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Actors who had hit sitcoms and dramas

C

chris12

Guest
Who were some of the actors who starred in both hit sitcoms and dramas? A few in mind are:
Carroll O' Connor All In The Family and In The Heat Of The Night
Jack Klugman Odd Coupple and Quincy
Buddy Ebsen Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones
Andy Griffith Andy Griffith Show and Matlock
 
Dick Van dyke: The Dick Van dyke Show and Diagnosis: Murder
Robert Young: Father Knows Best and Marcus Welby, M.D.
Tony Franciosa: Valentine's Day and Name Of The Game
Richard Crenna: The Real McCoys and Slattery's People
(also, IIRC, he appeared frequently on
Judging Amy until his death)
Walter Brennan: The Real McCoys and Guns Of Will Sonnett

and although he didn't star in The Donna Reed Show, I might
add Carl Betz, for Judd For The Defense (Donna Reed played
Miss Ellie on Dallas when Barbara Bel Geddes was off the show)

and how can we forget:

John Forsythe: Bachelor Father and Dynasty
Larry Hagman: I Dream Of Jeannie and Dallas
Patrick Duffy: Dallas and Step By Step (I hear he's on The
Bold And The Beautiful now)

Robert Young and Carroll O'Connor are the only two actors to
win Emmies for both a sitcom and a drama.
 
bpatrick said:
Patrick Duffy: Dallas and Step By Step (I hear he's on The
Bold And The Beautiful now)
Click to expand...

In Patrick's case, you could start yet a THIRD category - actors who've appeared on BOTH sitcoms and dramas AND have hosted game shows - Patrick is now hosting "Bingo America" on the Game Show Network....

Andrea
 
Would Room 222 technically be considered a sitcom? If so, I would include Denise Nicholas from Room 222 and later In The Heat Of The Night.

Lyle Waggoner: The Carol Burnett Show (comedy) and Wonder Woman
Candice Bergan: Murphy Brown and Boston Legal
Susan Dey: The Partridge Family and L.A. Law
Bill Bixby: My Favorite Martian and The Courtship Of Eddie's Father followed by The Magician (a drama which lasted a year in 1973-1974) and then a hit with The Incredible Hulk.

And then an actor who had hits with comedies and then a drama and back to comedy again.

Harry Morgan: December Bride/Pete and Gladys and Dragnet 1967, Dragnet 1968, Dragnet 1969, Dragnet 1970 and then back to comedy with M*A*S*H and then AfterM*A*S*H.
 
Yeah, I should have mentioned Patrick Duffy as host
of "Bingo America." Another actor who went from drama
to game shows was Jack Kelly (Bart Maverick), the first
host of "Sale Of The Century" (1969-71).

Richard Long did "Bourbon Street Beat" and "Big Valley"
before switching to comedy in "Nanny And The Professor"
and "Thicker Than Water." His "Nanny" co-star, Juliet Mills,
was star of the daytime soap "Passions."

And how can we forget Robert Reed: "The Defenders" and
"The Brady Bunch" (and "Mannix," where he alternated with
Ward Wood as Mannix's contact on the LA police force).
He even tried his hand at variety on ABC's "The Brady Bunch
Hour" (1977), with the Bradys in character as hosts of a
variety show. A song-and-dance man he definitely wasn't.

One more who comes to mind is Fess Parker (Davy Crockett,
Daniel Boone), who starred in the short-lived 1962 ABC sitcom,
"Mr. Smith Goes To Washington," based on a classic Jimmy Stewart
film.
 
Leo G. Carrol in "Topper" and as Mr. Waverly, number one, section one on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E."
 
Didn't Leslie Nielsen, who we think of as a comic actor today, play the title character in "Bracken's World" in the late 60's?

"The Magician" made me think of "Blacke's Magic", another blink-and-you-miss-it show about a crimefighting magician that Hal Linden did after "Barney Miller".

Some other random ones: Heather Locklear ("T. J. Hooker", Dynasty", "Melrose Place", LAX (on for about 5 minutes, but still), and "Spin City")

Jimmy Stewart (sitcom "The Jimmy Stewart Show" and drama "Hawkins")

Henry Fonda (western "The Deputy" and sitcom "The Smith Family")

Edgar Buchanan ("Petticoat Junction" and a quickie drama, "Cade's County" with Glenn Ford)

Wayne Rogers ("M*A*S*H" and "City Of Angels")

Brian Keith ("Family Affair", "The Little People", and the short lived drama "Zoo Gang")

Sally Field (comedies "Gidget", "The Flying Nun", and drama "Brothers And Sisters")

From "Happy Days": Tom Bosley did "Father Dowling Mysteries", and Marion Ross did "Brooklyn Bridge"

Do story arcs count? Then how about Alan Alda ("M*A*S*H" and "The West Wing")?

Y'all got me goin' here...


Edit: I KNEW I'd think of another one...Craig T. Nelson. Drama ("Call To Glory"), sitcom ("Coach"), and back to drama on "The District".
 
Edgar Buchanan was in a western drama-Judge Roy Bean-Long before Petticoat Junction

Alan Hale was in a couple syndicated shows."Casey Jones" and "Biff Baker, USA" before Gilligan's Island
 
Slightly off topic, perhaps: Leslie Nielsen did almost exclusively dramatic roles (feature films, and guest shots and recurring roles on TV drama series) until switching almost exclusively to comedic roles later in his career. His comic "break" was the movie Airplane in 1980. I guess the producers (Abrahams, Zucker & Zucker) thought of Nielsen when they were casting Police Squad in 1982. But since the show only lasted 6 episodes, he continued with primarily dramatic roles until the Naked Gun films (88, 91, and 94) made him a comedy icon.
 
Wayne Rogers was in "House Calls" on CBS.
Which, I believe, aired right before "Trapper John, M.D.", making for a somewhat surreal Monday night lineup.
 
Georege Clooney "er" a short-lived comedy on CBS then "ER" NBC, the one everyone else knows

Tony Shaloub "Wings", NBC now "Monk", USA Network

Susan St. James. 'Mcmillan and Wife' then 'Kate and Ally'

Thomas Gibson "Dharma and Greg" Now "Criminal Minds"

Enrico Colantoni "Shoot Me" Now "Flashpoint"

Judd Hirsch "Taxi", "Dear John", Now "Numbers"

Traylor Howard, '2 guys and a Pizza Parlor" Now "Monk"

Steven Weber "Wings" Then "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"
 
Corky Marlowe said:
Wayne Rogers was in "House Calls" on CBS.
Which, I believe, aired right before "Trapper John, M.D.", making for a somewhat surreal Monday night lineup.
Click to expand...

IIRC, wasn't Trapper John MD on at 10PM/9PM (Central) on Sunday nights (rounding out the big early '80s CBS Sunday night lineup with the likes of "60 Minutes," "Archie Bunker's Place," "One Day at a Time," "Alice," and "Jeffersons"). Wasn't "Lou Grant" on Monday nights at 10/9 during the run of "House Calls?" (However, having M*A*S*H on earlier on Monday evenings on the same lineup as "House Calls" can be surreal in itself).

Also, speaking of M*A*S*H--can you consider that show to be more of a comedy-drama than just strictly comedy?
 
[/quote]
Also, speaking of M*A*S*H--can you consider that show to be more of a comedy-drama than just strictly comedy?
[/quote]

I can, and it was... 8)
 
Ken Howard----- "Adam's Rib" & "The White Shadow"

Rick Schroder----"Silver Spoons" & "NYPD Blue"

Mark-Paul Gosselaar----"Saved By The Bell" & "NYPD Blue"

Gerald McRaney---- "Simon and Simon & "Major Dad"

Burt Reynolds--- "Dan August" & "Evening Shade"

Bill Bixby--- "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" & "The Incredible Hulk"
 
Right, "Trapper John, M.D." aired on Sundays, "Lou
Grant" on Mondays at 10/9 Central. I might also
note at least two drama series with Leslie Nielsen:
"The New Breed" (ABC, 1961-62) and the cops segment
of "The Bold Ones" (NBC, 1969). Yet today, thanks to
"Police Squad!", he's thought of mainly as a comic actor.

Two giants of the movies flopped in both formats:

Henry Fonda "The Deputy," NBC 1959-61 and "The
Smith Family," ABC 1971-72, although the latter might
be called a dramedy.)

Jimmy Stewart "The Jimmy Stewart Show," NBC 1971-72
and "Hawkins" CBS, 1973-74.
 
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