have their ever been any succesful directors turned actors

[tommycruise]

I know there have been some succesful actors turned directors(ben affleck) but i've been wondering if its ever been the other way around

[Rudolf]

Hitchcock did a lot of cameos

[tommycruise]

Hitchcock did a lot of cameos

Lots of directors do cameos, but what about supporting/main roles

[Darth Homer]

David Cronenberg has had a fairly successful acting career.

[Water Bottle]

Woody Allen? Or was it the other way around?

[baumer]

Tarantino comes to mind. He has had some good roles in many of his movies and even some films that he had no association with.Rob Reiner has done okay as well.

[cookie]

Woody Allen? Or was it the other way around?

He started both his acting and his directing career around the same time.

[ladyevenstar22]

wasnt sydney pollack a director that acted a lot in his films? i recently rewatched "tootsie" and he's the writer and/or director and also has a supporting role as tootsie's agent

[Jake Gittes]

Roman Polanski is great in his own The Tenant and in Tornatore's A Pure Formality, but he definitely falls more into "occasional actor" then into "director-turned-actor".

I'm looking forward to Werner Herzog's performance as the main villain in Jack Reacher.

[Moviedweeb]

Sydney Pollack, extremely talented, unfortunately passed in 2008.

[JackO]

Eli Roth is trying

[CoolioD1]

David Lynch had a pretty funny role in Twin Peaks. Spike Jonze has been in a couple movies.

[Gopher]

Mark Duplass. Branagh started in front of the camera but he didn't break out until he started directing Shakespeare's work, now he goes back and forth pretty fluidly.

[FTF]

Woody Allen comes mind...and not much else (I don't count small roles like Scorsese has in some of his movies, etc)

[MovieMan89]

Tarantino has done a lot more than just cameos for acting. I wouldn't call him really successful as an actor though.

[Hatebox]

I kind of enjoy Tarantino in his films, but even Samuel L Jackson called him a shit actor...

[CoolioD1]

Woody Allen comes mind...and not much else (I don't count small roles like Scorsese has in some of his movies, etc)

Scorsese had a main role in Shark Tale. Jesus... I forgot about that.

[Jack Nevada]

Quentin Tarantino the person annoys the fuck out of me, so I dont like his acting either

[Moviedweeb]

I'm watching Chinatown and realized John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen) might be the only, or one of a very few, successful directors turned actors (excluding cameos and those who have acted significantly before directing their first feature).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Huston

Edited September 27, 2012 by Clavius

[The Toymaker]

Cannot think of any director turned actors, but there are a few actor turned directors. Stallone is an actor turned director, but he was acting and directing at the same time throughout his career. He didn't just switch to one of them and leave the other behind. Although Clint Eastwood and Woody Allen did for long periods. Interesting topic.