Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief and uncredited appearance in a play, or by extension, to works in other performing arts such as films and television. Such a role need not be played by an actor: short appearances by film directors, politicians, athletes, and other celebrities are not unusual.
Cameos are uncredited due to their brevity or a perceived mismatch between the celebrity's stature and the film or TV show he or she is appearing in. Many are publicity stunts. Others are acknowledgements of an actor's contribution to an earlier work, as in the case of many film adaptations of TV series, or of remakes of earlier films.
Mike Todd's film Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) was studded with cameo roles and gave the term wide circulation outside the theatrical profession. The frequent cameo appearances of Alfred Hitchcock in his films also helped popularize the term.
In film
One of the earliest cameo appearances in film history is that of Erik Satie and his artist friends in the silent movie Entr'acte (1924, see below). It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World included cameos by Jim Backus, Jack Benny, Sterling Holloway, Buster Keaton, Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis, and the Three Stooges.
The following is a partial list of other cameo appearances in film:
- Frank Abagnale, Jr., Catch Me If You Can
- Dan Aykroyd, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- Bob Barker, Happy Gilmore
- Jason Biggs, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
- Larry Bird, Blue Chips
- Sean Connery, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
- Bob Cousy, Blue Chips
- Bing Crosby, The Princess and the Pirate
- Tom Cruise, Austin Powers in Goldmember
- Missy Elliott, Honey
- Harrison Ford, E.T. - 2002 edition
- Jerry Goldsmith, Gremlins 2
- Oscar Goodman, Casino
- Charlton Heston, Wayne's World 2
- Dustin Hoffman, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
- Bob Hope, Spies Like Us
- Miguel de Icaza, Antitrust
- Ja Rule, Scary Movie 3
- Jesse Jackson, Medium Cool
- Joshua Jackson, Ocean's Eleven
- Michael Jackson, Men in Black II
- Peter Jackson, in each of the Lord of the Rings movies
- Samuel L. Jackson, Kill Bill Volume 2
- Simon Jones, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Jason Kidd, Like Mike
- Val Kilmer, The Missing
- Stephen King has had cameos in several of his films and TV shows.
- Wladimir Klitschko, Ocean's Eleven
- Anna Kournikova, Me, Myself and Irene
- Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut
- Spike Lee, in all his films
- Stan Lee, in many Marvel Comics adaptations (Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men) and Mallrats
- Lennox Lewis, Ocean's Eleven
- George Lucas, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,Beverly Hills Cop III
- Terrence Malick, Badlands (director cameo)
- Scott McNealy, Antitrust
- Alanis Morissette, Dogma
- Dirk Nowitzki, Like Mike
- Hugh O'Brian, In Harm's Way
- Ozzy Osbourne, Little Nicky
- Gwyneth Paltrow, Austin Powers in Goldmember
- Gregory Peck, Cape Fear (1991 remake)
- Brad Pitt, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
- Molly Ringwald, Not Another Teen Movie
- Jason Robards, Enemy of the State
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Rundown
- Al Sharpton, Coming to America
- Phil Spector, Easy Rider
- M. Night Shyamalan, in each of his films (except Wide Awake).
- Snoop Dogg, Training Day
- Britney Spears, Austin Powers in Goldmember
- Michael Spinks, Cannonball Run 2
- Steven Spielberg, The Blues Brothers, Austin Powers in Goldmember
- Jon Stewart, Barenaked in America Half Baked
- Patrick Stewart, Robin Hood: Men in Tights
- Ben Stiller, Happy Gilmore
- Mr. T, Not Another Teen Movie
- John Travolta, Austin Powers in Goldmember
- James Van Der Beek, Scary Movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
- Bruce Willis, Ocean's Twelve
- Chuck Yeager, The Right Stuff
In television
Patrick Stewart, Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet, amongst others, make cameo appearances in Extras. Other examples include:
- Scott Adams, Babylon 5 (episode "Moments of Transition"), NewsRadio
- Neil Patrick Harris, Roseanne (episode "Less is More")
- Gary Hart, Cheers (episode "Strange Bedfellows")
- Bob Hope, Get Smart (episode "99 Loses Control")
- DeForest Kelley, Star Trek: The Next Generation (episode "Encounter at Farpoint")
- J. Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5 (series finale "Sleeping in Light")
- Alex Trebek, Cheers (episode "What is... Cliff Clavin?"")
- Gregg Allman, Family Guy (episode "Let's Go to the Hop)
In literature
Novelist Robert Clark Young appears as Ensign Torrance Bulgorky (for whom he is an anagram) in the satirical adventure tale One of the Guys
External link
- Entr'acte in RealPlayer format (size: 2MB approx.)
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