The very first “Before They Were Stars” feature The Back Row ever did was Matthew McConaughey’s debut acting appearance as a murder victim in a re-enactment on Unsolved Mysteries. Ever since then, I’ve tried to put the spotlight on all notable actors who performed in an Unsolved Mysteries re-enactment and the Unsolved Mysteries Wikipedia page even has a section about this which cites us as a source! So you can imagine my delight when I recently learned that Doug Jones – best known for playing Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies, the Faun and the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth, and the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – also acted on Unsolved Mysteries! Of course, given that Jones usually performs under mounds of heavy makeup, it’s probably understandable that it took me this long to realize it was him. But in 1994, Jones appeared in an Unsolved Mysteries re-enactment as a missing person named Gordon Page, Jr.. You could tell that Jones was a much-better-than-average actor than you’d normally find on that show since Gordon Page, Jr. was autistic and Jones did a pretty convincing job with such a challenging role. Sadly, there are no longer any clips of the segment available on Youtube, but the official website, The Doug Jones Experience, has these stills for your viewing pleasure.
