[cheesesteak]

I was watching some old Mannix episodes from MeTV last week. Tina Louise had a relatively small part in one episode and I would never have known it was her without having seen the guest star credits before watching. Definitely not Gilligan's Ginger in this episode. Two or three episodes later, William Shatner had a role as the episode's bad guy. I recognized him instantaneously. William Shatner William Shatners in every acting role he's had.

 

[Steveknj]

I was watching some old Mannix episodes from MeTV last week. Tina Louise had a relatively small part in one episode and I would never have known it was her without having seen the guest star credits before watching. Definitely not Gilligan's Ginger in this episode. Two or three episodes later, William Shatner had a role as the episode's bad guy. I recognized him instantaneously. William Shatner William Shatners in every acting role he's had.

I always check the credits of old Seinfeld episodes to see all the guest stars on there. Obviously the guy who played Whatley is the Breaking Bad dude. Teri Hatcher was the 'real and they're spectacular" woman. There were others who have become famous or kinda famous now.

 

[Howie]

Yeah Shatner plays Shatner, now matter what he's in. Just like Nicholson. I can't think of any right now, but cameos of now famous people pop up on Law & Order SVU all the time. As I type this I remember the woman that later played on Heroes and later Nashville had a part in L&O.

 

[Steveknj]

12 Celebs Who Were in the Background of Your Fave Films Before They Were Famous

35 Celebrities Who Appeared In TV Shows Before They Were Famous

There's a bunch of these types of links

 

[wprager]

Wait, Julianne Hough was a Gryffindor extra in the first Harry Potter film?

 

[jr461]

Samuel L Jackson in Coming to America for a small, early film role.

Jane Leeves is another from Seinfeld (went on to Fraser and is now a regular on The Resident on Fox).

Rainn Wilson also had a recurring role on Six Feet Under before The Office.

 

[Family]

Early television series like Twilight Zone/Alfred Hitchcock Presents were fertile ground for future stars.

 

[JYoung]

Young Leonard Nimoy, Clint Eastwood, Robert Conrad, Ted Knight, and Barbara Eden in Highway Patrol.

 

[mattack]

Rainn Wilson also had a recurring role on Six Feet Under before The Office.

Hah, I thought of him as the "weird creepy guy from Six Feet Under" at first..

 

[spartanstew]

My son and I love spotting folks in older stuff - we never look at the credits though.

My son almost lost his mind when he saw Danny Devito in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Just could not believe it was him.

 

[cmontyburns]

Lots of recognizable actors passed through M*A*S*H in guest roles.

 

[Steveknj]

Lots of recognizable actors passed through M*A*S*H in guest roles.

Ron Howard and Swoozie Kurtz are ones that come to mind immediately.

 

[mlsnyc]

Law & Order is fertile ground, especially for aspiring actors in NYC. I met someone when our kids were playing in the same playground who claimed to have played a couple of different bit parts. But forgot his name and am not going to go through all those episodes to look for him, so cannot verify.

28 Actors Who Started Out on Law & Order

 

[cheesesteak]

The Mannix episodes I saw Tina Louise and William Shatner in them were from 1973 - a number of years after the shows/roles that made them famous went off the air.

I was surprised to see that there were only three seasons of Gilligan's Island. With syndication, it seems like that show was on forever.

 

[Steveknj]

Ron Howard and Swoozie Kurtz are ones that come to mind immediately.

Oh and John Ritter

 

[Dawghows]

Jack Nicholson was in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.

 

[cmontyburns]

Oh and John Ritter

Patrick Swayze, Joe Pantoliano...

 

[mattack]

The Mannix episodes I saw Tina Louise and William Shatner in them were from 1973 - a number of years after the shows/roles that made them famous went off the air.

Shatner was really in the dumps for a bunch of the 70s. I seem to remember (probably from one of his books) that he was doing dinner theater and basically (maybe literally?) living in his truck.

 

[The Spud]

I'm binge watching The Paper Chase which ran for 4 seasons between 1978-86. A lot of pre and post fame actors.

Maggie Wheeler (Janice from Friends)
Kurtwood Smith (That 70's show, among others)
William Schallert
John Goodman
Patrick Warburton (first credited role on IMDB)
David Ogden Stiers (MASH)
Timothy Busfield
Alan Napier (Alfred from Batman TV series)
Marilu Henner (Taxi - she was in the pilot episode for both shows in 1978. She chose wisely)
Kim Cattrall
Jayne Meadows
Robert Reed
Leigh McCloskey (Dallas & Santa Barbara)
Jon Lovitz (2 episodes, first credited role, except for "additional voices" on 2 episodes of Alvin & the Chipmunks)

 

[dtle]

Giancarlo Esposito was in the movie Trading Places.

Colin Farrell and Lena Heady was in BBC Ballykissangel.