Do you remember seeing Clarence Gilyard in the 1986 film Top Gun?
Movies provide one of the greatest escapes from life. Once we enter a theater, our problems fade away for about two hours. We enter a fictional space where we witness some of the best storylines ever written for a production.
Think about when you saw the 1986 film Top Gun for the first time. The action, drama, and thrill it provided moviegoers made it a classic.
What made you want to see that movie? Was it the plot or rising superstar Tom Cruise?
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Or perhaps it was Clarence Gilyard as LTJG Marcus "Sundown" Williams — Chipper's radar intercept officer and later Maverick's at the end of training. Gilyard was all over television, appearing on Diff'rent Strokes, 227, Facts of Life, and more. He even co-starred with Jim Carrey in the 1984 sitcom The Duck Factory.
However, he had not made his movie debut until Top Gun. His first appearance on the big screen boosted his young career, which began in Los Angeles in 1979.
In the movie, we see a more dramatic side of the actor, showcasing his versatility. A fan-favorite line he told Maverick was, "What do you mean it doesn't look good? It doesn't get to look any better than that."
Top Gun is one of the most referenced movies of the mid-Eighties and the highest-grossing domestic film of 1986. The budget was $15 million, but the film grossed $357.3 million at the box office.