Monday, December 27, 2021

Hollywood bit players on baseball cards: Part 12

Today's bit player made his acting debut in a 1971 episode of Mission: Impossible, "The Catafalque". As the Captain of the Guards he did not get a speaking line, but nevertheless appears to have made an impression on Peter Graves and Lelsey Ann Warren.

Two years later he got a speaking role, though very briefly, as a pool waiter on the Partridge Family. If you haven't guessed who it is yet, the title of the episode, filmed in the Kings Island amusement park, is "I Left My Heart in Cincinnati".

It's Cincinnati Reds legend Johnny Bench! Here are my oldest and most recent Topps cards of him.

Bench played himself on TV numerous times, including appearances on Mr. Belvedere, Married . . . With Children, The Bad News Bears, and five appearances on Hee Haw.




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3 comments:

  1. FujiDecember 27, 2021 at 5:12 PM

    Wow. He's made quite a few television appearances. I don't remember him in any of the shows you listed, but definitely remember him on The Baseball Bunch.

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  2. Johnnys Trading SpotDecember 27, 2021 at 8:19 PM

    I loved those 70's/80's Bad News Bears movies.

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  3. defgavDecember 28, 2021 at 4:00 PM

    Bench also did a bunch of commercials back in the day, most notably as spokesman for Krylon spray paint with the slogan "No Runs. No Drips. No Errors."

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