5 Hollywood Megastars Who Got Their Big Break On '70s Sitcoms

The '70s was a great decade for sitcoms. Audience favorites from that era include "M*A*S*H," "The Brady Bunch" and "All In The Family" — and we have a handful of definitive '70s sitcoms to thank for some of the following era's Hollywood megastars. In this respect, the 1970s aren't unique.

Mayn of today's A-listers like Jennifer Aniston and Will Smith made a name for themselves on '90s sitcoms before becoming movie stars. In the 2000s, "The Office" and "Parks & Recreation" helped establish stars like Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, and John Krasinski. Even Ryan Reynolds headlined a forgotten '90s sitcom at one point.

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And in the '70s, Danny DeVito, John Travolta, and Robin Williams also got their big break on sitcoms. Danny DeVito is known today for starring in the crude and occasionally dark sitcom "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on FX for 20 years, but he got his first big TV break in "Taxi," a rare sitcom without a single bad season.

After an off-Broadway performance of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" bagged him the role of Martini in the 1975 film version, DeVito seemed on his way to becoming a film star — but instead, he moved on to the small screen with "Taxi." Premiering in 1978, the show was a late entry in the 1970s sitcom era.

"Taxi" became an Emmys darling and has appeared on several lists of greatest TV shows of all time. DeVito starred as Louie De Palma, the grumpy, bossy cab company dispatcher. Louie may not be the most fun character, but DeVito somehow made him likeable.

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He even received four Emmy nominations for the performance and won the award in 1981. "Taxi" was sadly canceled after Season 4 at ABC but was given one final season at NBC to finish the show.

When Gabe Kaplan decided to turn his stand-up act into a TV series, he couldn't have predicted that "Welcome Back, Kotter" would become an Emmy-nominated, era-defining show.

Nor could he have known that it would create an opportunity for a future A-lister. "Welcome Back, Kotter" was John Travolta's first regular cast member TV role, and it made him a beloved heartthrob. In the series, Travolta played the dim-witted Vinnie Barbarino, part of a special class of teenagers designated as inevitable school dropouts.

But then, Gabe Kotter (Kaplan), an alumnus of the class of misbehaving children, returns to the school to set the boys back on track. Travolta's airhead performance made the eventual "Hairspray" actor the breakout of the cast of "Welcome Back, Kotter." Travolta followed up that success with appearances in 1976's "Carrie," 1977's "Saturday Night Fever," and 1978's "Grease." Travolta went on to receive two Oscar nominations and star in movie classics like "Pulp Fiction." Ron Howard's parents were also actors, so the "Happy Days" star's TV career began during his childhood in the mid-1950s and hit its first high point when he played the main character's son on "The Andy Griffith Show." As he grew up, Howard wanted to become a director but settled for another sitcom.

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He told Virgin Radio in 2021, "The idea of this show came along, and I actually thought, 'Wow, I have a feeling that if a major studio and a network has me under contract, they'll find a way to keep me out of Vietnam.'" ABC's "Happy Days," one of the most popular shows of the decade, ended up being Howard's big break as an adult.

"Happy Days," which premiered in 1974 but was set in the 1950s, initially followed the life of Richie Cunningham (Howard), an average American teen. Howard eventually followed his dream, leaving the cast of "Happy Days" to become a director.

The show was able to continue after the departure of its original lead thanks to Henry Winkler's popularity as Richie's too-cool-for-school pal Fonzie (Henry Winkler).

Since the transition, Howard has won two Oscars and directed iconic films like "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Apollo 13," and "The Da Vinci Code." In the 1970s, Robin Williams was just starting his stand-up career after leaving Juilliard. And then a bigger opportunity came when the "Happy Days" team needed an actor to play an alien in a special 1978 episode.

"Dom DeLuise booked it and he backed out. Then we got another guy, the Sheriff of Nottingham from Mel Brook's Robin Hood movie and he backed out, saying he doesn't want to be Mork," Brian Levant, a writer from the series, recalled to E! News in 2014.

"We shoot on Friday and it's Wednesday." The "Happy Days" episode was not meant to launch a spin-off. But Williams had such a successful guest performance as Mork, the alien from Ork, that the producers resolved to create a spin-off series based on the character. Williams returned to star in "Mork & Mindy," which aired later that year on ABC.

The series followed the lovable alien as he adjusts to life on Earth with a female human companion, Mindy, played Season 1 was so successful that it had a higher viewership than "Happy Days," but the show was canceled after Season 4. Williams went on to star in a string of movies that became cult classics or nominated for Oscars like "Mrs.

Doubtfire," "Hook," and "Good Will Hunting." Arguably, Christopher Lloyd could not have had a better career start than making his film debut in the Oscar-winning classic "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," which coincidentally also featured Lloyd's future TV co-star Danny DeVito. Lloyd got his big break on the small screen with "Taxi." Lloyd played Jim "Iggy" Ignatowski, a former reverend who was not the sharpest tool in the shed after his mind deteriorated following years of drug use.

Iggy was a serious goofball, and many fans thought he was the funniest character. Lloyd also received his first award recognition as part of the all-star cast of "Taxi." He won two Emmys for his performance as Iggy. "Taxi" continued airing until 1983, but Lloyd did not have to wait long before becoming a Hollywood star.

In 1984, he played the villain in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and a year later, he played Dr. Emmett Brown in one of the most culturally significant sci-fi films, "Back to the Future."