When an actor with a popular role in the past has a resurgence doing something else.

Similar toHey, It's That Guy!, only this is when someone was famous before, and not just a character actor.

Named forThe Simpsons' Troy McClure, who used to be a character actor, and then did educational films, infomercials, etc. He would introduce himself with "Hi, I'm Troy McClure! You might remember me from such films asAliens Steal Cable! andThe Adjectival Superhero." (The names of the two films were usually relevant to what he was in at the moment.)

• Brock Peters, best known for falsely convicted man Tom Robinson in the live-action adaptation ofTo Kill a Mockingbird, has had appearances in numerous works as a voice actor, star of live-action television shows, and numerous films in various genres, some of his characters recurring. People today recognize him as Admiral Cartwright in bothStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home andStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,Jake Sisko,Lucius Fox, Jesse Dillard inGunsmoke, andDark Kat.
• Mark Hamill. After spending years known only asLuke Skywalker, he then got a career in voice acting, particularly as the Joker inBatman: The Animated Series. As well as the Hobgoblin fromSpider-Man: The Animated Series and theEvil Dad role inAvatar: The Last Airbender. When he appeared inJay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the film actually stops and puts "Hey kids! It's Mark Hamill! (Applause)" onscreen.
  • WhenMark Hamill appeared onThe Muppet Show, he would only appear if he could appear asMark Hamill AND Luke Skywalker, two different characters.
• Johnny Yong Bosch, a.k.a. Adam Park, formerBlack Ranger andGreen Zeo Ranger... current^[when?] anime voice actor, hisbreakout role beingVash the Stampede fromTrigun. Other roles include achivalrousSoul Reaper, andanother hero that's, uh...notsomuch.
  • Pink Turbo Ranger andPink Space Ranger Cassie Chan, rather Patricia Ja Lee has appeared in a few anime roles as well.
• Olivia, (Raven-Symoné) fromThe Cosby Show as Monique fromKim Possible.
  • On that note, Symoné is also know for playing Nicole inHangin' With Mr. Cooper, which serves as this trope for Holly Robinson Peete (21 Jump Street), Dawnn Lewis (A Different World), Roger E. Mosley (Magnum, P.I.), Nell Carter (Gimme a Break!) and Omar Gooding (Nickelodeon's Wild and Crazy Kids). Later Peete would star in the sitcomFor Your Love and Lewis would voice LaBarbara Conrad inFuturama.
• Chrissy, (Ashley Johnson) fromGrowing Pains as Terra fromTeen Titans.
• Charles Emerson Winchester, (David Ogden Stiers) fromM*A*S*H, Governor Radcliffe and Wiggins inPocahontas, as Jumba onLilo and Stitch, Lane's father inBetter Off Dead, and as Cogsworth inBeauty and the Beast. And Feldman the Magnificent fromThe Magic Show.
• Robbie Rist, the originalCousin Oliver onThe Brady Bunch, now^[when?] provides the voice of Choji Akamichi fromNaruto.
• John Travolta used to be "that guy fromSaturday Night Fever". Then he was "that guy fromPulp Fiction". And then "thatL. Ron Hubbard fanboy who inflictedBattlefield Earth on us". Now^[when?] he may be known as "that guy in a fat suit and drag in the 2007 version ofHairspray".
  • Or as "that guy fromGrease"
    • He first got fame as Barbarino on TV'sWelcome Back, Kotter.
• Becky fromRoseanne as Elliot fromScrubs. No, not that Becky,^[1]the other one.^[2]
• Up until the mid-90s Noel Edmonds was a celebrity Saturday night entertainment show presenter, before which he was a successful DJ. He dropped out of the limelight for several years before reemerging in 2005 as the host of the British version of the game showDeal or No Deal. Similarly, Howie Mandel was a popular prop comic who played Dr. Fiscus onSt. Elsewhere, then voiced the title character onBobby's World. After years of obscurity he resurfaced as host of the US edition ofDeal or No Deal.
• And of course, who can forgetWilliam Shatner? FirstStar Trek: The Original Series, thenT. J. Hooker, and currently^[when?] Denny Crane inBoston Legal.
  • AnotherBoston Legal example:Candice Bergen (a.k.a.Murphy Brown) returns to the small screen after a six-year hiatus.
• Christopher Lee played Dracula in a series of horror movies in his younger days. More recently, he's played villains in summer blockbusters such as theStar Wars prequels andThe Lord of the Rings. And a major character inKingdom Hearts II. Going back a bit further, to the mid-70s, Lee was also Scaramanga inThe Man with the Golden Gun. He also did some spoken lines for the bandRhapsody of Fire. In fact, Sir Christopher holds the Guinness Record for the highest number of film acting roles ever... but 95% of people know him from this handful of roles.
• Elijah Wood was a famous child actor known as the other Macaulay Culkin (they even co-starred inThe Good Son) years before being cast asFrodo.
• Richard Dean Anderson asMacGyver, then a decade later starredStargate SG-1. Extra confusion/amusement in the Spanish dub: Luis Porcar asJack O'Neill andGregory House.
• Scott Bakula as Samuel Beckett on early-ninetiesQuantum Leap, then as Captain Archer on early-to-mid 2000sStar Trek: Enterprise. (In between, he didsome voice acting and acouple ofsports movies.)
• Dean Stockwell, who was achild star in the 40s and 50s before (eventually) co-starring inQuantum Leap as Al, and then appearing in theBattlestar Galactica reboot as Cavil.
• Micky Dolenz became popular in the 1950's as a child actor under the pseudonym Mickey Braddock. He starred in the TV seriesCircus Boy as the lead character, Corky. Then in the mid-1960s Dolenz was launched into superstardom as one of the members ofThe Monkees.
• Murdock (Dwight Schultz) fromThe A-Team in various video game and animation roles, most notably Harman Smith inKiller7.
  • And more notably, as Lt. Reginald Barclay, one of the more prominent recurring characters onStar Trek: The Next Generation andStar Trek: Voyager. Less notably for a one-off role in aBabylon 5 episode.
  • Also Mung Daal fromChowder.
• Of the four kid leads inStand by Me, only Jerry O'Connell didn't have any other major roles as a child actor. Hemade up for itas an adult.
• Wil Wheaton is an odder example, becominga target of nerd scorn onStar Trek: The Next Generation before his comeback in the aughties as a target of nerd admiration.
• In the dub ofDigimon Savers,Steve Blum did not reprise his role as Gallantmon... instead, the Royal Knight's voice actor wasBrad Sherwood!
• Marcia Wallace was, at one point, sufficiently well-known from her role onThe Bob Newhart Show in the '70s to be the subject of aTaxi episode (in which sheguested as herself) later in that decade, as well as an appearance as herBob Newhart character onMurphy Brown. Later on, of course, she became the voice of Mrs. Krabappel onThe Simpsons.
• Jackie Earle Haley was best known as Kelly Leak in the original 1970sBad News Bears, and there's a 13-year gap on hisIMDb page, 1993-2006. Now, he'sRorschach,Freddy Krueger, andGuerrero.
• Walter Koenig (a.k.a. Chekov fromStar Trek) appearing as Psi Cop Alfred Bester onBabylon 5.
• Alyssa Milano, who first became famous playingTony Danza's daughter' onWho's The Boss?, then did a couple of seasons onMelrose Place (and a couple of pages inPlayboy) before logging eight years onCharmed.
• Neil Patrick Harris first became a household name playingDoogie Howser, M.D. and went into theater for a while before resurfacing as aJerkass version of himself in theHarold & Kumar Go to White Castle movies, a regular role as Barney Stinson onHow I Met Your Mother, and the titular character of Joss Whedon's supervillain musicalDr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
• In theThe Sixties andThe Seventies, Jerry Orbach was a famous Broadway star. He was in the inaugural cast ofThe Fantasticks, he was the first Billy Flynn inChicago, and he even got a few movie roles. Fast forward thirty years, and what is he best known for? Lennie Briscoe onLaw and Order. If anyone even knows he could sing, they probably know it because they saw him as Lumiere inBeauty and the Beast.
• Bruce Boxleitner was originally best known forScarecrow and Mrs. King, but is better-remembered now for the role of Captain Sheridan onBabylon 5, or asTron.
• Robert Patrick, a.k.a.the T-1000, as Agent John Doggett in the late seasons ofThe X-Files.
• Amanda Tapping, who played fan favorite character Samantha Carter onStargate SG-1 for over a decade, has had another sci-fi hit withSanctuary.
• Ben Browder is known for two famous sci-fi roles: John Crichton onFarscape, and Cameron Mitchell onStargate SG-1. He acted oppositeClaudia Black (Aeryn Sun and Vala mal Doran, respectively) on both series; naturallyLampshade Hanging ensued on the latter about the former.
• Ashley Tisdale won fame in the mid-2000s for starring as candy counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick on theDisney Channel'sThe Suite Life of Zack and Cody. She later starred as Sharpay Evans in theHigh School Musical series and the made-for-DVD film,"Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure". Many younger Disney Channel watchers might better know her as Candace Flynn inPhineas and Ferb, while older TV watchers might know her from her role as Savannah Monroe inHellcats.
• Mark Harmon has come back for more stardom at least twice. People who watchedChicago Hope may remember him from his role inSt. Elsewhere. Now, of course, both of those shows are road markers for fans ofNCIS.
• Keir Dullea appeared as Devon, the protagonist of the much maligned 70s TV seriesThe Starlost. Get rid of the 70s mustache he wore in the series, you'll recognize him as Dave Bowman from2001: A Space Odyssey.
• James Doohan is best known as Scotty fromStar Trek. But he got a chance to playThe Captain for a change in 1979'sJason of Star Command.
• Apart from a role in season five ofLas Vegas,Tom Selleck has mostly been doing TV movies sinceMagnum, P.I. wrapped in 1988. Then in 2010 he was cast as Police Commissioner Frank Reagan inBlue Bloods.

• Useful Notes
• Pages with Examples That Are Not Timeless
• Trivia Trope
• Characters and Casting
• Acting for Two
• You Might Remember Me From
• Hey, It's That Guy!
• Hey, It's That Voice!