Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…



1: George Clooney’s first steady TV role was as a character named Ace in the 1984 medical sitcom, (coincidentally named) “E/R” that was based in Chicago and co-starred Elliott Gould, Mary McDonnell and Jason Alexander. Ten years later it would take another TV series “ER” (also based in Chicago) to finally launch him to stardom.



2: Leonardo DiCaprio was the first choice for Col. Hans Landa in “Inglorious Basterds” but Quentin Tarantino then decided that a German-speaking actor should play the part. Christoph Waltz eventually got the part. The two actors would later appear together in “Django Unchained“.



3: Not only did Buster Keaton do all his own stunts, but, when needed, he acted as a stunt double for other actors in the films.



4: There are only 5 actors to achieve 4 consecutive Oscar nominations. They are: Jennifer Jones (1943-46), Thelma Ritter (1950-53), Marlon Brando (1951-54), Elizabeth Taylor (1957-60) and Al Pacino (1972-75).



5: “The Evil Dead” director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell were friends from high school, where they made many super-8 films together. They would often collaborate with Sam’s brother Ted Raimi. Campbell became the “actor” of the group, as “he was the one that girls wanted to look at.”



6: Harrison Ford nominated River Phoenix to play him as a teenager in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade“. When describing how he prepared for playing the role, Phoenix explained that he didn’t really base his portrayal on the Indiana Jones character, but on Harrison Ford. So he observed Ford out of character before acting his part.



7: Vincent D’Onofrio gained 70 pounds for his role as Pvt. Pyle in “Full Metal Jacket“, breaking Robert DeNiro’s movie weight-gain record (60 pounds) for “Raging Bull“. It took him seven months to put the weight on and nine months to take it off with physical training.



8: Three former friends of director Richard Linklater – Bobby Wooderson, Andy Slater, and Richard “Pink” Floyd – sued him for the unauthorized use of their names and images in the film “Dazed and Confused” and for their representation as stoners, which they said, damaged their reputation. The characters were played by Matthew McConaughey, Rory Cochrane and Jason London respectively.



9: The character of Axel Foley in “Beverly Hills Cop” was originally going to be played by Mickey Rourke or Sylvester Stallone. Rourke passed on it and Stallone left the project and used some of his script ideas to make “Cobra“. Other actors who were considered for the role were Al Pacino and James Caan before Eddie Murphy finally took over.



10: The presence of oranges in all three of “The Godfather” movies indicates that a death or an assassination attempt will soon happen. A few examples are: The Senator is framed for murder after playing with oranges at the Corleone house; Johnny Ola brings an orange into Michael’s office before the attempt on Michael’s life; Fanucci eats an orange just before he is gunned down and Michael is eating an orange while plotting to kill Roth; Hagen and Woltz negotiate Johnny Fontane’s position at a table with a bowl of oranges on it, and later Woltz discovers his horse’s severed head; Don Corleone buys oranges right before he is shot; Sonny drives past an advertisement for Florida Oranges before he is assassinated; at the Mafioso summit, bowls of oranges are placed on the tables (specifically in front of those Dons who will be assassinated); before Don Corleone dies, he puts an orange peel in his mouth to playfully scare his grandson.

So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.

See you next Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)