Two different cameos of Martin Scorsese in Taxi Driver

Question

In the movie Taxi Driver, we see Martin Scorsese in two different cameos. The most prominent one being Travis's passenger. This role is credited as "Passenger Watching Silhouette" and we do have a small cameo at the start too.

The passenger cameo is:

1. Well dressed

2. Money isn't an issue with him : "I don't care what I have to pay"

3. Comes out of a Bar: which seems pretty good standard(not a dark alley small room)

However, the first cameo is seen sitting almost on a high pavement of a sidewalk and to be noted is the time of the day: people entering offices, everyone going somewhere,start of the day, busy crossing.

My question is: Is there any link between these two cameos? Is there a background story to this character which transforms from a (presumably non-working, at ease) character to a respectable man who ends up suspecting his wife's fidelity?

Answer 1

No.

Scorsese's larger cameo was a last minute substitution caused by the original actor scheduled for the stalker being unavailable.

When George Memmoli, the actor who was to play a man stalking his wife who hails a ride with Travis, was injured on another movie, Scorsese agreed to play the part himself. Says Schrader, “I was afraid that Marty would see himself and would be so mortified he would cut himself out of the movie, and I liked the scene. But I was a hundred per- cent wrong. He saw it, loved it and kept every single bit of himself in.”

^Source