Oh, wait. You said "major".

 
Some early TV shows have also been mentioned, so I'll chime in with one I recall, William Shatner in the Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. Certainly not his earliest performance, either. His filmography mentions an early role (1954) as Ranger Bob on the Canadian Howdy Doody Show.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
Some early TV shows have also been mentioned, so I'll chime in with one I recall, William Shatner in the Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. Certainly not his earliest performance, either. His filmography mentions an early role (1954) as Ranger Bob on the Canadian Howdy Doody Show.

Last week a saw Shatner in Twilight Zone - they were using a prediction machine mounted on the table in a diner to predict the future...

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
Some early TV shows have also been mentioned, so I'll chime in with one I recall, William Shatner in the Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. Certainly not his earliest performance, either. His filmography mentions an early role (1954) as Ranger Bob on the Canadian Howdy Doody Show.

The Twilight Zone reads as a Who's Who of early/pre-stardom. Just this morning I watched an episode, "He's Alive" starring Dennis Hopper.

The Godfather was the first big role for Al Pacino, Diane Keaton and Talia Shire. Godfather 2 really launched the career of Robert Deniro.

Sands of Iwo Jima - Martin Milner.
Later one of the leads in Adam 12.

Major League (1989)

Rene Russo's fist role.
One of Wesley Snipes' early roles.
Also Dennis Haysbert's third film role.

Bonnie and Clyde. Gene Wilder had a small part. Funny, classic Gene Wilder, right from the start of his career.

quote:

Originally posted by ss9961:
Bonnie and Clyde. Gene Wilder had a small part. Funny, classic Gene Wilder, right from the start of his career.

IIRC, Gene Hackman also had a small role.

Liam Neeson was in The Bounty with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins

it was one of his first films IIRC

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Excalibur

Jhe888 beat me to the James Earl Jones/Dr. Strangelove reference.

Humphrey Bogart in High Sierra, also staring Ida Lupino and Bogie's dog 'Zero'. This was the film that got his career moving. (Lupino got top billing.)

It's an excellent movie; see it if you get a chance.

"What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" featured Leonardo DiCaprio in his first major role. A very young Johnny Depp had the lead. DiCaprio played a severely autistic teenager-- played the role brilliantly.

(I just double checked DuckDuckGo, and "This Boy's Life" in 1993 was first, with "Gilbert Grape" following in 1994. In "This Boy's Life," DiCaprio played opposite DiNero. "This Boy's Life" is an excellent book, but a weak movie. "Gilbert Grape" is a powerful movie.

Anyway, let the record be corrected.)

Johnny Depp was in the original Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Kevin Costner was the corpse in The Big Chill. He had speaking lines in the script, some of which were filmed, but they were all cut.

Jeff Bridges in Fat City and The Last Picture Show. Both good films.

Susan Sarandon and Brian Bostwick in Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I'm more of a Fast times at Ridgemont High/Dazed and Confused crowd, but didn't American Graffiti launch a few careers?

Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It (he did at least one before this but wasn't huge yet)

Also - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has a handful of actors before they were big.

The Lost Boys. One of the first times I remember seeing Kiefer Sutherland on the big screen.

Michael

Val Kilmer in Top Secret.

Empire Records - Liv Tyler and Rene Zellweger

Stand By Me - Keifer Sutherland, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and River Phoenix