I am constantly seeing familiar faces in real, actual movies of actors that appear in movies I see on MST3K.? Today I watched the 1956 serious movie “Julius Caeser” and one of the Roman senator-type guys was the sort of German scientist from “LOST CONTINENT.”
Oh, yeah, this is happening all the time. It even happens on the show. On several occasions we got riffs like “Oh goody! This guy!” or “Hey, it’s THAT guy!”
According to Daddy-O, there are more than 7,000 credited performances in 200 or so MST3K movies, so you’re bound to run across some of them doing other stuff.
Recently I was watching “The Baroness and the Butler” on TCM and a very familiar face came on the screen.
It was actor Maurice Cass (I learned after looking him up) better known to us as Professor Newton on the “Rocky Jones” episodes.
So, Tim Servo wanted to get into a whole “seven degrees of connection” thing, but I think that’d be too complicated.
But I DID want to get into the “that guy” phenomenon. Have you had a “that guy” (or gal) moment with somebody in an MSTed movie? Who’s your favorite “that guy”?
Me, I’d have to go with George Cisar:
who was in the movie in episode 406- ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES and is best remembered as “the doughy guy” in the movie in episode 522- TEEN-AGE CRIME WAVE.
What about you?
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Weird timing, I just saw ben murphy of riding with death & being from another planet “fame” on a twilight zone episode today (1980’s zone). His performance was as you might expect.
Of course, any actor in an AIP film is liable to be recognizable for being in any number of other AIP films. For instance, the bandleader in Earth vs, the Spider is also the treacherous drunken boat-pilot in Bloodlust and the fat cuckolded guy in Attack of the Giant Leeches is also the hapless barkeep in The Undead and is also in a couple of other MST3K movies, I think.
I frequently have “that guy” moments when watching movies, and it’s almost always because I recognize someone from a MST3K movie. Just this past week, we watched “Disaster on the Coastliner” for our podcast (Schlock Treatment…shameless plug) and I realized that I recognized “cop #2” because he was J.C. from Sidehackers!
William Sylvester – what a range of roles.
Dr. Heywood Floyd in 2001: ASO to roles in DEVIL DOLL and GORGO.
I sometimes wonder if Stanley Kubrick watched “B” (and lower) grade SciFi to find other actors for 2001: ASO.
Sylvester might have been in other MSTed movies – can’t recall which ones right now.
Thanks to all for the posts with “MST riff” quality observations.
Watching “Darby’s Rangers” on Turner Classic Movies right now and I noticed Peter “I’m dying in a rush” Brown from Kitten with a Whip is in it.
Hearing Ross Hagen as the voice of retired gunfighter Landon Ricketts in “Red Dead Redemption” made me love that game even more.
I also remember getting excited seeing Steve “VAAAAANCE!” Brodie in a couple of old episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”.
Last month I watched Master Ninja I & II for the first time, and then shortly after I watched Escape from New York (again, it’s on of my favorites)
Which of course has both Donald Pleasance (Pumaman) and Lee Van Cleef (John McAllister), after seeing him i actually yelled out “Hey!! THAT GUY!”
I bet there’s not many two-fers out there!
I don’t know if anyone here remembers the 70’s Brit-Com “Butterlies”, but the bartender-slash-coroner in “The Deadly Bees” was Leonard’s chauffer, Thomas.
From “The Thing that Couldn’t Die,” — both Aunt Flavia (I believe her real name is Peggy Converse) and her seedy ranch manager were in the SAME EPISODE of Perry Mason (I don’t recall the title, but I think it was in Season 2).
The cop from “Teenage Werewolf” was the diner-owner in the Twilight Zone Episode “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?”, the diner-owner from Venus that had the 3rd eye on his forehead.
Now I hope y’all will excuse me, because I have to go re-watch every single MST3K episode that I have so I can find the actors I have forgotten. Thanks a lot, Tim….
Someone else has mentioned a “That Voice” moment. I had the same thing with Pod People. The guy who dubs the grey-haired poacher and the woman who dubs the horny singer also provide voices in practically every Italian exploitation movie I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot). The guy who played the poacher is in quite a few of those movies himself, too.
@Not Merritt Stone: That Ross Hagen bit was great. I actually checked IMDB to see who voiced that character and was shocked to see Ross’ name. He did an amazing job, not really what I’d have expected after having seen his other performances.
This is a gold mine for people who like to watch old B movies. But in the recent past I have to admit that I noticed Bruno Ve Sota in a “Peter Gunn” episode and Beverly Garland in a “Nancy Drew” episode (yeah, I know, but I wanted to see what it was about and turned it off after less than 20 minutes).
Shoot– I forgot– also in “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” is Jack Elam (Girl in Lovers’ Lane) , who plays the annoying old coot that sits at the counter eating chili. See what happens when you post in a hurry?
Somebody already mentioned him, but it’s so distracting to me when Jerry Hardin pops up as the desk sergeant in Mitchell. I recognized him right away as The X-Files’ “Deep Throat.”
But when I first watched Barbarella, it took me a long time to figure out why John Phillip Law looked so familiar. Somehow I figured out that it was Kalgan, but Diabolik never occurred to me. Then again, it’s difficult to think straight while watching Barbarella.
Oh, and just last Sunday I spotted Lee Van Cleef in a tiny, non-speaking role on The Andy Grifith Show. Did I say, hey that’s Lee Van Cleef from The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly? Nope, not when he was also the only occidental American to ever become a ninja.
Jacob: John Hoyt, who I mentioned in #27, was the Martian in “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” Plus he was in another episode of Twilight Zone, two episodes of The Outer Limits and two episode of The Munsters, among other television parts.
There seem to be two levels here.
First, there are familiar B-list actors like Beverly Garland, Ben Murphy, Lee Van Cleef, John Allen Nelson, Clu Gulager, William Sylvester, etc., who had long careers and did a TON of TV and movies. They pop up everywhere.
Second, there are the character actors who had an occasional role here and there, and it would actually be a surprise to catch them in something – maybe Al Nesor, the Jamie Farr-type guy, is a good example.
My favorite “Hey, it’s that guy” moment, if I can stretch the thread premise a little, is from within MST3K itself, when I noticed that the flowery-voiced copilot from The Phantom Planet was Richard Weber, the Jewish guy from 12 to the Moon. I got curious and looked him up, and those are his only 2 credits (and they both made MST3K – go figure.)
Beverly Garland popped up on a Celebrity Family Feud show I just watched on DVD.
On a weirder note, Reb Brown (Beef Hugechunk from SPACE MUTINY) has a couple nude scenes featured in the fourth MOVIE BUFF: MALE NUDITY IN THE MOVIES compilation. One’s from SSSSSSSS, where a dastardly villain kills him by slipping a poisonous snake into his shower. As often done in bad 70’s movies, the action goes slo-mo; less often done, we see Reb, IN SLOW MOTION mind you, mouth the words “Oohhhhhhhh ssssshhhhhhhiiiiiiii…..”
Oh, and Reb also turns up in a CAPTAIN AMERICA TV-movie and, if I remember right, playing YOR: HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE. He eventually retired from acting, which seems like a wise move…
@68..and Reb married Cisse Cameron,which was his co-star in Space Mutiny.
Bruno Vesota was in The Wild One!!!! Can you believe it???
Sharktopus says, “Oh, and just last Sunday I spotted Lee Van Cleef in a tiny, non-speaking role on The Andy Grifith Show.”
I remember seeing a young Jack Nicholson on the Andy Griffith Show once, and that was very trippy indeed! I think he played a falsely accused defendant. (Yes, I was a kid in the ’60s, and watched a LOT of sitcoms.)
Barbara Bouchet, who played Ava Vastock (aka Baby Woman) in Agent for H.A.R.M.,was in the ’67 version of Casino Royale (with cheese?). For that matter, Peter Mark Richman, who played our “hero”, Adam Chance, was in one of the Friday the 13th movies.
Oh, and if crew people count: Brian Blamey, who did sound editing for The Projected Man, also did the sound editing for A Clockwork Orange.
Hey, Invasion of the Neptune Man, Captain Torcha also went on to play Shtarker in Get Smart. King Moody! Recognizing him when I was watching Get Smart recently is probably my favorite “Hey it’s that guy!” moment.
R. C. Bates “SAM THE KEEPER” from Werewolf, I spotted him “The Making of… And God spoke…” But wait, it gets better! One day while driving in Hollywood I looked over to my right and there’s R.C. just walking. I shouted to him “Sam the keeper!” He smiled and told me he always gets that. We talked, then he then gave me a book of his poetry. So cool… so very cool! Our little MST3K world.
I recently saw Big Jake from Sidehackers in the movie Cannonball Run. He plays the bald biker towards the end.
And the guy that played Leonardi DaVinci in Quest of the Delta Knights plays a bus passenger in the movie Speed.
I almost peed myself with delight when I saw Vadinho (I’m a wood sprite) in the pilot episode of “The A-Team”. He actually beat Mr. T up! Go Aztecs!
Could the music store salesman in MR B. NATURAL be DUDLEY MANLOVE from PLAN 9 and CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS?
I had such a moment when I first saw the bit more mature-looking Alexander Phipps from Jam Handy’s “Young Man’s Fancy”, noting that he bore a resemblance to the younger, bossy dating guru, Jeff from Coronet’s “What to Do On A Date”. Turns out sure enough was Robert Casey.
Regarding voice-related “Who’s that guy/gal?”: I had posted the following on IMDB back in 2007(and probably on this site once or twice since, but I haven’t gotten any resolve):
“Has anyone noticed that the dubbed voice of the first speaker at the roundtable discussion (in the scene immediately after the reactor explosion and just before the Super Sugar Crisp guy calmly and collectedly introduces Space Chief) is an uncanny likeness to Munroe Wade, the tv newscaster reporting on the strange “beans” (beings) from the Horror of Party Beach?”
A couple of days ago, after watching the new Rifftrax short, “Prickly The Porcupine”, I posed another unknown (admittedly unhelpful) query:
“Any chance the narrator might be the wannabe film star (Mary Smith) who lifted her dress up to her “hat” in Sinister Urge?
Re my #78 post:
Sorry..It might have helped for me to mention that my IMDB post was referring to “Invasion of The Neptune Men”.
@ 63 – no doubt. -the spooky part is i was the EXACT opposite….i never got the “Kalgon” aspect ’til i read it here, always learning something here @ “Satellite News”- :yes:
I was watching “10” and saw The Puma Man himself playing some elderly, gay, rich man’s boy-toy. It was a really weird moment of recognition- “Hey! It’s the Puma Man! And he’s…. shirtless…”
I was thrilled to hear Ross Hagen in Red Dead… very saddened to learn that he died last week…
Robert Banas, who played Sonny in “Daddy-o”, also played one of the Jets in “West Side Story”.
Wow! Had not heard about Ross Hagen! Usually there’s a RIP post…
David Warner and Olivia Hussy who were in Quest of the Delta Knights respectably played Ras Al Goul and Talia Al Goul on Batman the animated series.
In 2005, The Daily Show did a piece on some old guys from Long Island who want to abolish lawyers (or some such thing.) They also interviewed a New York-based trial lawyer: Mr. Walter G. Alton, aka THEPUMAMAN. He feigns death at his opponents until they agree to settle! Seriously, it sounds like he’s a lot better at law than at acting.
Does it count for people you first saw in something else and later in a MSTed movie? That’s happened to me a lot more often. There was seeing Joe Don Baker in MARS ATTACKS!, though.
I just watched an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and the guest star was John Lupton who played the writer in The Rebel Set.
Also, the IMDb confirms that Ross Hagen has died.
Salome Jens (Terror from the Year 5000) as a judge in the show “LA Law,” and Ward Costello, professor flattop in “Terror” was on episodes of “Star Trek: TNG.” Then there was the shoe store owner in “I Accuse My Parents,” he did a million movies it seems, and I recently saw him in an Abbott and Costello film.
My favorite Salome Jens role was when she played Mae Olinsky on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She was the other woman that Mary’s husband had an affair with. Her role wasn’t particularly funny, but someone had to be the straight woman, I guess.
My fave one is the inimitable John Allen Relson of Deathstalker fame who turns up in the first episode of Friends as somebody who has to lie about being impotent to get with women.
Fitting, in hindsight.
@78: I’ve got a similar quandry: The narrator from “Appreciating Your Parents” sounds exatly like the swimming coach from the Rifftrax short “Overcoming Fear”.
Jason Evers. “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” was one of, if not the first, MST3K episode I ever watched, and I loved it, it was so awful. I couldn’t imagine anyone from that movie having a career. So I was kind of surprised when he kept popping up in a lot of old-time TV shows like Mission:Impossible and Mannix. But he was actually very good (I especially liked his first appearance on Mannix, where he played an assassin).
On another note, Barbara Ann Scott (the pantingly hot skater who appeared in the short “Johnny at the Fair”) is from the same city I am (Ottawa), and she happens to be on the cover of today’s Ottawa Sun newspaper. Here’s what she looks like now:
http://www.ottawasun.com/2011/05/14/hey-jim-name-library-after-canadas-sweetheart
I watched a late 1970s short film based on the story Almos’ a Man by Richard Wright and to my surprise I saw Robert Easton (not being eaten by a giant spider). I didn’t see Mitchell until years after the X-Files ended but immediately recognized Jerry Hardin (the informant deep throat).
the first was recognizing “Zap Rowsdower” in “Gettysburg”
Woah, is he really? That would be great to find. I’ll never forget thinking I found Bruce J. Mitchell in the William Shatner movie The Kidnapping of the President only to find out it was actor Mina E. Mina, who looked EXACTLY like Rowsdower, only in guerilla fatigues.
Speaking of that movie, though, I had a That Guy moment when I saw Maury Chaykin as a sidekick working with the dude who wants to kidnap the president. Chaykin was in a small part in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, one of the technicians I believe.
I recently Netflix’d a cheap-y Fred Olin Ray sci-fi movie from the mid-80’s called “Phantom Empire” and when I popped it in the DVD player, I instantly recognized its star…ROSS HAGEN!!
A million good ones here :)
Don’t know if anyone mentioned that David Warner from
Quest of the Delta Knights got his head lopped off in the
original Omen.
Also, that Van Patten dude was on the White Shadow series my folks used
to watch back in the day.
I saw Titus Moede (Frankie from “The Skydivers” on “The Hunt” episode of “The Twilight Zone” during the last marathon they had on the ScyFy channel. I shouted out “Hey! It’s Jimmy Doorlocks!”
Okay, this week’s topic has my brain all fouled up. I’m watching Hour of the Gun, and I was having a HEY! IT’S THAT GUY moment, but I couldn’t remember which MST episode he was on, so I turned to IMDB for help. Turns out I remembered him from In the Heat of the Night. Best Brains never did that one, did they?
I know there have been multiple times I’ve seen “that guy” in TV or the movies, but only can remember a few.
Clu Gulager in the movie “Tapeheads”
Roy Thinnes (Diamond Head) was in an episode of Law and Order playing a lawyer (don’t remember the episode, but I shouted “hey it’s Diamond Head” and people turned and looked at me odd)
Frank Gerstle who was the doctor in Atomic Brain, also played Peter Graves colleague in Killers from Space (Coleman Francis also had a small role in that film) Along with the colonial guy who was also with Pete in Beginning of the End.
@ 23: Great catch on Joe Turkel! In hindsight, Blade Runner’s creepy CEO Tyrell and Lloyd the creepy bartender are obviously Joe the creepy blackmailer–but I never put it together until yer post.
I’ve had a ton of those “that guy” moments over the years, but my aging brain can’t remember any of them (that haven’t been mentioned already), except for seeing Big Stupid as Kay Corleone’s new husband in The Godfather Part III.
Oh, and one that just came up recently, I spotted Barbara Nichols (Glenn Martin’s brassy blonde assistant in The Human Duplicators) as Rita, a fairly sizable supporting role in Sweet Smell of Success.
Also, I didn’t realize that Li-saaaaa Dornheimer from Human Duplicators is also the mute (until she’s not) Zetha from The Phantom Planet, actress Dolores Faith.