Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Tom Mack in Hollywood

Rams Hall of Fame Guard Tom Mack had a handful of roles. The most memorable was in Woody Allen's film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask where Mack played a football player in a spoof commerical. He was with former Ram guard Don Chuy.


He followed that up with the Banacek TV Series as Ed Wolinski in "Let's Hear It for a Living Legend"




His last role was as Kibbii in The Six Million Dollar Man - "One of Our Running Backs Is Missing"


Monday, June 22, 2015

Defensive Linemen in Film: Phil Olsen

Merlin's younger brother, Phil Olsen, played his younger brother in One More Train to Rob



Later he, with Ken Geddes, appeared in a LA Mass Transit film educating people about proper mass transit use and upkeep and had an anti-vandalism message





Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Defensive Lineman in Film: Cliff Frazier

Though his football career didn't amount to much, his acting career did. He began by playing Monroe in North Dallas Forty and had a long-term role in First and Ten the HBO series.
First and Ten
Frazier as "Monroe" in NDF



Frazier in House Party

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Defesnive Linemen in Hollywood: Earl Faison

Earl Faison, the San Diego Charger great, had a couple of roles, one as former football player who kidnaps another player in Six Million Dollar Man and then a football player in Heaven Can Wait.
Faison is second from the left
Faison is standing in checked shirt




Faison is #85
Earlier, Faison guest starred on the Beverly Hillbillies.

Defensive Linemen in the Movies: Glenn Holtzman

Glenn Holtzman was a Rams defensive linemen in the 1950s. In 1980 he played the plan foreman who hired John Travolta in Urban Cowboy

Holtzman had a handful of roles in the 1950s and 1960s, but nothing in the late 1960s or 1970s. In a small way, Urban Cowboy was a sort of comeback.

Defensive Linemen in Film: Jim Winkler

As far as we know Rams defensive linemen Jim Winkler had only one role, as a gladiator in 1954's Demetrius and the Gladiators. In these stills, Winker is behind star Victor Mature in these stills with the blonde curly hair.




Friday, June 12, 2015

Defensive Linemen in the Movies: Bubba Smith

Bubba Smith landed in a role that was repeated many times in the Police Academy series. He was Moses Hightower in that series of movies. Smith would have likely been an All-time great in the NFL had he not torn up a knee getting tangled in the first down chains in a 1972 pre-season game. He hung on in the NFl through 1975 and then his acting career began in earnest.



Smith began acting, as many do, playing a bit role in a Tv series. For him it was The Odd Couple

Five years later, in 1978, he had two bit parts in Superdome (a TV movie) as All-Pro Moses Gordine
and as Rojak in Wonder Woman- Light-fingered Lad.y.
Superdome
Wonder Woman
He played a heavy named Claude in the TV series Good Times (which has the best theme ever of any TV series in our view). 


The Police Acadamy is still his calling card, that was in 1984. Also in 1984 was Blue Thunder a TV series which he stalled as Lyman 'Bubba' Kelsey along with Dick Butkus, Dana Carvey and others along with an awesome helicopter that helped them fight crime.






For the rest of Smith's filmography click here. 



Bubba Smith as "Kurt" in television production Half Nelson—

Smith's career went well into the 1990s. Here he is on Married, With Children

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Defensive Linemen in Film: Alex Karras

Though he had five roles before Blazing Saddles, it was the role of Mongo that made Alex Karras famous. The horse punch survives today as a GIF found on the Internet



Though not listed on IMDN, Karras played himself in Paper Lion even though the film was based on the 1963 season and Karras had been suspended by the NFL for that year.




In 1969 he was a guest on Daniel Boone

He played an assistant coach to Vince Lombardi in the 1973 TV Movie Legend in Granite 


He was in 1975's Babe and played George Zaharias, Babe Didrikson's husband.


In 1977 he was Iago 'Mad Bull' Karkus in Mad Bull a made-for-TV movie.



Karras was also in Centennial - The Massacre


In 1978 he was Doc Holliday, a DJ in the film FM.



1980 in When Time Ran out with Paul Newman


In 1981's Victor Victoria Karras played James garner's gay sidekick and bodyguard Squash' Bernstein which was, really, a breakthrough role for the time for a jack-turned actor.
 

In 1981's Nobody's Perfekt:



In 1982's Porky's he played Sheriff Wallace, Porky's corrupt brother.

Karras's real life wife Susan Clark played Cherry Forever in that film after meeting on the set of Babe

Karras played a corrupt football coach in Against All Odds in 1983 


His biggest success was in the TV show Webster which drew critical and commercial acclaim. He was George Papadapolis in that show and was joined by his real-life wife.



Karras in M*A*S*H*

Like Grier, Olsen, Jim Brown and others Karras was a working actor for many, many years and was among the most successful football players to go to Hollywood.