Most famous actors in a single movie?

Tom Young

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Illinois/Florida
What single movie had the most famous actors and actresses in it?

I think I know, but will watch for good answers. We can check on IMDB.
 

They weren't famous at the time but they became famous after starring in the Lords Of Flatbush. Henry Winkler, Sylvester Stallone and I can't recall others at the moment but there were several more.
 
The Mag 7 had a fair roll call but some got more famous for being in the movie than the other way round so it's a toss up. e.g. Horst Bucholtz, Eli Wallach. All had impressive careers though, except Brad Dexter. (who?)
 

Hmmm... Mad, mad, mad.... yeah... forgot about that... Good one...

I remembered "Around the World in Eighty Days" 1954, but old as I am didn't recognize some of the stars of that era...

I'm thinking "How the West was Won".... 1968 ...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056085/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

but you may well be right... still open for other movies...

edit.... hmmm... think you ARE right... at least, so far.... :)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

sheesh... the names in the cast sure bring back memories... imagine.... Arnold Stang... Jimmy Durante, Zasu Pitts, Joe E. Brown, Buster Keaton , Ben Blue, Jerry Lewis... My whole:love_heart: life just passed before my eyes...
 
Catch 22? had a few too . .... from Orson Wells down to Art Garfunkel.

Apologies to Robert Duvall, I love the sound of radial engines in the morning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jYoeqUs2KI

You're twisted enough to count that a classic too eh?

------------

... Are we comparing apples and oranges with these movies? Most famous in genuine plot character roles, or just as cameos?

Mad Mad... had everybody in it but most were really just 'extras' in the scheme of things.
I'm still thinking Mag 7, as of the 8 major roles 7 were filled by 'famous' actors. That's a pretty good ratio.

Brynner, McQueen, Coburn, Bronson, Vaughan, Bucholtz and the sole survivor, Wallach, and not a ham among them!

 
... Are we comparing apples and oranges with these movies? Most famous in genuine plot character roles, or just as cameos?

Mad Mad... had everybody in it but most were really just 'extras' in the scheme of things.

Since Tom's original question didn't specify, I'm still going with Mad ...

Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, Jonathan Winters, Edie Adams, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Jim Backus, Joe E. Brown, William Demarest, Andy Devine, Peter Falk, Norman Fell, Sterling Holloway, Buster Keaton, Edward Everett Horton, Don Knotts, Zasu Pitts, Carl Reiner, The Three Stooges, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny and Jerry Lewis.

You can't beat THAT with a slapstick! :playful:
 
I would probably recognize the faces but can't attach the names to any so they're not all that 'famous' to me.

Evidently not a hard-core movie buff. :p

Dick Shawn - lots of movies in the 60's-80's including (of course) Mad, Mad ... :D
Edie Adams - gorgeous blonde who portrayed Marilyn Monroe on stage, was married to Ernie Kovacs
"Rochester" - Jack Benny's foil ("Yassir, Mr. Benny") and appeared in - guess what?
William Demarest - Uncle Charley in "My Three Sons" and appeared in a hundred or so films
Norman Fell - "Mr. Roper" on Three's Company, appeared in Ocean's 11, The Graduate and other films
Sterling Holloway - the voice of "Winnie the Pooh", appeared in hundreds of movies, short films and TV shows
Ed. Everett Horton - appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace, did work with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Carl Reiner - perhaps the most famous on the list, starred with Mel Brooks on The Steve Allen Show, played Alan Brady on The Dick van Dyke Show, has 12 Emmys and has directed and produced hundreds of TV shows and movies
 
Evidently not a hard-core movie buff. :p

Dick Shawn - lots of movies in the 60's-80's including (of course) Mad, Mad ... :D
Edie Adams - gorgeous blonde who portrayed Marilyn Monroe on stage, was married to Ernie Kovacs
"Rochester" - Jack Benny's foil ("Yassir, Mr. Benny") and appeared in - guess what?
William Demarest - Uncle Charley in "My Three Sons" and appeared in a hundred or so films
Norman Fell - "Mr. Roper" on Three's Company, appeared in Ocean's 11, The Graduate and other films
Sterling Holloway - the voice of "Winnie the Pooh", appeared in hundreds of movies, short films and TV shows
Ed. Everett Horton - appeared in Arsenic and Old Lace, did work with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Carl Reiner - perhaps the most famous on the list, starred with Mel Brooks on The Steve Allen Show, played Alan Brady on The Dick van Dyke Show, has 12 Emmys and has directed and produced hundreds of TV shows and movies

Evidently I don't watch 'hard core' movies.
i'm none the wiser from that list, as I said 'famous' in the States maybe. I saw as little of Jack Benny as I could manage, '..3 sons' 'n '3's a crowd' were never on my watch list. Voice of Winnie the Pooh is a claim to 'fame'? Bit parts in old movies likewise?
Didn't watch Steve Allen or Dick van Dyke, neither were or are exponents of what entertains me comedy wise, I call the 'corny' card on 'em, sorry.

Okay: I've Googled them for pictures.

1. Dick Shawn: Never seen him before that I remember.
2.Edie Adams: No bells at all.
3.'Rochester': Yes, remember him, vaguely
4. William Demerest: Vaguely familiar as a bit player
5. Norman Fell: Yes, he was a secondary character in just about everything wasn't he? Name never rang a bell though.
6. Sterling Holloway: Nup, no bells rung, but I'm not a devotee of old movies.
7. Ed. E. Horton: Vaguely familiar as a bit player.
8.Carl Reiner: Okay know the face but if it doesn't instantly connect to a name then I don't deem it 'famous'. Sorry.

Too hard a marker???

Well, here's a Noo Yawker who was a household name and 'famous' for his Tonight Show in OZ that I bet you never heard of.



BornMorton Donald Isaacson
13 November 1933
New York City, New York, US
Died22 October 2009 (aged 75)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
OccupationTV presenter, actor, singer, sportscaster
Years active1965-2001


220px-DonLane1.jpg

No bells yet??

He worked as Don Lane.

Still nuthin'??
Well, 'famous' is relative isn't it?

He was recruited to fill in for 3 weeks on a terminally bombing Tonight Show type program when we were still experimenting with the genre. For some reason the TV powerbrokers thought the host had to be American but we detested the couple who hosted it and they fled the country in embarrassment. Lane filled in until they could find another 'name' but the ratings went skyward from week one so they kept him. For decades. He was known as the 'lanky yankee' and could sing, dance, do just about anything, a true all rounder entertainer who couldn't get a break in the States.
He bucked the trend here as we weren't US type humour fans in those days but he 'got' Australian ways and humour somehow and became 2nd only to Graham Kennedy, of whom you also never heard, as royalty of 'Tonight' TV. He died here a Naturalised Aussie Citizen.
Yet he doesn't even rate a picture in IMDb.
Point is, had his head appeared in Mad..World, would he count as famous?? Would here, but there?
 
Well, here's a Noo Yawker who was a household name and 'famous' for his Tonight Show in OZ that I bet you never heard of.

He worked as Don Lane.

Still nuthin'??
Well, 'famous' is relative isn't it?

I didn't catch on to his real name, but I actually have heard of The Don Lane Show - had no idea what it was all about, but I'd heard of it.


Point is, had his head appeared in Mad..World, would he count as famous?? Would here, but there?

It's more than just an "appearing head", though - everyone that was in Mad (and many who were asked but couldn't make it, for one reason or another) had already paid their show-biz dues, they'd been in many, many shows and were considered "prime talent".

Ever hear of Erik Weisz? You should have - he was one of the first men to make a controlled, powered flight in Australia. He was born in Budapest, but he spent the majority of his life in America.

Nothing?

You might know him better as Harry Houdini.

Yes, fame is relative, but seeing as how Hollywood is known the world over for its films, and Australia has only managed to eke out a few folks that stumbled into L.A. and managed to pick up a few plum roles, probably only because the casting director slept with them, you definitely should learn more about classic American film. :triumphant:
 
Like Dumb and Dumber d'ya mean?

Haven't done a fact check on it but sure I read that we were producing movies here before Hollywood was. We just didn't market it as well apparently.

There are quite a lot of Aussies scattered through Hollywood now, mostly behind the cameras but at least 4 US TV series are headed by Aussie actors that most Americans didn't know weren't their own. The Mentalist, Simon Baker. Longmire, Robert Taylor, Without a Trace, Anthony Lapaglia. Unforgetable, Poppy Montgomery. (Who also played Marilyn Monroe)
Then there was Heath Leger, Rod Taylor, (who?) George Lazenby (who?) and someone else... lemme think.. oh yes, Errol Flynn.:playful:
 


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