17 comedic actors who moved into dramatic television roles
As AOL Television continues their look at the 50 Best TV Comedies — Ever with their Top 10, we here at TV are also looking at television comedy, but with a slightly skewed difference. Last week, we took a look at the Saturday Night Live cast members from 1996 to 2006 that made it to the big time. This week, we get a bit more serious.
There are those in the industry who say that it is easier to go from acting in a drama to acting in a comedy than it is the other way around. Yet, as you will see from the list we’ve compiled after the jump, there are plenty of comedic actors who have jumped from the world of comedy films, stand-up comedy, and television sitcoms into the more serious world of drama. In many cases they have had even greater success than they did on the other side of the tracks. There have even been instances where they stayed in the drama genre and never went back to being funny.
As with the other lists we’ve compiled on comedians over the last few weeks there were a few rules that were set for this one. First, their dramatic appearance had to be one that made somewhat of an impression with the television audience, good or bad, when they saw them; a cameo featuring a few lines of dialogue was not considered. Next, they had to be familiar stars in movies, stand-up or television. Finally, the members of this list needed to have a sizable comedy portfolio before they jumped into drama. If they jumped between television dramas and comedies as a regular cast member they were not included. Of course, there were a few exceptions.
So, stop laughing, and let’s begin…
Anthony Anderson — After roles in TV comedies like Hang Time, and All About the Andersons and movies such as Scary Movie 3, Barbershop and Kangaroo Jack, Anderson did a total 180 when he moved into television drama. His first major dramatic role was as the very scary Antwon Mitchell on The Shield. Last year, he portrayed a less scary, but still dramatic, New Orleans cop on the FOX series K-Ville. Starting on Friday he’ll be joining the ranks at Detective Kevin Bernard on the original Law & Order.
Lucille Ball — Lucy was primarily known for her quarter-century of work in television comedy, starting with the ground-breaking I Love Lucy in 1951 and ending with the disappointing Life With Lucy in 1986. However, that doesn’t mean that she couldn’t do drama. In fact, long before she stepped in front of a television camera Lucy starred in a number of dramatic films. She used this dramatic prowess in a few made-for-TV movies. The most famous of these is the 1985 telefilm Stone Pillow, in which she played a tough New York bag lady named Florabelle.
Richard Belzer — After a successful career in stand-up, and a very short career as a talk show host, The Belz decided to go the dramatic route in episodic television. In turn, he created one of the longest running dramatic characters (since 1993) on television today. I talk about one Detective John Munch, who has appeared in practically every single show on television. This includes his regular roles on Law & Order: SVU and Homicide: Life on the Street and guest starring roles on The Wire, Arrested Development, Law & Order, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, The Beat, and Sesame Street.
Carol Burnett — Another Lady of Television Comedy who did some damn fine work in television drama. Her most famous dramatic role was in the 1979 movie Friendly Fire, in which she portrayed a mother who tried to find out how her son died in Vietnam. Burnett was nominated for an Emmy Award for her that role. In the same year she appeared in the movie The Tenth Month as a middle-aged woman who is accidentally impregnated and decides to give birth and keep the baby.
Jim Carrey — At the height of his success on In Living Color, Jim decided to broaden his acting skills and appeared in the FOX made-for-TV-movie (remember those?) Doing Time on Maple Drive. In the telefilm, Carrey played Tim Carter, an alcoholic who was a part of a bigger dysfunctional family. Carrey gained critical acclaim for the role and the movie was nominated for three Emmy Awards.
Bill Cosby — Out of all of the people on this list, Bill Cosby started his dramatic career early with his role on the spy-drama I Spy. Playing trainer Alexander Scott to Robert Culp’s Kelly Robinson, Cosby was the first black actor to have a lead role in an American television drama. He would reprise his role in the 1994 TV movie I Spy Returns. Coincidentally, that was the same year that Cosby returned to series television after The Cosby Show with the crime-drama The Cosby Mysteries.
Courteney Cox — Now, before you get your hackles up, I’m not talking about her role on Misfits of Science. That was really not a show that appeared in our universe — you only dreamed it did. No, the dramatic role for Cox came after her stint on Family Ties and that show about six friends who drink a lot of coffee of out these huge mugs. This would be her portrayal of Lucy Spiller on the FX series Dirt.
Dick Van Dyke — This can’t be right…Dick Van Dyke is 82 years old? And, for most of that time he has been on television or in the movies — mostly comedies. Heck, he was a household name in the 1960s with the classic The Dick Van Dyke Show and he was a cast member, although shortly, during the last years of The Carol Burnett Show. However, some of the newer generation of fans know Mr. Van Dyke from his role as Dr. Mark Sloan on the CBS medical-mystery-drama Diagnosis Murder. And, since he couldn’t get away from solving crimes, he moved over to Hallmark Channel in 2007 for the Murder 101 TV-movie series.
Andy Griffith — Another actor who had two different sets of fans in two different generations. Well, maybe it was the same generation of fans, but just a bit older. On the comedy side Griffith stared in the 60s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, then followed it up with The New Andy Griffith Show in the early 70s. Later in the 70s he appeared in such dramatic TV-movie fare like Savages, Pray for the Wildcats (with William Shatner), and Winter Kill. He returned to series television with the drama…Ah, you thought I was going to say Matlock, weren’t you? Well, that wasn’t until 1986. Before that he played Harry Broderick in the ABC science-fiction drama Savlage 1.
Eddie Izzard — I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t get confused between the comedian Eddie Izzard and the dramatic actor Eddie Izzard. As far as I know, Wayne Malloy, the character Izzard portrays on the FX drama The Riches, isn’t an active transvestite. Then again, we normally don’t see Wayne on off-hours, so who knows.
Hugh Laurie — Before coming across the pond to star in the FOX drama House, Laurie was known as one of the bigger comedians over in the U.K. Most of us Americans have seen his comedy courtesy of rebroadcasts of Blackadder The Third, Blackadder Goes Fourth and Jeeves and Wooster. In the last show he co-starred with Stephen Fry, his partner on another comedy series named A Bit of Fry and Laurie. I always wanted the House character to meet the character that Fry played on Bones last season.
Dennis Leary — Many of us discovered Dennis Leary during his short comedy segments on MTV (when it played music videos, so it was a looonnnggg time ago). Since then he acquired quite a decent acting resume in both comedy and drama. After getting his TV feet wet in the comedy The Job, Leary decided to make his own luck and came up with the FX drama Rescue Me, where he plays the very messed-up Tommy Gavin.
Howie Mandel — Howie’s transition from comedy to drama was pretty quick. After several years of comedy success in Canada in the late 70s, Mandel joined the NBC drama St. Elsewhere in 1982 as Dr. Wayne Ficus. While he continued with comedy Mandel remained on Elsewhere for the show’s entire run.
Bob Newhart — Bob didn’t get into dramatic television roles until fairly recently. His most famous dramatic role, and the one that earned him an Emmy nomination, was as patient Ben Hollander in the NBC drama ER. He also had a recurring role as Morty Flickman on Desperate Housewives. Recently, Newhart has portrayed the very straight-laced Librarian to Noah Wyle’s adventurer in TNT’s The Librarian movie series.
Rosie O’Donnell — I was kind of torn about this one. Rosie has been on the FX series Nip/Tuck as the character Dawn Budge, but she has played that up as more a comedic role. But, then I saw that she had a guest-starring role on the drama Queer as Folk, so I gave her the credit she is due. Plus, she portrayed the mentally challenged Beth Simon in the telefilm Riding the Bus with My Sister.
Martin Short — Martin had only one dramatic television role, but it was a memorable one. In 2005 he appeared as the “psychic” Sebastian Valentine on Law & Order: SVU. Turns out, Valentine wasn’t a psychic at all, but a killer named Henry Palaver. And, boy, he was a creepy little killer.
Maura Tierney — Holy Frik! I just looked up Maura Tierney’s history on IMDb and saw that she has been in nearly 200 episodes of ER. Wow, no wonder she wants her character to die. Well, Ms. Tierney is on the list because of her five-year stint on the NBC comedy NewsRadio. She played Lisa Miller — a character who had much more luck in one day than Abby Lockhart has had in nearly a decade.
Lily Tomlin — Although she portrayed a killer on the NBC crime-drama Homicide: Life on the Street, Tomlin may be known more for her role as Deborah Fiderer on The West Wing. She joined the series in the third season as President Bartlet’s private secretary.
Robin Williams — After his role as Mork on Mork & Mindy, Williams pretty much stuck to the stand-up circuit and movies. However, he has returned to TV for two dramatic roles. His first was as family man Robert Ellison on a 1994 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. His next dramatic role was most recently as crazy Merritt Rook on Law & Order: SVU. Still, no matter how dramatic he is, a bit of his comedy still comes out. While watching this week’s SVU he used the term ’Ol’ Sparky’ in a sentence — a phrase he has used constantly in his comedy routines.
Audrina Patridge: Trying to Move Out Of The Hills
Audrina Patridge: Trying to Move Out Of The Hills
Proving that Joel and Benji Madden’s clothing boutique DCMA Collective isn’t just for rock star guys, Audrina Patridge invaded the newly-opened store to pick up a few items.
Following a lunch out with some friends, the “Hills” beauty did some DCMA shopping, along with her boyfriend Bernard Steimann.
And it sounds like Miss Patridge may be getting ready to hang up her “Hills” gig in favor of some big screen stardom. She’s hired a new agent and has already begun scoping out new projects.
Jonathan Perry from the Agency for Performing Arts told press, “We only just started working with her, but are already in talks for a feature film.”
“She wants to do other things besides stay in that reality space. We are going to be getting her some television roles outside of The Hills, if they allow it. A lot of it is going to depend on what The Hills will be signing off on.”
“Audrina is interested in a lot of things, and I know she wants to get more involved with the Hollywood community on many levels. We just started working with her a week ago. Our job is to create opportunity for her.”
Kathy Ireland Biography
Kathy Ireland was born March 8th, 1963, in Santa Barbara, California. Her adolescence foreshadowed her future busy career as a wife, mother, businesswoman, humanitarian, actress, and model.
A shy teenager, Kathy kept busy with a slew of after-school jobs, including a newspaper courier (she was named Courier of the Year three years in a row), a waitress, a hostess, and a department store saleswoman. Her good nature was evident early on in her career, with her work at a convalescent home.
At the age of 17, Kathy was discovered by an Elite Modeling scout (the beginning of practically every model’s career). By the time she had finished high school, with original hopes of working in education, marine biology, or journalism, she was jet-setting to Europe for photo shoots.
Her modeling career reached its peak after she snagged the highly coveted 1984 cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition, which only marked the beginning of her relationship with the popular “swimsuit” magazine.
Kathy could be seen on the cover of Sports Illustrated three more times, and has since appeared in the magazine a record-setting thirteen times, including the magazine’s 25th Anniversary Special. Her incredible physique graced the covers of many more magazines throughout her career, including Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, Shape, Seventeen, and Harper’s Bazaar.
If men couldn’t get enough of Kathy after all her magazine appearances, they could get a daily dose of Kathy in her own annual Swimsuit Calendar (which is one of the highest selling calendars in the world).
In the midst of her illustrious modeling career, Kathy was appearing on the silver screen, the boob tube and on stage. Among her list of film credits reads Mr. Destiny, Necessary Roughness, Robert Altman’s The Player (as herself), Loaded Weapon 1, Amore!, and Backfire!
As for television roles, she appeared in Danger Island, Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives, Melrose Place, Miami Hustle, and Suddenly Susan. She also starred in the play Three Tall Women
And her career doesn’t end with modeling and acting either. Kathy is the designer of her own line of clothing, the “Kathy Ireland Brand”, promoting style and quality at reasonable prices. Her line has expanded into a women’s swimwear collection, exercise apparel, maternity line, home collections, and even watches, shoes, and handbags.
In her goal to promote fitness, health and well-being, Kathy became a certified fitness instructor in 1994, and has since released her best-selling fitness videos, which include: Kathy Ireland’s Total Fitness, Kathy Ireland’s Body Specifics, and Great Buns in 12 Minutes. Partly fulfilling her journalistic interests, Kathy is a contributing editor to Fitness Magazine.
Kathy has practically had the career of several women combined, with the long list of non-profit organizations she is involved with. She is the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Ambassador for the National Women’s Cancer Research Alliance, the Honorary Chairperson for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica program, and the National Chairperson of Family Services and Parenting for Athletes and Entertainers for Kids.
She is also active in the Special Olympics, Feed the Children, Casa Julia de Burgos in Puerto Rico (for battered women and children), the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, Project Inform in San Francisco (disseminates HIV/AIDS treatment information nationwide), among many other charities and important causes.
Alyson Hannigan Biography
Known for bringing a quirky and vibrant personality to many of her characters, Alyson Lee Hannigan first garnered attention for portraying wallflower Willow Rosenberg on the popular WB series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.†A former child actor/model, this natural redhead one-upped her TV fame after being cast in the late 1990s teen romp, “American Pie†(1999) as the nice-but-naughty band geek, Michelle.
Born March 24, 1974 in Washington D.C. to Albert Hannigan and Emilie Posner, Hannigan grew up in Atlanta, GA with her real estate agent mother after her parents’ divorced in 1972. The camera loved this auburn-coifed actress from an early age. At only three months old, she was featured in an instructional film, “Active Parenting” (1974). Hannigan began to model as a child, posing for nearly a hundred print advertisements before making the transition into commercial acting. At the age of four, Hannigan landed her first commercial, promoting Duncan Hines cookie mix. She was later featured in a number of national TV commercials, including campaigns for McDonald’s and Oreo cookies. Growing up in Atlanta, Hannigan attended the Northside School of the Performing Arts. With her burgeoning success in commercial acting, the eleven-year-old Hannigan and her mother relocated to Los Angeles so that she could pursue her career more seriously.
Hannigan’s first breakthrough role came in 1988 when she was cast as Dan Aykroyd’s suspicious daughter in the misbegotten comedy, “My Stepmother Is an Alien.” Next, Hannigan landed a regular role on the ABC sitcom, “Free Spirit” (1989-90). She went on to land a number of other small television roles while still in school, including spots on “Roseanne†(ABC, 1988-1997), “The Torkelsons†(NBC, 1991-93), “Touched by an Angel†(CBS, 1994-2003) and “Picket Fences†(CBS, 1992-96). After graduating high school at North Hollywood High in 1992, Hannigan took some time off to attend college at California State University, where she majored in psychology.
Returning to work in 1997, Hannigan landed her biggest break yet – she was cast as Willow Rosenberg, Buffy’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) quirky best friend on the cult Joss Whedon TV series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer†(WB, 1997-2001; UPN, 2001-03).
With her newfound recognition, Hannigan started landing roles in a number of films geared towards a teenage audience, including “Dead Man on Campus” (1998), in “Boys and Girls” (2000), her biggest film to date – the unexpected teen sex comedy hit, “American Pie†(1999). Playing off her natural geekiness, Hannigan portrayed the sweetly perverted flute-playing band geek Michelle Flaherty opposite Jason Biggs. Hannigan uttered the film franchise’s most infamous line: “One time, at band camp…†culminating in a hilariously x-rated explanation of what really did happen at band camp with that flute. The actress reprised her “Pie†role in the sequels “American Pie 2″ (2001) and later, more prominently in the disappointing “American Wedding” (2003).
Crossing over to the “Buffy†spin-off, “Angel†(WB, 1999-2004), Hannigan reprised her role as Willow Rosenberg, appearing on the series in a number of episodes. In 2004, Hannigan made her stage debut opposite Luke Perry, starring in a stage adaptation of “When Harry Met Sally†at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London’s West End. Returning to series television in 2005, Hannigan guest-starred on “Veronica Mars†(UPN, 2004- ) and landed a regular spot on the CBS sitcom hit “How I Met Your Mother†(2005- ) portraying kindergarten teacher Lily Aldrin. With such a workload, Hannigan found time to return to the big screen in the 2006 send-up of cheesy romantic chick flicks, “Date Movie,” a modest hit.
- Born:
on 03/24/1974 in Washington, DC - Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Family
- Father: Albert Hannigan. divorced from Hannigan’s mother c. 1975
- Mother: Emilie Posner. divorced from Hannigan’s father c. 1975
Significant Others
- Companion: Alex Denisof. born c. 1966; also appeared on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”; dating from early 2000; engaged as of December 2002
- Companion: Ginger Fish. drummer with Marilyn Manson; ended relationship c. late 1999
Milestones
- 1974 As a baby, featured in the industrial film “Active Parenting”
- 1978 Landed first commercial for Duncan Hines cookie mix at age four (date approximate)
- 1985 Moved with mother to L.A.
- 1985 While visiting father in Santa Barbara, California, auditioned for agents
- 1988 Feature acting debut in “My Stepmother Is an Alien”
- 1989 TV series debut as regular in the ABC sitcom “Free Spirit”
- 1991 Had featured role as the teenaged sister of one of the young women who were “Switched at Birth” (NBC)
- 1993 Appeared in two episodes of the short-lived ABC sitcom “Almost Home”
- 1997 Played regular role of Willow Rosenberg in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (The WB; 1997-2001; UPN, 2001-2003)
- 1998 Co-starred in the film “Dead Man on Campus”
- 1999 Had featured role in the teen sex comedy “American Pie”
- 2001 Reprised role in the sequel “American Pie 2″
- 2003 Married Jason Bigg’s character in the summer comedy sequel “American Wedding”
- 2004 Appeared with Luke Perry in the London stage version of ”When Harry Met Sally”
- 2005 Cast as Lily on the CBS comedy “How I Met Your Mother”
- 2006 Starred in “Date Movie,” the comedy spoof of romantic movies, co-directed and co-wrote by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
- Born in Washington, DC
- Moved to Atlanta, Georgia with mother after parents’ divorce
- Worked as a child model; featured in over 30 commercials and more than 100 print advertisements