Yes, That Really Is Ted Danson In Saving Private Ryan

Here’s Ted Danson’s cameo role in Saving Private Ryan explained. Back in the 1990s Ted Danson was best known for his role on NBC’s iconic sitcom Cheers which ran for 11 seasons between 1982 and 1993. Danson starred as Boston bartender and lothario Sam Malone alongside Rhea Perlman’s crabby waitress Carla, George Wendt’s barfly Norm Peterson and John Ratzenberger’s know-it-all mailman Cliff Clavin. Danson received critical acclaim for his work and took home a handful of Emmys and Golden Globes for his performance as Sam.

At that point in his career, Ted Danson had turned his hand to more dramatic roles a few times. He starred in the 1984 TV movie Something About Amelia, taking home a Golden Globe for his performance, and appeared in the 1960s-set drama Pontiac Moon in 1994 alongside future wife Mary Steenburgen. He’s since proved his worth as a dramatic actor with more recent roles in the likes of Damages, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Fargo.

But back in the 1990s, Ted Danson was still best known for playing Sam Malone so it was pretty jarring to see him pop up unexpectedly in Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic Saving Private Ryan in 1998. Danson played Captain Fred Hamill, the leader of a pathfinder platoon that saves Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and his men from being gunned down by German soldiers in the heavily bombarded French town of Neuville, just after they’re lost Private Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel, F9).

Miller and his troop are looking for Captain Hamill because he’s got a Private James Ryan in his platoon that they think is the soldier they’re trying to find. It soon turns out to be a case of mistaken identity when Hamill’s solider (played by a pre-Firefly Nathan Fillion) isn’t the Private Ryan they’re searching for. Before parting company, Hamill offers Miller and his men a place to stay for the night in a church and wishes them luck in their mission.

Ted Danson’s Saving Private Ryan role was only a cameo but some film fans found it distracting thanks to his reputation as a sitcom actor, perhaps expecting him to crack some inappropriate Sam Malone-style joke in the midst of a serious war movie. Nevertheless, Danson served his Saving Private Ryan character well but as Cheers and his later roles in shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good Place prove, it’s comedy that is really his forte.