# Unbilled Appearances **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425 "2003-07-05T19:20:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/1 "2003-07-05T19:20:41Z")
I frequently read movie reviews which state that this or that actor made an unbilled appearance in the film. What exactly does this mean? Does his name not appear in the credits? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/2 "2003-07-05T20:09:27Z")
Yes. That’s what it means. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/3 "2003-07-05T20:48:22Z")
Right. e.g. Gary Oldman appears in **Hannibal** as the grusesomely deformed…uhhh… dude who’s name escapes me. Anyway, he’s certainly a big name actor, would have gotten one of the top billings after the principal players but for some reason asked that his name not be featured as part of the credits. What’s more is you’d hardly be able to recognize him beneath that ghastly make-up. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/4 "2003-07-05T21:02:47Z")
This is not all that uncommon. Sometimes it’s due to a contract issue. Other times it’s that the actor requests not to be mentioned. It might be a fun follow-up thread to list movies where it’s happened. IIRC Robin Williams gets no credit for the Baron Munchausen (sp?) role. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/5 "2003-07-06T00:18:07Z")
Williams also was unbilled for his role in **Dead Again**. Actors sometimes appear unbilled because billing can affect your career. If you aren’t a star and make a small appearance in a film, producers will try to pay you less. Appearing unbilled prevents this. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/6 "2003-07-06T00:26:40Z")
Bill Murray wasn’t credited for **Tootsie** because he didn’t want people to think it was a “Bill Murray” movie. James Earl Jones wasn’t Originally credited in the **Star Wars** trilogy because he didn’t think he’d done enough work to justify a credit. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/7 "2003-07-06T00:32:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zeldar \* > \*\*This is not all that uncommon. Sometimes it’s due to a contract issue. Other times it’s that the actor requests not to be mentioned. > > It might be a fun follow-up thread to list movies where it’s happened. > > IIRC Robin Williams gets no credit for the Baron Munchausen (sp?) role. \*\* IIRC, Williams couldn’t contractually be billed for the role because he was then under contract for another movie and was appearing in Munchausen in his spare time as a favor to Gilliam. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/8 "2003-07-06T00:34:08Z")
Bruce Willis has had two unbilled roles that come to mind: Four Rooms, and his small part in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Another actor that was unbilled was Kevin Spacey in… (SPOILER SPACE) … Seven, because it would have revealed to audiences who the killer was. When I saw Seven, I was stunned to learn not only that Spacey was John Doe, but that he was even in the movie. It seemed doubly-surprising because he had just played the evil mastermind in another movie… (SPOILER SPACE) …The Usual Suspects. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/9 "2003-07-06T01:02:02Z")
I’ll tell you an interesting unbilled appearance, although not by a big name actor: Arliss Howard played Kenneth Parnell in the made-for-TV movie “I Know My First Name Is Steven,” based on the Steven Stayner kidnapping. He’s basically in the whole movie, and his name is not in the credits! He’s the _reason_ for the whole story. I remember reading his name as appearing in it when the movie was first shown, but I don’t know for a fact that it was listed in the credits. It could have just been a write-up on it. Or. . . Maybe he was credited at first, then later removed. Don’t know, but he was definitely not credited the last time I saw the movie a year or so ago. ---
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/10 "2003-07-06T03:12:28Z")
Robin Williams was also uncredited in _To Wong Foo…_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/11 "2003-07-06T03:25:18Z")
Wasn’t Sean Connery unbilled in one of the Highlander movies? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/12 "2003-07-06T04:10:09Z")
**John Houseman** was unbilled in the Naked Gun. Strange because this was his final movie appearance. I believe **Alec Guinness** was unbilled in “The Empire Strikes Back” (Episode 5) (However, he DID get billing in episode 4 and 6). I believe he hated the role of Obi-Wan and thought the dialog a little silly. **Sissy Spacek’s** voice is unbilled in “Man With 2 Brains” ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/13 "2003-07-06T05:44:34Z")
IIRC, Charlton Heston is not billed in Burton’s **Planet of The Apes**. I don’t think Whoopi Goldberg received on-screen credit for **Star Trek: Generations**. Another thing that I see frequently is in order to maintain surprise for whatever reason, an actor will only be billed in the ending credits, i. e., Leonard Nimoy in **The Search For Spock**. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/14 "2003-07-06T06:23:18Z")
Robin Williams is not credited in _To Wong Foo…_ ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/15 "2003-07-06T13:46:00Z")
Don Cheadle was unbilled in **Ocean’s Eleven** ---
**Author:** ![aleong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@aleong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aleong)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/16 "2003-07-06T14:03:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Selkie \* > \*\*Don Cheadle was unbilled in **Ocean’s Eleven** \*\* In a slight digression, I thought it was great how they included “And introducing Julia Roberts as Tess” in “Ocean’s Eleven”! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/17 "2003-07-06T14:25:27Z")
Jason Robards was uncredited in the classic based on Bear Bryant’s legendary football program at Alabama, _Crimson Tide_. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/18 "2003-07-06T14:44:30Z")
Madonna was unbilled in Die another Day. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbilled-appearances/186425/19 "2003-07-06T16:02:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Selkie \* > \*\*Don Cheadle was unbilled in **Ocean’s Eleven** \*\* I think he goes uncredited in quite a few movies actually.