Actors who are not known but in well known shows..... - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Yong Fang · 01-21-2016, 04:30 AM

We all have seen these actors, people who are in TV shows, and especially hour long shows in the 1980's and before that no one really knows at all.

These people who say truthfully "I had two lines of a Barnaby Jones episode back in 1978." People who are listed in credits in these shows that again the viewer has no idea who these people are, not even character actors people would recognize but maybe not the name but less than that.

Law and Order franchise is a good example. The one off brodega owner who speaks one or two lines and this is it "Hey, he went thatta way. He threatened me with a knife!"

Were a lot of these people, "real people" with regular jobs who occasionally get called up by someone to do two lines of one show, get paid $300 bucks and are never heard of again. These "E list actors" (less than D) are probably in a lot of things, we just never notice them, and they are totally anonymous. Probably a lot of them have taped their one 1974 Rockford Files episode to show their boring grandchildren.

My question from this was that were there just people from the outside of Hollywood who would be called in as extras or say one or two lines and then back to real life? Like "Edie Porgenstien....Witness #3" in a 1972 Kojak episode.

Tubehead · 01-23-2016, 12:15 AM

ones i can think of are:
Mark-Paul Gosselaar he played in some shows like dawson's creek and one franklin & bash on tnt but you never really heard what happened to him after saved by the bell!!
Jack Larson he plays Jimmy olsen in the ADventures of super-man he actor for a while but after playing jimmy olsen on the Adventures of super man he was type casted!!
Jaleel White you didn't see him in any thing after family matters ended!! i guess lot of people who grew up in the 1990s always remember him as Steve Urkel!
robin williams he played in several big hit movies but i always remember him in mork & minDY!!
Henry Winkler YOU never seen him in any movies!! i know he creator macgyver he was in couple of adam sandler movies!! i always wished they would have made an fonzie show!!

quaman leap aka Scott Bakula who plays time travel doctor in Quantum leap it was big hit then he also played in Designing Women for good while but then he play in star trek but i was never big star trek fan!! you also never hear form dean stock well i know we played in the last few episodes of battlestar galactica remake !!

JSP · 01-23-2016, 05:21 PM

The late J. Alan Thomas in Taxi is the first that comes up in my mind.

01-21-2016, 04:30 AM	#1
Yong Fang Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 04, 2009 Location: Memphis Tennessee Posts: 3,073	Actors who are not known but in well known shows..... We all have seen these actors, people who are in TV shows, and especially hour long shows in the 1980's and before that no one really knows at all. These people who say truthfully "I had two lines of a Barnaby Jones episode back in 1978." People who are listed in credits in these shows that again the viewer has no idea who these people are, not even character actors people would recognize but maybe not the name but less than that. Law and Order franchise is a good example. The one off brodega owner who speaks one or two lines and this is it "Hey, he went thatta way. He threatened me with a knife!" Were a lot of these people, "real people" with regular jobs who occasionally get called up by someone to do two lines of one show, get paid $300 bucks and are never heard of again. These "E list actors" (less than D) are probably in a lot of things, we just never notice them, and they are totally anonymous. Probably a lot of them have taped their one 1974 Rockford Files episode to show their boring grandchildren. My question from this was that were there just people from the outside of Hollywood who would be called in as extras or say one or two lines and then back to real life? Like "Edie Porgenstien....Witness #3" in a 1972 Kojak episode.

01-23-2016, 12:15 AM	#2
Tubehead Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 12, 2007 Location: chattanooga.tn Posts: 5,139	acotrs who are not well know but well know for their shows! ones i can think of are: Mark-Paul Gosselaar he played in some shows like dawson's creek and one franklin & bash on tnt but you never really heard what happened to him after saved by the bell!! Jack Larson he plays Jimmy olsen in the ADventures of super-man he actor for a while but after playing jimmy olsen on the Adventures of super man he was type casted!! Jaleel White you didn't see him in any thing after family matters ended!! i guess lot of people who grew up in the 1990s always remember him as Steve Urkel! robin williams he played in several big hit movies but i always remember him in mork & minDY!! Henry Winkler YOU never seen him in any movies!! i know he creator macgyver he was in couple of adam sandler movies!! i always wished they would have made an fonzie show!! quaman leap aka Scott Bakula who plays time travel doctor in Quantum leap it was big hit then he also played in Designing Women for good while but then he play in star trek but i was never big star trek fan!! you also never hear form dean stock well i know we played in the last few episodes of battlestar galactica remake !!

01-23-2016, 05:21 PM	#3
JSP Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 19, 2003 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,735	The late J. Alan Thomas in Taxi is the first that comes up in my mind.