And just like that - poof - they were gone...

August 3, 2011 10:31 AM

Random query...What unforgettable/awesome/great film performances can you think of by an actor/actress which was there first and only role. Never acted again - be it because of death, didn't like it, whatever. Never on the screen - large or small - again.
posted by joyride to Media & Arts (56 answers total)

We saw The Caine Mutiny a few years ago and thought Robert Francis did really well against heavyweights like Jose Ferrer, Hmphrey Bogart and others. We were bummed to find out that it was his only really big role - he was killed in a plane crash the following year.
posted by jquinby at 10:35 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Peter Ostrum, who played Willy Wonka in the Gene Wilder version?
posted by Admiral Haddock at 10:37 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Asscats! He didn't play Willy Wonka, of course, he played Charlie Bucket.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 10:37 AM on August 3, 2011 [8 favorites]

There are probably a lot of kids in this category, especially for European indie films.
posted by sweetkid at 10:39 AM on August 3, 2011

(Also, slightly cheating, John Cazale, whose career was cut short by cancer after only five movies--but holy crap, what five: Godfather 1 & 2, The Conversation, Deer Hunter and Dog Day Afternoon.)
posted by Admiral Haddock at 10:40 AM on August 3, 2011 [4 favorites]

If he hadn't gotten his demand of a million pounds for Stargate, Jae Davidson would have had one of the very best single-time acting performances ever for The Crying Game
posted by xingcat at 10:47 AM on August 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Eminem, 8 Mile. Whatever you thought of his performance or the film, it grossed almost a quarter billion dollars.

Of course he may act again.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 10:52 AM on August 3, 2011

Wasn't the wicked witch in the "Wizard of Oz" a librarian or something? It's my understanding that was her only acting role.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 10:59 AM on August 3, 2011

My first thought was of Harold Russell, the actor who had lost both hands in WWII and won 2 Oscars for The Best Years of Our Lives, but it turns out he did a few more roles in later years. He also made headlines for selling one of the Oscars to pay for his wife's surgery.
posted by lily_bart at 11:08 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sorry Working, Margaret Hamilton was a seasoned actress.
posted by Gungho at 11:08 AM on August 3, 2011

A lot of neorealist films used non-actors, For instance, almost nobody in The Gospel According to St. Matthew ever worked in film again. Another example would be Il Posto, which Cockeyed Caravan thinks highly of; it was the only film performance for either lead character.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 11:11 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Björk in von Trier's Dancer in the Dark. She later appeared in her husband Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9, but that is more of an experimental art thing than a movie.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 11:12 AM on August 3, 2011 [3 favorites]

Howard Stern in Private Parts...although it is possible he acts again.
posted by Busmick at 11:13 AM on August 3, 2011

Courtney Love was fantastic in "The People vs. Larry Flynt" and may even have won some awards.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:16 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Courtney Love was in Basquiat as well though (awesome there too).
posted by sweetkid at 11:17 AM on August 3, 2011

In the "unforgettable" category, there's Carrie Henn in Aliens. They meustly come out at night...meustly.
posted by Beardman at 11:18 AM on August 3, 2011

Haing S. Ngor.
posted by box at 11:27 AM on August 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Björk was also in The Juniper Tree.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 11:29 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Bunny Ultramod: A lot of neorealist films used non-actors

Seconding neorealism as a prime source for such actors and actresses.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:33 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Gabourey Sidibe has only appeared in a single film, Precious. I believe that counts as memorable.

While she has shot another film, it hasn't yet been released.
posted by alms at 11:41 AM on August 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Sidibe has also been a regular on a TV show, though, so I'm not sure if she counts (alas).
posted by bettafish at 11:42 AM on August 3, 2011

Ack, I thought Danny from the Shining wasn't in anything else, but it turns out he was cast as Young Liddy in the TV Movie adaptation of G. Gordon Liddy's autobiography 2 years later... so, there's that.
posted by brainmouse at 11:46 AM on August 3, 2011

Almost Laurie Bird as The Girl in Two-Lane Blacktop, but she also appeared in Cockfighter, apparently.
posted by Shepherd at 11:56 AM on August 3, 2011

Darlene Cates, who played the obese mother in What's Eating Gilbert Grape hasn't done much more than a couple small TV appearances since that film.
posted by bondcliff at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Sorry, box, it looks like Haing S. Ngor was in more than one film. I thought that was his only one as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:01 PM on August 3, 2011

Cheryl Barnes blew the roof off of the 1979 musical HAIR. Legend has is that she was a hotel maid who traveled quite far to audition for the film. It's her only acting credit.
posted by hermitosis at 12:04 PM on August 3, 2011

It's gonna be tough to find a one and done, but how about John Cazale? He was only in five motion pictures, but holy shit, what a five.

-The Godfather
-The Godfather II
-The Deer Hunter
-The Conversation
-Dog Day Afternoon

That's simply absurd.
posted by Sphinx at 12:05 PM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

(Bjork also has an uncredited appearance in Altman's Pret a Porter.)
posted by hermitosis at 12:06 PM on August 3, 2011

Tami Stronach as the Childlike Empress in The Neverending Story.
posted by heyheylanagirl at 12:09 PM on August 3, 2011

Maria Callas
posted by mattbucher at 12:30 PM on August 3, 2011

Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives 1946, but he wasn't really an actor.
Freddie Prinze in The Million Dollar Rip Off 1976
Renee Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928
posted by Ideefixe at 12:32 PM on August 3, 2011

Frank Silva in Twin Peaks.
posted by rjs at 12:49 PM on August 3, 2011 [3 favorites]

Erzsebet Foldi? Sang and danced as Fosse's daughter in "All That Jazz."
posted by Marky at 12:50 PM on August 3, 2011

N!xau, the bushman who starred in The Gods Must Be Crazy and its sequels. Maybe not a one picture wonder, strictly speaking, but pretty close.
posted by mosk at 12:51 PM on August 3, 2011 [3 favorites]

Truman Capote's only credited acting role was in Neil Simon's Murder by Death.
posted by heatvision at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Sadly because of your title, I also think of Ron Marquette, whose major film credits were basically a few Red Shoe Diaries films and 'Con Man #2' type roles, except for a very impressive performance in the lead role of Bryan Singer's first feature, Public Access. I feel certain he would have really broken out if he hadn't committed suicide just then.
posted by heatvision at 1:07 PM on August 3, 2011

Graham Faulkner as Saint Francis of Assisi in Brother Sun, Sister Moon. I think this has been the case with several of Zeffirelli's stars.
posted by milk white peacock at 1:11 PM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I watched John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 last week and was quite taken by the performance of Laurie Zimmer. It certainly wasn't a great or awesome performance, but I found it compelling for reasons I couldn't articulate. The sort of performance that made me think she might have other interesting work out there. But no, it's pretty much her only credit.
posted by jrb223 at 1:12 PM on August 3, 2011

Carl Th. Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc - Maria Falconetti
posted by shakespeherian at 1:14 PM on August 3, 2011

Brandon Lee in The Crow.
posted by empath at 1:17 PM on August 3, 2011

Kristel Díaz is very good as the teenaged Ana in the (quite annoying) film Lovers of the Arctic Circle. Her only other credits are two short films; I found one of them on YouTube and if I remember correctly she's the girl lying next to the girl in a bikini that the guy in the film talks to on the beach.
posted by lapsangsouchong at 1:37 PM on August 3, 2011

Brent Chalem, who played Horace (Fat Kid) in The Monster Squad, had roles in TV series and TV movies but his one and only foray into the silver screen was The Monster Squad. We shall not see his kind again; he died at 22.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:40 PM on August 3, 2011

Tom Gaman as Simon in Lord of the Flies (1963).
posted by kuju at 2:27 PM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hi, Matt from the aforementioned Cockeyed Caravan here.

One and never again? I'd agree with those above who mentioned Newt from Aliens and the stars of Il Posto.

If we're talking about only one starring role, the first one to come to mind is poor Lenny Baker, star of Paul Mazursky's brilliant Next Stop, Greenwich Village, who sadly died of cancer after a only a few more minor roles.

My vote for the greatest male lead performance of all time would go to James Murray, star of The Crowd. He made a few more minor movies, but he became a bum and died a few years later.

There's also Allen Baron in Blast of Silence and I would even include Arlo Guthrie in Alice's Restaurant.
posted by Matt Bird at 2:31 PM on August 3, 2011

...after only five movies--but holy crap, what five

...only in five motion pictures, but holy shit, what a five

So is it holy shit, or holy crap?
posted by pardonyou? at 2:51 PM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Carl Th. Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc - Maria Falconetti

IMDB lists a couple of other films in which she had minor parts, which comes as a surprise to me. Personally, I'd bend the rules on this one, because it was famously her only starring role and it is an absolutely amazing performance.
posted by twirlip at 2:53 PM on August 3, 2011

...after only five movies--but holy crap, what five

...only in five motion pictures, but holy shit, what a five

So is it holy shit, or holy crap?

It's crap if you're talking about movies, but shit if you're talking about motion pictures.

Do you know nothing?

I thought that was bizarre too. I have a doppelganger.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 4:38 PM on August 3, 2011

Anne Sellors
posted by Rhomboid at 6:23 PM on August 3, 2011

Courtney Love is listed as an actor in about 15 films.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:42 PM on August 3, 2011

Filicia "Snoop" Pearson, who is not likely destined to act again.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 7:17 AM on August 4, 2011

Ray Salyer in On the Bowery.
posted by jefftang at 7:26 AM on August 4, 2011

Julie Gholson had the starring role in Where the Lilies Bloom (1974). The New York Times called her performance "remarkably convincing". It is her only credit according to imdb.
posted by marsha56 at 9:13 AM on August 4, 2011

Andre The giant in The Princess Bride.
posted by Gungho at 9:44 AM on August 4, 2011

Eiko Matsuda.
posted by plep at 10:50 AM on August 4, 2011

More on Felicia Pearson, what she did, and why she may not act again any time soon.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:03 AM on August 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

@stupidsexyFlanders -- Eminem had a (rather funny) cameo in "Funny People" with Ray Romano and Adam Sandler's character. Not sure if a cameo qualifies, but it was damn funny.
posted by firstcity_thirdcoast at 11:14 AM on August 4, 2011