Everybody has to start somewhere. And for Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, that somewhere was a 1992 episode of Unsolved Mysteries, where he played a shirtless victim in a melodramatic murder reenactment.
The clip began making the rounds this week when Entertainment Weekly shared exclusive footage from the upcoming documentary Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy, which celebrates the 35th anniversary of the true-crime series. The creatives behind the show reflected on some of the Hollywood stars who had their humble beginnings on the long-running series, which was recently given a second chance at life with a revival on Netflix.
"Matthew McConaughey had to do a fairly robust death scene," a producer says in the clip. "He was working in his garage and he was shot by a man who pulled up with a shotgun. Let's just say... his acting has come a long way since then."
McConaughey's turn as the victim, Larry Dickens, in season 5, episode 12, is the first role listed on his IMDB page. The clip shows McConaughey mowing the lawn — his biceps and six-pack abs on proud display — before being gunned down and keeling over in a hilariously hokey swoon.
While the young McConaughey's acting chops may have needed some refinement, they got the job done. After the episode aired, two viewers reported seeing the murderer, Edward Harold Bell, including one who had recently met Bell during a business trip in Panama.
From the Unsolved Mysteries website: "The Panama police were able to locate Mr. Bell, at which time, they placed him under arrest, and the FBI, along with the Panama City Police Department then brought Mr. Bell back to the United States"
Bell was convicted of murder and sentenced to 70 years in prison. He died in 2019 at the Wallace Pack Unit prison in Navasota, Texas, on April 20, 2019 at the age of 79.
Other stars who helped get their start on Unsolved Mysteries include Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-0), and Taran Killam (Saturday Night Live).
