Six Degrees of Samuel Jackson?

[Flick James]

Do you remember the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" pop culture game where you would name any actor and trace him/her to Kevin Bacon in six movies or less, because he's been in so many A-list movies over his career? Well, why not Samuel Jackson? That guy's got a filmography several miles long.

So, I'll start by naming an actor. You respond and trace that actor to Samuel Jackson in six films or less. I'll give an example:

Ron Howard
Ron Howard to Richard Dreyfus in American Graffiti
Richard Dreyfus to Madeline Stowe in Stakeout
Madeline Stowe to John Travolta in The General's Daughter
John Travolta to Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction

There you go. So here's the first actor:

Walter Matthau

[WingedSerpent]

Walter Matthau to Darly Hannah in Grumpy Old Men
Daryl Hannah to Samuel L. Jackson in Kill Bill 2
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378194/

Two films:

Next Actor:
Topher Grace.

[Flick James]

Topher Grace to George Clooney in Ocean's Eleven
George Clooney to Quentin Tarantino in From Dusk 'Till Dawn
Quentin Tarantino to Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction

Next actor:
Humphrey Bogart (It can be done. I did it in six films)

[Jim H]

Humphrey Bogart with James Cagney in The Roaring Twenties
James Cagney With Samuel Jackson in Ragtime (1981).

Less than six.   

Something a little harder, I think.  I managed it though.

Charlie Chaplin

[Mr. DS]

Chaplin was in A Countess From Hong Kong with Marlon Brando
Brando with Al Pacino in The Godfather
Pacino with Johnny Depp in Donnie Brasco
Depp with Ian McDiarmid in Sleepy Hallow
McDiarmid with Jackson in The Phantom Menace
(I had to bang my head for that one)

Bela Lugosi

[dean]

Bela Lugosi was in Frankenstien Meets the Wolfman with Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney was in Spider Baby with Sid Haig
Sid Haig was in Jackie Brown with Sammy L 'mother truckin' Jackson!


Try out:

Timothy Dalton

[Flick James]

Two films
Timothy Dalton to Paul Sorvino in The Rocketeer
Paul Sorvino to Sammy L in Goodfellas

Recent actors are just too damn easy. Let's try something nice and obscure.

Basil Rathbone.

[Jim H]

BTW, if I remember right, Sam Jackson is actually about as good as Kevin Bacon to do this with, as both have been in tons of movies with a huge variety of actors over a long period of time.  

Samuel L. Jackson with Craig T. Nelson in The Incredibles
Craig T. Nelson in The Return of Count Yorga with Robert Quarry
Robert Quarry in Shadow of a Doubt with Hume Cronyn
Hume Cronyn in Phantom of the Opera (1943) with Claude Rains
Claude Rains in The Adventures of Robin Hood with Basil Rathbone

Let's try a real obscure actor.

Steve Hawkes, the star of Blood Freak (1972).  

[sideorderofninjas]

Steve Hawkes to Chuck Hall in Blood Freak
Chuck Hall to Richard Roundtree in Killpoint
Richard Roundtree to Samuel Jackson in Shaft

Steve Reeves

[Jim H]

Steve Reeves in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Elliot Reid
Elliot Reid in Young Einstein with Michael Lake
Michael Lake in Dark City with Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland in A Time To Kill With Samuel Jackson

How about someone from a very different market, but still modern.  This is not too hard though, because Sam Jackson has a connection to it in one of his movies.

Lau Ching Wan.

[Mr. DS]

Lau Ching Wan in My Name Is Fame with Siyan Huo
Siyan Huo in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen with Qi Shu
Qi Shu in New York I Love You with Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci with Black Snake Moan with SLJ

Ian McShane

[Flick James]

Easy.

Ian McShane to Matthew McConaughey in We Are Marshall
Matthew McConaughey to Sammy L in A Time To Kill

Jan-Michael Vincent (And no you can't use any of his TV or made-for-tv roles).

[Jim H]

Jan-Michael Vincent in Damnation Alley (loved working this one in) with Jackie Earle Haley
Jackie Earle Haley in Shutter Island with Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can with Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken in True Romance with Sam Jackson

Along the same lines...

Michael Dudikoff

[Flick James]

Definately along same lines, because my trace results in the same end film.

Michael Dudikoff to Tom Hanks in Bachelor Party
Tom Hanks to Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can
Christopher Walken to SLJ in True Romance

I forgot about Sammy in True Romance. That was a funny and violent scene.

[Flick James]

Oops, I forgot to provide the next actor.

Ummmmm......Bruce Li

No, not Bruce Lee, but he actor that portrayed him in Bruce Lee, The Man, The Myth.