There’s a photo going around on Facebook (and elsewhere) which claims that “The World’s Most Interesting Man” once played a Red Shirt on *Star Trek *- and didn’t die! However, the photo looks nothing like him, even accounting for the decades:
Add to the fact that the actor’s (Jonathan Goldsmith) IMDb entry lists him as “uncredited” on that episode, yet he has no other uncredited roles (before or after), and I find this entire thing difficult to believe.
Anyone know for sure if this is just a big internet prank that someone is trying to pull on us?
Yeah, I saw that picture on FB this morning. I choose to be skeptical until stronger proof emerges.
OTOH, Goldsmith’s Wikipedia entry indicates that he moved to Los Angeles in 1966 to pursue acting work. Since the Trek episode in question (The Corbomite Maneuver) first aired in November of 1966, the timing might line up.
I think it’s legit. ETA: This information has been out there since 2005. I think it’s only now that people have realized that Jonathan Lippe and Jonathan Goldsmith are the same person.
While it’s entirely possible he’s been punked…it was from George Takei’s feed that it showed up on mine. I expect he was, y’know, actually there. (Although whether or not he’d have taken note of an extra, much less remember him from decades ago, is debatable.)
Many credited roles from 1951-1960, then he took an uncredited role in *Adventures in Paradise *(1960), a few more credited roles, then uncredited narrator in *Operation Bikini *(1963)
Leonard Nimoy
Many credited roles 1953-58, then 2 different uncredited roles in Sea Hunt.
Deforest Kelley,
Uncredited role in The Untouchables (1962) after many credited roles.
And so on. Most actors will be the same. Except for Patrick Stewart, who has only ever had 1 uncredited role in his career.
It may be true, but IMDb is in no way proof. It’s user edited. Sure, it’s also verified, but it’s hard to verify such things as uncredited roles.
WhyNot, what does Takei actually say? Did he talk to the guy again and thus can confirm it’s him? Does he remember asking the guy his name at some point? I know I’ve thought I recognized people from something and it turned out they were completely the wrong person. And nowhere near as much time had passed, seeing as my parents had only been schoolkids for a couple of years when the show aired.
Takei just reposted a photo that I’d seen show up earlier in the day in another friend’s Facebook reposts. He didn’t have anything to say about the veracity.
Not much. He posted the picture that’s going around, with the note: “From some fans, posted to my wall. He truly is The Most Interesting Man in the World…”
It’s possible he Commented later, but I’m not wading through 1,614 Comments to find out.
From a quick scan, though, no one’s challenging it. Proof? No, not even close. But I’m not sure why it’s hard to believe. Same build (allowing for youth), same hair, same brow…
OK, how about this: The “Most Interesting Man” campaign started in 2006. The Jonathan Lippe uncredited role has been out there at least since 2005. “Start Trek” has a very extensive cast list of uncredited roles. Nothing special here. As I’ve said before, it’s only recently that people have *Jonathan Lippe is Jonathan Goldsmith.
*That’s a name that I was always familiar with, but I could never pick him out in anything.
