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People who were in one episode and joined the cast later as another character

D

Dave Andrews

CHiPs: Randi Oakes was auto thief Kim Balford a few seasons before she joined the cast as an officer

M*A*S*H: During the Blake era, Harry Morgan appeared as General Steele
 
On Law & Order, Jerry Orbach played a defense attorney (while Paul Sorvino was the senior detective) and came back the next season as Detective Lennie Briscoe.

Also on L&O, S. Epatha Merkerson played the mother of a defendant in season one before coming back as Lt. Van Buren. (In the same episode, ironically, James McDaniel played a crime boss before he, too, became a police lieutenant on NYPD Blue.)

On Cheers, Paul Willson had appearances as Tom and Glen (singing the words to the Bonanza theme) before the recurring role of bar regular, who always complained the gang left him out of things, Paul Krapence.
 
"I Love Lucy": Mary Jane Croft played Lucy's seatmate on
the flight back from Europe (the one where Lucy was trying
to disguise a huge chunk of cheese as a baby); she later
played Betty Ramsey in the Connecticut episodes. Frank
Nelson, who played Ralph Ramsey, appeared three times as
game-show host Freddy Fillmore and once as a cop when Lucy
and Ethel went out while Ricky and Fred were watching the fights,
and Lucy, needing change to call them from a pay phone, helped
herself to some change in the cash register at the diner where
Nelson and the owner (Lawrence Dobkin) were watching the same
fight.
 
Matlock had quite a few instances of this. In the first season, Nancy Stafford appeared in an episode as a call girl, before joining the cast as assistant "Michelle Thomas" from 1987 until 1992. Then Brynn Thayer played a character in a 1991 episode, before she became part of the cast as Matlock's divorced daughter "Leanne MacIntyre" from 1992 through 1994. And Daniel Roebuck played a few one-shot characters over the years before joining the cast starting in 1993.
 
Law & Order was notorious for doing this. Another instance I saw recently was Annie Parisse played a defendent before joining the cast to replace Elizabeth Rohm as ADA Alexandra Borgia.
 
Bewitched: Paul Lynde played a frazzled driving instructor teaching Samantha how to drive, and of course, later joined as series regular "Uncle Arthur".
 
On I Dream of Jeannie in a B&W ep. Emmaline Henry as Myrt, who was supposedly Jeannie's cousin and in second season in which Jeannie aired in color for the first time, she joined the cast as Amanda Bellows ,in the episode where Jeannie makes Major Healey the WOrld's Greatest Lover.
 
Mike Minor played Selma Plout's son in a 1964 Petticoat Junction episode before becoming a regular as Steve Elliott in the fourth season of the show (1966-1967).

I remember seeing Tina Cole in an episode of My Three Sons before she played Katie on that show. I believe she was one of Mike and Sally's schoolmates.

And Steve Landesberg guest starred as someone brought in by the one of the policemen on Barney Miller in an early episode before taking on the role of Dietrich.
 
On Gunsmoke, Ken Curtis played three different roles over the years before joining the cast as Festus Hagen. He played Phil Jacks in "The Jayhawkers," Brisco Cass in "Change of Heart" and an Indian scout in "Speak Me Fair." Also on Gunsmoke, Buck Taylor played an outlaw in an earlier episode before joining the cast as Newly O'Brien. And on Hill Street Blues, Dennis Franz was another cop, Sal Benedetto and later returned as Lt. Norman Buntz.
 
On Beverly Hills 90210, the actor who played Stuart Carson in the fourth season (he almost married Brenda) appeared in an episode during the first seaspn as a bellhop or something. I remember that Brenda flirted with him even then! ;D
 
Braves2005 said:
Mike Minor played Selma Plout's son in a 1964 Petticoat Junction episode before becoming a regular as Steve Elliott in the fourth season of the show (1966-1967)
That must have been during the black and white days of the series, which I have never seen. Were the black and white episodes ever included in the synidication package, because all I have ever seen were the color episodes?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
jwk1979 said:
Braves2005 said:
Mike Minor played Selma Plout's son in a 1964 Petticoat Junction episode before becoming a regular as Steve Elliott in the fourth season of the show (1966-1967)
Click to expand...

That must have been during the black and white days of the series, which I have never seen. Were the black and white episodes ever included in the synidication package, because all I have ever seen were the color episodes?
Click to expand...

No. Only the color shows (148, from 1965 to 1970) were syndicated. You can get both B&W seasons (74 shows, 1963-65) in "official" DVD sets (the five color seasons have as of yet not been issued on DVD).
 
The late Steve Landesburg played a priest in Season Two, joined the cast as Deitrich in Season 3 of Barney Miller.

Prolific sitcom guest actor Hamilton Camp played 2 different characters on WKRP In Cincinnatti. He appeared as electronics store owner Del Murdoch in season one and later in the series as Johnny Fever's ex-wife's fiancee. Never really "joined the cast" though.
 
Vincent Gardenia as the departing neighbor of Archie Bunker who sells his house to the Jeffersons, and later as a middle-aged "swinger" (married to Rue McClanahan), before he settling in as Betty Garrett's husband on ALL IN THE FAMILY.
And on the same show, Allan Melvin as a police desk sergeant in a season-one episode, long before he played Barney Hefner.
***
Al Lewis played a car thief and a constructiona supervisor on CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU before he joined the regular cast as Officer Schnauser. Similarly, Charlotte Rae showed up as a nervous bank clerk prior to her role as Sylvia Schnauser.
****
Another thread could be started on actors who had "relationships" on other series before they were more famously costarred, such as Elizabeth Montgomery playing David
White's mistress on THE UNTOUCHABLES before they both showed up on BEWITCHED.
 
I don't know if this counts, but on "Alias Smith and Jones," the man who was the announcer assumed the role of Smith after the death of actor Pete Duell.
 
Martin Mull was killed off on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and came back as his character's twin brother on the spin-off Fernwood Tonight.
James Garner was killed off on Nichols and came back as his twin brother.
 
Dennis Franz played corrupt murdering Detective Sal Benedetto on Hill Street Blues. If I remember correctly, Sal committed suicide when there was no other way out. Franz came back later a season or two later as the gruff but honest Lt. Norman Buntz, and became a regular cast member
 
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