IF YOU HAVE SEEN THIS FILM ...

A cameo is a brief appearance by a well-known movie star or personality in a film, usually irrelevant to the plot. The "cameo" was so named by Mike Tood for "Around the World in 80 days" which featured 42 "cameo" appearances, including those by Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra, Charles Boyer and Peter Lorre.

The cameo is different from a bit part. For example, the wonderful appearance of John McGivers in "Breakfast at Tifanny's" (he's the clerk at the famouns NY store) is not a cameo, but a very effective bit part in a very good movie. He's not there becasue he is John McGivers. Also, the cast of "How the West Was Won" is not composed of cameos, but of famous actors playing small leading roles in different segments. Raymond Massey does have a cameo in that film, as Lincoln.


Fellini had 2 wonderful cameos in "We Love Each Other so Much" and "Alec in WonderLand". Some cameos are not listed in the credits (Jack Benny an Jerry Lewis in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"). Milton Berle had a cameo in The Bellboy. Heddea Hopper another one in The Patsy. There are other interesting ones like Bing Crosby in Let's Make Love, Jeanne Moreau & Jean-Claude Brially in Truffaut's "Les 400 coups". We also have the famous Hitchcok's cameos in most of his film. Truffaut had one in "Adele H", and Coppola another one in Apocalypse Now".

Films full of cameos are "Pepe" (the one by Jack Lemmon is a gem --and there's the entire Rat Pack during the filming of "Ocean's Eleven", complete with Cesar Romero and Richard Conte from the cast of that film) and "The Longest Day". Some famous actors like Richard Burton, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Curt Jurgens and Red Buttons, have feature roles in "The Longest Day". Others are strictly "cameos": Irina Demik, Paul Anka, Robert Wagner, Roddy McDowell, Sal Mineo, Mel Ferrer, Peter Lawford, Gert Frobe, Sean Connery...