Jaymole

I just did a check on IMDB for the film Legend of the Lone Ranger and noticed that Klinton Spilsbury, who played the Lone Ranger, only appeared in this one film.

I was wondering if anyone knows any other actors or actressess who only appeared in one film and was the lead...or at least had a major role in a film.

Seantn

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001343/
"Newt" from Aliens.

Michael Ballack

Howard Stern?

Doughboy

The kid who played Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Dr. DVD

I think the girl who played the lead in Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth was an unknown at the time and didn't appear in another movie after that, at least in a lead role. (I think she played a maid in Cruel Intentions, which was a major step down from where she was in the other movie.)

Also, I never heard much out Taimak after The Last Dragon, and I doubt his little spoof of Road House counts.

Dr. DVD

I think he meant the original with Gene Wilder, not Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which came out this year.

Seantn

He meant Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (the 70's version).

Seantn

Jinx!

Dr. DVD

Least now we know he'll get the point!

dick_grayson

Jason Schwartzman of Rushmore said he wasn't going to act ever again (but broke that promise only a year or two later to do Slackers ) I was hoping it would have kept it real......although I did enjoy Slackers and loved I Heart Huckabees

Cygnet74

ahh... my mistake... so where is he now?



"Despite the success of the movie and excellent reviews of young Peter's performance his parent's decided against pursuing any further show biz jobs for their son and Peter returned to school,sports and the "normal" life of an American boy!

Now in his 40s and living in upstate New York Peter enjoys a quiet life as a veterinarian."

Ovid

That's interesting. I wonder how that worked out having, seemingly, no interest in acting. A producer or someone must have known the family.

Ginwen

Watch almost any DVD with a commentary by Joe Bob Briggs, and you'll find that not only the leads but most of the other actors are in "first of one" role.

Here's a list of them, btw.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/lis...Fencoding=UTF8

That was gonna be mine. Bastard

Nesbit

Eminem and Fitty Cent

Seantn

According to her profile...


"Her father was in the US Air Force, and Carrie spent much of her childhood in England. It was at a school in Lakenheath that she was cast in Aliens."

I'm guessing there was a big casting search for this kid.

Dr. DVD

While there was no lead actor per se, a lot of the cast of The Warriors never did much else afterwards, and I am sure a few of them never did anything.

obscurelabel

Probably a lot more in the vein of athletes, celebrities, musicians, etc.

A couple of athletes:

Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story.

Gheorghe Muresan in My Giant (not necessarily the lead, but the title character).

Musicians:

Gerry Marsden in Ferry Cross the Mersey.

Maria Callas in Medea.

Others ...

I've always heard that Falconetti's only film role was as Joan in The Passion of Joan of Arc but IMDB lists a couple of other credits for her.

Merrie Spaeth from The World of Henry Orient (this movie has a number of roles with a lot of screen time, but I would consider her and Tippy Walker the "leads"). She went on to work in media, government, politics, and business:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0816580/bio

Mark Frechette and Daria Halprin from Zabriskie Point deserve some sort of honorable mention, with only five credits between them.

NatrlBornThrllr

While she has a couple of other credits, none come close to matching the height of Mary Badham's "Scout" in To Kill a Mockingbird. A rather quiet career for an actress who got an Oscar nomination on her very first performance. I got a chance to meet her a month or two ago. She says that she didn't get many roles after Mockingbird due to her deep southern accent.

-JP

Joe Molotov

Luc Roeg, who was the director's son, played the little boy in Walkabout and then wasn't in anything else.

kitkat

Hugh Edwards, who played Piggy in the original lord of the Flies. Also, the kid who played Jack only has one other credit.

I feel like with all of the commentaries I've listened to that i've heard of this more than once, but it's hard to think of any - especially adults.

Seantn

The kid from Stir of Echoes.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0178574/

I'm guessing it's much more common for kids, because kids are more likely to be hired for a lead role without any experience. Kids are young, how can they have experience. Where as if you're an adult, they're not gonna want to take a risk on unless you have some experience behind you. Of course there are exceptions, but i'm guessing that a lot of people on this list will be kids.

Johnny Boy

Actually Eminem played a crazy guy in The Wash. He was pretty decent in it.

rennervision

For some reason I immediately thought of Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls. I remember how the movie was hyped to be her first breakout role and was compared to Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Then someone actually saw it, and the rest is movie infamy...

Incidentally, Klinton Spilsbury's voice in The Legend of the Lone Ranger was dubbed. So perhaps his dubious acting ability attributed to his one and only starring role.

Johnny Boy

I think Elizabeth Berkley has been in about 30 films. So she's about 29 films away from qualifying.

I love this thread. Unfortunately, I can't think of anyone who hasn't already been mentioned at the moment. But I think this is a really interesting topic.

wendersfan

ETA: I'm apparrently incorrect about this. Oops.