Given the nerdy, geeky, and scientific theme of the show, it is no surprise that The Big Bang Theory has featured a myriad of celebrities, athletes, actors, and scientists as guest stars over its long lifetime. Some celebrity cameos were more memorable than others, since they included big names such as Stephen Hawking, Stan Lee, and Mark Hamill, but there were also a handful of fun yet overshadowed celebrity appearances most viewers and fans seemed to have forgotten.
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Although not as well known, these celebrity appearances were still just as funny and high profile as any other on the series.
10 Joe Manganiello, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, And A Group Of Celebs Played D&D
In the Season 12 episode "The D&D Vortex," Wil Wheaton hosts a game night featuring Kevin Smith, William Shatner, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Joe Manganiello. At first, Stuart was also involved but quit, leading Leonard to fill his place in the group. But after blabbing about it to the gang, Leonard is kicked out. Wil Wheaton then invites all the girls to .
Amy talks to Joe, telling him how much she enjoyed him in Magic Mike, creeping him out. Bernadette tells Kareem that she and her father watched Kareem win back-to-back basketball championships, to which Kareem responds by telling her that he sawher sniffing Joe's hair. Unbeknownst to some, Manganiello is actually an avid Dungeons and Dragons fan.
9 Steven Yeun's Character Warned Leonard Of Sheldon
In a flashback scene from Season 3's "The Staircase Implementation," a young and naïve Leonard runs into a distraught individual exiting an elevator in his future apartment building. The individual, played by Steven Yeun and apparently named Sebastian, warns Leonard to stay away from the newly opened room for rent.
Later in the episode, when Leonard first sees his room, the words "Die Sheldon Die" are written on the walls in red; it was heavily implied that Yeun's character was the one who wrote it. What made Yeun's appearance noteworthy was that this cameo was before the premiere of TheWalking Dead, so he was a relatively unknown actor at this point. Furthermore, this was also one of Yeun's earliest appearances on a television show.
8 Courtney Ford PlayedAn Attractive Comic Book Artist Leonard Meets At The Comic Book Store
While dating Priya, Leonard meets an attractive comic book artist named Alice at the comic book store, played by Courtney Ford. After some passionate kissing sessions, he calls everything off, revealing to Alice that he cheated on his girlfriend with her.
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Ford was no stranger to the comic book world as she was and is married to Brandon Routh, who played Superman in Superman Returns. Ford and Routh would later appear in The Legends of Tomorrow as Ray Palmer and Nora Darhk.
7 Teller (Of The Duo Penn & Teller) Played Amy's Father
The usually silent Teller of the magic and entertainment duo Penn & Teller played Mr. Fowler, Amy's dad, for three episodes. He first appeared at Amy and Sheldon's wedding in "The Bow Tie Asymmetry," then again in "The Conjugal Configuration," and finally in "The Consummation Deviation" where he is bewildered by Howard's magic tricks.
Like Leonard, Leonards' father, and Raj's Father, Larry Fowler is often in the shadows of his more dominant wife, played by Kathy Bates, and is stuck in a loveless marriage. Because of his fascination with Howard's magic tricks, he has a stronger connection with Howard than Sheldon, a nod to how Bernadette's dad had a stronger bond with Sheldon than his son-in-law.
6 Howie Mandel Arrived At The Airport With Howard
Howard finally returned home from space in Season 6's "The Re-Entry Minimization" where he was greeted by Bernadette and what he thought was a big crowd of fans chanting his name, "Howie." In reality, Howard was standing next to Howie Mandel, another passenger on his plane from Houston. Mandel then assured Howard that the paparazzi were there to see him saying, "I think they're here for me Ringo."Mandel proceeds to leave the airport, expressing his disbelief that Howard was an astronaut, something Howard seemingly bragged about on the plane.
5 Brent Spiner Burned Some Bridges With Sheldon
In Season 5's "The Russian Rocket Reaction" Sheldon decides to attend Wil Wheaton's house party with Raj and Leonard. Wheaton surprises Sheldon with a signed original mint-in-package Wesley Crusher action figure, dissolving the quarrel between the two.
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Brent Spiner then shows up in the middle of a warm embrace between Wheaton and Sheldon and opens the action figure, immediately bestowing himself on Sheldon's enemies list. Raj and Leonard later bargain with Spiner on some signed Data action figures. Although a nice tease, the show never developed Sheldon and Spiner's conflict.
4 Charlie Sheen Was Unimpressed By Raj's Achievement
Raj was listed as one of the 30 Visionaries Under 30 To Watch in People Magazine in Season 2's "The Griffin Equivalency." After gloating, getting drunk, and driving off his friends at the Cheesecake Factory, he brags to a patron at another table. The patron, Charlie Sheen, turns around and tells Raj to call him when he's on the cover.
In hindsight, the cameo was random, unexpected, and completely ironic. At this point, Sheen was still on Two and a Half Men, another Chuck Lorre show, but would part ways with the series and thenetwork three years later because of a deranged rant against Lorre.
3 Billy Bob Thornton Was One Of Penny's Creepy Sales Clients
In Season 8's "The Misinterpretation Agitation" Billy Bob Thornton played Dr. Oliver Lorvis, a creepy celebrity urologist who misinterpreted Penny's sales tactics as flirtation. He shows up at Penny's apartment with flowers only to be greeted and turned away by Leonard and the gang.
Feeling sorry for him,Sheldon invitesDr. Lorvis into theapartment and they soon bond over shared interests. Lorvis eventually invites the gang to see his movie memorabilia collection, which included notable items such as the Clooney Batman suit, Magneto's Helmet, a RoboCop statue, various classic arcade cabinets, along with a myriad of other collectibles. A fun tidbit about the character was that he was actually supposed to be a combination of all the nerds and exhibited certain traits of Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, Raj, and Stuart.
2 Basketball Player Rick Fox Played One Of Bernadette's Ex-Boyfriends
While attending a conference in Big Sur in Season 4's "The Love Car Displacement" Bernadette and Howard run into one of Bernadette's ex-boyfriends, played by Rick Fox. This ex, Glenn, was not only an ex-lover but was Bernadette's former professor, to Howard's dismay. Glenn's good looks, charm, and height (6' 7") quickly intimidated Howard, causing Howard to project his insecurities onto Bernadette.
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For those who don't know, Rick Fox is a retired basketball player who played small forward for the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Although a professional athlete, Fox was also the founder of Echo Fox, the Esports organization/team.
1 Eric André Denied Sheldon And The Gang Entry IntoA Theatre
Sheldon and the rest of the gang decide to camp outside a theatre to see a special screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark with an additional 21 seconds of unseen footage in Season 4's "The 21-Second Excitation." In the episode, Eric André plays Joey,an employee at the theatre tasked with managing the camping crowd outside.
When Wil Wheaton and his entourage show up, Joey lets them cut the line, filling the theatre to capacity, thereby not allowing the gang to see Indiana Jonesandenraging Sheldon. After a colorful exchange with Joey, Sheldon decides to steal the footage.
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FAQs
What celebrities came on Big Bang Theory? ›
For instance, Ellen DeGeneres, Nathan Fillion, and Sarah Michelle Gellar had cameos on The Big Bang Theory. And plenty of sci-fi stars teleported onto set, including Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, James Earl Jones, Katee Sackhoff, William Shatner, and George Takei.
Who is the most famous in Big Bang? ›- Stephen Hawking - Season 5, Episode 5. ...
- Bill Nye - Season 7, Episode 7. ...
- James Earl Jones - Season 7, Episode 14. ...
- Carrie Fisher - Season 7, Episode 14. ...
- Elon Musk - Season 9, Episode 9. ...
- Kathy Bates - Season 11, Episode 24. ...
- Mark Hamill - Season 11, Episode 24.
"Star Trek" actor Leonard Nimoy didn't appear in person, but he did voice a toy figurine of his character. Nimoy voiced Sheldon's conscience in the form of a Spock toy he referred to as "Little Spock."
Did any of The Big Bang Theory cast not get along? ›Yes, apparently the cast of The Big Bang Theory gets along very well; however, their off-screen relationships can only be assumed through their social media gestures. Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki's on-screen romance even influenced their personal relationship.
Did any of The Big Bang Theory cast date? ›Cuoco and Galecki's characters, Penny and Leonard, ultimately got married, and had at least one child that we know of. The actors, of course, did not, but they did date exclusively for two years, from 2008 to 2010.
Is Sheldon Autistic? ›The producers of The Big Bang Theory say Sheldon Cooper isn't actually autistic.
Are Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco friends in real life? ›As Kaley Cuoco prepares for motherhood, she can count on the support of her friends, including Jim Parsons.
How much did Mayim Bialik make per episode? ›Mayim Bialik's "The Big Bang Theory" salary
She started earning a little bit less than half of that, with a reported salary of $200,000 per episode, which came out to around $4.5 million a season.
'" The pair would eventually break up in real life and Kaley - who went on to marry Karl Cook in 2018 before divorcing him in 2021 - went on to explain that she didn't understand why she had to keep quiet at the time but acknowledged that with "hindsight", Johnny was protecting the brand.
Did Penny and Leonard ever date in real life? ›Cuoco, 36, and Galecki, 47, starred as onscreen love interests Penny and Leonard Hofstadter on CBS's hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory from 2007 to 2019. Along the way, their chemistry found its way off screen as the pair dated in real life from 2008 to 2010.
Did Penny and Leonard like each other in real life? ›
The Big Bang Theory stars Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki have opened up about their secret romance. The pair, who played Penny and Leonard Hofstadter on the long-running show, dated in real life for two years. The Flight Attendant star Kaley admitted she had a crush on her co-star from "very early on".
How much IQ does Sheldon have? ›He has a genius-level IQ of 187. (In The Big Bang Theory, it is said that his and Leonard's IQs add up to 360, and Leonard says his is 173.
What mental illness does Sheldon have? ›"Sheldon often gets talked about in terms of Asperger's or OCD. He has a thing with germs, he has a thing with numbers, he's got a lot of that precision that we see in OCD. There's a lot of interesting features to all of our characters that make them technically unconventional socially."
Does Raj have an accent in real life? ›Kunal Nayyar, best known as Raj on The Big Bang Theory, talks about his collection of humorous, autobiographical essays, Yes, My Accent Is Real: And Some Other Things I Haven't Told You.
Are Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco friends? ›As Kaley Cuoco prepares for motherhood, she can count on the support of her friends, including Jim Parsons.
Are Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco still friends? ›In a separate interview with CBS Watch! Magazine, Galecki discussed his relationship with Cuoco, setting the record straight on where they stood following their split. "We're dear friends still," he said. "Kaley's not just an ex, she's a part of my life."
Is Bert in Big Bang theory in friends? ›Brian Posehn is an American actor, comedian and voice actor. He is known for playing Bert in The Big Bang Theory. He also appeared in the role of a postman in episode 18 of season 2 of "Friends" (The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies) aired on March 21, 1996.
Are Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons friends? ›Jim Parsons And Johnny Galecki Went On To Have An Amazing Working Relationship. Despite their awkward first encounter, Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki went on to develop an incredible on-screen and off-screen friendship.
Who was obsessed with Sheldon? ›She guest starred on the television series The Big Bang Theory as Ramona Nowitzki, a graduate student who is obsessed with Sheldon Cooper, in seasons two and ten.
Who is Sheldon Cooper obsessed with? ›It's no secret that Sheldon loves Professor Proton (Bob Newhart), but his obsession with him dates all the way back to Season 1 of Young Sheldon. In the series premiere, we see Sheldon tuning in to watch his science idol.
Who is sheldons best friend? ›
Sheldon's closest friends are Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, and Raj Koothrappali. Of the three, Sheldon is openly dismissive of Howard and constantly opines that a master's degree in engineering demonstrates a lesser intellect than that of the others, who all possess science doctorates.
Why did the actor who played Sheldon quit? ›Several months before the series finale aired in May 2019, Parsons explained that he wanted to leave the show because he felt “innately that it was time” to move on. “There is no negative reason to stop doing Big Bang,” he told Entertainment Weekly in January 2019.
Are Kaley Cuoco and Amy Davidson friends? ›When it came time to celebrating the upcoming arrival of Amy Davidson's baby boy, the actress knew she was in good hands with her 8 Simple Rules costar — and good friend — Kaley Cuoco. “We had the shower in Kaley's backyard, which is a paradise,” Davidson tells PEOPLE exclusively.
Who did Sheldon kiss? ›Sheldon was inspired to propose to Amy after another woman, Dr. Ramona Nowitzki, resurfaced from years earlier and kissed Sheldon. Dr. Nowitzki unexpectedly kisses Sheldon in the 10th season finale of "The Big Bang Theory" which aired in May.
Is Leonard's bully Sheldon's dad? ›Fans of the franchise will know that Lance Barber, the actor who plays Sheldon's dad on "Young Sheldon," also appeared on "The Big Bang Theory" during season five. Back then, he wasn't playing Sheldon's dad in a flashback, but an entirely different character: Leonard's high-school bully.