# Which of those "before they were stars" roles do you actually remember seeing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702 "2009-04-20T06:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/61 "2009-04-21T02:40:30Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Leo DiCaprio on _Growing Pains_. I remember his “role” as my neighbor in the run-down apartment building a block and a half down the street from me. It’s now the location of the Los Feliz branch of the L.A. public library. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/62 "2009-04-21T02:48:43Z")
I remember Jim Carrey as the alcoholic older brother in the tv movie “Doing Time on Maple Drive.” Probably why I’ve had little tolerance for his broad comedic work. ---
**Author:** ![BlakeTyner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/63 "2009-04-21T02:51:04Z")
> [@ColonelDax](#): > > I remember a fresh-faced \*\*Tim Robbins \*\*guest-starring on \*Hill Street Blues \*back in the day as Officer Larry Swan. A likewise fresh-faced Tim Robbins played Maverick’s replacement RIO in “Top Gun.” Y’know, after Goose dies, Mav gets Cougar’s old RIO…that’s Robbins. IIRC, he only has a line or two–and those are possibly off-camera and definitely behind an oxygen mask, but you can see him all towering over Tom Cruise on the carrier at the end. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/64 "2009-04-21T03:13:07Z")
Tom Bergeron used to be a disk jockey on the Portsmouth NH radio station [WHEB](http://wheb.com) back then in the '80s they called themselves “The Star Station” and Bergeron’s show was “Your basic Tom Bergeron type broadcast” He even had a locally infamous song called “Marty Feldman Eyes” it was a song about coffee, sung to the tune of “Bette Davis Eyes” I remember Tia Carrere playing a guest spot as a model or something on an episode of **Married…With Children** , playing as Kelly’s chief rival, even back then Tia made me feel kinda’ funny, like when we used to climb the rope in gym class, Schwing! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/65 "2009-04-21T03:24:01Z")
_The Courtship of Eddie’s Father._ Eddie (Brandon Cruz, and whatever happened to him? I say him in a small role as the love interest’s younger brother in _The One and Only_ with Henry Winkler, but nothing since then) had a bit of a crush on a button-nosed tomboy played by a pre-_Freaky Friday_ Jodie Foster. Also pre-_Taxi Driver._ ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/66 "2009-04-21T03:31:51Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > [http://c.getbackimages.com/uri/w514\_h676\_cfalse\_K1219214344/ferris-bueller-jennifer-aniston-ekg/image/4/0/4/2/4042302.jpg](http://c.getbackimages.com/uri/w514_h676_cfalse_K1219214344/ferris-bueller-jennifer-aniston-ekg/image/4/0/4/2/4042302.jpg) Um…no? [Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/) Check out the 5th role listed. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/67 "2009-04-21T03:47:55Z")
I remember seeing Bette Midler perform in the Continental Baths (a NYC gay bathhouse) in the early 70s . . . accompanied by Barry Manilow. And I saw Bernadette Peters sing “Raining in My Heart” in \*Dames at Sea, \*in 1968. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/68 "2009-04-21T03:59:18Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > Tom Bergeron…had a locally infamous song called “Marty Feldman Eyes” it was a song about coffee, sung to the tune of “Bette Davis Eyes” I think Dr Demento made it famous. I at least remember the title, and regretting it weren’t my own. Brandon Cruz, for a while, replaced Jello Biafra in the Dead Kennedys ---
**Author:** ![dbuzman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de0a6/32.png) [@dbuzman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbuzman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/69 "2009-04-21T04:01:38Z")
> [@sjc](#): > > Um…no? [Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/) Check out the 5th role listed. They did a [tv show](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098795/) of Ferris Bueller. That’s what Planetcory is referencing. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/70 "2009-04-21T04:02:39Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And I saw Bernadette Peters sing “Raining in My Heart” in \*Dames at Sea, \*in 1968. And, I suspect that, unlike you, I have lusted after her for years. 😉 (Is a wink appropriate here? Would a 😃 work better, without the implied come-on? Netiquette is completely beyond me. :D) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/71 "2009-04-21T05:04:35Z")
Oh, yeah, one more I should’ve mentioned in my OP: Alanis Morissette. I couldn’t believe that singer was the same person who played “the girl whom all the guys do stupid things to attract” role who blamed Adam (I believe) for getting slimed. ---
**Author:** ![Omgalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/41988e/32.png) [@Omgalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omgalion)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/72 "2009-04-21T05:33:03Z")
Some Aussies - I remember Simon Baker on _E Street_ (when he was Simon Denny), Eric Bana on _Full Frontal_, and Heath Ledger on a short-lived tv soap about athletes called _Sweat_. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/73 "2009-04-21T05:33:04Z")
I believe that Jason Alexander was also in Dr. Pepper commercial and Meg Ryan was in a commercial, as well. Maybe for tootpaste? ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/74 "2009-04-21T07:17:28Z")
I remember when Siskel & Ebert was just on Chicago PBS. I remember [John Bunnell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bunnell) on an episode of _Cops._ Usually I don’t make these connections when someone gets famous later, but I guess I saw Dana Carvey in _Halloween II_ and George Wendt in _My Bodyguard_. Oh, and I remember Calista Flockhart in an episode of _Life Stories: Families In Crisis_ or some such thing where she plays a bulemic who for some reason threw up in jars and stashed them in her closet. I’m still traumatized by that. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/75 "2009-04-21T09:00:39Z")
Never mind. Can’t correct this within the 5 minute window. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/76 "2009-04-21T09:04:32Z")
> [@dbuzman](#): > > They did a [tv show](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098795/) of Ferris Bueller. That’s what Planetcory is referencing. Yeah, but did anyone watch it? _Parker Lewis Can’t Lose_ slaughtered it. They even did a joke about Ferris spying on Parker to see how the show is supposed to be done.\* This is what I meant to post in the previous post. Unfortunately, I quoted the wrong poster and couldn’t correct it in the time alloted. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/77 "2009-04-21T11:44:55Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I also remember Zac Efron’s _CSI: Miami_ role before _High School Musical_ was a gleam in its producer’s eye. Before CSI: Miami, but after Firefly, Zac was a “corpse of the week” on ER, he had been shot and was dropped off in the ambulance bay by some people who didn’t stick around to see what happened to him next. Sadly, it was nothing good. He’s said that to his mortification, his high school English teacher showed a tape of Zac’s few speaking lines to every single class the day after the episode aired. I wonder how many people remember Matt Damon in “Mystic Pizza” with Julia Roberts and Lili Taylor? Or Brad Pitt’s walkthrough extra appearance in a party scene in “Less than Zero” with Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey, Jr. There was also a horrible movie called “Moving Violations” that starred Sally Kellerman, the “Where’s the Beef” lady and a bunch of people’s less talented sibings: Jennifer (sister of Meg, much more famous at the time) Tilly, John (brother of Bill) Murray and James (brother of Stacy) Keach. There was a blink and you’ll miss it scene featuring future Oscar nominee and awesome actor Don Cheadle as a fast food worker. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/78 "2009-04-21T12:18:10Z")
To me, Jim Carrey will always be “Mark, the virgin with a vampire problem” (Once Bitten). I honestly can’t think of anything else he’s done that I actually enjoyed. Once Bitten, however, will always be one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/79 "2009-04-21T12:18:13Z")
Damn - all the good ones have been taken. I do remember Morgan Freeman from his Easy Reader days and I was a Greg Kinnear fan back when he hosted _Talk Soup_. George Clooney was on _Sisters_ with Sela Ward. IIRC his character got killed off and shortly thereafter he turned up on _ER_. Not a remembrance but a recent sighting: Keira Knightly has a brief uncredited appearance in _Thunderpants_ as a music student - she doesn’t have a line but is standing behind someone who does. _Bend It Like Beckham_ came out the same year. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702/80 "2009-04-21T12:31:00Z")
The Patridge Family had a very young Jodie Foster. Facts of Life had a young MacKenzie Astin. Friends had a very young Dakota Fanning. Roseanne had a young Joseph Gordon-Levett. Ryan’s Hope had Kate Mulgrew (long before she went into space) and a very young Yasmin Bleeth as mother-and-daughter Mary Ryan Fenelli and Ryan Fenelli. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-those-before-they-were-stars-roles-do-you-actually-remember-seeing/493702.md?page=5)