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After watching Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler last night, I started thinking about actors who's career was in the toliet until one role brought them back.  Rourke in The Wrestler is a good example although I'd argue his performance as Marv in Sin City started the ball rolling.  Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man is another prime example. 

However, then there are the actors who's career is killed by a role.  The one that always comes to mind for me is Michael Beck in Xanadu.  He struck gold with his role as Swan in The Warriors but Xanadu killed his career. 

Anthony Perkins career was killed by Psycho

Elizabeth Berkley is ShowGirls.
An American hero, she sacraficed her career for the greater good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_HCqfmkEh4&feature=PlayList&p=44FE8A34B6FB6FF1&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=6

* John Travolta - saved by PULP FICTION

* Marlon Brando - saved by THE GODFATHER

* Frank Sinatra - saved by FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

And killed again by Battlefield Earth :teddyr:

Then resurrected in Hairspray

One of the single most tragic:

Faye Dunnaway . . . "Mommie Dearest" . . .

Watch Dunnaway in "Bonnie and Clyde" or "The Affair" or "Chinatown" or numerous other roles, and then reflect that this very wonderful and watchable actress had her career done in completely by the public reception to her performance as Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest".  Prior to that, her films were all A-list, big budget, and she was an up-and-comer.  Afterwards, even though she never stopped working & has a new film due out in 2009, she was never offered a major role in a big-budget film again.  Even her brilliant turn in the Bukowski bio-pic "Barfly" failed to revive major interest in her.  Gotta give her props for not giving up!

peter johnson/denny crane

It's a shame....I actually enjoyed MOMMIE DEAREST quite a bit.

SON of FRANKENSTEIN saved Lugosi. Betwwen 1936 and 1939,the British Board of Censors put a ban on horror films,and Hollywood relied on British releasing for much income. Yet when DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN played a re-release double bill in 1939-it did BIG box office and Universal decided to make a third Frankenstein film. Director Rowland V. Lee liked Bela,and expanded the part of Ygor to keep Lugosi working throughout the filming. It got Bela back to work,after a dry unemployed period in his carrear.

Bit of an obscure one here.

For those who have seen Kung Fu Hustle..  The lead villain, called simply beast in the film, is played by Bruce Leong.  He was one of the numerous Bruce Clones who popped up to fill in the void left by Bruce Lee's death in the 70s.  Well, he wasn't one of the more popular ones, and his career never really went too far.  His last film before Kung Fu Hustle was in 1988 - leaving a 16 year hole in his filmography between the two.  Since Kung Fu Hustle, he's landed three more roles. 

I dunno if his career will continue to stay afloat as an actor (though I think he deserves it - at 60, he's still in good shape and was quite entertaining in Kung Fu Hustle), but he certainly got a quite nice second shot at it thanks to Stephen Chow.

Well, it's a phenomenon a little well placed nudity can't achieve.

Heather Graham was a cute girl hovering around the edges of indie cinema for a decade or so with no fanfare. Then came her clothes-doffing role as Roller Girl in "Boogie Nights" and she has been a sex symbol ever since.

This is also true of Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct."

Of course, neither of these two women are known for their acting ability.

Sharon Stone was really good in Casino, the role that landed her an Oscar-nomination. 

Maybe that's a credit to Scorsese's directorial abilities more than anything?   :teddyr:

Judge Dredd killed Sly's career


Rocky Balboa saved Stallones's Career

I liked Mommie Dearest as well and found it to be a shame it did that to her career. 

Prior to that, Cliffhanger saved his career after a hat-trick of flops: Rocky V, Oscar and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

Stallone is a prime example of this thread but he may hold the record for resiliency in Hollywood. For example, he does a film like Rambo then stars in Rhinestone. 

It's a competition between Stallone and John Travolta.  Both have risen and fallen a bunch of times.

Superman killed Christopher Reeve

Emilio Estevez and those damn Mighty Ducks films.....where the hell is he these days?  :question:

He directed Bobby.

It's supposed to be quite good.

What the hell happened to Judd Nelson !! :teddyr:

Oh yeah!!

Miami Vice saved Don Johnson, but "Born Yesterday" really hurt him.

Nash Bridges did well for him

The Crow killed Brandon Lee... :bluesad:

Erm...
Not quite the same, mate.

True but perhaps another interesting topic...
Curses in film... Superman curse... Lee family curse...

Bobcat Goldthwait was riding high on his Police Academy career, then wrote, directed and starred in Shakes the Clown. It cost about $1.4 million to make, did about $115,000 worth of business at the box office (a third of that on opening weekend), and Goldthwait has been pretty much relegated to cartoon voice acting and directing television shows ever since.

Dennis Hopper hit it big with Easy Rider, then The Last Movie killed his career. Apocalypse Now saved his career until his own drug-and-alcohol-fueled insanity killed his career. Blue Velvet saved his career and although I'm not sure Waterworld was a career killer, I can't say I've seen him in anything since.

Land of the Dead
Super Mario Bros...Eeekk! :bluesad:

I don't know about that, I kinda think it's the other way around. :bouncegiggle:

Last I've heard from Dennis Hopper, he narrated Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head on the Demon Days album of Gorillaz.

While not nesscary movies, I think Night Trap was a big disaster to Dana Plato's career and I think Warren Burton has been unable to get out of that whole Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh incident.

I think Interview with A Vampire might have saved Brad Pitt's career, especially after that whole Cool World movie.

The Poltergiest curse. . .

The Little Rascals curse....
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9Z_zU0lvV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64weR5AKoRw

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I was just watching The Crow the other day.  Lee has so much presence in that movie and it really saddens me it was his last. Just like his father, looking at him in that film made me think of what awesome things they could have done if their lives didn't tragically end. 

I saw Travolta come up as one of the kings of this topic and I totally agree.  Pulp Fiction started big things for him in the 90s after his string of awful movies like Look Who's Talking.