Fame is so Fickle...

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 6:44pm

Especially if you are on a hit TV show.

Remember how hot the original cast of ER was. Now Clooney is really the only one with any face time.

Noah Wylie?
Anthony Edwards?
Eriq LaSalle?
Julianna Margulies?

What about that other HOT show, L.A. LAW?

Who remembers:
Michelle Greene?
Susan Rutan?
Larry Drake?
Hell, even Susan Dey, Corbin Bernsen and Harry Hamlin seem to have dropped off the radar.



Where are they now?

Who are other HUGE stars of yesterday who never really lived up to their promise/hype?

Posted: 11/13/07 at 6:47pm

David Duchovny and that woman from that show. I hear he's up for a "Check into Cash" ad though.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 6:58pm

Remember how big these names were?

Eric Estrada
Joyce De Witt
Tina Yothers
Justine Bateman
Henry Winkler
Anson Williams
Donny Most
Kristie McNichol
Gary Frank
Grant Goodeve
Daniel J. Travanti
Veronica Hamel
Gary Sandy
Kyle McLachlan
Sherilyn Fenn
Lara Flynn Boyle
James Marshall
Sheryl Lee

...so many others...

Fame is indeed fleeting.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:04pm

Oh YEA, the Twin Peaks gang!

What about that guy from Miami Vice? Micheal J. Wagadorn? Was that his name?

[Chita1933]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:09pm

A lot of the people mentioned by Sue and Best rose to the challenge when they were cast in their respective shows. The cast of L.A. Law was excellent. So was most of the cast of ER, Hill Street Blues and Family. "What goes up, must come down."

I can here David Duchovny belting out "I'm Still Here."

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:17pm

I just hope that the people who are "hot" right now realize that it doesn't last. This isn't "their life forever." Things can and WILL change just as fast going down as they did going up.

They're lucky if they get 5-10 years of notoriety out of it. Most will never be seen or heard of again. Hollywood will look for something fresh and new. They always do.

VERY few of them will have long careers or ever land another TV series again. So they should save their money, and hopefully they can and will move onto other things gracefully... and never HAVE to work again.

Oh, who am I kiddin'? They'll likely end up on the Great White Way as the 61st replacement for Madame Morrible in Wicked, or Billy in Chicago, or Miss Baltimore Crabs... or...

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:20pm

I always wondered about that as well. I think Noah Wylie and Julianna Margulies were making about $1 million/episode when they left ER, so hopefully they invested well.

Let's ad Kelli Martin to the list. She used to work a lot since "Life Goes On" but after her stint on "ER" it seems like she was never heard from again.

I'm kind of curious as to what they end up doing.

Updated On: 11/13/07 at 07:20 PM

[Chita1933]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:24pm

I agree best.

But I just want to add this: if you love acting and you don't want to do anything else, you will eventually have to take jobs that are less prestigious then when your star was on the rise. That's the reality and as long as you still love what you do and aren't bitter about fame's passing...keep on keepin' on.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:27pm

Kelli Martin's career died with her character on ER. I think the last of the second string is leaving ER this year, too. I read Abby and Luka are both moving on. Heleh and Chuny are all that are left of the original cast.

I always think of the folks who left their television careers to persue film work and then went back. David Caruso and Noah Wylie come to mind. David left NYPD Blue and then came back to CSI. Noah left ER and now he is coming back this season, apparently.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:39pm

Kyle McLachlan

I'm thinking he's pretty happy on Desperate Housewives

I never considered Grant Goodeve a major star.....damn goodlooking, yes....but a major star? No...

[Wilhelmina]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:41pm

Two of my faves - Charlene Tilton
Pamela Sue Martin

[Chita1933]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 7:52pm

David Caruso did some OK film work.

Let's face it, not everyone can be Charlton Heston or Clint Eastwood or even Johnny Depp.

Like Best said...fickle.

Updated On: 11/13/07 at 07:52 PM

[mattonstage]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 11:30pm

This is why it's never good to be on a huge TV show, or win an Oscar too soon (or ever, wherefore art thous, Lou Gossett Jr, Kim Basinger?). Some actors are just extremely lucky and/or smart with follow up projects (George Clooney), or change directions (Ron Howard). Instead of trying to head up big potential franchise pictures, most TV stars should start seeking out good supporting parts or small independent films to sustain a long run.

[Jane2]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 11:51pm

Besty-I'm not sure, but isn't Henry Winkler involved in the business in some other capacity? Like directing or producing? I could be mistaken.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 11:52pm

And, as Sandy Berhard so brilliantly put it once:

Angie Harmon recently left Law & Order to persue a career in acting.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 12:30am

It's not that fame is fickle. It's that it's fleeting, like all success, in any field. You think that because you achieve success once, you're entitled to keep on achieving it for the rest of your life.

Nuh-uh.

It's a gift from the gods and goddesses, and you have to make the most of it while you have it, because someday you will lose it.

And someday always comes too soon.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 12:32am

Had I but known my 32nd novel wasn't going to do as well as the rest I might have invested.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 12:39am

Real estate. It's a buyer's market.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 12:40am

I didn't really know the cast of LA Law or Hill Street Blues, when they were on, because they conflicted with Knots Landing, which outlived them both.

[Jane2]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 12:44am

What a coincidence-I was just listening to the radio and one of the Jersey Boys said he was about to name drop-he mentioned that he sent a script to Henry Winkler!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 12:45am

Success is swell and success is sweet, but every height has a drop.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 1:00am

Fame, when you win it, comes and goes in a minute. Where the REAL stuff in life to clinnnnnng to?

[mattonstage]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 1:14am

Ah, Johnboy, Knot's Landing, my favorite. And although Michele Lee went on to get a Tony nomination, and Nicolette Sheridan is getting her second shot with Desperate Housewives, that fantastic cast has unfortunately not worked as much as they should have. Mostly Lifetime movies (Donna Mills) and daytime soaps (Joan Van Ark, Ted Shackleford, Kevin Dobson). Of course people who had smaller or more short terms parts are doing pretty well, Marcia Cross and Doug Savant are both with Nicolette on Housewives, and then there's Halle Berry!

[jeniferrenepatricia]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 1:19am

What about the cast of "Dynasty?"

[Liverpool]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:00am

"Remember how big these names were?

Joyce De Witt
Justine Bateman
Anson Williams
Donny Most
Kristie McNichol
Gary Frank
Grant Goodeve
Daniel J. Travanti
Veronica Hamel
Gary Sandy
Kyle McLachlan
Sherilyn Fenn
James Marshall
Sheryl Lee"




No, in fact i don't