Premiering on September 29th 1985 and winning five Emmy Awards across its two seasons, Steven Spielberg's anthology television series Amazing Stories offered 45 fantastical tales and, even though it wasn't a ratings hit at the time, is fondly remembered by many.
Steven Spielberg provided the story for many of the episodes (in the first season especially), and he was joined on writing duties by the likes of Brad Bird (Incredibles), Richard Matheson (I Am Legend), Michael McDowell (Beetlejuice), Rockne S. O'Bannon (Farscape) and Bob Gale (Back To The Future) to name just some of the talent involved with the series. Behind the camera were many famous directors including; Peter Hyams (Capricorn One), Clint Eastwood (American Sniper), Joe Dante (Gremlins), Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver), Irvin Kirshner (The Empire Strikes Back) and even Spielberg himself for the opening installment.
There were also many famous actors who guest starred in the individual anthology episodes, and we've rounded up 20 of them. Actors you very probably know but might not realise you saw them on Amazing Stories...
1. Kevin Costner
Guest starring in the season one episode The Mission, a story written and directed by Steven Spielberg, fresh from his recent success in Silverado Kevin Costner played a WWII Captain. He was joined on screen by...
2. Kiefer Sutherland
Lost Boys, Young Guns and 24 star Kiefer Sutherland was part of the same troop featured in The Mission, which was the story of a belly turret gunner and aspiring cartoonist who is trapped in the compartment of a WWII bomber. With the landing gear damaged, he must rely on his imagination to get out of this predicament.
3. Gregory Hines
You may well have seen him in White Nights or Running Scared, to name just two of his many cinematic appearances, Gregory Hines is an actor, singer, choreographer and dancer (in fact he's one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time). In the Peter Hyams directed The Amazing Falsworth Hines played a magician with psychic powers who sees visions of two murders when he detects a serial killer somewhere in the audience.
4. Sid Caeser
Actor and comedian Sid Caeser had a long and pioneering career, from hosting the 1950s live television series Your Show Of Show (regularly watched by 60 million people) to playing Coach Calhoun in Grease, and in 1985 he portrayed Mr. Magic, the titular character in the eighth Amazing Stories episode, who had a very special deck of cards.
5 & 6. Dirk Benedict & Gary Coleman
It's The A-Team and Diff'rent Stokes crossover you never knew you wanted and it all took place in the Amazing Stories episode Remote Control Man. The remote control of the title magically made characters that appeared on the screen come to life, hence both Templeton "Faceman" Peck and Arnold Jackson found themselves eating brunch together.
7. Harvey Keitel
Clint Eastwood directed the twelfth installment of Amazing Stories. Titled Vanessa In The Garden it starred Taxi Driver and Reservoir Dogs star Harvey Keitel as an artist who finds a way for his deceased wife to live on in his work after she dies in a carriage accident.
8. Seth Green
In an episode titled The Sitter, a very young Robot Chicken, Austin Powers and Buffy The Vampire star Seth Green played one of two overactive boys who find themselves at the mercy of their voodoo practicing babysitter.
9. Charlie Sheen
One of the Two And A Half Men, Charlie Sheen guest starred in the Steven Spielberg penned World War II set episode No Day At The Beach.
10. James Cromwell
That'll do pig! Babe and Star Trek: First Contact's James Cromwell (above left) had a small role as Francis in the episode One For The Road which was set during the Great Depression and based on a true story.
11. Mark Hamill
Yes, even Luke Skywalker had a role in an Amazing Stories episode. He played the older version of a boy who had been encouraged by an ancient tree troll to pack up his comic book collection and follow his dreams in the episode titled Gather Ye Acorns. Hamill was joined in that installment by...
12. Forest Whittaker
He's been in films as diverse as Platoon and Black Panther, but back in 1986 a fresh faced Forest Whittaker had a small role in Gather Ye Acorns as the character Jerry.
13. Robert Picardo
Up there with the camera is the later-to-be holographic Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager aka Robert Picardo. He guest starred in the Joe Dante directed episode Boo! which saw a porn star and their husband (Picardo) move into a house haunted by its previous owners.
14. Tim Robbins
Martin Scorsese directed the 19th Amazing Stories installment titled Mirror, Mirror which saw a horror novelist haunted by an image in his mirror. The image was played by an almost unrecognisable Tim Robbins - he of Shawshank Redemption. Jacob's Ladder and Dead Man Walking fame.
15. James Avery
The Irvin Kirshner directed Hell Toupée certainly wins the award for best pun title from any of the 45 Amazing Stories. It told the story of a bald man who gets a hairpiece that drives him to murder a lawyer, and featured a small role for the later to be Fresh Prince Of Bel Air patriarch James Avery.
16. John Lithgow
In the Richard Matheson penned installment The Doll, 3rd Rock From The Sun star and recent Winston Churchill in The Crown, John Lithgow played a lonely man who buys a special handmade doll for his niece. When the girl is less than thrilled by it, the doll leads him to an equally lonely teacher.
17. Andrew McCarthy
St Elmo's Fire, Pretty In Pink and Less Than Zero star Andrew McCarthy appeared in the final episode of season one of Amazing Stories playing a young man who encounters his Grandpa's Ghost.
18 & 19. Danny DeVito & Rhea Perlman
Real life husband and wife duo Danny Devito & Rhea Perlman would appear together on-screen in the 1996 cinematic adaptation of Matilda. A decade before that they starred in (DeVito directed) the opening episode of season two of Amazing Stories, in an installment titled The Wedding Ring, a wax-museum dresser (DeVito) takes a ring from a statue that turns his wife (Perlman) into a femme fatale.
20. Jon Cryer
We've already had one of the Two And A Half Men, so how about the other one? Jon Cryer guest starred in the episode Miscalculation as a college student who while fooling around in chemistry class spills a chemical element on a picture of a puppy and brings it to life. So naturally he tries doing the same thing to his pornographic magazines, with surprising results!
21. Christina Applegate
The Married With Children and Anchorman actress, a young Christina Applegate had an early role as the younger sister of a film buff who becomes the subject of concern from his family in the episode Welcome To My Nightmare. Angry that the real world is so dull, the man wishes he was in the movies and gets his wish: being on the set of Psycho.
22. Tim Russ
Another Star Trek alum, Voyager's Tim Russ had a small role in the Steven Spielberg penned You Gotta Believe Me, about a man who tries to prevent a plane crash he saw in a dream.
23. Frank Welker
Heard but not seen, as he very often is, Frank Welker (known for voicing Fred Jones in the Scooby-Doo franchise since its inception in 1969, and Scooby-Doo himself since 2002, plus Megatron and Soundwave in the Transformers franchise) provided the voice of titular character The Greibble in the season two Amazing Stories episode about a large floppy furry creature with a taste for inanimate objects and causing havoc.
24. Patrick Swayze
The Dirty Dancing, Roadhouse and Ghost star, Patrick Swayze played an inmate on death row who is struck by lightning and given miraculous healing powers in the Rockne S O'Bannon scripted Life On Death Row.
25. Christopher Lloyd
The November 21st 1986 episode of Amazing Stories, titled Go To The Head Of The Class, was something of a Back To The Future reunion. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, with a teleplay by Bob Gale, Doc Brown himself Christopher Lloyd played a tyrannical English teacher who finds himself under a literal spell by two of his bewitching students.
26 & 27. David Caradine & Kyra Sedgwick
In an episode titled Thanksgiving, a man (David Carradine) and his stepdaughter (Kyra Sedgwick) find treasure in a dry well which is also inhabited by "hole people". Caradine is, of course, best known for the 1970s TV series Kung-Fu. Sedgwick has featured in a wide variety of films and TV shows but for me I can only ever see her now as Madeline Wuntch on the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
28. Jeffrey Jones
In the season two Amazing Stories episode The Eternal Mind, Jeffrey Jones, he of Ferris Beuller's Day Off and Beetlejuice fame, played a dying scientist who becomes the first subject of a test merging man and machine.
29. Adam Ant
British pop star Adam Ant (above right) followed up hits like Prince Charming and Stand And Deliver with a flurry of television guest roles in the mid-80s appearing in shows like The Equalizer and Sledge Hammer! He also had a turn in the Amazing Stories episode Such Interesting Neighbours. Stuart Leslie Gordon, as is his given name, played one of the neighbours that move into a house near the Lewise family who suspect their new interesting neighbours are causing time to repeat.
30. "Weird Al" Yankovich
In the very last episode of Amazing Stories, the 21st of season two and the 45th anthology tale overall, "Weird Al" Yankovich more than lived up to his name when he played an alien who threatens to destroy Earth if the Miss Stardust beauty pageant doesn't allow contestants from other worlds.
And there you have it, 30 famous people who guest-starred in Amazing Stories. Did you spot them all? And can you name any more? Let us know in the comments below.
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