Blastr.com wrote a quick article about 15 of their favorite Science Fiction cameos. A cameo is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts. An actor needs not fill such a role: short appearances by film directors, politicians, athletes, and other celebrities are common. [Wikipedia].

They’re short, they’re sweet, and they usually feature an actor or celebrity as never seen before. With movies like Iron Man (2008), Thor (2011), and most recently X-Men: First Class (2011), cameos have become the norm. However, not all cameos are created equal: The best cameos are often those in which real people play themselves on screen, making it a huge surprise for the audience when they appear. Cameos don’t need to be ironic or funny to be memorable; they just need to be innovative and surprising.

Stan Lee, Alfred Hitchcock, Roger Corman, M. Night Shyamalan, and Stephen King didn’t make the list. Sure, their cameos are legendary, but they’re usually a given.

Blastr’s list (includes YouTube clips on their site)

1. George A. Romero in Silence of the Lambs (1991)
   The director behind the Night of the Living Dead franchise makes a blink-and-you-miss it appearance in Jonathan Demme’s thriller as a one of the many FBI agents who pull Clarice (Jodie Foster) away from a heated confrontation with Hannibal Lecter.
2. Peter Jackson in Hot Fuzz (2007)
   Jackson appears as a tweaked-out Santa Claus complete with beady eyes and a knife. His scene lasts a mere two seconds but leaves a lasting impression.
3. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (of Shaun of the Dead) in Land of the Dead (2005)
   They got the opportunity of a lifetime when they got to do a cameo in George A. Romero’s latest Dead sequel. The tables were turned when the duo were slathered in makeup and turned into the mindless zombies they’ve made fun of in the past.
4. John Hurt in Spaceballs (1987)
   In it, he was once again the victim of “stomach problems,” and the only thing he could say was “Oh no. Not again!”
5. Bill Murray in Zombieland (2009)
   Murray’s appearance was supposed to be a top-secret cameo to surprise fans. In the film, he plays himself, pretending to play a zombie to stay alive.
6. David Cronenberg in Jason X (2001)
   The director popping up in this sub-par sequel was just weird. But then again, this is the guy whose nicknames include King of Venereal Horror and the Baron of Blood, so we shouldn’t be too surprised.
7. Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes (2001)
   This is irony at its best. The actor appeared in the 2001 Planet of the Apes remake that featured Mark Wahlberg as an out-of-place human and Heston as one of the land’s most respected ape elders.
8. Patrick Ewing in The Exorcist III (1990)
   What in the NBA player hell was going on with this movie? The third Exorcist had plenty of cameos, including Fabio and Larry King, but Patrick Ewing took the cake.
9. Samuel L. Jackson in Iron Man (2008)
   It’s no secret that Marvel’s Ultimate Nick Fury was modeled after Samuel L. Jackson, so to have him fill the role on the big screen was a dream come true?
10. Janet Leigh in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
    Janet Leigh and her daughter, fellow scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, joined forces for what we like to call “When Psycho met Halloween.” Leigh’s appearance is dripping with Hitchcock nostalgia when she gets into the same car that her character Marion Crane drove in Psycho and walks away when music from the original score starts playing.
11. Wes Craven in Scream (1996)
    The director pops up in a scene where he plays the high school janitor Fred, who happens to be wearing a striped green and red sweater and a brown fedora.
12. Gene Hackman in Young Frankenstein (1974)
    Its hilarious to see him out of his element as a bearded blind man trying to treat Frankenstein to a nice cup of espresso.
13. Keith Richards in Pirates of the Caribbean At World’s End (2007)
    Richards played Captain Teague in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and as soon as he hit the screen the mood changed and poor Jack was shaking in his boots!
14. Johnny Depp in Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
    We were pleasantly surprised when Depp decided to acknowledge his roots. Depp’s first major film role was in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Since he appeared in the first film, it made sense that he’d pop up in what was supposed to be the last in the franchise.
15. William Shatner in Fanboys (2008)
    Mr. Shatner appears as an informant to a group of diehard fans on a serious mission. When they ask him how he’s been able to get his hands on classified information, he simply says, “Are you kidding? I’m William Shatner. I can score anything.”

Additional noteworthy cameos in feature films include:

• Alanis Morissette in Dogma (1999)
• Alice Cooper in Prince of Darkness (1987)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Rundown (2003)
• Babe Ruth in Speedy (1928)
• Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
• Billy Idol in The Wedding Singer (1998)
• Bob Barker in Happy Gilmore (1996), “The price is wrong, bitch”
• Bob Saget in Half Baked (1998), Saget’s squeaky clean Full House image is shattered as he announces that marijuana is not a drug because he used to do sexual favors for cocaine.
• Bobby Knight in Anger Management (2003)
• Brad Pitt in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
• Bruce Springsteen in High Fidelity (2000)
• Buster Keaton (also Anna Q. Nilsson and H.B. Warner) in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
• Charlie Sheen in Being John Malkovich (1999)
• Christian Slater in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
• Charlton Heston in Wayne’s World 2 (1993)
• Dan Aykroyd in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1994)
• Danny Ainge in The Singles Ward (2002)
• David Bowie in Zoolander (2001)
• David Crosby of Crosby, Stills & Nash and Glenn Close in Hook (1991)
• David Letterman in Cabin Boy (1994)
• Deborah Moore (Roger Moore’s daughter) in Die Another Day (2002)
• Don Shula in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
• Donald Sutherland in The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
• Elvis Costello and Mos Def in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
• Elvis Costello in Spice World (1997), Costello also made cool cameo appearances in Americathon (1979), Straight to Hell (1987), 200 Cigarettes (1999), and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).
• Erin Brockavich in Erin Brockavich (2000)
• Ethel Merman in Airplane! (1980)



• Frank Sinatra in Cannonball Run II (1984) “Sinatra did his entire scene by sitting down at a desk and reading his lines into the camera, and then, on another day, Reynolds and the others looked into the camera and pretended to be looking at him. The over-the-shoulder shots are of a double. This is the movie equivalent to phoning it in.” – Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun Times Jan. 1, 1984)
• Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
• Ian Brown in Harry Potter (2001)
• Jack Nicholson in Broadcast News (1987)
• James Caan (and Liza Minelli, Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds) in Silent Movie (1976)
• Jerry Springer in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
• Jim Boeheim in He Got Game (1998)
• Jim Garrison in JFK (1991)
• John Cusack in Stand by Me (1986)
• John Madden in Little Giants (1994)
• Julie Christie in Nashville (1975)
• Kurt Vonnegut in Back to School (1986)
• Lance Armstrong in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (1994)
• Larry Bird in Blue Chips (1994)
• Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1994)
• Lou Ferrigno in The Incredible Hulk (2008)
• Lou Piniella in Little Big League
• Madonna in Die Another Day (2002)
• Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall (1977)
• Martin Scorsese in The Muse (1999)
• Martin Sheen in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1992)
• Meryl Streep in Stuck On You (2003)
• Mike Ditka in Kicking and Screaming (2005)
• Minnie Driver in GoldenEye (1995)
• Neil Patrick Harris in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), Harris’ role is hilarious because all he wants is to go find some chicks and get laid, delivering the line, “the Doogie line always works on strippers!”
• Nelson Mandela in Malcolm X (1992)
• Orson Welles in The Muppet Movie (1979) The Muppet Movie and all subsequent Muppet movies have been crammed with cameos (Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Mel Brooks, John Cleese, Elliot Gould, Cloris Leachman, etc.) but Welles’s appearance is a classic.
• Ozzy Osbourne in Trick or Treat (1986)
• Pamela Anderson in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
• Quentin Tarantino in Little Nicky (2000)
• Randy Pausch in Star Trek (2009), see Randy’s last lecture at Carnegie Mellon
• Reggie Jackson in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
• Richard Branson in Casino Royale (2006)
• Robert Patrick in Wayne’s World (1992)
• Rodney Dangerfield in Natural Born Killers (1994) As Mallory’s (Juliette Lewis) abusive incestuous and just plain gruesome father Dangerfield steals the movie while repulsing us while an innocuous laugh track punctuates every line.
• Roger Moore in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)
• Sammy Davis Jr. in Diamonds Are Forever (deleted scene – DVD) (1971)
• Samuel L. Jackson in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
• Shirley MacLaine in Defending Your Life (1991)
• Snoop Dogg in Half Baked (1998)
• Spike Milligan in Life of Brian (1979)
• The Three Stooges in It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) The slapstick trio only appear for five seconds as firemen at an airport. In a movie that may as way be called cameo city they just stand there in the middle of the chaos saying and doing nothing.
• Yul Brynner in The Magic Christian (1969)

Movies made up of cameos:

• 24 Hour Party People (2002)
• Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
• Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)
• It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
• Nashville (1975)
• Prêt-à-Porter (1994)
• The Muppet Movie (1979)
• The Muse (1999)
• The Player (1992)
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
• What Just Happened (2008)
• Zoolander (2001)

Popularity: 26%