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IN PICTURES AND VIDEO: From Dwayne Johnson to Eric Cantona – Ten sportsmen turned actors

Brendon Netto

15:38 26/02/2017

It’s the biggest night of the year in Hollywood as the 2017 Oscars take place on Sunday.

But rather than focus on the nominated actors, we’ve decided to go down a different route.

Several athletes have made the switch from the world of sports to acting and here, we look at 10 such stars.

BOB UECKER

Sport: Baseball

Career: 1962-67

Teams: Milwaukee Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves

Popular Filmography: Mr. Belvedere, Major League (trilogy)

VINNIE JONES

Sport: Football

Career: 1984-99

Teams: Wealdstone, IFK Holmsund, Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea, QPR, Wales

Popular Filmography: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; Snatch; Gone in 60 Seconds; Mean Machine; EuroTrip; X-Men: The Last Stand; She’s The Man; The Condemned; Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

O.J. SIMPSON

Sport: American Football

Career: 1969-79

Teams: Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers

Popular Filmography: Roots; Capricorn One; Firepower; The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!; The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear; Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

DWAYNE JOHNSON

Sport: Wrestling

Career: 1996-present*

*has only made cameo appearances post 2013

Teams: WWE

Popular Filmography: The Scorpion King; Walking Tall; Be Cool; The Game Plan; Get Smart; Race to Witch Mountain; Tooth Fairy; The Other Guys; Fast Five; Fast & Furious 6; Furious 7; San Andreas; Baywatch

JIM BROWN

Sport: American Football

Career: 1957-65

Teams: Cleveland Browns

Popular Filmography: Dark of the Sun; 100 Rifles; Black Gunn; Take a Hard Ride; The Running Man; Any Given Sunday; Mars Attacks!

TERRY BRADSHAW

Sport: American Football

Career: 1970-83

Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers

Popular Filmography: Failure to Launch; Everybody Loves Raymond, Married… with Children, The Larry Sanders Show

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR

Sport: Basketball

Career: 1969-89

Teams: Milwaukee Bucks, LA Lakers

Popular Filmography: Game of Death; Zero Hour!; Full House, Living Single, Amen, Everybody Loves Raymond, Martin, Diff’rent Strokes; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Scrubs, 21 Jump Street, Emergency!, Man from Atlantis, New Girl

ERIC CANTONA

Sport: Football

Career: 1983-97

Teams: Auxerre, Martigues, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes, Leeds, Manchester United, France

Popular Filmography: La vie est à nous !; Looking for Eric; Switch; The Salvation

MICHAEL JORDAN

Sport: Basketball, Baseball

Career: Basketball (1984-93, 1995-98, 2001, 2003) / Baseball (1993-94)

Teams: Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, Birmingham Barons, Scottsdale Scorpions

Popular Filmography: Space Jam

BUBBA SMITH

Sport: American Footballer

Career: 1967-76

Teams: Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers

Popular Filmography: Police Academy 1,2,3,4,5 & 6; The Naked Truth; Black Moon Rising

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