# What movies had the most cameos in them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052 "2015-02-07T16:08:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/1 "2015-02-07T16:08:57Z")
My Google-Fu is failing me on this one. I think the top movies are: [It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Mad,_Mad,_Mad,_Mad_World#Cameo_appearances) (around 60) [Around the World in 80 Days](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_80_Days_%281956_film%29) (at least 49) \*\*Other movies I thought of: \*\* [The Muppet Movie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muppet_Movie#Cameo_guest_stars) (at least 15) [The Longest Day](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longest_Day_%28film%29#Casting) but hard to say who was starring and who was a cameo and who was still an unknown like Sean Connery. Its poster does advertise 42 international stars. [Muppets Most Wanted](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muppets_Most_Wanted#Cameo_guest_stars) had 34 on the Blu-Ray release. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/2 "2015-02-07T16:13:52Z")
I don’t know if it’s cheating, but what about Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/3 "2015-02-07T16:16:54Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > I don’t know if it’s cheating, but what about Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid? Interesting but not really cameos and besides, _That’s Entertainment_ would blow it away anyway. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/4 "2015-02-07T16:17:32Z")
**[The Player](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105151/)** has 70 people credited either as “himself,” “herself,” of by their name. This doesn’t include named characters. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/5 "2015-02-07T16:20:02Z")
_[The Player](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_(film)#Cameos)_ was one cameo after another. 62 Cameos if I counted correctly. And what a fine film it was, too! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/6 "2015-02-07T16:21:22Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **[The Player](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105151/)** has 70 people credited either as “himself,” “herself,” of by their name. This doesn’t include named characters. Excellent one. I would say [The Player has 62 cameos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_%28film%29#Cameos) for the lead. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/7 "2015-02-07T16:45:52Z")
How about [Dave](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106673)? Featuring cameos from both actors and politicians. Do cameos by objects count? In The Longest Day, the shillelagh with which Kenneth More raps the APC is the one actually used on D-Day by the person he portrays. Similarly, Richard Todd could be counted a double cameo: not only was he actually there on D-Day - he helped capture Pegasus Bridge - but on camera he wore the very beret he wore that day. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/8 "2015-02-07T16:50:03Z")
Has there ever been a movie _about_ cameos (the jewelry)? Very difficult search terrain. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/9 "2015-02-07T17:04:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Has there ever been a movie _about_ cameos (the jewelry)? Very difficult search terrain. [Make Me an Offer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048333/) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/10 "2015-02-07T17:15:42Z")
[A Guide for the Married Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061736/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt)(1967, Robert Morse, Walter Matthau, & Inger Stevens) had something like 30 “Technical Advisers”, being a group of then-prominent stars in short vignettes illustrating the techniques and pitfalls of adultery. Dated (and how!) but still pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/11 "2015-02-07T17:36:30Z")
The 1933 _Alice in Wonderland_ had a cast of cameos. Pretty much every single part was played by someone bankable. It didn’t have as many cameos (62) as _The Player_, but I don’t think it even had 62 roles altogether. For percentage of cameos to unknown actors, it would win, I think. The total number of bankable actors in small roles is more than 30 out of a cast of fewer than 50. Also, one of the actors in AiW (1933) may hold the title for Most Cameo Appearances. Mae Marsh was one of the biggest names in the silent cinema. She had what we’d now call the “supporting actress” role in _Birth of a Nation_, and also was one of the stars of _Intolerance_. After Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford, she may have been the most popular actress of the silent era. She officially retired very shortly after the advent of sound, but actually, her appearances in films continued unbroken, she just went from starring roles to uncredited cameos, of which she made about 60. Add to that a number of very small parts where she is credited as “hysterical woman,” or “matron guarding prisoners,” plus a few TV appearances, and it’s well over 70, the last just three years before she died. She retired from films because she wanted to raise her children, but probably also to avoid the studio system (a lot of silent stars retired for that reason), but I guess she still needed to bring in some money. She probably chose to be uncredited to stay out of the spotlight, and thus keep her family out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/12 "2015-02-07T18:04:25Z")
How about voice cameos in live-action (as opposed to animated) films? E.g. a character on screen picks up the phone and it’s obviously Arnie as the on the other end. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/13 "2015-02-07T18:16:52Z")
The Blues Brothers had a lot of people basically playing themselves. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/14 "2015-02-07T18:28:25Z")
Mel Brooks “Silent Movie”? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/15 "2015-02-07T19:20:42Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > The Blues Brothers had a lot of people basically playing themselves. Good addition and the poorly done sequel had even more. It had around 42. > [@kopek](#): > > Mel Brooks “Silent Movie”? Maybe around 15? Tough call between small roles and cameos in that one. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The 1933 _Alice in Wonderland_ had a cast of cameos. Pretty much every single part was played by someone bankable. It didn’t have as many cameos (62) as _The Player_, but I don’t think it even had 62 roles altogether. For percentage of cameos to unknown actors, it would win, I think. The total number of bankable actors in small roles is more than 30 out of a cast of fewer than 50. > … Good addition for a list. Reminds me of a [TV movie version from the 80s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_%281985_film%29#Cast) that had a huge cast. 72 listed cast members or so. How many were cameos I am not sure. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-had-the-most-cameos-in-them/712052/16 "2015-02-07T19:48:47Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Excellent one. I would say [The Player has 62 cameos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_%28film%29#Cameos) for the lead. Stretching the definition of “cameo,” though. Katarzyna Figura? Scott Shaw? Others who are known only as “That Guy” in Robert Altman movies? Cameos are supposed to be people we recognize, not just people working under their own names. It’s a game, but only the very best players will say, "That’s Joan Tewkesbury! She wrote _Nashville_ and directed an episode of _Felicity._