# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![SUZ\_MAC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@SUZ\_MAC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SUZ_MAC)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/101 "2017-07-07T20:49:19Z")
Jamie Farr also appeared in “With Six you get Eggroll” as well as George Carlin before he became a famous comedian. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/102 "2017-07-07T21:28:56Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Nimoy has about five seconds as a radio operator in Lepus. _Two_ roles as a radio operator! Guess he was lucky that Gene Roddenberry had already decided on Nichelle Nichols for the Uhura role. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/103 "2017-07-08T00:58:15Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > _Two_ roles as a radio operator! > > Guess he was lucky that Gene Roddenberry had already decided on Nichelle Nichols for the Uhura role. Deforrest Kelly auditioned for the role of Spock. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/104 "2017-07-08T03:07:18Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > It had the already-famous post-_Friends_ David Schwimmer. Perhaps the most surprising appearance is that of Jimmy Fallon. Fallon was already famous by then unlike the future big stars I mentioned. He had already been a key cast member of SNL for 3 years. Since he didn’t have a lot to do in the role it was mostly “hey look it’s Jimmy Fallon!” Kind of jarring. It could have been that way with Schwimmer too but he owned that role. 8 years before Full Metal Jacket R. Lee Ermy was in The Boys in Company C. Playing, surprisingly enough, a Marine Drill Instructor. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/105 "2017-07-08T03:32:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Here is Nimoy. His scene apparently came just before Parker’s: > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjoB5gNPge4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjoB5gNPge4)… I have a rubber stamp _exactly_ like that, but rarely get to use it. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > One of the Tarlton or Carlton twins, as I recall. Tarleton: [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mgufzCkqhJ0/UPSuQOmXzOI/AAAAAAAANM8/DWgAxTjqmIE/s1600/GWTW1\_500.png](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mgufzCkqhJ0/UPSuQOmXzOI/AAAAAAAANM8/DWgAxTjqmIE/s1600/GWTW1_500.png) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/106 "2017-07-08T12:28:47Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/107 "2017-07-08T12:38:34Z")
Katie Couric played a prison guard in 1 scene in Austin Powers Goldmember ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/108 "2017-07-08T17:13:21Z")
Julia Roberts was in a single episode of Miami Vice. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/109 "2017-07-08T17:57:45Z")
I just tuned in to an old movie on TV; _The Fury_ (1978), haven’t seen it years. Watched for a few minutes and saw Darryl Hannah, Laura Innes, and Dennis Franz; very early roles for all three. Does Dennis Franz ever not play a cop? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/110 "2017-07-08T18:02:35Z")
Steven Spielberg was the guy who took their money at the clerk’s office at the end of Blues Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/111 "2017-07-08T18:07:29Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Does Dennis Franz ever not play a cop? No. ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/112 "2017-07-08T22:32:41Z")
Dunno if I ever mentioned seeing Brad Pitt on Head of the Class, playing the art student’s BF. Matthew Perry on 90210 but I don’t remember who he played. It was the first season. I oddly thought he could’ve played Kyle Machlachlan’s younger bro if the case arose. And just recently, seeing Stannis ummm Stephen Dillane on the John Adams HBO miniseries as Thomas Jefferson. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/113 "2017-07-08T23:03:37Z")
Has anyone mentioned Jamie Farr as Santini in Blackboard Jungle? He was still going by his original name, Jameel Farah. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/114 "2017-07-08T23:17:54Z")
Bill Paxton was in the video for Pat Benatar’s song Shadows of the Night . He played a Nazi ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/115 "2017-07-09T01:01:11Z")
_Have Gun-Will Travel_. Episode _Genesis_. Robert Mitchum is Richardson, a guy sent to kill Paladin. I didn’t recognize him until the very end, even though I knew that he was in the episode. His voice was two octaves higher than it was in Thunder Road. He didn’t look old enough to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/116 "2017-07-09T01:52:15Z")
I saw a **dreadful** vampire movie titled _Bloodrayne_. As the heroine confronted the king of the vampires, who also happened to be her father, I looked at the guy and said to myself “Is that…it can’t be…HE wouldn’t be in a movie that sucked this badly.” But it was Ben Kingsley. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/117 "2017-07-09T02:27:46Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I saw a **dreadful** vampire movie titled _Bloodrayne_. As the heroine confronted the king of the vampires, who also happened to be her father, I looked at the guy and said to myself “Is that…it can’t be…HE wouldn’t be in a movie that sucked this badly.” > > But it was Ben Kingsley. Pre- or post-_ **Ghandi** _? Struggling actors gotta eat, y’know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/118 "2017-07-09T03:18:41Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Julia Roberts was in a single episode of Miami Vice. Likewise _Friends_, but she was famous by then. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/119 "2017-07-09T03:27:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Pre- or post-_ **Ghandi** _? Struggling actors gotta eat, y’know. 😉 Definitely post Gandhi. Kingsley started on the stage in England, followed by Tv, in both England and some in the US. His first real movie role was as Gandhi, for which he got Best Actor. That was in 1982, and the vampire movie Bloodrayne was in 2005. Oh well, it is honest work. ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931/120 "2017-07-09T16:07:56Z")
A couple nights ago after I got off work, I came home and caught the last few minutes of a _Mannix_ rerun where Mannix was being held at gunpoint in his office by the episode’s villain, a well dressed guy in his forties who was seemingly speaking calmly but in a… rather stilted… manner, and _wait a second, that’s Adam West!!_ And if that weren’t enough, the episode of _Ironside_ that followed immediately afterwards featured Russell Johnson, better known from his run on _Gilligan’s Island_, and I probably would have had a similar reaction if _Ironside_ didn’t run its guest star credits at the start of episodes. Then, just for a topper, the next night I caught an old TV-movie called _Smash-Up on Interstate 5_ featuring a few notable (for the time) names (Robert Conrad and Buddy Ebsen probably being the most well-known). There was a CHP officer in the first act who _looked_ familiar, and if he hadn’t gotten shot and killed early on, I probably would have recognized him eventually. I had to wait for the end “also starring” credits to place him; turns out it was a young Tommy Lee Jones. Seriously, MeTV? Decades? Whatever retro digital subchannels you have in your market? Absolute _goldmines_ for this kind of thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place-part-deux/789931.md?page=7)