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| Dirk Benedict as Faceman on The A-Team in the 1980s |
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He became a global name and "face" as a result of the role and is still well-known known for it today.
Dirk Benedict played Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Peck on The A-Team for the show's four seasons of hit-TV in the 1980s. Between then and now he's had roles in various movies, played the lead in stage shows, made lots of moolah from A-Team re-runs obviously and even suffered a stint on Big Brother.
In 2007 he appeared as a celebrity contestant on the UK Big Brother, testimony to the fact that his role as Face has given him three decades' worth of acclaim.
Contrast this to the story of Tim Dunigan, who is now a mortgage broker and has been since 2002.
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| Timothy Dunigan as Faceman on The A-Team in the 1980s |
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The reason: he's the forgotten face of The A-Team.
A little known fact is that Tim was supposed to be Face. He was cast in the series, played him in the pilot episode - and then got ditched. The official reason given by the show for the replacement is that he looked too young to play a Vietnam Vet.
BA (Mr T) with Tim's Face in a scene from the pilot.
It's such a sucko thing isn't it? One role. One change. And suddenly your life turns out
completely differently from what it would have been.
Tim went on to play the lead in a short-lived sci-fi series called Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future in the late 1980s. Then he played guests roles on a couple of series including Cheers, Beverley Hills 90210 and finally JAG, which is when he hung up his acting boots and became a broker.
It's similar to being Frank Stallone or Eric Roberts (brothers to Sylvester and Julia) except even worse because at least they've both gotten some D-grade acting gigs - plus their siblings are super rich so they can sponge.
The Tim'phenomenon happens to actors so often yet we seldom hear about it because of how the actors disappear so completely afterwards.
Another dramatic instance of it is in Desperate Housewives. An actor by the name of Kyle Searles was cast as Gaby Solis' toyboy John Rowland. He didn't make it to screen though.
He played John in the original pilot - which was never aired - and was replaced by Jesse Metcalfe for a second pilot that debuted the series.
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| Kyle Searles |
Jesse Metcalfe |
His long-term fate wasn't as dramatic as Tim's though. He's still acting. Sort of. His last role was a guest appearance on NCIS in 2009.
Someone who managed to make it through more successfully is Eric Stoltz. He was originally cast to play Marty in the Back To The Future movies but lost the role to Michael J. Fox. According to the movie creators he was too intense for the character.
He's kept his career going and hit the jackpot when Quentin Tarantino reinvented him in Pulp Fiction.
Perhaps Tarantino will discover Tim and cast him? I'm thinking the ideal role for him would be: a forgotten '80s actor who needs to run from the law. But isn't
actually guilty. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong face.
PS:
The A-Team premieres on SABC3 today at 12h00, for a full series run.