One of the pleasures of watching television programs from 40 or more years ago is to see actors in their younger days before they became better known and received larger roles.

Case in point is Rene Auberjonois.

Unlike many actors of his generation, he refused to changed his last name to something pronounceable by the common folks, so we make due with something approximating “Oh-bear-zhon-wah”. Or maybe “Obi Wan Kenobi”. Whatever.

Anyway, Rene (at least I can pronounce his first name) had quite a long and varied career—iMBD lists a total of 231 roles—before he shuffled off this mortal coil at the age of 79 in 2019.

I’ve made a little video featuring his younger and older selves. First up is an excerpt from his appearance on The Bob Newhart Show from back in the 1970s where he has a comic role as a French psychologist. Next are two brief excerpts from Boston Legal, where he plays Paul Lewiston, the adult in the room and the foil for the hijinks of Denny Crane and Alan Shore.

Finally, there’s a very brief clip from Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed where Rene’s son Remy Auberjonois has a small role as a lawyer.