Before They Were Stars: Jeffrey Wright on “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles”

Last year, I showcased an early role Daniel Craig had on an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Well, it turns out that show not only featured the future James Bond, but the future Felix Leiter as well, as Jeffrey Wright had one of his early guest-starring role as the famous jazz musician Sidney Bechet. This episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is also notable for being the only one to feature a guest appearance from Harrison Ford. The structure of the show usually involved an elderly version of Indy having flashbacks of himself when he was a young man, but in this particular episode, they decided to let 50-year old Indy have a flashback instead and actually convinced Harrison Ford to come in to collect a paycheck… er, play the role. The bookends show 50-year old Indy and a Native American friend named Greycloud recovering a sacred peace pipe. They both hide out in a cabin and when Indy discovers an old saxophone, he decides to reminisce about his days in 1920s Chicago. Yeah, because the first things I always associate with Indiana Jones are peace pipes and jazz music!