Has an actor from UM ever been accused of being the actual missing people/criminals? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

truthbtold · 02-17-2010, 01:21 AM

Hey everyone. HUGE FAN of UM. New to the forum. I'm glad I found people as enthusiastic about UM as I am... Anyway, I was just thinking that some people must confuse the actors in the re-enactments with being the actual missing people. Does anyone know if this happens often? Any stories about this?

Cori aka ChrisSCrush · 02-17-2010, 01:43 AM

Not that I have heard of but I did hear of a lady on America's Most Wanted being turned in as the crook she portrayed.

bell83 · 02-17-2010, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by truthbtold

Hey everyone. HUGE FAN of UM. New to the forum. I'm glad I found people as enthusiastic about UM as I am... Anyway, I was just thinking that some people must confuse the actors in the re-enactments with being the actual missing people. Does anyone know if this happens often? Any stories about this?

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that it did happen, but I don't remember for sure.

wiseguy182 · 02-17-2010, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bell83

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that it did happen, but I don't remember for sure.

it was an episode of Mama's Family. ROFL!

I did hear a story, I think it was on jumptheshark, about a woman having to sit next to the actor that played Wadada, and she was freaked out about it. BTW, isn't it ironic that jumptheshark jumped the shark? (TVGuide, apparently not satisfied with ruining their magazine, bought the site and turned into another online version of their magazine)

bell83 · 02-17-2010, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

it was an episode of Mama's Family. ROFL!

I did hear a story, I think it was on jumptheshark, about a woman having to sit next to the actor that played Wadada, and she was freaked out about it. BTW, isn't it ironic that jumptheshark jumped the shark? (TVGuide, apparently not satisfied with ruining their magazine, bought the site and turned into another online version of their magazine)

wiseguy182 · 02-17-2010, 03:18 AM

somewhat related to this, I think UM did a pretty good job in its early years of hiring actors that looked like the people themselves. Jill & Julie Hansen for example. It created a more real viewing experience. In its later years, they hired actors that didn't even come close to resembling the people. I think that's one of the reasons the show declined in quality.

I know that sounds weird, but that's the way I feel.

WishfulDreamer · 02-17-2010, 03:33 AM

I did hear of a passerby tackling a guy who he thought was a criminal but turned out to be just an actor for UM. Not sure where I heard it though.

justins5256 · 02-18-2010, 04:38 PM

I once read an article on Newsbank about the abduction of Michaela Garecht. The article mentioned the UM segment and more specifically the re-enactment of the abduction. Apparently the actor who portrayed the young blond haired abductor received a lot of strange looks from people out in public for awhile after the segment first aired.

jpawn23 · 02-19-2010, 01:42 AM

This has indeed happened. It was a gentlemen that use to teach at the High School in Yucca Valley, CA. Unfortunately I am unsure of the segment that he was in. I remember this because he use to always share this story with his students. From what I remember I think he taught math or video.

RobinW · 07-21-2010, 09:03 AM

I'm willing to bet that if Kenneth Robert Stanton hadn't been captured the week after the broadcast, the actor who played him would have had a lot of people phoning the UM hotline on him, and witnessed a lot of parents and children running away from him in fear. That actor desperately needed to change his appearance more than the wanted UM fugitives

!

On a related note, I heard that one criminal profiled on America's Most Wanted bore such a striking resemblance to former WWF wrestler The Big Bossman that people actually called in claiming it was him! They did not seem to realize that it probably wasn't in a fugitive's best interest to appear live on national TV every week

!

brianh333 · 07-21-2010, 10:06 PM

This might not count, but I remember in the Lifetime movie about Shannon Mohr-Davis and Dave Davis, they depicted a conversation between two of the investigators, taking place immediately after the episode was shown on UM.

(obviously paraphrasing from memory):
Investigator 1: So do you have any leads?
Investigator 2: Aw, a couple, but nothing's really panned out. <chuckling> Hell, we even had a handful of calls, identifying the actor in the re-enactment as being Davis.

02-17-2010, 01:21 AM	#1
truthbtold Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Feb 16, 2010 Location: Jersey Shore Posts: 84	Has an actor from UM ever been accused of being the actual missing people/criminals? Hey everyone. HUGE FAN of UM. New to the forum. I'm glad I found people as enthusiastic about UM as I am... Anyway, I was just thinking that some people must confuse the actors in the re-enactments with being the actual missing people. Does anyone know if this happens often? Any stories about this?

07-21-2010, 10:06 PM	#11
brianh333 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 15, 2010 Posts: 98	This might not count, but I remember in the Lifetime movie about Shannon Mohr-Davis and Dave Davis, they depicted a conversation between two of the investigators, taking place immediately after the episode was shown on UM. (obviously paraphrasing from memory): Investigator 1: So do you have any leads? Investigator 2: Aw, a couple, but nothing's really panned out. <chuckling> Hell, we even had a handful of calls, identifying the actor in the re-enactment as being Davis.
	__________________ The above post was about unsolved mysteries. Whenever possible, the actual author (not a police official) has participated in re-creating the events. What you just got done reading was NOT a news broadcast.

02-17-2010, 01:43 AM	#2
Cori aka ChrisSCrush Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 30, 2001 Location: USA and still trying to be proud of it! Posts: 2,071	Not that I have heard of but I did hear of a lady on America's Most Wanted being turned in as the crook she portrayed.

02-17-2010, 03:18 AM	#6
wiseguy182 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 11, 2006 Location: Wendy's salad bar Posts: 7,030	somewhat related to this, I think UM did a pretty good job in its early years of hiring actors that looked like the people themselves. Jill & Julie Hansen for example. It created a more real viewing experience. In its later years, they hired actors that didn't even come close to resembling the people. I think that's one of the reasons the show declined in quality. I know that sounds weird, but that's the way I feel.

02-17-2010, 03:33 AM	#7
WishfulDreamer Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 01, 2009 Location: L.A. Posts: 3,868	I did hear of a passerby tackling a guy who he thought was a criminal but turned out to be just an actor for UM. Not sure where I heard it though.

02-18-2010, 04:38 PM	#8
justins5256 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 08, 2002 Posts: 3,866	I once read an article on Newsbank about the abduction of Michaela Garecht. The article mentioned the UM segment and more specifically the re-enactment of the abduction. Apparently the actor who portrayed the young blond haired abductor received a lot of strange looks from people out in public for awhile after the segment first aired.

02-19-2010, 01:42 AM	#9
jpawn23 Member First Time Poster Join Date: Feb 19, 2010 Posts: 1	This has indeed happened. It was a gentlemen that use to teach at the High School in Yucca Valley, CA. Unfortunately I am unsure of the segment that he was in. I remember this because he use to always share this story with his students. From what I remember I think he taught math or video.

07-21-2010, 09:03 AM	#10
RobinW Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2010 Posts: 1,874	I'm willing to bet that if Kenneth Robert Stanton hadn't been captured the week after the broadcast, the actor who played him would have had a lot of people phoning the UM hotline on him, and witnessed a lot of parents and children running away from him in fear. That actor desperately needed to change his appearance more than the wanted UM fugitives ! On a related note, I heard that one criminal profiled on America's Most Wanted bore such a striking resemblance to former WWF wrestler The Big Bossman that people actually called in claiming it was him! They did not seem to realize that it probably wasn't in a fugitive's best interest to appear live on national TV every week !