|
Author
|
Topic: Astronaut TV and movie cameo appearances
|
star61
Member Posts: 294
From: Bristol UK
Registered: Jan 2005
|
posted 02-10-2005 06:12 PM
   
I remember an episode of the "Fall Guy" many years ago, in which Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin appeared as themselves. Also Jim Lovell was in "The Man Who Fell To Earth" as well as "Apollo 13." Pete Conrad did American Express adverts (sort of acting!). Do any of you folk know of any other astronauts who gave up the day job to tread the boards? |
sts205cdr
Member Posts: 649
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Jun 2001
|
posted 02-10-2005 06:38 PM
The crew of STS-61 (minus Thornton) appeared on a 1993 episode of the TV show Home Improvement. |
Novaspace
Member Posts: 434
From: Tucson, AZ USA
Registered: Sep 2004
|
posted 02-10-2005 07:13 PM
Mike Collins' daughter was a principal actress in a TV soap opera. The name escapes me. |
spaceheaded
Member Posts: 147
From: MD
Registered: Feb 2003
|
posted 02-10-2005 07:43 PM
I think Buzz Aldrin has been on the tube more than most.The only one I really remember was the Punky Brewster episode.  |
lunarrv15
Member Posts: 1355
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, Hamilton
Registered: Mar 2001
|
posted 02-10-2005 07:47 PM
Gordon Cooper appeared as himself on CHIPs. Ponch asked him to call for a lost boy who was among a tremendous crowd waiting for the first landing of the shuttle on the desert using the public announcement system for the reason of he had a special medical attention. |
Carrie
Member Posts: 225
From: Syracuse, New York, USA
Registered: May 2003
|
posted 02-10-2005 08:26 PM
Mae Jemison played a crewmember on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but I don't recall that she did any acting beyond that. Nichelle Nichols of the original Star Trek cast was a big influence on Jemison as a girl. |
spaceman1953
Member Posts: 953
From: South Bend, IN
Registered: Apr 2002
|
posted 02-10-2005 09:46 PM
A son of Pete Conrad's was supposed to be in a Huck Finn film. That's all the details I remember. I used some of the Huck Finn stamps on my some of my Apollo 12 covers or Skylab covers because of that. |
BobbyA
Member Posts: 147
From: Northern Virginia
Registered: Jul 2002
|
posted 02-10-2005 11:10 PM
I read on IMDb that Pete Conrad was on an episode of Beverly Hills 90210, but I haven't seen it. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 02-10-2005 11:39 PM
- Story Musgrave was "3rd Capcom" in "Mission To Mars" (he also choreographed all the zero-g scenes).
- Shannon Lucid appears briefly in "Armageddon" as seen in the background of the NBL training shots.
- Sally Ride appeared as herself in an episode of "Touched By An Angel".
- And Scott Altman is the real top gun in "Top Gun".
|
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 02-10-2005 11:57 PM
A couple of others come to mind... - Dick Gordon played a CapCom in the miniseries "Space."
- Pete Conrad was in the TV movie "Plymouth," about a lunar colony.
- John Glenn as himself on "Frazier" (a very funny one).
- And Jim Lovell as himself in the 1970s disaster spoof "The Big Bus."
|
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 02-10-2005 11:58 PM
And (how could I forget) Al Bean in an Olsen Twins movie, of all things!  |
David Bryant
Member Posts: 986
From: Norfolk UK
Registered: Feb 2005
|
posted 02-11-2005 02:50 AM
Don't know if it counts as acting, but Buzz Aldrin somehow allowed himself to be persuaded to appear on 'Da Ali G Show'. How he 'maintained an even strain' is beyond me! |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
|
posted 02-11-2005 05:20 AM
Jim Lovell as the recovery ship's commander in "Apollo 13." |
spaceheaded
Member Posts: 147
From: MD
Registered: Feb 2003
|
posted 02-11-2005 06:15 AM
The grandaddy of them all: Neil Armstrong selling Chryslers! |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
|
posted 02-11-2005 07:02 AM
Jim McDivitt in an episode of "Brady Bunch";Alan Bean - I think - was in of the Mary Kate and Ashley videos, the one where they go to Space Camp. |
sfurtaw
Member Posts: 104
From: Saginaw, MI USA
Registered: Feb 2004
|
posted 02-11-2005 07:47 AM
Didn't Wally do Actifed commercials rather than Excedrin?I also remember Story Musgrave appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno after one of his Hubble missions. |
star61
Member Posts: 294
From: Bristol UK
Registered: Jan 2005
|
posted 02-11-2005 09:24 AM
Crikey! It's a wonder any manned missions launched at all with all this moonlighting going on (pun intended).I remember some of these now, in particular the Gordo bit on Chips. One thing that shines out for me is that astronauts should generally stick to being astronauts. It's nice to know they're not brilliant at everything. |
Paul
Member Posts: 201
From: Duluth,Ga.
Registered: Aug 2002
|
posted 02-11-2005 09:25 AM
In the TV ad department, how about Scott Carpenter selling Oldsmobiles! |
lunarrv15
Member Posts: 1355
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, Hamilton
Registered: Mar 2001
|
posted 02-11-2005 12:09 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Hart Sastrowardoyo:
Jim McDivitt in an episode of "Brady Bunch"
What episode was that? Did he have a speaking part or was part of the scene? |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
|
posted 02-11-2005 01:25 PM
Although appearing in commercials may or may not be acting, the following link has stills from several Buzz commercials as well as news about current promotions. For example, who knew that Buzz is RadioShack's Space Ambassador? Several years ago Buzz was in a commercial possibly for a cell phone. In it he floated around, I presume to demonstrate the freedom of being wireless. Does anyone else recall the commercial or the product? Oh wait, never mind. The answer is on the very link I posted. It was for the trading service PowerStreet and his co-star was Bob Vila. |
RMH
Member Posts: 577
From: Ohio
Registered: Mar 2001
|
posted 02-11-2005 03:46 PM
Brady Bunch episode #111 "Out of this World"
January 18, 1974 Former astronaut James McDivitt, the man who saw a UFO in space, guest stars.Bobby and Peter camp out in the back yard looking for UFO's. After they meet General McDivitt the boys are convinced that they have spotted one and so back the next night with cameras to prove it. McDivitt did indeed have a speaking role in this episode. |
music_space
Member Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
|
posted 02-13-2005 10:16 PM
Robert L. Curbeam on "Extreme Makeover - Home Edition", also featuring some great space junkyard. |
John Youskauskas
Member Posts: 126
From:
Registered: Jan 2004
|
posted 02-14-2005 02:47 PM
- Joe Allen as a capcom in "Armageddon"
- Guenter Wendt as an extra in a meeting scene FTETTM "We Have Cleared the Tower"
- Pete Conrad did a run of aviation shows with Patty Wagstaff on the Speed Channel
- Dare we mention Chuck Yeager as the bartender in "The Right Stuff"?
- Gerry Griffin (flight director) in "Contact"
|
burnsnz
Member Posts: 74
From: Auckland, New Zealand
Registered: Jan 2004
|
posted 02-15-2005 06:25 PM
I recall Alan Bean being in an ad for a credit card company. Something along the lines of "nobody ever remembers who came second". I saw it in Australia in 2002. |
pokey
Member Posts: 361
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Aug 2000
|
posted 02-17-2005 10:51 PM
The Sky's No Limit had Sharon Gless getting mad about something that an astronaut would get huffy over in an overly dramatic made for TV movie. She was speeding on what looked like Highway 3 near JSC. Some Texas state trooper stopped her in her sports car and of course he knew her and didn't give her a ticket. They drove to some honky tonk bar where she could have a beer and cool off. And I think it just so happened that Alan Bean, Jim Lovell and maybe Buzz Aldrin were at the bar. It's been a while and none of them are credited in the movie database. [Plot was 3 astronauts competing to be the first American woman in space.] |
Leon Ford
Member Posts: 309
From: Shreveport, LA, United States
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 02-18-2005 05:24 PM
Don't forget Homer Simpson! He and Buzz flew into space aboard the Space Shuttle in an episode of "The Simpsons". (I guess you could count that as an appearance by Buzz in a TV show.) |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
|
posted 02-19-2005 07:06 AM
As Homer would say, D'oh!How could I forget - Buzz did a voice-over for the Recess cartoon, where the girl believes she won a spaceflight instead of her experiments getting the flight. When he did a signing with Kim Poor, I didn't want to pay that much for an ordinary photo - so I had Buzz sign a "photo" of him from that episode. |
Duke Of URL
Member Posts: 1316
From: Syracuse, NY
Registered: Jan 2005
|
posted 02-26-2005 03:06 PM
Nobody mentioned Scott Carpenter's ad for Chevron gasoline. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 10-14-2007 09:15 PM
And then there's this: Aldrin to appear on NUMB3RS |
KC Stoever
Member Posts: 1012
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: Oct 2002
|
posted 10-14-2007 09:17 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Duke Of URL:
Nobody mentioned Scott Carpenter's ad for Chevron gasoline.
Yes. But Jim Lileks did, in a nice period piece, thank you! |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
|
posted 10-15-2007 07:27 AM
I know Armstrong was a pitch man for Chrysler in the late 1970s and he appeared in print ads, but did he ever do a TV appearance?Conrad did audition for a role in Apollo 13 as he has a SAG card. According to Ron Howard, they liked his audition, but couldn't come up with a role for him that would fit, so they passed on that idea. I remember seeing him in Plymouth BTW as I think he was playing himself in that film. Joe Allen not only was in Armageddon as a launch director (not a Capcom), but he was also a technical advisor. If you can find the Criterion Collection Armageddon DVD, it has a commentary track with him on it, discussing if it was indeed possible to launch two shuttles simultaneously. Guenter Wendt also had a quickie cameo in "Space" as one of the German rocket scientists during some crowd scenes. He also coached the actors on how German scientists should dress even though he was never a scientist (although Cernan calls him one). His cameo in FTETTM was in the meeting room scene where Schirra (Mark Harmon) was complaining about the egg headed experiments being added to the flight plan. I recall reading somewhere that Al Shepard might have had a crowd cameo scene in "Marooned" and possibly another astronaut as well since NASA helped the development of that movie quite a bit, although I can't say for sure. And yes, Schirra pitched Actifed, not Excedrin (one is a pain killer, the other is a decongestant and Schirra wanted his head clear of congestion). Checking out the scenes filmed at JSC for Space Cowboys will probably net a couple other astronaut cameos as well since that was yet another NASA aided project which used actual facilities. The main astronaut watering hole near JSC was used in the bar scenes where Eastwood and Jones get into a fight in the parking lot. I seem to also recall that the female NASA PAO who calls the play by play for the launch of Shuttle Daedalus was real and not an actor (I can't remember her name though). |
capoetc
Member Posts: 2169
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005
|
posted 10-15-2007 08:52 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
I know Armstrong was a pitch man for Chrysler in the late 1970s and he appeared in print ads, but did he ever do a TV appearance?
Neil was the host of the show "First Flights".Incidentally, here is the link to the Buzz & Ali G show. |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 10-15-2007 09:08 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Jay:
And yes, Schirra pitched Actifed
On YouTube, there are a couple of old Schirra Actifed ads, including ones in which Donn Eisele, Al Bean and Dick Gordon make speaking appearances. It's not often you see footage of Eisele speaking later in life. |
NavySpaceFan
Member Posts: 655
From: Norfolk, VA
Registered: May 2007
|
posted 10-15-2007 01:55 PM
Buzz also did a cameo in the John Travolta TV film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. |
Jack A. Kozak
Member Posts: 15
From: Akron, OH
Registered: May 2006
|
posted 10-15-2007 04:48 PM
Gordon Cooper played himself on an episode of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" in the late 60s or early 70s. You can look up the Buzz Aldrin 1972 VW commercial on YouTube: "I'm impressed." I remember Frank Borman making commercials for Eastern Airlines. |
KC Stoever
Member Posts: 1012
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: Oct 2002
|
posted 10-15-2007 05:16 PM
Carpenter was consultant for underwater sequences in a James Bond film, IIRC, Never Say Die? |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 10-15-2007 05:28 PM
Never Say Never Again... the last Connery one. His name is in the onscreen credits. I'd love to hear his recollections of that sometime (perhaps a little article on his website?) |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
|
posted 10-15-2007 06:21 PM
Pete Conrad was in "Stowaway to the Moon". |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
|
posted 10-16-2007 12:36 AM
I remember seeing a TV show that had Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins dancing with some woman. Scott Carpenter cut in, and it was quickly agreed he was the best dancer of the group. I think Buzz said, "You never lose the Right Stuff". |
Max Q
Member Posts: 399
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007
|
posted 10-16-2007 08:05 AM
Here in Australia we had a TV commercial where Buzz appeared in a Holden car add apparently the car and the Space program had the same name. |
advertisement