Unknowns On Sitcoms That Went On To Become Stars

[johnbasalla]

Lucille Ball appeared in only one 3 Stooges film and that was "3 Little Pigskins" in 1934.

 

[FredLeonard]

Linda Evans appeared on Bachelor Father (with later TV husband John Forsyth) and in several episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Farrah Fawcett appeared on I Dream of Jeannie, the Partridge Family and the Flying Nun.
Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd also appeared on the Partridge Family.

 

[cd637299]

Martin Lawrence ("Martin" & movies) appeared in the syndicated "What's Happening Now!!"---an update of "What's Happening!!" about 7 years later (1986).

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[jfrancispastirchak]

There are many, but let me start with two that I have seen recently:

Helen Hunt as Murray Slaughter's daughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, season 7.

Though still not quite a household name, Helen Hunt's acting career had it's wheels on the ground since 1973. She was a high demand child actor starting at age 10.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Ron Glass played the refrigerator repairman on the "All In The Family" ep where, using flashbacks, Archie portrayed him as an angry Black Panther type, Michael saw him as a Stepin Fetchit, and Edith correctly remembered him as a regular, non-threatening guy who got a little miffed when Archie called him "boy". Speaking of Michael, Rob Reiner played the hippie on "Gomer Pyle" who convinced Gomer to camouflage a mobile command post during maneuvers as a hippie van (and got Gomer to do an, ahem, memorable duet on "Blowin' In The Wind".)

 

[BD Sullivan]

Linda Evans appeared on Bachelor Father (with later TV husband John Forsyth) and in several episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Mark Harmon appeared in the rehashed syndicated "Ozzie's Girls" in the early 70's, though nepotism was undoubtedly the reason: his sister was married to Rick Nelson at the time.

Rob Reiner also made a bunch of appearances on other shows in his pre-All in the Family days: Andy Griffith, That Girl, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Mothers-In-Law, The Partridge Family and even Batman--which the Emmys considered a comedy. Again, his prolific appearances were probably aided by genetics since father Carl Reiner was riding high during this era.

 

[Braves2005]

Dana Carvey, Nathan Lane and Meg Ryan all co-starred on the 1982 NBC TV series "One Of The Boys" with Mickey Rooney.

I think Whitney Houston appeared on Gimme A Break! before she even had a chart record.

Jean Stapleton guested on Dennis The Menace playing a housekeeper that Mr. Wilson hired.

Carroll O'Connor guested on That Girl playing an opera singer who's in love with Ann.

 

[KeithE4]

Jay Leno on Good Times

Leno was also a regular on Laverne and Shirley for a year or two. IIRC, he played Laverne's boyfriend.

 

[LKellerIII]

Lucille Ball appeared in only one 3 Stooges film and that was "3 Little Pigskins" in 1934.

'
Though it was I Love Lucy that made Lucille Ball a major 'star' - she was not a bit player or an unknown. IMDB has at least 3 dozen movie credits for Lucy between 1933 and 1951, when the TV show premiered. She was 40 years old in '51, and had been well known for almost 2 decades.

She was also a regular on radio - her first show in 1938 with Jack Haley (The Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz) and Gale Gordon. In '48, she was again on radio in My Favorite Husband with Richard Denning - essentially the radio version of the I Love Lucy. Most of you probably know the story - she wanted Desi for the radio show, but CBS decided that with the Cuban accent, he didn't fit any profile of an average American husband, and picked Denning instead. By 1951, she had enough influence to get Desi the role.

Denning will probably be remembered best as the Governor on the original Hawaii Five-0

 

[bpatrick]

I don't think Denning harbored any ill will toward Lucy when
she insisted on, and got, Desi as her husband on "I Love Lucy";
the whole reason Lucy wanted Desi was to keep him from philandering,
for which he was notorious. AFAIK, Lucy and Denning remained good
friends.

And I'm getting into an area in which I probably shouldn't, because we're
talking about sitcoms, but since someone mentioned "Batman" as a comedy
show, I have to throw in "You Bet Your Life," ostensibly a game show but
really a comedy show, and thus mention Phyllis Diller's national TV debut
on that show.

Earlier I mentioned a couple of people who showed up on "The Phil Silvers
Show," and I should add Fred Gwynne as a compulsive eater whom Bilko
entered in an eating (pie-eating, I think) contest; also I've seen a picture
of a young Dick Cavett in another episode.

 

[BD Sullivan]

Jean Stapleton guested on Dennis The Menace playing a housekeeper that Mr. Wilson hired.

Carroll O'Connor guested on That Girl playing an opera singer who's in love with Ann.

Stapleton also showed up on The Patty Duke Show, Car 54 and My Three Sons, while O'Connor made an appearance on the short-lived "Governor and J.J."

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

This one just occurred to me, because it took me forever to realize who it was a few weeks back when the ep aired on Hallmark:

Kristin Chenoweth played an up-and-coming talent agent trying to woo "Dr. Frasier Crane" on Frasier, after his semi-notorious agent "Bebe" dumped him.

 

[searadiofreak]

Just spotted another one today from a 1977 "Maude". Michael Keaton plays a young radio reporter on the Maude episode where Arthur loses a patient and wants to give up medicine.

 

[Oldiesaholic]

Kurt Russell as a jungle boy on "Gilligan's Island".

 

[jwgreek8606]

Adam Sandler and Michael Weatherley(Tony on 'NCIS') both had brief appearances on 'The Cosby Show', as friends of Theo.

He also made an appearance on Remote Cotrol

 

[jwgreek8606]

Brad Pitt on Growing Pains

George Clooney on E/R (not to be confused with his NBC series) and The Facts of Life

Jay Leno on Good Times

Richard Dreyfuss on Bewitched and That Girl

Warren Beatty on Dobie Gillis

Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton (separately) on Love American Style





Brad Pitt was also on another world and Dallas


Bill Maher on Alice and Newhart

Susan Sarandon on Calucci's Department

Mariska Hargitay on Seinfeld.

Kaley Cuoco on Ellen

 

[FredLeonard]

By coincidence....

Last night, AntennaTV showed an "All In The Family" episode with Billy Crystal.

Later, The Meathead directed him in "When Harry Met Sally," "The Princess Bride, " and "This Is Spinal Tap."

 

[skippercollector]

Kurt Russell was on Lost in Space.
Tony Geary was on The Partridge Family, playing a minister!
Melissa Sue Anderson was on The Brady Bunch.
I saw an episode of My Three Sons in which an annoying family moves next door. One of the sons was uncredited, but it sure looked like Barry Williams.

 

[firepoint525]

Rita Wilson (future wife of Tom Hanks) on an episode of The Brady Bunch. She played a cheerleader contestant in the episode in which Greg had to choose between Marcia and his girlfriend over who made the cheerleading squad.

 

[jwk1979]

Ron Glass played the refrigerator repairman on the "All In The Family" ep where, using flashbacks, Archie portrayed him as an angry Black Panther type, Michael saw him as a Stepin Fetchit, and Edith correctly remembered him as a regular, non-threatening guy who got a little miffed when Archie called him "boy".

Ron Glass also appeared in an earlier episode of "All In The Family", along with Demond Wilson, as a couple of burglers that break-in to the Bunker's House. I believe that episode was from the first season.

Several of the cast members from "Desparate Housewives" appeared on Sienfeld during it's run.
Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Brenda Strong all appeared as some of Jerry's girlfriends. Richard Bergi (Karl Mayer) played one of Elaine's dates.

Patrick Warburton played Puddy on several episodes of Sienfeld and Bryan Cranston played a dentist on a Sienfeld episode.