Friday, July 9, 2021

Hollywood bit players on baseball cards: Part 4

 Here's someone with more acting credits than baseball cards.

He made his acting debut in 1967 on Batman. Here he is as henchman "Across", with Ken Scott as "Down" and Deanna Lund as "Anna Gram". John Astin, of course, is the Riddler.

Also in 1967 he appeared in an episode of Gilligan's Island, credited only as a "Native".

He had one more acting credit that year, in the movie Riot on Sunset Strip.

He did not return to acting until 1983, appearing as Sgt. Zurilli on an episode of M*A*S*H.

That kicked off a series of small roles in the 1980s and early 1990s, in episodes of Alice, St. Elsewhere, Partners in Crime, Knight Rider, Grand and Santa Barbara, and the movies Fright Show and P.K. and the Kid.

That's 12 acting credits for this man, who played eight years in the major leagues, all for MLB's leading supplier of Hollywood bit players, the L.A. Dodgers. I have five of his eight Topps card from his playing career.

He appeared on a few more cards as a manager - he managed the Mariners, Cubs and Brewers, for a total of six seasons between 1989 and 1999.


 



6 comments:

  1. I'm not familiar with Astin's stint as the Riddler. Wonder how he compares to Frank Gorshin.

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  2. I hadn't thought about Alice in years. I'd love to go back and watch a few episodes to relive my childhood.

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  3. It's funny, I'm not familiar with the player in the least, but am fairly certain that I've seen all of his television appearances.

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  4. When Lefebvre got hired by the Cubs, one of the local sportscasts showed the Batman clip and his name in the credits. Young me thought, "if Jim can rumble with Adam West, certainly he can take on the Cardinals!" Nope.

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