as i watch these episodes, i realize that i've seen some of the same actors play different parts. was the african-american acting pool that dried up back then?

so let's name any of these characters, played by the same person, more than once. here are a few i can think of instantly:

Alderman Davis & Cousin from out of town (drunk girl's dad)
Blind guy with encyclopedias & Michael's principal
Eddie the bully & Maddog's flunky
Florida's brother & Thelma's older man

Post up yours, gotta get back to work....


;)

Sweet Daddy & the manager of the night club JJ worked

Hal Williams. I don't remember his character names in any of the episodes, but he was in The 1st episode, "Getting up the Rent."
as one of the evictors, he was one of James drunk friends in a bar in another episode, and during the last season he played a hot-temper father of a clumsy student of J.J.'s. That's all I could think of right now.

Bebe Drake played Sweet Daddy's girlfirend in one episode (Savannah Morgan?), and then appeared as Larry's Mom in another. Larry was the kid with the hearing problem (who almost fell down the elevator shaft).

Originally posted by knl9674
as i watch these episodes, i realize that i've seen some of the same actors play different parts. was the african-american acting pool that dried up back then?

so let's name any of these characters, played by the same person, more than once. here are a few i can think of instantly:

Alderman Davis & Cousin from out of town (drunk girl's dad)
Blind guy with encyclopedias & Michael's principal
Eddie the bully & Maddog's flunky
Florida's brother & Thelma's older man

Post up yours, gotta get back to work....


;)

What I find strange is that Ron Glass who played the encyclopedia salesman and then Michael's principal within just a couple episodes of each other. Douglas Grant played Mad Dog's flunky and Eddie in the same season as well. It wasn't unusual back then for actors to be recast in different parts in the same series, but in most shows I've seen they wouldn't recast someone in the same season. I guess there weren't that many reliabe black actors around to do a Hollywood sitcom in 1975.

Here is another one. Thalmulus Rasulala. He was Jame's friend from Mississippi in the vistor episode. He played a guy who took Florida to lunch in another.

I was gonna mention Rasulala... I watched the episode today where he played Oscar and took Florida to a Japanese restaurant... it's one of my favourites in Season 3. I knew I'd seen Oscar before as someone else but couldn't remember which episode.

There's also Ronalda Douglas who appeared in two episodes. One was which she played a spoiled girlfriend of JJ's who got annoyed with him trying to pay attention to Penny and had the closing line of 'Well, I never. .. .!' to which JJ answered- 'And at this rate, you never will!:lol:
In the last season, she played a tomboy who sought Willona's help to 'feminize' herself so JJ would think of her as more than a friend!

I think I made a thread about this awhile back.

The ones that I noticed were Savannah Douglas and the man who played Alderman Davis and the blind man selling the encyclopedias.

That lady that was at the employment office who gave J.J. a hard time looking for a job.
She was also a barfly in "Florida's Night Out" and she was a waitress in "Thelma's Brief Encounter".

Wow a triple entry!

And talking of triple... the last 3 episodes of Season 3 are the absolute best! Leaves you hungry for Season 4!!!

I just got the Season 4 DVD! And I was watching the "Thelma's African Romance" two-parter and I just noticed something. The guy who suspended Thelma from College is the guy that was the broke player in the welfare office in the "Getting Up the Rent" episode! YES it is him, I am not trippin'! Take a look for yourself if you got the DVD's and/or tapes.