20 Actors Who Appeared On Other Sitcoms Before Starring In Their Own

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Plenty of Living Single fans probably recognized Alexander, who played Maxine, from The Cosby Show — she had a recurring role as Clair's cousin Pam from 1990-1992.

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Ali was only 11 when she began playing Ashley on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but by then she already had a few credits to her name, including a 1989 episode of The Cosby Show.

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Aniston probably breathed a sigh of relief when Friends became the smash it did — or at least when it made it past Season 1. Before playing Rachel, she starred in Molloy, which was canceled before airing all of its 10 episodes in 1990, and later that same year as Jeannie on the Ferris Bueller TV show, which was also swiftly canceled after just a season.

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It might surprise you to learn that Cho had her own sitcom, in which she played a character also named Margaret. All-American Girl ran briefly from 1994-1995, and before that she had a small role on an episode of the Golden Girls spinoff The Golden Palace in 1992. She also did some voicework on a 1994 episode of The Critic.

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One of Cox's earliest roles was as Amy on an episode of The Love Boat in 1986, and she spent the next couple of years guest-starring on Family Ties as Lauren from 1987-1989. Her last role before starring as Monica in Friends was as Jerry's girlfriend Meryl on a 1994 episode of Seinfeld.

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Living Single star Fields' filmography is full of sitcoms. Her first-ever onscreen role was as Angie on the 1977 series Baby...I'm Back!, followed by small roles on Good Times and Mork & Mindy. From 1979-1988 she played "Tootie" on Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life. She later appeared on Martin in 1992 and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1993 before playing Regine on Living Single.

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Before handling reception at Dunder Mifflin as Pam on The Office, Fischer appeared on a handful of other sitcoms. One of her first onscreen roles was as a waitress on Spin City in 2001. She also appeared on Undeclared that year, What I Like About You in 2002, and That '70s Show in 2005.

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Not only did Gilpin appear on sitcoms before Frasier, she actually played three different characters in the Frasierverse. Prior to playing Roz, she popped up as Barbara on a 1992 episode of Wings and as Holly on a 1993 episode of Cheers.

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It's hard to imagine a time before the name Kelsey Grammer was synonymous with Frasier Crane, but just months before making his debut on Cheers, Grammer appeared on the pilot of Kate & Allie, as David (who goes out with both Kate and Allie).

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Cheers and Newhart fans might remember that Kudrow appeared on both shows a few years before playing Phoebe on Friends. She played Emily on a 1989 episode of Cheers (her third onscreen role ever) and Sada on a 1990 episode of Newhart.

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Prior to starring as Khadijah on Living Single, Latifah made her TV debut as Marissa on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1991. (She actually played another character on the show that same year in the following season.)

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LeBlanc appeared on a few different sitcoms prior to playing Joey on Friends. He made his TV debut in Just the Ten of Us in 1989, then went on to play Vinnie, one of Kelly's boyfriends on Married... with Children in 1991. That same year he reprised the character on the spinoff Top of the Heap, which was reworked into Vinnie & Bobby the following year. Neither show lasted past seven episodes.

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Speaking of Seinfeld, one of Julia Louis-Dreyfus's first roles was as Susan 'Raindrop' White Esq. on a 1988 episode of Family Ties. Shortly after she starred as Eileen on the two-season NBC sitcom Day by Day before shifting over to play Elaine on Seinfeld.

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The late Mahoney guest-starred on a 1992 episode of Cheers before going on to play Martin on Frasier.

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Messing popped up on an episode of the short-lived series Partners in 1995 and guest-starred on Seinfeld in 1996 and 1997, as Beth (a woman Jerry pursues a couple of times before realizing she's racist and antisemitic) before starring as Grace on Will & Grace.

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Park appeared on quite a few sitcoms before starring as Louis on Fresh Off the Boat, including Reno 911! in 2003, Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2009, Community in 2010 (and again in 2015), New Girl and The Office in 2012, and The Mindy Project in 2013 and 2014. He also had a recurring role on Supah Ninjas from 2011-2013.

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Before playing Chandler on Friends, Perry played a brief rival of Ricky's on a 1986 episode of Silver Spoons. He also appeared on Charles in Charge the year before that, and later showed up on Growing Pains in 1989 and Who's the Boss? in 1990.

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Ribeiro is best known for playing Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but before that, he had a recurring role as Alfonso Spears on Silver Spoons from 1984-1987 and appeared as Zach on a 1990 episode of A Different World just months before Fresh Prince began.

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A year before starring as Ross in Friends, Schwimmer appeared as Sonny, Six's shady boyfriend, on two episodes of Blossom in 1993. He also played the son of Henry Winkler's character on the short-lived sitcom Monty.