5 Oscar Winners You Forgot Were on A Sitcom
A funny thing happened to a bunch of actors before they made it to the podium to accept their Academy Awards. Long before they received the industry’s highest recognition, they appeared in goofy sitcoms that didn’t exactly predict triumphant movie careers.
Here are five actors who eventually took home the Oscar — but not before generating a few canned laughs in front of a live studio audience…
Ke Huy Quan, ‘Together We Stand’
After your career begins with a Steven Spielberg movie — as Quan’s did with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom — there’s probably nowhere to go but down. After Spielberg tossed him another gift with The Goonies, Quan found himself on Together We Stand, a generic blended-family sitcom starring Elliott Gould and E.T.’s Dee Wallace as Mom and Dad. The show was so lousy that it killed off Gould after six episodes and changed the title to Nothing Is Easy.
That name defined much of Quan’s adult career until he won an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Halle Berry, ‘Living Dolls’
Long before Berry won an Oscar for Monster’s Ball, she made her acting debut in this Who’s the Boss? spin-off about young models trying to make it in the fashion industry. Berry wasn’t in the Who’s the Boss? episode that launched the series, replacing Vivica A. Fox at the last minute. Berry likely doesn’t have fond memories of Living Dolls — she collapsed on set and went into a diabetic coma while filming an episode. The show was also the only one to receive an F grade from People’s 1989 fall TV preview.
Billy Bob Thornton, ‘Hearts Afire’
John Ritter and Markie Post starred in this series about a conservative senator and liberal journalist, with Billy Bob Thornton joining in as the creatively named Billy Bob. (He also played “Billy Bob” in his first movie, Hunter’s Blood. Pretty good racket he had going back then.) Within a few years, Thornton would leave sitcoms behind after earning a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Sling Blade. Who knew he’d then go on to star with Berry in Monster’s Ball?
Jennifer Lawrence, ‘The Bill Engvall Show’
Lawrence played Engvall’s oldest and most defiant daughter, Lauren — although her biggest act of rebellion was considering a naval piercing. You never saw Larry the Cable Guy trying to pull that one on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. A year after The Bill Engvall Show ended (three seasons!), Lawrence scored her first Oscar nomination for Winter’s Bone. She took home the gold two years later for Silver Linings Playbook.
Leonardo DiCaprio, ‘Parenthood’
Before there was a 2010s sitcom called Parenthood, there was a 1990 version based on Ron Howard’s hit movie. Leo was Garry Lampkin, played in the movie by fellow Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix. Unlike many of the sitcoms on this list, Parenthood was well-received by critics. That didn’t stop NBC from kicking DiCaprio to the curb after 12 episodes. Maybe he should have tried fighting a bear — it worked in The Revenant.
