Author Archives: robin
Before They Were Stars: Michael K. Williams on “The Sopranos”
Shortly before Michael K. Williams found fame portraying Omar Little on The Wire, he made a brief appearance on another acclaimed HBO series you may have heard of called The Sopranos. Williams appeared in the Season 3 finale as a … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Rowan Atkinson in “Canned Laughter”
Well, this is a rare treat for Rowan Atkinson fans. In 1979, he made his first major television appearance in Canned Laugher, a one-off sitcom pilot where Atkinson played three different characters during the course of episode. Of course, you … Continue reading
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Robin’s Underrated Gems: Alpha Dog (2006)
As I’m sure you know, I’ve done a couple of lists at The Back Row about segments from Unsolved Mysteries and I recently started wondering how many of the cases they’ve profiled were adapted into movies. Of course, some of these … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Rene Russo in a Modern Bride Magazine Promotional Film
While recently watching Rene Russo portray Frigga in Thor: The Dark World, it occurred to me that the Thor films are literally the only acting she’s done during the past decade or so. Of course, Russo had a very successful … Continue reading
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An Indiegogo Campaign to Bring “Third Contact” to Ottawa
I recently received a personal request to help spread the word about an Indiegogo campaign to get a British film named Third Contact screened in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and, well… since Ottawa happens to The Back Row’s home base, what better … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars (2-for-1 Special): Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch Perform Improv at Second City
A ton of Saturday Night Live cast members and famous comedians in general got their starts doing improv at the Second City Theatre in Chicago and right before they were hired by SNL, that’s exactly what Rachel Dratch and a … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: 12-Year Old Emile Hirsch in “Gargantua”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nQ5cCmW6aQ Right around the time Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla was released into theatres, a made-for-TV monster movie called Gargantua was produced, starring 12-year old Emile Hirsch in one of his earliest roles as a boy who befriends a “cute” creature which is … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Matt LeBlanc in a Heinz Ketchup Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYfedDB06oM During the 1980s, a pre-Friends Matt LeBlanc appeared in a shitload of commercials and I’m surprised I haven’t gotten around to posting most of them yet. This ad for Heinz Ketchup is definitely his most famous as LeBlanc leaves an … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Don Johnson on “Kung Fu”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29f0-eN3P6o You may as well title this clip “actors that Quentin Tarantino loves”. In this climactic scene from a 1973 episode of Kung Fu, David Carradine fights Bo Svenson, the star of the original Inglorious Bastards, who had small roles … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Daniel Radcliffe in the Studio Audience for “Live & Kicking”
This clip is short and the quality is poor, but it’s still worth a look. In 1998, the BBC Saturday morning kid’s show, Live & Kicking, aired an episode where the comedic duo, The Chuckle Brothers, were interviewed. Little did … Continue reading
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