You read it right: 15. The list of guest-starring actors was just so long, I just couldn't cut it down to just 10 like the musicians in Part One, the actresses in Part Two, or "Others" in Part Three. In fact, even expanding to 15 left out people like Ving Rhames, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ron Perlman, Alfred Molina, and Nathan Lane--plus a bunch more you'll find listed at the bottom of the post. So who made the cut? May I have the envelope please ...15. Dr. Haing S. Ngor
True, he doesn't have nearly the list of credits of the others on this list (or even the "runner-ups"). But I give him extra-credit for two reasons: 1. He did win an Academy Award for his work in "The Killing Fields." 2. Dude survived the real "Killing Fields" in Cambodia. After that, I doubt the brevity of his IMDb listing caused him many sleepless nights. On Vice, he portrayed "Inspector Nguyn Van Trahn" on Season 3's "Duty and Honor" aka (for some reason) "The Savage."
14. Michael Madsen
Of course, if you put much stock in the length of someone's IMDb listing, Mike Madsen's your man, with 161 entries (and counting). His most notable role is likely as the sadistic "Mr. Blonde" in "Reservoir Dogs." Or you may remember him from an appearance on "Jake and the Fatman," though that's less likely. Anyway, as "Sally Alvarado" in Season 1's "Give A Little, Take A Little," Madsen played a drug dealer. And who can forget this episode's other big guest star, Burt Young. Pauliiiie!
13. Stanley Tucci
The producers of Vice loved Stanley so much, they had him guest start three times as two different characters. First as "Steve Demarco" in Season 3's "Baby Blues," and then twice as mobster "Frank Mosca" in the "Contempt of Court" and "Blood & Roses" episodes from Season 4. In another bit of late-eighties TV history, shortly after his last Vice appearance, Mr. Tucci appeared in "thirtysomething" as Michael and Elliot's nemesis "Karl Draconis." With a name like that, what else could he have been?
12. Chris Cooper
Joining Dr. Ngor on the list of Miami Vice guest star actors with Oscar statues on their mantels (with another to come further down the list), Chris Cooper is one of those hard-working character actors who you'd see on the street and think "He looks familar ..." but not be able to name. In the big "Mirror Image" finale from Season 4, Cooper played dirty cop "Jimmy Yagovitch." The episode also featured another Oscar-winner you may have heard of: Julia Roberts.
In case you can't put a face to Mr. Cooper, here's some video ...
11. John Leguizamo
Like Stanley Tucci, John Leguizamo played two different characters on Vice. Though between Season 2's finale, "Sons and Lovers" and Season 3's "Afternoon Plane," his first character's name changed from "Ivan Calderone" to "Orlando Calderone." So it's almost like 2.5 characters. At any rate, Mr. Leguizamo was back in the final season's "Victim of Circumstance" in a definitely non-Calderone role as "Angelo Alvarez," though he took a demotion from drug kingpin to mere drug dealer.
10. John Turturro
A favorite of both Spike Lee and the Coen Brothers, John Turturro has portrayed a number of oddball characters during his long career. In Season 1's "Rites of Passage," Turturro was more slimy than strange as John Traynor, a pimp for high-end call girls. One of those gals happens to be the younger sister of Tubbs' old flame, played by Pam Grier. Hilarity most definitely did not ensue.
9. Steve Buscemi
Another actor who's found success playing characters who are a little "out there," Mr. Buscemi appeared on Vice as "Rickles" in Season 3's "El Viejo," which is, of course, Spanish for "The Viejo." You may remember from our earlier look at top musician guest stars that "The Viejo" also featured an appearance by country legend and wacky-tobaccy enthusiast Willie Nelson.
8. Wesley Snipes
Currently awaiting sentencing for charges relating to income tax evasion, some of Wesley Snipes' earliest earnings were as drug dealer/pimp "Silk" (aw, poor guy had to work two jobs) in Season 3's "Streetwise." One of Silk's stable is in love with a character played by ...
7. Bill Paxton
"Vic Romano," played by Mr. Paxton in "Streetwise," is an undercover cop with questionable taste in women. Specifically, Carla, a 17-year old hooker. "Streewise" came out the same year (1986) as "Aliens," the movie featuring my favorite Bill Paxton character, the rather high-strung "Private Hudson." "Game over man!"
6. Ben Stiller
Yes, a young Ben made an appearance on Vice as the slimy con man "Fast Eddie Felcher" in Season 4's "Amen ... Send Money." Brian Dennehy was also on board as the excellently named televangelist "Billy Bob Proverb." And because I can't find any video or anything else profound to say about this episode, I'll throw out the fact that its German title was "Das goldene Kalb," "The Golden Calf."
5. Laurence Fishburne
"Larry" Fishburne (so reads his credit) played Keller, a crooked prison guard in Season 3's "Walk Alone." That same year (1986), Laurence/Larry also appeared in the Michael Mann Executive-Produced "Band of the Hand," which was also set in Miami. Mr. Mann probably figured he could save on airfare by flying Laurence in for both gigs. '86 was also the year Fishburne began another, very different role: "Cowboy Curtis" on Pee-wee's Playhouse.
4. Viggo Mortensen
A young Viggo made an appearance in Season 3's "Red Tape" as vice squad member "Eddie Trumball" alongside a partner (in the cop sense, not the other way it's often used in South Beach) played by Lou Diamond Phillips. Sadly, we didn't get to see Eddie after the credits because, well, you'll see ...
3. Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson and his Gaelic charm showed up in Miami as "Sean Carroon" in "When Irish Eyes Are Crying," which kicked off the supposedly "darker" Season 3. Instead of one of the usual rogues' gallery of drug dealers and pimps that populated the show, Mr. Neeson plays an IRA terrorist. Gina falls for him, though when she learns about the whole terrorist thing, it puts a little strain on their relationship, as you'll see here:
Bonus video! This episode also featured a notable scene that sort of set the tone for the changes that were on deck for the new season (beyond Tubbs wearing glasses for some reason).
2. Benicio Del Toro
After three former Oscar nominees in a row, we come to a guy who actually took home the hardware. Del Toro plays "Pito" in Season 3's "Everybody's in Showbiz" episode. This was actually his first screen credit (at least according to IMDb), and no doubt helped him land the role of "Duke the Dog-Faced Boy" in "Big Top Pee-wee" the next year.
Catch him looking a little worse-for-wear at the beginning of this clip. Plus you get to hear Sonny dubbed into Japanese. Hai!
1. Bruce Willis
No, he hasn't won an Oscar yet--though his rumored role as Hannibal Smith in the A-Team movie may change that. But Bruce has been a huge star for a lot of years. And a few years before his career really took off on "Moonlighting," Bruce appeared in "No Exit" from Season 1 as "Tony Amato," a very bad arms dealer and even worse husband.
You can see evidence of both sides of his villainy in this fan-created "trailer" from that episode.
Other Guest-Starring Actors: David Strathairn, Dean Stockwell, Brad Dourif (three more Academy Award nominees), Ian McShane, Paul Gleason, Jimmy Smits, Ed O’Neill, Terry O’Quinn, Charles Dutton, Luis Guzman, John Heard, Gary Cole, Richard Belzer, Jeff Fahey, John Spencer, Miguel Ferrer, Oliver Platt
And I guess that's it for guest stars. Don't forget to check out Part 1: Top 10 Musicians, Part 2: Top 10 Actresses, and Part 3: Top 10 "Others."
Maybe I'll write something about all the great music on Miami Vice. Hmmm ...
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