman - was a nasty Colonel in an episode of the MASH television show. Mike Farrell - Bee Jay from the MASH television show. Ted Knight - as the Public Relations announcer for NASA. William Conrad - voice only, newscaster. Recognized his voice from his narration on show about moose and squirrel. ---
**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 28, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/44 "2017-06-28T16:59:11Z")
**Five Million Years to Earth/Quatermass and the Pit** is one of my favorite science fiction films. It’s vastly underrated, although it has more fans now, I think. The – well, not the villain, really, but the main opponent of Professor Quatermass is a military officer played by a young **Julian Glover**. He got more and higher-profile roles in the 1980s. You know him better as the AT-AT commander in _The Empire Strikes Back_, as Kristatos in the James Bond film _For Your Eyes Only_, and as Donovan in _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_, although maybe nowadays he’s more familiar as Maester Pycelle in _Game of Thrones_. ---
**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 28, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/45 "2017-06-28T17:03:02Z")
Mike Farrell first movie role was (uncredited) a bellhop in [The Graduate](https://www.google.com/search?q=mike+farrell+the+graduate&tbm=isch&imgil=MdBtYWqyBbcytM%253A%253BiSobcd-3UbodVM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fmilkthefranchise.com%25252Fgraduate2%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=MdBtYWqyBbcytM%253A%252CiSobcd-3UbodVM%252C_&usg=__h-lz_fZgNXQk8SveRoOsWxr2B6c%3D&biw=776&bih=502&ved=0ahUKEwjsroD_geHUAhXCdT4KHZQEDG4QyjcIRQ&ei=u-BTWazlCsLr-QGUibDwBg#imgrc=MdBtYWqyBbcytM:&spf=1498669261877). And M_A_S\*H’s Jamie Farr was a student in the movie version The Blackboard Jungle, credited as Jameel Farah. ---
**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 28, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/46 "2017-06-28T17:43:04Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Mike Farrell first movie role was (uncredited) a bellhop in [The Graduate](https://www.google.com/search?q=mike+farrell+the+graduate&tbm=isch&imgil=MdBtYWqyBbcytM%253A%253BiSobcd-3UbodVM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fmilkthefranchise.com%25252Fgraduate2%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=MdBtYWqyBbcytM%253A%252CiSobcd-3UbodVM%252C_&usg=__h-lz_fZgNXQk8SveRoOsWxr2B6c%3D&biw=776&bih=502&ved=0ahUKEwjsroD_geHUAhXCdT4KHZQEDG4QyjcIRQ&ei=u-BTWazlCsLr-QGUibDwBg#imgrc=MdBtYWqyBbcytM:&spf=1498669261877). And M_A_S\*H’s Jamie Farr was a student in the movie version The Blackboard Jungle, credited as Jameel Farah. As everyone knows (I think, but I’ll mention it anyway) Richard Dreyfus was the kid who offered to call the cops in _ **The Graduate** _. Norman Fell (Stanley Roper in _ **Three’s Company** _) owned the boarding house Benjamin was kicked out of. Jamie Farr was one of the pilots of the B-25 Andy Griffith and Nick Adams bailed out of in _ **No Time for Sergeants** _. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/47 "2017-06-28T17:57:07Z")
> [@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. Just had Quantum Leap on. Suddenly heard a Klingon shouting “You have no honour!”. It’s General Martok from Star Trek Deep Space Nine. The actor playing a disgruntled father-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/48 "2017-06-28T18:01:51Z")
> [@ruh-roh](#): > > Most famous movie people have early careers and it is interesting to see where they turn up. One that caught me off guard was watching a rerun of “Have Gun Will Travel” and seeing Gene Roddenberry credited as the writer of the episode. > > Was watching the 1967 movie “Countdown” last night on Turner Classic Movies (irtatttfl). A sci-fi about sending the first man to the moon on a one way trip to live in a previously landed habitat until a ship that could make the round trip was built. > I came into the show fairly late and every time a character in the control room turned around it was a case of I recognized the face and usually put a name to it. Some of which were… > > It was a James Caan festival so it wasn’t surprising to see him as the astronaut. > CapCom was Robert Duvall - Frank Burns in the original M_A_S_H movie. > Michael Murphy - Me Lai Marston in the original M_A_S_H movie > Charles Aidman - was a nasty Colonel in an episode of the MASH television show. > Mike Farrell - Bee Jay from the MASH television show. > Ted Knight - as the Public Relations announcer for NASA. > William Conrad - voice only, newscaster. Recognized his voice from his narration on show about moose and squirrel. Also the voice of (I think) Armed Forces Radio in MASH movie. ---
**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 28, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/49 "2017-06-28T18:16:14Z")
Two more examples from _ **The Graduate** _: Marion Lorne and Alice Ghostley (Aunt Clara and Esmerelda from _ **Bewitched** _) are both in the receiving line for the Singleman party at the hotel. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/50 "2017-06-28T18:23:34Z")
I was watching a clip of the great Daniel Day-Lewis in _Lincoln_, in a scene where the insomniac Lincoln is talking about Euclid’s axioms to a pair of junior War Office clerks. The camera cut to one of them, and I thought, “Huh! So _that’s_ where Kylo Ren started his military career!” Adam Driver I think is the actor’s name. > [@Sauron](#): > > I swear, I’m starting to think Ratzenberger has been in more movies than the Wilhelm scream. Ratzenberger must have the perfect actor’s career. He created an iconic character on one of the most beloved sitcoms ever, so he’s famous enough to work whenever he wants (and, between _Cheers_ and his Pixar work, never has to worry about making the next mortgage payment); but he’s not so huge as to have to fight off paparazzi or worry about TMZ digging through his trash. ---
**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 28, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/51 "2017-06-28T18:30:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Mike Farrell first movie role was (uncredited) a bellhop in [The Graduate](https://www.google.com/search?q=mike+farrell+the+graduate&tbm=isch&imgil=MdBtYWqyBbcytM%253A%253BiSobcd-3UbodVM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fmilkthefranchise.com%25252Fgraduate2%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=MdBtYWqyBbcytM%253A%252CiSobcd-3UbodVM%252C_&usg=__h-lz_fZgNXQk8SveRoOsWxr2B6c%3D&biw=776&bih=502&ved=0ahUKEwjsroD_geHUAhXCdT4KHZQEDG4QyjcIRQ&ei=u-BTWazlCsLr-QGUibDwBg#imgrc=MdBtYWqyBbcytM:&spf=1498669261877). And M_A_S\*H’s Jamie Farr was a student in the movie version The Blackboard Jungle, credited as Jameel Farah. I was surprised to re-watch the failed Gene Roddenbery pilot _The Questor Tapes_ and seeing Mike Farrell in the next-to-leading role. I never noticed Jamie Farr in a lot of the films at first, but after watching _MASH_ for a few years I started noticing him in a lot of places. He’s one of the conspirators in _Who’s Minding the Mint?_ (an underappreciated comedy). If you check out his imdb page you find lots of TV appearances. Peter Falk shows up as a cab driver in \*It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World. And he’s among those who showed up in The Twilight Zone as a kinda Fidel Castro clone. ---
**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 28, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/52 "2017-06-28T18:54:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I was surprised to re-watch the failed Gene Roddenbery pilot _The Questor Tapes_ and seeing Mike Farrell in the next-to-leading role. Leonard Nimoy was supposed to play the role of the android in that pilot, but for some reason it was given to Robert Foxworth instead. Nimoy didn’t find this out until he arrived at the studio to be fitted for his wardrobe. > [@](#): > > Peter Falk shows up as a cab driver in \*It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World. And he’s among those who showed up in The Twilight Zone as a kinda Fidel Castro clone. Eddie “Rochester” Anderson (Jack Benny’s sidekick) and Leo Gorcey (“Slip” Mahoney from _ **The Bowery Boys** _) were also cab drivers in _ **World** _. ---
**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, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/53 "2017-06-28T19:18:15Z")
I saw Carroll O’Connor in an episode of _The Time Tunnel_. He had a dual role as a British army officer in 1968 and his ancestor in 1812. He did a pretty decent English accent and I wouldn’t have recognized him except for his name in the credits. I saw an episode of _The Naked City_ with a very young Martin Sheen, along with Peter Fonda. I was struck by how much he looked like his son Charlie when he was that age. And I saw DeForest Kelley on the _Lone Ranger_ playing, guess what? Hint: “I’m not a gunslinger!” I also saw Martin Milner in another episode of the _Lone Ranger_ in his first TV role. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/54 "2017-06-28T19:44:48Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I was watching a clip of the great Daniel Day-Lewis in _Lincoln_, in a scene where the insomniac Lincoln is talking about Euclid’s axioms to a pair of junior War Office clerks. The camera cut to one of them, and I thought, “Huh! So _that’s_ where Kylo Ren started his military career!” Adam Driver I think is the actor’s name. Adam driver was an actual US Marine before becoming an actor. I was surprised to see Viggo Mortenson as Weps (the weapons dude) on the submarine drama Crimson Tide. ---
**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 28, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/55 "2017-06-28T20:24:33Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I saw Carroll O’Connor in an episode of _The Time Tunnel_. He had a dual role as a British army officer in 1968 and his ancestor in 1812. He did a pretty decent English accent and I wouldn’t have recognized him except for his name in the credits. Nitpick: Doug and Tony were at the Battle of New Orleans, which took place in January 1815 (three weeks after the Treaty of Ghent was signed). That episode of _ **Time Tunnel** _ used a lot of footage from _ **The Buccaneer** _: > **[The Buccaneer (1958 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buccaneer_(1958_film))** > > The Buccaneer is a 1958 pirate-war film made by Paramount Pictures starring Yul Brynner as Jean Lafitte, Charles Boyer and Claire Bloom. Charlton Heston played a supporting role as Andrew Jackson, the second time that Heston played Jackson, having portrayed him earlier in the 1953 film The President's Lady. The film was shot in Technicolor and VistaVision, the story takes place during the War of 1812, telling a heavily fictionalized version of how the privateer Lafitte The movie's supporting cas... ---
**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 28, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/56 "2017-06-28T20:53:26Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > 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._ He was Phillip Stuckey in _ **Pretty Woman** _, probably the first time I saw him. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/57 "2017-06-29T01:46:05Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Just had Quantum Leap on. Suddenly heard a Klingon shouting “You have no honour!”. > > It’s General Martok from Star Trek Deep Space Nine. The actor playing a disgruntled father-in-law. Or Michael Dorn using that famous voice at a Naked Mole Rat from the future in Kim Possible’s ‘Sitch in Time’. That turned my head in a hurry. [The fun begins about 50 seconds in](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fgBF_TLVQE). ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/58 "2017-06-29T03:11:49Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > Adam driver was an actual US Marine before becoming an actor. > > I was surprised to see Viggo Mortenson as Weps (the weapons dude) on the submarine drama Crimson Tide. Along with James Gandolfini, aka “Tony Soprano,” playing some other officer. ---
**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 29, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/59 "2017-06-29T05:08:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Nitpick: Doug and Tony were at the Battle of New Orleans, which took place in January 1815 (three weeks after the Treaty of Ghent was signed). > > That episode of _ **Time Tunnel** _ used a lot of footage from _ **The Buccaneer** _: > > [The Buccaneer (1958 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buccaneer_(1958_film)) Meh. I was close. At least I didn’t say it was during the Revolutionary War. ---
**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 29, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/60 "2017-06-29T05:20:05Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Meh. I was close. At least I didn’t say it was during the Revolutionary War. Interesting anecdote\* about that film (and episode): The director wanted the bagpiper toward the end to fall along with the rest of the British casualties, but he refused because he was playing actual period pipes and was afraid of damaging them. This is why he kept marching toward the camera while all of the Brits around him were dying like rats. \*Source: A professional piper I knew when I worked for the Minnesota Historical Society. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931.md?page=4)