Alternate title: Here's yet another foray into the "strange shit Jay thinks about"...
Wouldn't it suck to be "the other guy"? You all know who I'm talking about - think about "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure". One actor was Keanu Reeves. Went on to have a reasonable acting career, all snark about his acting "talent" (or total lack thereof) notwithstanding.
But what about "the other guy"? A look at his IMDB entry shows a decided lack of acting after the Bill & Ted series.
Or, to take an example from television, let's look at the show "Bosom Buddies". Tom Hanks goes on to become a certified mega star. "A League of their Own". "Appollo 13". "Saving Private Ryan". "Big".
"The other guy"? I think his next and only role after "Bosom Buddies" was playing the yuppie boyfriend on "Newhart"...
So is this phenomenon limited only to Hollywood? Well, not really. Take the pop group "Wham!" from the '80s. George Michael went on to have a pretty successful solo career (as long as he stayed out of men's rooms...), but "the other guy", well, not so much.
So, today we salute you, Mr. "the other guy". You may not find fame the way your co-star did, but you are not forgotten...
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4 comments:
Peter Scolari had a decent career after Bosom Buddies. Compare him to the average sit-com veteran and he'll fare well. It's just that he's often compared to Tom Hanks, probably the most successful actor of the last decade & a half, so it's a bit unfair, IMO. Sorta like comparing Sam Perkins to Michael Jordan after they both got out of UNC: Perkins was a fine NBA player but when held up against Jordan, he paled.
Now, John Oates really owes Darryl Hall a lot, by comparison. :)
*BTW, Alex Winter has become a quasi-successful writer/director...quasi meaning "getting work from the studios", that is. Work is work....ask Phil Donahue.
Ricky,
He's still "the other guy". And his CV, as it were, consists mainly of single appearances and cartoon voiceovers...
I was going to mention John Oates, but y'know what? Darryl Hall hasn't done much in recent years either... :)
Hope all is well in retired land... :)
Another one that some folks might consider is John Ratzenberger, "Cliff" from Cheers. While Kelsey Grammar went on to stardom and success as "Frasier" a lot of folks think that "Cliff" was stuck in nowheresland & relegated to peddling material on the Travel channel.
As I'm sure you're aware, there's hardly a Pixar feature without his voice, so he's been quite active as an 'artist', per se, it's just not as much in front of the screen as we'd become accustomed.
BTW, interesting fact: Both Frasier and Cliff in their real lives (Kelsey Grammar & Ratzenberger) are conservative Republicans. No joke.
And all is quite well; will be working on a few posts in the future pertaining to family & fitness. Liked your jogging entry, btw....I did that at dawn this morning (80 degrees...ugh, Georgia) for the first time in a few years. Wow, I'm outta shape and blatently 'puffy'.
And then there was the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis...
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