# Who didn't make it and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2002, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764 "2002-04-26T14:03:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/21 "2002-04-28T08:28:27Z")
I was a bit fond of Virginia Madsen and wondered why she didn’t become a bigger star than someone like Demi Moore or Sharon Stone. ---
**Author:** ![Vorae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@Vorae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorae)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/22 "2002-04-28T09:21:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **Carrie Fisher is a fairly sucessful writer.** From what I understand, she’s an especially gifted (or sought-after) script doctor. F. Murray Abraham has yet to follow up his Academy Award-winning role in _Amadeus_ with anything significant. He even played a modern, one-dimensional version of that character in _Finding Forrester_. Disappointing because, for one reason or another, I think he has some real potential. Perhaps I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/23 "2002-04-29T15:07:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Harvey \* > **Do you have a cite where she willingly bowed out of the HSM[sup]TM[/sup]? I always assumed things just dried up for her. Damn shame, whatever the reason.** I did but the cite’s site seems to have disappeared. IIRC, Ms. Meyrink insisted that she would only play quirky characters. Because of this, she appeared a string of so-so movies and her prospects probably dried up as a result. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/24 "2002-04-29T16:11:46Z")
**ScriptAnalyst** , did you ever see Bruce Dern hosting _Lost Drive-In_ on Speedvision? When they showed _Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry_, he spoke about Adam Roarke. He felt just like you did, that Roarke could have been as big a star as any other actor of their generation. He said Roarke never got the breakout lead role he needed to make his name. He was always the 2nd or 3rd lead in a film, and never got his chance to show that he could carry a mainstream picture. After _The Hitcher_, Rutger Hauer seemed to slide into crappy B-movies and supporting roles in lesser fare in the 90s. I always wanted to see him in better movies, not straight-to-video junk. He always had enough screen prescence, to me, to be a bigger star. Maybe on the level of Kurt Russell or James Woods. Hauer in a John Carpenter film would have been interesting. Is he supposed to be difficult to work with or something? Peter Weller is another guy I hoped better things would happen for. He should be another Willam Dafoe or John Malkovich, an art-house guy who does occasional big studio films for the exposure and money. Not making movies with Robert Hays. At his age though, he might be a good strong lead in a TV series. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/25 "2002-04-29T16:42:08Z")
I just saw Gary Cole in “Cadet Kelly”, a made-for-Disney-TV movie. He did a credible job as Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch movies, was great as Lumbergh in Office Space, and had a few pretty darned good series. So what the hell is he doing in Disney movies? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/26 "2002-05-01T02:11:44Z")
My man, David Patrick Kelly. Although he may be another one who shuns the HSM[sup]TM[/sup]. I’m basing this on the fact that he’s done some way avant-garde off-Broadway stuff that he can’t have been doing for the money, because there wouldn’t have been any in it. But I still wonder why things didn’t take off for him after **Dreamscape**. I would say "after **The Warriors** , but that film is probably how he got **Dreamscape** , and **48 Hours**. [sub]Funny, nobody who wasn’t known before **Twin Peaks** seems to have really benefited from it. No, Kyle McLaughlin was already known. No, it doesn’t count if someone was in another Lynch film. No, I don’t count Lara Flynn I’m-too-busy-and-important-to-be-in- **Fire Walk With Me** , either.[/sub] I’m hoping, though, that he’ll eventually get one quirky, memorable, **Straight Story** -esque role that will really showcase him. At this time, “War-ri-orrrs…come out to play-ay!” is what he’ll be remembered for, but it’s not all he’s capable of. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/27 "2002-05-01T02:21:44Z")
Russ Tamblyn attained minor cult status in _Twin Peaks_. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/28 "2002-05-01T02:30:52Z")
Mark Hamill. I guess he was type cast. Or maybe he just spent to much time rolling in all his money (I’m assuming he gets royalties for when his likeness is used.) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/29 "2002-05-01T02:40:55Z")
**Mr. Blue Sky** : Great, it only took him 30 years! (See **RealityChuck** ’s post.) ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/30 "2002-05-01T03:27:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vorae \* > \*\*F. Murray Abraham has yet to follow up his Academy Award-winning role in _Amadeus_ with anything significant. He even played a modern, one-dimensional version of that character in _Finding Forrester_. Disappointing because, for one reason or another, I think he has some real potential. Perhaps I’m wrong. \*\* He made [The Name of the Rose](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0091605) the next year. IMDB lists [59 films](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Abraham,+F.+Murray) since Amadeus came out. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/31 "2002-05-01T18:13:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JubilationTCornpone \* > \*\*Several of the old 1956-59 Mouseketeers come to mind… Cheryl Holdridge, Doreen Tracey and company. \*\* A few of the original Mousketeers went on to do voice work for cartoons. Look for the 30th Anniversary Special hosted by Paul Williams to find out what became of Annette’s colleagues. ---
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764/32 "2002-05-01T18:44:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\* > Miyoshi Umeki won a best supporting Oscar in _Sayonara_, yet only made one decent film after that (_Flower Drum Song_ – she was delightful) before vanishing. I suspect it had to do with her being a Japanese actress in a time when ethnicity inevitably lead to typecasting. > > \*\* Miyoshi Umeki was later a regular on the TV series “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.” It was a good show, but it only lasted a couple of years. I believe she was also a regular on Giselle MacKenzie’s variety show on TV. However, the IMDb has no entries for Giselle MacKenzie at all, and I don’t have my reference books here at work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-didnt-make-it-and-why/105764.md?page=1)