I have the Rachel Ward DVD Sharky’s Machine.* There’s a scene late in the movie where Burt goes into a fancy restaurant to taunt Vittorio Gassman. He flashes his badge to the maitre d’, who then escorts him to Gassman’s table, and says a quick line like “right over there, sir”, and I SWEAR - it’s Jerry Seinfeld! He has a cheesy moustache and there’s something wrong with his hair, but his voice is unmistakable, or so I thought. Alas, after running the scene over and over, my wife disagrees that it’s him. Sigh. So, I ask you fellow Dopers, can you confirm that it is indeed him in that scene?
FYI - he’s not listed in the credits on the IMDb nor at the end of the movie - in fact, there’s no listing for a waiter / maitre d’ in the credits, which at least proves some other credited actor was not listed…
*OK, maybe it’s a Burt Reynolds movie, but that’s not why I bought it.
?? Yes, yes I know, that’s why I said that very thing in the OP - he is not listed in the credits at the end of the movie either - but since it doesn’t list any character playing the “waiter” it was obviously an uncredited role.
Think about this. _Sharky’s Machine was released late in 1981. It was thus probably shot early in 1981 or late in 1980. During the time that the scene you described was shot, Jerry Seinfeld was 26 (or, just possibly, 27). Look at the scene in the film again. Does the character in the movie look like Seinfeld would have looked more than 20 years ago? Furthermore, Seinfeld was nobody important until May 1981, when he did his first appearance on the Tonight Show. That was very likely just after the filming of the movie ended. Up until that point, he was just another struggling stand-up comic who had done nothing on TV or in the movies except for a few appearances on Benson. (Did you bother to read Seinfeld’s entry in the IMDb?)
There’s no reason why a struggling comic would offer to do a scene in a movie without credit. (That’s the sort of thing that someone already famous does.) The reason the role isn’t listed in the credits is presumably that it’s too minor. Furthermore, there’s no reason why the casting director of Sharky’s Machine would hire a struggling comic living in New York for a minor role that wasn’t really designed for a comedian. The film was apparently shot on location in Atlanta, so there’s no good reason that Seinfeld would have shown up at an open casting call for the minor parts in that film.
Well, not content to discuss this without actually having seen the scene in question, I’m going to pick up a copy of this video this morning. It’ll just be one more opinion, but I’ll be back later today with my take on who it looks like.
Yep. Looks just like he looked on those old Tonight Show appearances. Sounds exactly like him too.
Yes, I did bother. The very fact that it doesn’t coincide with what he was doing at the time is why I posted this thread. Did you bother to watch the scene I’m asking about before dismissing me out of hand?
All valid reasons, all of which were brought up by my wife, all of which I considered, all of which are exactly why I posted this thread - I wanted people to look at the scene and help me decide, b/c there’s no question in my mind it’s him.
To reiterate, I’m not asking for clarification on the odds of why or how he would appear in an uncredited role in Sharky’s Machine in 1981 - I’m asking fellow Dopers to watch the scene and tell me what they think.
I did just that, and I’m 100% certain it is not Jerry Seinfeld. My reasoning:[list=a][li]The actor is too old. He looks late twenties to me.[]He’s not right physically. He’s built along the same lines as Burt, and that’s much too broad-shouldered and beefy for Jerry Seinfeld.[]His voice isn’t right. Too deep.[/list][/li]He does bear a resemblance, but frankly I’d guess that he was Burt’s stunt double thrown a bone with a speaking part.
You really didn’t think the voice was right? Damn. Oh well - thanks for checking - the movie didn’t age all that well, did it?
Anyone else? Can we get some more opinions? Can I maybe not start my weekend with the wife being right about this and me being wrrrr…wrrrr…wro…BLARRRRGGH!!!
