Thursday, January 14, 2016

Elroy Hirsch in Movies

Hirsch first played himself in 1949's Easy Living

He starred as himself in 1953's Crazylegs—



In 1955 he starred in  Unchained as Steve Davitt who was a "hard-fisted convict"—





 The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (TV Series)  The Boy and the Coach (1955) ... (as Elroy Hirsch)

In 1957 Hirsch played  "Capt. Bill Wilson" in Zero Hour—




Michael Shayne (TV Series) Vic Regan "Murder at the Convention" (1961) 

Hirsch in the Munsters


Thursday, December 31, 2015

Defensive Linemen in Hollywood: Claude Humphrey

Claude Humphrey is a Hall of Fame defensive end who played the majority of his career with the Atlana Falcons. He only had one Hollywood role, that of "Big John" in the Dukes of Hazzard Television series. He played the typical heavy, a big, gun-toting strongman.
In the show he even had a few lines, here they are:

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Continental Divide's NFL Connection

How does a movie about a Chicago Columnist and a Rocky Mountain Bald eagle researcher have an NFL connection? Easy. Continental Divide had Max Birnbaum. He was a lover of the eagle researcher and a former defensive end for the Washington Redskins. The role was played by Tony Ganios who was "Meat" in Porky's:

Here is the clip of the NFL connection featuring Ganios, John Belushi, and Blair Brown:


Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Hank Bauer in Flash & Firecat (1976)

Billed as Henry Bauer, Hank Bauer played a mechanic at a dune buggy shop in Southern California. he shared the big screen with Richard Kiel (Moonraker, Longest Yard).

Bauer is one of the NFL's best special teams players of All-Time. In the film Bauer tossed a football around but had no lines.




Bauer with Richard Kiel


Mel Owens and the Movies

Mel Owens was a left outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams from 1981-89. In addition to acting  he started a line of clothing called "Evolution Wear". He also operated a nationwide restaurant reservation hotline in the 1980s called 1-800-LETS-EAT.  In 1987, he ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain and also competed in the L.A. Marathon.

He had a bit role in The Distingueshed Gentleman, a film that starred Eddie Murphy. Owens played "Bo Chandler" a tight end for the Houston Oilers who was elected to Congress.

Here is the clip that Owens appears in:

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Gene Washington in the Movies

49ers wide receiver Gene Washington had a couple of plum roles. He was really the lead biker in The Black Six, and had a key role in an episode of Banacek, a TV series with George Peppard.

Here are a few stills from The Black Six playing "Bubba Daniels": 

And from Banacek as "Clay Mills":

And his longest scenes in Banacek:

This one opens with John Brodie as "Richie Mulligan" and finished with Gene's scene.

And after the big "reveal; "Right on Banacek"

In 1975 Washington was the lead actor in Lady Cocoa. In this one Washington even gets  to fire a gun and had a love scene with nudity and all.

Here are a few clips. Sound quality is very poor:
For a more complete filmography click over to IMDB.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Harold Jackson in the Movies

Harold Jackson was a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots. We had a bit part in Gus and in North Dallas Forty.

In Gus he played an inept wide reciever who dropped easy passes.
Jackson as "Lindstrom"


Here is his clip from North Dallas Forty: