The Big Bang Theory guest stars
361 actors have guest-starred in The Big Bang Theory across 279 episodes and 12 seasons. The most-credited is Carol Ann Susi, Mrs. Wolowitz in 39 episodes. 218 of them have also guest-starred in five or more of the other shows in this catalogue.
Who came back most
| Actor | Character | Eps |
|---|---|---|
| Carol Ann Susi | Mrs. Wolowitz | 39 |
| John Ross Bowie | Barry Kripke | 25 |
| Wil Wheaton | Wil Wheaton | 17 |
| Brian George | Dr. V.M. Koothrappali | 16 |
| Christine Baranski | Dr. Beverly Hofstadter | 16 |
| Brian Posehn | Bertram "Bert" Kibbler | 15 |
| Laurie Metcalf | Mary Cooper | 14 |
| Joshua Malina | President Siebert | 13 |
| Aarti Mann | Priya | 12 |
| Brian Thomas Smith | Zack Johnson | 11 |
| Alice Amter | Mrs. Koothrappali | 10 |
| Pamela Adlon | Halley | 10 |
| Rati Gupta | Anu | 9 |
| Kate Micucci | Lucy | 8 |
| Lauren Lapkus | Denise Jeffries | 8 |
| Stephen Hawking | Stephen Hawking | 7 |
| Bob Newhart | Arthur Jeffries | 6 |
| Casey Sander | Mike Rostenkowski | 6 |
| Dean Norris | Colonel Williams | 6 |
| Mike Massimino | Mike Massimino | 6 |
| Regina King | Mrs. Janine Davis | 6 |
| Alessandra Torresani | Claire | 5 |
| Edward Lieberman | Announcer, Man, Lecturer | 5 |
| Ian Scott Rudolph | Captain Sweatpants | 5 |
| Keith Carradine | Wyatt | 5 |
The Big Bang Theory guest stars by season
| Season | Guests | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 31 | Mark Harelik, Brian Patrick Wade, Carol Ann Susi, Erin Allin O'Reilly, James Hong, Vernée Watson, Adam Gregor, Alice Amter, Allen Nabors, Andrew Walker, Austin Lee, Brian George and 19 more |
| Season 2 | 33 | Carol Ann Susi, Robert Clotworthy, Sara Rue, Alice Amter, Brian George, John Ross Bowie, Mark Harelik, Brian Patrick Wade, Charlie Sheen, Christine Baranski, Dr. George F. Smoot, Elena Campbell-Martinez and 21 more |
| Season 3 | 35 | Carol Ann Susi, John Ross Bowie, Wil Wheaton, Ajgie Kirkland, Alice Amter, Ally Maki, Andy Mackenzie, Artie O'Daly, Brian George, Brian Thomas Smith, Christine Baranski, Danica McKellar and 23 more |
| Season 4 | 32 | Aarti Mann, Carol Ann Susi, Brian Thomas Smith, Alice Amter, Brian George, Annie O'Donnell, Arnold Chun, Brian Greene, Charlotte Newhouse, Christopher Douglas Reed, Edward Lieberman, Eliza Dushku and 20 more |
| Season 5 | 39 | Carol Ann Susi, Alice Amter, Brian George, John Ross Bowie, Aarti Mann, Casey Sander, Joshua Malina, Mike Massimino, Wil Wheaton, Amy Tolsky, Ashley Austin Morris, Becky O'Donohue and 27 more |
| Season 6 | 40 | Kate Micucci, Carol Ann Susi, Margo Harshman, Pasha Lychnikoff, Ian Scott Rudolph, John Ross Bowie, Mike Massimino, Regina King, Angela Sargeant, Bob Newhart, Brian Posehn, Briana Cuoco and 28 more |
| Season 7 | 42 | Carol Ann Susi, Wil Wheaton, Alex Ball, Bob Newhart, Brian Thomas Smith, Casey Sander, Christine Baranski, John Ross Bowie, Laurie Metcalf, Aaron Takahashi, Ayumi Iizuka, Barak Hardley and 30 more |
| Season 8 | 46 | Brian George, Carol Ann Susi, Jim Meskimen, John Ross Bowie, Stephen Root, Alice Amter, Angela Relucio, Anil Margsahayam, Annie O'Donnell, Billy Bob Thornton, Christine Baranski, Dakin Matthews and 34 more |
| Season 9 | 40 | Alessandra Torresani, John Ross Bowie, Christine Baranski, Stephen Merchant, Wil Wheaton, Laurie Metcalf, Adam Nimoy, Adam West, Amanda Payton, Arshad Aslam, Blake Anderson, Bob Newhart and 28 more |
| Season 10 | 33 | Brian Posehn, Dean Norris, Pamela Adlon, Brian George, Christine Baranski, Kimberly Brooks, Laurie Metcalf, Alessandra Torresani, April Bowlby, Brandon W. Jones, Brian Thomas Smith, Bryan Safi and 21 more |
| Season 11 | 57 | Brian Posehn, John Ross Bowie, Laurie Metcalf, Swati Kapila, Wil Wheaton, Christine Baranski, Jerry O'Connell, Lauren Lapkus, Pamela Adlon, Beth Behrs, Bill Gates, Bob Newhart and 45 more |
| Season 12 | 80 | Joshua Malina, Rati Gupta, Lauren Lapkus, Brian Posehn, Christine Baranski, John Ross Bowie, Kal Penn, Pamela Adlon, Sean Astin, Brian George, Brian Thomas Smith, Chasty Ballesteros and 68 more |
Guest stars you know from somewhere else
The hardest-working character actors in this show's guest cast, ranked by how many other shows in this catalogue they have also guest-starred in. Not the most famous names, the most prolific ones.
| Actor | In The Big Bang Theory | Other shows |
|---|---|---|
| George Wyner | Dr. Zhang | 41 |
| James Hong | Chen | 38 |
| Phil Abrams | Dr. Bernstein | 38 |
| Dakin Matthews | Santa | 36 |
| Michael Dempsey | Security Guard | 36 |
| Michael Patrick McGill | Police Officer | 34 |
| Ken Lerner | Dr. Schneider | 33 |
| Dean Norris | Colonel Williams | 32 |
| Karl T. Wright | Jimmy | 31 |
| Mark Harelik | Dr. Eric Gablehauser | 30 |
| Brian George | Dr. V.M. Koothrappali | 29 |
| Casey Sander | Mike Rostenkowski | 29 |
| Vernée Watson | Althea | 29 |
| Peter Onorati | Angelo | 29 |
| Kevin Brief | Glen, Security Guard | 27 |
Played more than one character
| Actor | Characters | Eps |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Clotworthy | Announcer, Astronaut, Conductor | 5 |
| Edward Lieberman | Announcer, Man, Lecturer | 5 |
| Marcus Folmar | Guard, Police Officer, Security Guard | 3 |
| Jim Meskimen | Doctor, Man, Minister | 2 |
| Kimberly Brooks | Computer Voice, Automated Cell Phone Voice | 3 |
| Annie O'Donnell | Mrs. Fowler, Mrs. Lorvis | 2 |
| Jesse Heiman | Bachelor Party Attendee, Comic Book Store Customer | 2 |
| Kevin Brief | Glen, Security Guard | 2 |
| Lance Barber | George Cooper Sr., Jimmy Speckerman | 2 |
| Lio Tipton | Analeigh, Vanessa | 2 |
Shares a cast with
- The Big Bang Theory and NCIS — 88 shared actors
- The Big Bang Theory and Criminal Minds — 67 shared actors
- The Big Bang Theory and Grey's Anatomy — 64 shared actors
- The Big Bang Theory and ER — 60 shared actors
- The Big Bang Theory and Mom — 53 shared actors
- The Big Bang Theory and Castle — 52 shared actors
- The Big Bang Theory and Bones — 51 shared actors
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — 49 shared actors
Cast data from TVmaze, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.