Author Archives: robin
Before They Were Stars: Christopher Lee in “They Were Not Divided”
One of our most legendary actors, Christopher Lee, passed away the other day at age 93, after amassing a filmography of over 280 credits and living a more interesting life than any of us could ever dream of. I tried … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Jason Alexander in a Hershey’s Kisses Commercial
I often feel like I could probably do an entire year’s worth of “Before They Were Stars” features consisting of commercials Jason Alexander did during the 1980s. But this may be the earliest Alexander commercial available on Youtube as the … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: 13-Year Old Kurt Russell as a Jungle Boy on “Gilligan’s Island”
I gotta say, ever since I started the “Before They Were Stars” feature on The Back Row nearly five years ago, I’ve probably looked for a clip of this dozens of times without success. But the long wait is finally … Continue reading
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A Tribute to Mary Ellen Trainor (1950-2015)
Sometimes, a character actor will spend their entire career steadily working in small supporting roles without receiving much recognition. But when they’re gone, you look at their filmography and realize: “Wow, they acted in a TON of classic movies”. Such … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Paul Giamatti (?) Does a Voice-Over in a Cracklin’ Oat Bran Commercial
Okay, to be quite honest, I have no definitive proof that Paul Giamatti did the voice-over in this 1989 commercial for Cracklin’ Oat Bran other than the original Youtube poster’s assertion that it sounds just like him. But, as far … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: 17-Year Old Alanis Morrisette Intros YTV’s “Hit List”
The Back Row is a Canadian website, so of course, we all grew up experiencing the early days of Canada’s iconic channel, YTV. In 1991, YTV premiered its own music video program called Hit List, which was hosted by a … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Carla Gugino on “Ferris Bueller: The TV Series”
You’re probably familiar with the infamous short-lived Ferris Bueller TV series and how Jennifer Aniston had her first major role on the show as Ferris’ sister. Well, today, I have decided to post an entire episode of Ferris Bueller because it … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars (2-for-1 Special): Yvette Nicole Brown and Ken Jeong on “Entourage”
This past week has seen what is probably the last Community episode ever and the opening of the Entourage movie. So how do these two universes intersect? Well, it turns out that Community cast members Yvette Nicole Brown and Ken … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Ioan Gruffudd in “Titanic”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1CW9ZoouA0 Later today, we will be posting up a Shouts From the Back Row podcast about disaster movies in which the recently released San Andreas and Titanic are both discussed. And besides both being disaster flicks, what ties these two … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars (2-for-1 Special): Alexandra Daddario and Amanda Seyfried on “All My Children”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzDobIYCCiI Two of Hollywood’s most beautiful starlets having a scene together on the same soap opera when they were teens?! That’s right, this demo reel for Alexandra Daddario showcases her first role at age 16 on All My Children. In … Continue reading
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