Speaking of Godfather, it was Brando’s comeback. While he wasn’t having to do commercials or Ed Wood films, no director or producer would go near him at the time: he’d had several flops and was considered box office poison plus he had the reputation (apparently deserved) of being impossible to work with. Coppola famously tricked him into auditioning (telling him he was filming a makeup test) and the producers didn’t even recognize him.
After Godfather (for which he got, IIRC, about $50,000 and another Oscar) he became the highest paid star in the world. His deal for Superman held the record for the most money per second of any actor for years (it may still be) and anything with ‘Brando’ was a huge coup.
Angela Lansbury was a femme fatale at 19 in with Gaslight (1944)
transforms to a loveable Disney witch in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
then to gray haired mytery writer in “Murder, She Wrote” (1984-1996)
Have any washed up child stars ever made a real comeback? Jodie Foster kind of went away and came back, same as Jason Bateman, but have any like the Coreys or the Diff’rent Strokes kids- the type who’ve become punchlines basically- ever later become big stars again?
Mickey Rooney comes to mind–or at least he often argues that he was at the very bottom of the barrel for an awful long time until coming back with The Black Stallion, Sugar Babies, and Bill.
Landau was the first person I thought of when I saw this thread. However, if I may nitpick a bit, his “comeback” actually came in 1988 when Coppola cast him in what turned out to be an Oscar-nominated role in Tucker. Before that, Landau’s career was as at rock bottom with occasional parts in grade-Z horror films and dinner theater where he received billing below the prime rib.
I don’t know if Lansbury qualifies since she was hugely successful on Broadway during the 60’s and 70’s.
I would say Jackie Earl Haley since he was a minor child star (albeit with one hit movie as an adult) who came back from years of almost total obscurity to an Oscar nomination and starring roles in a couple of huge tentpoles. I don’t think you’ll find anyone on the list whose career was seemingly any more as dead as his was.
Put Jerry Orbach on the list then. He was a song-and-dance man on stage (don’t know if he reached household-name status), fell to doing guest shots on Buck Rogers and the like, and then a regular for years on Law & Order.
Angela Landsbury by no means ever faded away or was without a career. Throught the 60s and 70s she was THE go-to girl in musical theater, particularly Broadway, and has five Tony awards and has been a co-recipient of three Grammy Awards for cast recordings. She was on Broadway as recently as last season for which she got her latest Tony.
You also skipped her performance in the original Manchuria Candidate in the 60s which earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination (her third Oscar nomination). She has a slew of Emmies Awards and nominations that are not about “Murder She Wrote” including one for her performance in 1985’s Sweeney Todd.
I’m gobsmacked that anyone would say she had a “comeback” when she’s been working non-stop for almost 50 years!
Would Jackie Cooper count? He was one of the Our Gang kids. Then in 1931 he starred in “Skippy” and got a best actor nomination (at age of 9). Then he was in “The Champ” with Wally Beery. How good does it get?
Then he grew up. And went to WWII. He appeared in some garbage flicks.
Starting in the '50’s his career picked up on the small screen with “People’s Choice” which he didn’t really like (the talking dog bothered him) and “Hennesey” which he liked a LOT (no talking dog).
He would go on the be a director on MAS*H (the TV show). That would seem to qualify.
How about Mark Hamill? After the incredible success of Star Wars, he got pegged as Luke Skywalker. For the whole of the 80s and the very early 90s, he barely did anything worth mentioning; IMDb only has a few entries during that time and most of them are foreign films.
Beginning in the mid-90s, though, he began to find work again as a voice actor, and he’s been finding steady work ever since. Sure, it’s not an amazing comeback, more of a quiet return to performing, but I always find it remarkable how he managed to sidestep his permanent typecasting and return to being a competent performer. And besides, his voice is a large part of what made the Joker from Batman: TAS one of the best incarnations of the character. That’s got to count for something, right?
I think Shatner does whatever he wants to. I think it’s great that he went from icon through slumming it to schlocky actor to award-winning actor. He recites Sarah Palin’s speeches as poetry on TV and does duets with Henry Rollins (who says Shatner’s a cool frood). He truly seems to enjoy being himself. I love William Shatner.
Good choice! I don’t watch his sitcom either, but I see Jon Cryer’s on it and it’s nice that Ducky has work too.
Angela Landsbury by no means ever faded away or was without a career. Throught the 60s and 70s she was THE go-to girl in musical theater, particularly Broadway, and has five Tony awards and has been a co-recipient of three Grammy Awards for cast recordings. She was on Broadway as recently as last season for which she got her latest Tony.