# Spotting series actors in minor roles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114 "2018-07-18T01:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/21 "2018-07-18T19:10:57Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I think the granddaddy of that has to be Harry Morgan as General Bartford Hamilton Steele in an early episode of MASH then coming back to play Colonel Sherman T. Potter for the remainder of the series after McLean Stevenson left. Also Peter Capaldi. Went from a strong second banana in Doctor Who’s Fires of Pompeii (David Tennant’s Doctor) to being THE Doctor two Doctors later (you know what I mean). It was strongly enough remarked upon that they came up with an explanation for it. ---
**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 18, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/22 "2018-07-18T19:24:06Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I watched _Gilligan’s Island_ repeatedly when I was a kid; so it was hard for me to take _Rebel without a Cause seriously with Jim Backus(Thurston Howell III - the millionaire from Gilligan’s Island_) playing Jim Dean’s father. > > It’s also weird watching Leslie Nielsen in _The Forbidden Planet_ after his later career turn to absurd comedy. I once heard Backus tell of being in a nudie flick (apparently a big-budget production) back in the 1930s. As for Nielsen, he did straight drama for most of his career, often appearing as the heavy. He played studio head John Bracken on _ **Bracken’s World** _ (1969–70) and was a CIA operative in an episode of _ **Columbo** _. ---
**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 18, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/23 "2018-07-18T19:27:33Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Gul Macet. (It’s been retconned in the novelverse to say that they were cousins. IDENTICAL COUSINS.) Does a hot dog make him lose control? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/24 "2018-07-18T19:41:49Z")
[Check out Ricky Gervais on an episode of Spaced just before The Office came out.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcJ6OFtus6s) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/25 "2018-07-18T19:55:43Z")
Daniel J. Travanti had a bit part in an episode of the original _Lost In Space_ (credited as “Danny Travanty,” IIRC). Gavin MacLeod and William Christopher (before he was Father Mulcahy on _M_A_S_H\* - well, the _second_ Father Mulcahy, but that’s another story) played Germans (and possibly an Englishman or two) in various episodes of _Hogan’s Heroes_. Jack Riley (Mr. Carlin on _The Bob Newhart Show_; Stu Pickles on _Rugrats_) played a German (SS?) soldier in one as well. Alan Alda and Julie Newmar both played bit parts on episodes of _The Phil Silvers Show_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/26 "2018-07-18T20:01:51Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Also Peter Capaldi. > > Went from a strong second banana in Doctor Who’s Fires of Pompeii (David Tennant’s Doctor) to being THE Doctor two Doctors later (you know what I mean). Between which he played a doctor with the World Health Organization in _World War Z_. A [W.H.O. Doctor](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/reference). ---
**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 18, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/27 "2018-07-18T20:07:04Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Also Peter Capaldi. > > Went from a strong second banana in Doctor Who’s Fires of Pompeii (David Tennant’s Doctor) to being THE Doctor two Doctors later (you know what I mean). It was strongly enough remarked upon that they came up with an explanation for it. In Christopher Eccleston’s _Jude_, David Tennant has a walk on bit as “drunken undergraduate”. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/28 "2018-07-18T20:07:57Z")
John Ritter had a reoccurring role as Reverend Matthew Fordwick on the Waltons before hitting it huge on Three’s Company. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/29 "2018-07-18T20:10:46Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Gavin MacLeod and William Christopher (before he was Father Mulcahy on _M_A_S_H\* - well, the _second_ Father Mulcahy, but that’s another story) played Germans (and possibly an Englishman or two) in various episodes of _Hogan’s Heroes_. MacLeod was also a regular on “McHale’s Navy”. I once won gift certificates to a restaurant by stumping a DJ with the trivia question, “On which ship did Gavin MacLeod serve before captaining ‘The Love Boat’?” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/30 "2018-07-18T20:21:59Z")
Diana Muldaur played two different characters in different episodes of Star Trek: TOS before returning to play Dr. Pulaski in STNG. ---
**Author:** ![Southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southpaw)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/31 "2018-07-18T20:30:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > John Ritter had a reoccurring role as Reverend Matthew Fordwick on the Waltons before hitting it huge on Three’s Company. He was also the tennis-playing minister who married Ted and Georgette on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/32 "2018-07-18T20:33:26Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Roger Smith of _77 Sunset Strip_, about 16 years old in the _Wagon Train_ episode, _The Dick Pederson Story._ And just a few years later, Smith played the grownup version of the narrator/protagonist in the movie _Auntie Mame_ with Rosalind Russell. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/33 "2018-07-18T20:33:58Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > John Ritter had a reoccurring role as Reverend Matthew Fordwick on the Waltons before hitting it huge on Three’s Company. In a similar vein, Det. Wentworth was set to become Wojo’s girlfriend until Linda Lavin landed Alice. ---
**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 18, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/34 "2018-07-18T20:35:17Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > John Ritter had a reoccurring role as Reverend Matthew Fordwick on the Waltons before hitting it huge on Three’s Company. He was also Rev Chatfield, the tennis-playing priest who married Ted and Georgette at Mary’s new apartment on _ **MTM** _. **EDIT:** Damn, ninja’d! ☹ ---
**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 18, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/35 "2018-07-18T20:39:46Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > MacLeod was also a regular on “McHale’s Navy”. > > I once won gift certificates to a restaurant by stumping a DJ with the trivia question, “On which ship did Gavin MacLeod serve before captaining ‘The Love Boat’?” Of course, technically speaking, the PT 73 was a boat, and the _Pacific Princess_ was a ship. In general, a ship can carry a boat, but a boat cannot carry a ship. 😛 ---
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/36 "2018-07-18T20:51:37Z")
Colm Meaney, who played Miles O’Brien on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, had a _very_ minor role in _Dick Tracy_ as a uniformed police officer. If I recall correctly, it was a speaking role, but he said all of two or three words. ---
**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 18, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/37 "2018-07-18T20:52:54Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Gavin MacLeod and William Christopher (before he was Father Mulcahy on _M_A_S_H\* - well, the _second_ Father Mulcahy, but that’s another story) played Germans (and possibly an Englishman or two) in various episodes of _Hogan’s Heroes_. Christopher filled in for Sgt Andrew Carter in an episode of _ **Hogan’s Heroes** _ when Larry Hovis, for some reason, wasn’t available. I used to think he actually assumed the role of Carter, but upon watching that episode I saw I was wrong. His character’s name was Thomas. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/38 "2018-07-18T20:53:15Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [Check out Ricky Gervais on an episode of Spaced just before The Office came out.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcJ6OFtus6s) Even more gobsmacking is seeing him in his New Wave / New Romantic band. Just do a Google Image search for Ricky Gervais Seona Dancing. You won’t be disappointed. Back on topic; a few weeks ago I saw George Clooney in an episode of Murder, She Wrote. ---
**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 18, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/39 "2018-07-18T20:56:58Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Colm Meaney, who played Miles O’Brien on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, had a _very_ minor role in _Dick Tracy_ as a uniformed police officer. If I recall correctly, it was a speaking role, but he said all of two or three words. He was hilarious as the head of an Irish household in _ **The Commitments** _. I laughed out loud when I saw the portraits of Elvis and the Pope hanging side-by-side on his living room wall! He was also pilot of the doomed British airliner in _ **Die Hard II** _. ---
**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 18, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114/40 "2018-07-18T21:11:16Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > Kathryn Card first appeared on _I Love Lucy_ as cleaning lady in one episode, but came back the next season in a semi-recurring role as Lucy’s daffy mom. In the 1950s, Pert Kelton played Alice Kramden on _ **The Honeymooners** _ until she was blacklisted and replaced with Audrey Meadows. In the '60s, she played the mother of Sheila MacRae’s Alice in Jackie Gleason’s revival of _ **The Honeymooners** _. Trixie, the wife of Ed Norton on _ **The Honeymooners** _, was played in one episode by Elaine Stritch. She was replaced with Joyce Randolph. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spotting-series-actors-in-minor-roles/818114.md?page=3)