# Spotting a familiar actor in a surprising place **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805 "2012-03-14T23:52:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/21 "2012-03-18T05:02:58Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Stephen Colbert plays the perp in some episode of… Law & Order, I think. (Could be CSI but I don’t think so.) I happened to catch the episode in a re-run and nearly did a spit-take at my TV. Law & Order is king of this. Stephen Colbert and Jim Gaffigan have both made appearances that are…not similar to their typical personas. I was watching the first season of SVU on Netflix the other day, and Al Sharpton showed up in one scene. I was watching the show one night and the female guest lead character (mom of an abused boy, I think) was an actress who looked a little familiar. It took me a while, but I eventually placed her as Teri Polo, who played Rebecca Wells, a love interest of Dan, on several episodes of SportsNight. And then her husband (and initial suspect) came in. It was Josh Charles, Dan from SportNight. That was weird. Most recently I was watching a local channel that was playing what looked like a somewhat old, somewhat low budget western. But then people kept showing up: Kevin Kline. Scott Glenn (played Jack Crawford in Silence of the Lambs). Kevin Kostner. Danny Glover. Linda Hunt. Jeff Goldblum (whose entrance is nothing short of [spectacular](http://cineplex.media.baselineresearch.com/images/280194/280194_large.jpg)). And John Cleese is in there for about 15 minutes at the very beginning. I have no idea how popular a movie it was, but I’d never heard of it. It was 1985’s [Silverado](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090022/). ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/22 "2012-03-18T05:22:01Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Stephen Colbert plays the perp in some episode of… Law & Order, I think. > [@Garfield226](#): > > Law & Order is king of this. > > Stephen Colbert and Jim Gaffigan have both made appearances that are…not similar to their typical personas. Not long ago, I also saw Assif Mandvi (sp?) from The Daily Show on a Law and Order episode. It was a repeat that I’d seen before but didn’t know about him then. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/23 "2012-03-18T05:47:36Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > …Jeff Goldblum (whose entrance is nothing short of [spectacular](http://cineplex.media.baselineresearch.com/images/280194/280194_large.jpg)). “My name’s Calvin Stanhope, but my mother calls me Slick.” Great movie. See it on a big screen if you ever get the chance. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/24 "2012-03-19T13:05:37Z")
I did some work in local theater a couple of years ago, and one of the actors involved was a very nice guy named Gary Stern. A few weeks ago, I was watching _Clerks_ for the umpteenth time and _holy crap!_ Gary is [annoying tabloid-reading customer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Et5S_alCE)! I had no idea back then…which is probably a good thing. I’d have gone into total View Askew fanboy mode had I realized it back then. Unfortunately, he died about two weeks ago…RIP, Gary… ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/25 "2012-03-19T13:27:25Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > Richard Dreyfuss in a bit part in The Graduate several years before he became well known. Seeing it the second time around, he seemed suited to the part as a little shit disturber. And of course, also in the same “the Graduate” scene with Dreyfuss is Mr. Roper from “Three’s Company” - Norman Fell. Dreyfuss also has a one-minute role in “Valley of the Dolls.” (Yes, Valley of the Dolls!) He’s a stage manager who knocks on Neely O’Hara’s dressing room door to tell her it’s ten minutes to showtime - and finds her drunk and in the wrong costume. In the original “Dark Shadows” one time, there was a plot-line in which hapless vampire Barnabas is being menaced by a weird cult that worships some H.P. Lovecraft like demon. One of the cultists was Marsha Mason! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/26 "2012-03-19T14:39:44Z")
I have a new one! Was watching a random episode of Little House on the Prairie a couple of nights ago and one of the kids looked a whole lot like Sean Penn. Turns out his very first credited screen role was on a single episode of Little House as “Kid.” I believe his father Leo directed the episode. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/27 "2012-03-19T14:41:51Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > Most recently I was watching a local channel that was playing what looked like a somewhat old, somewhat low budget western. But then people kept showing up: Kevin Kline. Scott Glenn (played Jack Crawford in Silence of the Lambs). Kevin Kostner. Danny Glover. Linda Hunt. Jeff Goldblum (whose entrance is nothing short of [spectacular](http://cineplex.media.baselineresearch.com/images/280194/280194_large.jpg)). And John Cleese is in there for about 15 minutes at the very beginning. > > I have no idea how popular a movie it was, but I’d never heard of it. It was 1985’s [Silverado](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090022/). \*Silverado \*is a GREAT movie! Or at least I remember it as such. Don’t know how it holds up but it has a stellar cast. Kevin Costner has never been livelier in a role. It was quite popular. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/28 "2012-03-19T15:55:07Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I’ve been working my way through NYPD Blue on Amazon, and was surprised to see Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer in a brief scene. She played a sassy travel agent who quizzes a cop about joining the police force. Checking IMDB, I’m surprised that I’m not more used to seeing her, since she has appeared on ER, Chicago Hope, The X-Files, Just Shoot Me, Malcolm in the Middle, Dharma & Greg, CSI, CSI: NY, Medium, and The Big Bang Theory among others. Her bit on ER was gripping. She lied her way into Carol Hathaway’s clinic on the pretense of pregnancy complications, had an ultrasound, discovered that it was a girl, and then suddenly she was fine and started to run out. Turned out that she just wanted to know the sex so that she could have an abortion if it was a girl. > [@Garfield226](#): > > Law & Order is king of this. > > Stephen Colbert and Jim Gaffigan have both made appearances that are…not similar to their typical personas. Martin Short and Darrell Hammond from SNL have done similar creep-you-out turns on SVU and Criminal Intent, respectively. Martin Short was especially chilling but telling why would be a massive spoiler. > [@](#): > > I have no idea how popular a movie it was, but I’d never heard of it. It was 1985’s [Silverado](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090022/). It had a few Oscar nominations, as I recall. It’s a Lawrence Kasdan film, though, so the quality is pretty assured. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/29 "2012-03-19T16:41:26Z")
I watched _The French Lieutenant’s Woman_ on Netflix Streaming the other day. \*\*(Note: Their version cuts off about 10 minutes before the end of the film; irritating for any film & dreadful for this one.) \*\* The “framing story” shows two actors having an adulterous affair. Jeremy Irons is “Mike” & Meryl Street is “Anna”; the lovers in the movie-in-the-movie (based on the book) are Charles & Sarah. Mike’s wife was played by a young Penelope Wilton. More recently seen as Isobel Crawley on _Downton Abbey_ & as “Harriet Jones, Prime Minister” in _Doctor Who_! ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/30 "2012-03-19T17:42:23Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Mike’s wife was played by a young Penelope Wilton. More recently seen as Isobel Crawley on _Downton Abbey_ & as “Harriet Jones, Prime Minister” in _Doctor Who_! Are you sure? Did she show you her ID? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/31 "2012-03-19T18:32:03Z")
_All the President’s Men_ is one of my favorite movies, but every time I watch it, I’m surprised again to see so many familiar faces. Everyone thinks of Hoffman, Redford, Robards, and of course Hal Holbrook, but other actors who appear include Jane Alexander, Martin Balsam, Ned Beatty, Robert Walden, F. Murray Abraham, Stephen Collins, Lindsay Crouse, Polly Holliday and a whole bunch of lesser known actors who are familiar to me from their other television appearances. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/32 "2012-03-20T00:56:39Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (and Emma Thompson) were all in [a great episode](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxA0a5G6ccg) of the great Britcom _The Young Ones_ in the early 80s. That’s not really surprising, tho. All of \*The Young Ones \*guys were contemporaries with Laurie, Fry and Thompson as they were all part of the “alternative comedy” scene. There is a lot of crossover in various shows and doings in the 80s and 90s. It’d be like being surprised to see Big Bird in _The Muppet Movie_. Not always in the same place at the same time but still not entirely unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/33 "2012-03-20T01:09:01Z")
I rewatched Patriot Games recently and was surprised to see Jane Lynch playing someone who wasn’t a snarky, witty bitch but actually rather soft-hearted. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/34 "2012-03-20T01:11:16Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > In the Original Deathwish, Jeff Goldblum is one of the rapist\murderers. Yeah, he was in fact the leader of their little gang, the one who does the most, ahem, rapin’. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone point this out in the media. Also at the end of the film, the street cop who finds & gives Kersey’s .38 to Det. Vincent Gardenia is none other than **Christopher Guest** , like Goldblum also in his first movie role. ---
**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 20, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/35 "2012-03-20T01:15:03Z")
Five year old Courtney Love appearing on the back cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Aoxomoxoa” Her father Hank Harrison was one of their managers. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/36 "2012-03-20T01:50:18Z")
A few months ago, a local station started airing old episodes of _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ (a show I had never even heard of before which is kind of similar to _Twilight Zone_ or _The Outer Limits_), and I have been pretty surprised about the amazing number of actors who guest starred on the series. So far I have seen: Bette Davis Jack Nicholson Walter Matthau Harry Morgan Wayne Rogers Jessica Tandy Hume Cronyn Dick York Norman Fell and several other well known actors who I can’t think of right now. I don’t know why I had never heard of _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ before, but I am really enjoying it so far… ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/37 "2012-03-21T03:11:15Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > Richard Dreyfuss in a bit part in The Graduate several years before he became well known. As did Mike Farrell before he went on to become Dr. B. J. Hunnicut on MASH. Elaine May is in there, too. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/38 "2012-03-21T18:24:23Z")
My husband and I are watching STNG in order and are currently on the fourth season. Imagine our surprise when we recognize one of the aliens on a particularly campy episode, “First Contact” I believe is the name of it, in what had been a good season up to that point. Bebe Neuwirth (more commonly recognized as Lilith from Cheers and Fraiser) plays an alien that helps Commander Riker escape from a hospital. She requires sex with the good commander for her help. We are left to assume he complies. I recognized her voice before I recognized her face. Her voice is very distinctive and they had a funky fake thing on her nose so she could look “alien.” ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/39 "2012-03-21T18:44:47Z")
This kind of fits… I was surprised once while looking at the liner notes of the [“America’s Greatest Hits”](http://www.recordsale.de/cdpix/h/history-americas_greatest_hits.jpg) album that its cover was designed by one “Phil Hartmann”. Of course, he later dropped the last “n” and the rest is history. ---
**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 25, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805/40 "2012-03-25T12:52:27Z")
I caught a “Branded” episode today which featured a familiar face, although not someone who is known for acting. Dick Clark played J. A. Bailey of Barnum & Bailey Circus fame. Clark, of course, is one of the most familiar faces on TV, and has guest-starred in many programs as himself. However, IMDB shows he also has 19 credits as an actor, including the episode I watched today, “The Greatest Coward on Earth.” He was very good in his role. He could have probably had a second career if he had not already been a successful producer and host. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-a-familiar-actor-in-a-surprising-place/615805.md?page=3)