Celebrities Who Started on Soap Operas, 9-13
Tommy Lee Jones and James Earl Jones star in this segment of the list.9. Ray Liotta
The tough guy who later played a succession of gangsters, Liotta launched his career as lovable hero Joey Perrini on Another World from 1978 to 1981. A few years after Liotta's love-struck character left the soap, Robert De Niro suggested him for Martin Scorsese's disturbing film GoodFellas as mobster kingpin Henry Hill.
10. Kelsey Grammer
After a childhood marred with tragedy, Shakespeare-loving Allen Kelsey Grammer found himself at the esteemed Julliard School. After playing JFK's brother-in-law Stephen Smith on a 1983 TV miniseries, Grammer landed a spot on Another World as ER physician Dr. Canard from 1984 to 1985. The same year he was tapped to play a different kind of doctor -- psychiatrist Frasier Crane on Cheers. His finicky character was so successful that he went on to star in the multi-Emmy Award-winning sitcom Frasier.
11. Marisa Tomei
After attending Boston University for a year, perky actor Marisa Tomei landed a role on As the World Turns. From 1983 to 1985, she played airhead Marcy Thompson. Her character accused a man of sexual harassment, then went on to marry a prince, Lord Stewart Cushing. He swept Marcy away to England where they lived happily ever after as Lord and Lady Cushing.
12. Tommy Lee Jones
From 1971 to 1975, this future Oscar winner played a bad seed on One Life to Live. As Dr. Mark Toland, Jones portrayed a moody man married to a frigid wife. The combination played out as a recipe for disaster, until finally, he was murdered by a woman while he was running from the law.
13. James Earl Jones
Before he was Darth Vader in Star Wars, even before he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Great White Hope, James Earl Jones played doctor. Soap opera doctor, that is! First he was Dr. Jerry Turner on As the World Turns and then Dr. Jim Frazier on The Guiding Light, both in 1966. Many fans recognize his deep voice from his famous line in Star Wars, when he said to Luke Skywalker, "I am your father." But in 1966, he was probably warming up that voice with lines like "Where's my stethoscope?"
Find the last group of celebrities who started on soap operas on the next page.
