# TV Episodes where two actors who later hit it big guest starred **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973 "2016-02-02T18:43:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/41 "2016-02-02T23:19:58Z")
Since we’ve strayed from the OP’s original premise, that of two future stars appearing in an episode of a show I guess I can bring up this one (and I hope I haven’t brought it up on the boards before) At the very end of the original version of **“Psycho”** when the officer is taking a blanket to Norman Bates, a young Ted Knight ( **Mary Tyler Moore Show** , **Caddyshack** , **Too Close For Comfort** ) is an EXTRA. All he does is open a door to let the officer in. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/42 "2016-02-02T23:31:58Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I recall an episode of the Untouchables with Gavin MacLeod and Cloris Leachman. There was also one with Elizabeth Montgomery as David White’s\* love interest. \*Aka Samantha Stephens and Larry Tate. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/43 "2016-02-02T23:33:39Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Dunno if [this](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0752181/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_32) episode of YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES counts, but I’d never heard of Daniel Craig or Catherine Zeta-Jones back then, and I’ll wager you hadn’t either. Why would it not count? That’s awesome. > [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Since we’ve strayed from the OP’s original premise… We have? Why? ---
**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:** [February 2, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/44 "2016-02-02T23:46:37Z")
Anybody remember _ **Holocaust** _? Meryl Streep and James Woods were an Aryan/Jewish couple; Michael Moriarty was the SS officer who investigated them. SFAIK, it was the big break for all three of them. Joseph Bottoms and Tovah Feldschuh were also in it. I was madly in love with Tovah. :o > **[Holocaust (TV Mini Series 1978) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077025/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast)** > > Holocaust (TV Mini Series 1978) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/45 "2016-02-02T23:50:10Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > At the very end of the original version of **“Psycho”** when the officer is taking a blanket to Norman Bates, a young Ted Knight ( **Mary Tyler Moore Show** , **Caddyshack** , **Too Close For Comfort** ) is an EXTRA. All he does is open a door to let the officer in. Ted Knight was also a German sergeant on _ **Combat!** _ Both Walter Koenig and Leonard Nimoy played GIs on the show, though not in the same episode. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/46 "2016-02-02T23:53:52Z")
Ok, This might be a bit off topic, but similar. This is a movie, not a TV episode. And the two actors hit it big in politics later on. Both becoming governors… Predator ---
**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:** [February 3, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/47 "2016-02-03T00:03:20Z")
_ **Combat!** _ was particularly fertile ground for un- or little-known guest stars. Joseph Campanella and pre-Riddler Frank Gorshin were in an episode together. So were Jack Lord and Peter Duryea (aka Jose Tyler on the first _ **Star Trek** _ pilot). Majel Barrett was also on _ **The Untouchables** _, as an (uncredited) waitress. _ **Hawaii Five-0** _ had a two-parter with pre-_MAS_H\*\*\* Loretta Swit and pre-_ **St Elsewhere** _ Ed Flanders. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/48 "2016-02-03T00:07:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Ted Knight was also a German sergeant on _ **Combat!** _ Both Walter Koenig and Leonard Nimoy played GIs on the show, though not in the same episode. Yeah but what I find odd about Knight being an extra on _ **“Psycho”** _ which came out in 1960, is that he’d already appeared with speaking roles on over six different TV shows, two years prior. A bit of come down from speaking parts on _ **“The Twilight Zone”** _ to opening a door on _ **“Psycho”** _. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/49 "2016-02-03T00:07:46Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Ok, This might be a bit off topic, but similar. This is a movie, not a TV episode. And two actors hit it big in politics later on… _ **This Is the Army** _ with Ronald Reagan (CA governor and US president) and George Murphy (CA senator). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/50 "2016-02-03T00:17:29Z")
Matthew Perry got his first acting credit in [an episode](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0502273/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast) of **240-Robert** back in the '70s, presumably because he had the unfair advantage of being John Bennett Perry’s son; also getting work in that episode, Gerald McRaney. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/51 "2016-02-03T00:27:30Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Yeah but what I find odd about Knight being an extra on _ **“Psycho”** _ which came out in 1960, is that he’d already appeared with speaking roles on over six different TV shows, two years prior. A bit of come down from speaking parts on _ **“The Twilight Zone”** _ to opening a door on _ **“Psycho”** _. Hmmm. I see your point, but I’m not sure going from TV to a major motion picture directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a “comedown,” even if he had no lines. Having been in a number of productions myself, I can say the important thing is that you **get noticed!** Back in the '40s, there was one actor (whose name I don’t remember) who had one line as a sailor and was on screen for about five seconds; he became a national heartthrob overnight. Basically the same thing happened with Richard Dreyfus in _ **The Graduate** _: “You want me to call the cops? I’ll call the cops!” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/52 "2016-02-03T00:35:19Z")
**The Mary Tyler Moore Show** had a lot of guest stars on their way up or down. One ep. had Laurence Luckenbill and Carole King, but both had kind of peaked fame-wise. One early episode, though, season 3 ep. 24, had a pre-fame Louise Lasser (_Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman_) and Craig T. Nelson (_Coach_). All the shows she produced had a lot of improv comedians in them, from groups like Compass and The Committee, guys like Paul Sand and Roger Bowen. Except for Valerie Harper, appearing on an MTM show was a career peak for a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/53 "2016-02-03T01:07:54Z")
[This](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0674249/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_187) episode of the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse aired so many decades ago that Adam West (a) wasn’t even going by “Adam West” yet, and (b) was getting work alongside some nobody named Walter Matthau. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/54 "2016-02-03T01:32:41Z")
Pre-_ **Star Trek** _ William Shatner and pre-_ **Batman** _ Adam West together: This one's a hoot and a half! :D ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/55 "2016-02-03T01:51:08Z")
One episode of [The Rookies](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0688455/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_70) gave us young Annette O’Toole and younger John Travolta. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/56 "2016-02-03T03:33:10Z")
[This](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0629256/?ref_=ttep_ep6) episode of _Law & Order_ had William H. Macy and Paul Guilfoyle. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/57 "2016-02-03T11:13:02Z")
[This episode of _Gidget_](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0588024/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_113) had Barbara Hershey and Ron Rifkin. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/58 "2016-02-03T11:45:25Z")
Never mind… ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/59 "2016-02-03T13:43:32Z")
These are all great replies! Thanks! I have a lot of things to check out tonight. I’m especially interested in finding that Young Indiana Jones with Daniel Craig and Katherine Zeta Jones, as well as the Dan August with Han and Lando. 🙂 Wolfman, I would count all four of those in your A Team example. I admit, I had to look up Ogre and Leon, but instantly recognized both. And I love both Ernie Hudson and Michael Ironside as well! I watched that episode of MASH last night and was very entertained. Even back then Andrew Dice Clay was a ham. We can expand to small parts in movies as well if you’d like. I know for myself, I recently rewatched Scream 2 and was surprised to see a young Portia de Rossi and Timothy Olyphant in small parts. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973/60 "2016-02-03T17:33:56Z")
Most Antipodean actors seem to have appeared in one of the daytime soaps **Neighbours** or rival **Home and Away**. Many have appeared in both. Taking Neighbours in the mid to late 1980s. One of the stars was **Alan Dale** - already well known in Australia but yet to be a regular on The OC, NCIS, Lost, 24… One of his younger co-stars would be **Guy Pearce** who would find international fame in Memento, Prometheous and LA Confidential. I don’t believe they shared any screen time together but joining Neighbours for a few episodes would be Guy’s LA Confidential co-star **Russell Crowe** before Gladiator, Master and Commander and Robin Hood. Guy appeared regularly for years with **Kylie Minogue**. Perhaps best known now as a singer but she did also star in the film version of Mortal Kombat. Much later (and not all at the same time) but all three **Hemsworth** brothers; **Liam, Chris and Luke** have appeared. TCMF-2L [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-where-two-actors-who-later-hit-it-big-guest-starred/744973.md?page=4)