Round Nine

I was re-watching some Marvel Studios movies this week and was enjoying seeing Stan Lee making his cameos in every movie.  I thought back to Alfred Hitchcock who started the whole conspicuous cameo thing and decided on the two names for this round of The Hollywood Connection.

Round Nine:

Alfred Hitchcock

Stan Lee

Step One:

Alfred Hitchcock is in...

North by Northwest with...

Martin Landau.

Step Two:

Martin Landau is in...

Rounders with...

Edward Norton.

Step Three:

Edward Norton is in...

(my least favorite version of) The Incredible Hulk with...

Stan Lee.

Amazingly, we went from Alfred Hitchcock to Stan Lee in only three steps.  I had considered using M. Night Shyamalan instead of Alfred Hitchcock because he is also big on the whole conspicuous cameo thing.  Then I remembered that M. Night Shyamalan is in Unbreakable with Samuel L. Jackson who is in The Avengers with Stan Lee.  That would have connected them in just one step.  That's no fun.

Round Eight

Well, we lost another luminary today.  Abe Vigoda from Barney Miller and Godfather fame passed away at age 94.  This round of The Hollywood Connection will connect Abe Vigoda AKA Detective Phil Fish with his Barney Miller co-star Hal Linden AKA Captain Barney Miller.

Round Eight:

Abe Vigoda

Hal Linden

Step One:

Abe Vigoda was in...

Joe Versus the Volcano with...

Meg Ryan.

Step Two:

Meg Ryan was in...

I.Q. with...

Walter Matthau.

Step Three:

Walter Matthau was in...

Out to Sea with...

Hal Linden.

Three steps.  Today's round of The Hollywood Connection was a short but sweet tribute to the incomparable Abe Vigoda.

Round Seven

January 26 was another great day for Hollywood birthdays.  There were so many great names from which to choose, that I had a hard time deciding which two to use for this round of The Hollywood Connection.  I might have to do another round today.

Round Seven:

Bob Uecker

Ellen Degeneres

Step One:

Bob Uecker is in...

Major League with...

Tom Berenger.

Step Two:

Tom Berenger is in...

Inception with...

Leonardo DiCaprio.

Step Three:

Leonardo DiCaprio is in...

The Aviator with...

Alec Baldwin.

Step Four:

Alec Baldwin is in...

My Sister's Keeper with...

Joan Cusack.

Step Five:

Joan Cusack is in...

Mr. Wrong with...

Ellen Degeneres.

Whew!  Five steps to connect Ellen Degeneres and Bob Uecker.  I won't lie.  This was a tricky round of The Hollywood Connection.  It was fun, however to cast my mind back to 1989 when I first saw Major League.  Good times.

Round Six

For round six of The Hollywood Connection I chose two actors at random from a list of actors and actresses who were all born on January 25.

Round Six:

Bill Hickman

Allison Mackie

Step One:

Bill Hickman is in...

The French Connection with...

Gene Hackman.

Step Two:

Gene Hackman is in...

Unforgiven with...

Morgan Freeman.

Step Three:

Morgan Freeman is in...

Wanted with...

Angelina Jolie.

Step Four:

Angelina Jolie is in...

Original Sin with...

Allison Mackie.

There you go.  Four steps to link these two actors who both celebrate their birthdays on January 25.