10 Iconic Actors First & Last Roles: Side-by-Side

Welcome to MsMojo, and today were looking at departed actors whose first and final performances might surprise you.

Chris Farley

After getting his start in improv theatre, Chris Farley made himself known when he joined the 1990 cast of Saturday Night Live. In his very first show, he appeared in a well-loved Twin Peaks parody, playing a confessing murderer who Agent Cooper refuses to believe. He would go on to originate a long list of fan-favorite characters, and his popularity led beyond sketch comedy to a successful career in movies. His final film role was a small part in the cult classic Dirty Work. Released the year after Farleys fatal death, each of his scenes hit the hilarious balance of charming sincerity and over-the-top comedy right on the nose.

Marilyn Monroe

Before she was a Hollywood supernova, a young Marilyn Monroe got her start in small roles in several pictures. Her silver screen debut was in the 1947 film Dangerous Years, but the minor role showcases a much less glamorized image of the bombshell who rose to fame in the fifties. After developing a reputation for playing alluring and ditzy blondes, Arthur Miller, her husband at the time, wrote her a more serious part in The Misfits. Her portrayal of the recently-divorced Roslyn would become her final acting role, and though the film wasnt well-received at the time, modern viewers have praised the maturity of her refreshing performance.

Robin Williams

Once hed made a name for himself on the comedy circuit, Robin Williams transitioned into television through several sketch comedy programs. Shortly after, he booked his first traditional acting role as an alien called Mork on Happy Days. Though he was cast as a fill-in, the character was so successful that Williams earned his own sitcom Mork & Mindy. After building an incomparable career as both a lauded actor and family film star, Williams returned to the third Night at the Museum film to reprise his role as Theodore Roosevelt. The movie wrapped just a few months before Williams passed in 2014. Released after his death, the loss gave a new meaning to Teddys touching final goodbye.

Betty White

For TV trailblazer Betty White, Life with Elizabeth was not only the actresss first sitcom role, but it was also the first female-produced sitcom ever made. Playing a character taken from her time as a variety show host, White brought the suburban wife to life with her signature wit and charm. Decades later, she continued her legacy with a role in Young & Hungry in 2017. The cameo would be her final on screen character before passing away just a few weeks before her 100th birthday. With more than sixty years between her first and final sitcom, White holds the Guinness World Record for the longest female career in television.

Chadwick Boseman

Chadwick Boseman was already a successful stage director, performer, and writer before joining the soap opera All My Children in 2003. Though the part was meant to be his first recurring TV character, he was replaced by none other than Michael B. Jordan after critiquing the writers use of negative stereotypes. Soon, the Black Panther franchise made him an international sensation, but Boseman was silently living with colon cancer from 2016 until his death in 2020. In his final film role, he plays 1920s trumpeter Levee Green. Not only is Ma Rainey's Black Bottom dedicated to the actor, but his show stopping performance also earned him multiple posthumous awards, including an Oscar nomination.

Judy Garland

Though Judy Garland first signed with MGM at just 13 years old, the studio couldnt decide how to market the teenager. Eventually, they placed her alongside Deanna Durbin in the short Every Sunday with the intention of deciding which singer to keep. Garland was re-signed, and she would soon become one of their most successful stars. While she performed concerts up until her death, her final film role in I Could Go On Singing was the first time shed sung in a live action movie for nearly a decade. More than a return to form, the dramatic part showcased her beloved talents while also portraying the actress in a much more mature light.

Brittany Murphy

After discovering a love for performing as a young child, Brittany Murphy landed her first recurring TV character on Drexells Class when she was only 13. After making a name for herself in Clueless just a few years later, Murphy showed off her genre-fluid acting range throughout her late teens and 20s. Then, in 2009, she took on the role of a psychiatrist in the indie thriller Something Wicked. While shooting, she struggled with ongoing health issues, and the young actress would pass away just a few months after production. Though the film was initially postponed, it was later released in 2014 for the world to see.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

One of many Hollywood stars who started out with Law & Order cameos, Philip Seymour Hoffman went on to land his first film role in Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole. Even with a minor part, the young actors huge grin left an impression, and it wouldnt be long before Hoffman was catching the worlds attention. One of the most talented actors of his generation, he was introduced to a brand new audience in the 2010s as Plutarch Heavensbee. Tragically, his part in The Hunger Games franchise would become his last, as Hoffman died with just a few scenes left to film in Mockingjay - Part 2.

Shelley Duvall

Believe it or not, Shelley Duvalls illustrious career all started with an April Fools party. Several crew members from Brewster McCloud were in attendance, and they were so taken by her personality that she was later cast as the films love interest. The rest was history, and Duvall became one of the 70s most iconic celebrities. After building a long and fruitful career, she took a twenty year sabbatical before making a comeback in the indie horror flick The Forest Hills. Her final role before her passing in 2024, the actress struggled with pain on set, but she was able to channel it all into her magnetic performance.

Carrie Fisher

Few actors can say they started their careers in Academy Award nominated movies, but Carrie Fisher is an exception. In 1975, the teenager made her film debut alongside the star-studded cast of Shampoo, a Beverly Hills romp about a salacious hairdresser. Just two years later, Fisher would rise to fame as Princess Leia, and her role in the Star Wars franchise would follow her from the beginning of her career until the end. Though she finished shooting The Last Jedi only a few months before her unexpected death, her final performance was actually in Wonderwell. Cast as a redheaded witch named Hazel, the fantasy movie later became the beloved actresss last posthumous release.

What other roles would you have loved to see these actors play? Let us know in the comments below.