section_path: Acting career/1960s and 1970s
section_name: 1960s and 1970s
paragraph_text: 1960s and 1970s
  
  Simpson began acting while at USC and appeared on Dragnet in an uncredited role as a potential recruit to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He became a professional actor before playing professional football, appearing in the first episode of Medical Center —as Cicely Tyson 's husband despite being 23 years her junior—while negotiating his contract with the Bills.
  
  Before Simpson's murder trial, sportswriter Ralph Wiley wrote in 2002, white people considered Simpson a "unifying symbol of all races". History professor Lou Moore said that this made Simpson the first Black athlete to be "put on". In 1975, People magazine described Simpson as "the first athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar". Simpson avoided starring in blaxploitation films, choosing third or fourth lead roles while studying experienced stars like Lee Marvin and Richard Burton. His Hertz commercials from 1975 benefited Simpson's acting career, but he sometimes intentionally chose non-positive roles; "I've got to tear down that picture of O.J. Simpson, the clean-cut athlete, to get believability into whatever part I happen to be playing." He said in 1980 that "The Oscar or the Emmy says you've reached a level of competence in this business, and I would love to have one."
  
  While in the NFL, Simpson appeared in productions such as the television miniseries Roots (1977), and the dramatic motion pictures The Klansman (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), The Cassandra Crossing (1977), and Capricorn One (1978). In 1979, he started his own film production company, Orenthal Productions, which dealt mostly in made-for-TV fare such as the family-oriented Goldie and the Boxer films with Melissa Michaelsen (1979 and 1981). Simpson said that he did not seriously consider an acting career until seeing Marvin and Burton, while filming The Klansman in California, ordering chili from Chasen's via a private jet. Simpson appeared in the audience of NBC's Saturday Night Live during its second season and hosted an episode during its third season. He was the second professional athlete to host the show.
  
  Simpson began acting while at USC and appeared on Dragnet in an uncredited role as a potential recruit to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He became a professional actor before playing professional football, appearing in the first episode of Medical Center —as Cicely Tyson 's husband despite being 23 years her junior—while negotiating his contract with the Bills.
  
  Before Simpson's murder trial, sportswriter Ralph Wiley wrote in 2002, white people considered Simpson a "unifying symbol of all races". History professor Lou Moore said that this made Simpson the first Black athlete to be "put on". In 1975, People magazine described Simpson as "the first athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar". Simpson avoided starring in blaxploitation films, choosing third or fourth lead roles while studying experienced stars like Lee Marvin and Richard Burton. His Hertz commercials from 1975 benefited Simpson's acting career, but he sometimes intentionally chose non-positive roles; "I've got to tear down that picture of O.J. Simpson, the clean-cut athlete, to get believability into whatever part I happen to be playing." He said in 1980 that "The Oscar or the Emmy says you've reached a level of competence in this business, and I would love to have one."
  
  While in the NFL, Simpson appeared in productions such as the television miniseries Roots (1977), and the dramatic motion pictures The Klansman (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), The Cassandra Crossing (1977), and Capricorn One (1978). In 1979, he started his own film production company, Orenthal Productions, which dealt mostly in made-for-TV fare such as the family-oriented Goldie and the Boxer films with Melissa Michaelsen (1979 and 1981). Simpson said that he did not seriously consider an acting career until seeing Marvin and Burton, while filming The Klansman in California, ordering chili from Chasen's via a private jet. Simpson appeared in the audience of NBC's Saturday Night Live during its second season and hosted an episode during its third season. He was the second professional athlete to host the show.