Are there any television actors (past or present) who were actually so good or so marketable that they could have been much more famous had they been movie actors?

I see Ed O Neil more in that role.

Robert Conrad
Jim Stacy
Paul Petersen

Nope. I can't ever remember a time watching a TV show where I thought, "That person could've/should've made the jump and become the next George Clooney, Will Smith, etc." I think the people who were or are good enough to make the jump to movie stardom did; the others are right where they needed to be.

In fact, the talent pool is so weak right now that the opposite seems to be the case now--too many TV stars who aren't good enough to make it big in Hollywood were/are being heavily pushed as movie stars. I was so surprised when Hollywood was trying to make Olivia Wilde a thing, as well as that kid from Third Rock from the Sun (forgot his name).

Tina Yothers

The guy who played 'bubba' on mama's family. The character/actor had a real 'woody boyd's/woody harrelson vibe.

Pete Duel

David Cassidy

Freddie Prinze Sr.

Cheryl Ladd

Farrah Fawcett

Henry Winkler

Johnny Carson

Michael Landon

Elizabeth Montgomery

Two blonde gals from the late-50s/early-60s:

Dorothy Provine
Connie Stevens

I always thought had those two come along about 20 years earlier, in the pre-television era, they would have made a comparatively bigger mark and garnered greater stardom in feature films in the classic Hollywood age, especially the screwball comedy genre, or maybe musical-comedies.

Oh, they both had perfectly decent careers, but their strong serio-comedic personalities would have been a better match for the 1930s/1940s. By the late-50s/early-60s, the role of leading-ladies had become increasingly just decorative and rather secondary, with perhaps the lingering exception of Doris Day.

David Cassidy

Freddie Prinze Sr.

Cheryl Ladd

Farrah Fawcett

Henry Winkler

Johnny Carson

Michael Landon

Elizabeth Montgomery

Cheryl Ladd, Farrah Fawcett and Henry Winkler tried their hand at movies and failed.

Johnny Carson? He made one or two movie cameos that he joked about but I can't imagine anyone suited more for TV and less for movies than Johnny Carson.

Cheryl Ladd, Farrah Fawcett and Henry Winkler tried their hand at movies and failed.

Johnny Carson? He made one or two movie cameos that he joked about but I can't imagine anyone suited more for TV and less for movies than Johnny Carson.Farrah Fawcett put in a really good performance in The Burning Bed. Yes that was a TV movie premiere and not theater, but better quality than a lot of the theater movies. Although even with its quality I don't know if I would watch The Burning Bed a 2nd time as that was so intense.

Nope. I can't ever remember a time watching a TV show where I thought, "That person could've/should've made the jump and become the next George Clooney, Will Smith, etc." I think the people who were or are good enough to make the jump to movie stardom did; the others are right where they needed to be.

In fact, the talent pool is so weak right now that the opposite seems to be the case now--too many TV stars who aren't good enough to make it big in Hollywood were/are being heavily pushed as movie stars. I was so surprised when Hollywood was trying to make Olivia Wilde a thing, as well as that kid from Third Rock from the Sun (forgot his name).

Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And he's done all right in movies, maybe not as good as some but better than others. So what do you know.

Ed.

David Cassidy

Freddie Prinze Sr.

Cheryl Ladd

Farrah Fawcett

Henry Winkler

Johnny Carson

Michael Landon

Elizabeth Montgomery

It's funny you should mention Michael Landon, he actually did start out in movies and not TV, but I don't think he did that many movies before ending up on TV. He actually debuted in a late 50s cheesy horror film I Was A Teenage Werewolf, and he was the title character! In fact they did a Highway To Heaven Halloween episode where Victor French's character Mark is watching the movie on a TV, but I don't remember that they mentioned the name of the movie but you do see Michael Landon on the screen in werewolf makeup. In fact the episode was kind of creepy. Because Mark falls asleep and dreams that Jonathan turns into a werewolf and tries to attack him! It was creepy but I think they were going for laughs too but I didn't really care for it. I thought it was a dumb episode but I kind of understand Michael Landon wanting to poke fun at the movie, he was kind of embarrassed that that was his professional acting debut.

Ed.

Two blonde gals from the late-50s/early-60s:

Dorothy Provine
Connie Stevens



Dorothy Provine was effervescent in Walt Disney's That Darn Cat! - I always wondered why we didn't see more of her.

Farrah Fawcett did do theatre. It was an off Broadway show called Extremities. I heard she was great. She also did the film version.

Andy Griffith also did movies before he became a big TV star and got great reviews for them but after hanging up his sheriff's badge his movie career essentially died and that's too bad because he had great potential on the big screen.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And he's done all right in movies, maybe not as good as some but better than others. So what do you know.

Ed.

What do I know?

I know that he was pushed because he reminded people of Heath Ledger, who he has a passing resemblance to. Naturally, when you look like a beloved star who's died, the public is going to look to you as that person's replacement, even if you don't have anywhere the ability or talent.

I'm not really sure how he did "all right." He was just a bit player in Inception--with Leonardo di Caprio and Tom Hardy being the main attraction. Ditto, Looper, where the major draw was Bruce Willis.

How about Arnold The Pig from Green Acres? Yes, animals can be stars too. He had it all. He was smarter than Mr. Ed, better looking than Lassie, and funnier than all of the Muppets combined! He could turn on the TV, write his name down on paper, and speak in at least 3 different languages, being especially fluent in Pig Latin! Yet who does Hollywood pick for future stardom from the Paul Henning stables? The little dog from "Petticoat Junction" who didn't even have a name or any talent until he starred in his own movie series where he was called "Benji". Many years later, there was a successful children's movie about a talking pig called "Babe" which led to a sequel and a carbon-copy movie that was also very good. It was called "Gordy" which just happened to feature Tom Lester of "Green Acres" as Gordy's owner. Sadly, Arnold was passed over for both roles and that was a real missed opportunity for the movie world. Imagine Arnold and Eb reunited in the same movie. But it wasn't to be. That was simply pitiful if you ask me.

How about Arnold The Pig from Green Acres? Yes, animals can be stars too. He had it all. He was smarter than Mr. Ed, better looking than Lassie, and funnier than all of the Muppets combined! He could turn on the TV, write his name down on paper, and speak in at least 3 different languages, being especially fluent in Pig Latin! Yet who does Hollywood pick for future stardom from the Paul Henning stables? The little dog from "Petticoat Junction" who didn't even have a name or any talent until he starred in his own movie series where he was called "Benji". Many years later, there was a successful children's movie about a talking pig called "Babe" which led to a sequel and a carbon-copy movie that was also very good. It was called "Gordy" which just happened to feature Tom Lester of "Green Acres" as Gordy's owner. Sadly, Arnold was passed over for both roles and that was a real missed opportunity for the movie world. Imagine Arnold and Eb reunited in the same movie. But it wasn't to be. That was simply pitiful if you ask me.Green Acres was 3 decades before Babe and Gordy. Naturally the pigs playing Arnold on Green Acres would have been long dead by this point... I don't think I have seen Gordy, but with you saying Gordy was very good, why would anything have needed changed about it?

Ed O'Neal did have a part in the 1981 movie The Dogs Of War before doing TV and I always thought that after seeing him in the movie Southern Comfort that Alan Autry should've had a decent movie career.

Cheryl Ladd, Farrah Fawcett and Henry Winkler tried their hand at movies and failed.

Johnny Carson? He made one or two movie cameos that he joked about but I can't imagine anyone suited more for TV and less for movies than Johnny Carson.

Tom Selleck and Ted Danson also tried to make the transition to motion pictures, but were just too associated with the characters they played on TV. Then you have actors like Sally Fields, Eastwood and Travolta who found the right movie role to show that they had more to offer than their one note TV character.

What's really funny is that a good percentage of the not ready for primetime players (SNL) moved on to successful movie careers.

Mr. Baseball with Tom Selleck was terrible.

Tom Selleck and Ted Danson also tried to make the transition to motion pictures, but were just too associated with the characters they played on TV. Then you have actors like Sally Fields, Eastwood and Travolta who found the right movie role to show that they had more to offer than their one note TV character.

What's really funny is that a good percentage of the not ready for primetime players (SNL) moved on to successful movie careers.

I have read various suggestions about why Tom Selleck didn't have more success in motion pictures. I don't know if I would immediately say that he was too associated (or typecast if you want to call it that) as Thomas Magnum (just like Ted Danson was too identified as Sam Malone to really make it work on the big screen but let's get back to focus) to transition. In the '80s, Bruce Willis and Michael J. Fox started off as TV stars, and they managed to make it work in movies. During his run on Magnum, P.I., Tom Selleck did make several high profile films which should have been successes given his fame.

However, Lassiter, High Road to China and Runaway were all critical and commercial failures. Selleck to put things into proper perspective, never had his Die Hard or Back to the Future like Bruce Willis or Michael J. Fox. That one transcendent blockbuster that could've helped him break out of the TV trap. Sure, Selleck and Ted Danson had Three & Men and a Baby, which was (believe or not) the biggest blockbuster (https://film.avclub.com/somehow-bogus-big-screen-sitcom-three-men-and-a-baby-b-1843524305?_ga=2.247011520.551477840.1609751347-152473768.1604633641) of its year, but it isn't like he had to carry that movie entirely on his shoulders. It's sort of what happened with John Travolta and Look Who's Talking. Sure the movie made a lot of money at the box office, but it didn't really much to improve Travolta's reputation or credibility as an actor.

What probably hurt Tom Selleck's chances was that he was already what you could call "middle aged" when Magnum, P.I. ended its run in 1988. That's a considerable tough time to break into movies as a male lead.

Tom Selleck and Ted Danson also tried to make the transition to motion pictures, but were just too associated with the characters they played on TV. Then you have actors like Sally Fields, Eastwood and Travolta who found the right movie role to show that they had more to offer than their one note TV character.

What's really funny is that a good percentage of the not ready for primetime players (SNL) moved on to successful movie careers.

Just like SNL, the cast of SCTV - which really was a better show - also moved on to movie careers, with varying degrees of success.

I was watching an interview with Hal Linden of Barney Miller and the interviewer asked if he had any regrets, and he basically said that he wish he could have been a movie star, and have been in something memorable on screen. More or less that he was very successful but didn’t quite achieve what he wanted as an actor.

Probably not that much different than a middling, retired NFL player wishing they could have been a star and won the Super Bowl.

What do I know?

I know that he was pushed because he reminded people of Heath Ledger, who he has a passing resemblance to. Naturally, when you look like a beloved star who's died, the public is going to look to you as that person's replacement, even if you don't have anywhere the ability or talent.

I'm not really sure how he did "all right." He was just a bit player in Inception--with Leonardo di Caprio and Tom Hardy being the main attraction. Ditto, Looper, where the major draw was Bruce Willis.

The guy hasn't really become a "movie star" but he starred in a highly succesful(both critically and commercially) romantic comedy 500 Days Of Summer. Was the lead in Oliver Stone and Robert Zemeckis Director Biopics. Starred opposite one of the biggest female movie stars(Scarlette Johansson) in "Don Jon" his Directorial debut and has been in high profile film roles since the late 90's. Most actor's would kill for his stability in the film industry and his resume.