Character actors - who are your favorites and what do they look like?
Diomede
Posts: 15,083
Very happy to see recent Daz characters Alexandra and Edward. Obviously, the morph packs, etc. allow a user to adjust facial and body shapes, but it is nice to have dedicated skins and HD morphs to match a character concept. Made me think of actors and actresses that I have seen featured in hundreds of movies, but not usually in the starring role. Who are your favorite featured character actors? By featured, I mean they play a significant and integral role in the story.
Two of my favorite character actors were Thomas Mitchell and Thelma Ritter. It seems like it was impossible for Hollywood to tell a story for decades without at least one of them in the film. OK, that was an exaggeration. I hope Daz characters like Alexandra and Edward encourage the development of a few dedicated character actors. Who were your favorites who seemed to appear in all sorts of stories?
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The ubiquitous character actors I remember from 1960s television were Whit Bissell (a regular on Time Tunnel), Dabbs Greer, who actually had pretty good range, and William Schallert (the dad in Patty Duke, most famously). I would cast the new 'Edward' figure in any of their roles.
Great choices. These people were in almost everything. Not only was William Schallert the father on The Patty Duke Show, the ultimate light comedy, he was also the mayor in In the Heat of the Night, the exact opposite of a light comedy. Here are some images of William Schallert, Whit Bissell, ad Dabbs Greer.
Don't forget about Mel Blanc very famous Character voice actor for warrner bros Looney toons cartoons for 60 plus years
Another great one, Ivy. Mel Blanc was unbelievably talented. Check out Hank Azaria's tribute to Mel Blanc in this vid.
good video Diomede,
Also there is Peter Robbins the voice for Charlie Brown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Robbins_(actor)
and belive it or not the voice of Bart Simson is played by a women named Nancy Cartwright who looks nothing like Bart Simson..lol
I guess she is probably very glad that she doesn't look like Bart. Life for women is complicated enough without bright yellow skin, only four fingers on each hand and a neverchanging hairstyle
But the never aging would cool.
My fave character actor is Harry Morgan. Funny, funny guy and played a darned good drunk. LOL
Famous for Teahouse of the August Moon, among other movies; Dragnet and, of course, M*A*S*H.
Loved Leslie Nielsen too...another funny guy, tho earlier in his career he did more serious things.
I like people that make me laugh, obviously ;)
Laurie
Thanks for the pic of the great Nancy Cartwright. What an amazing accomplishment the cast of the Simpson's has done!
Harry Morgan and Leslie Nelsen are perfect. Of course Morgan will be best known for Dragnet and MASH, but I remember the western comedies with James Garner, "Support Your Local..."
Thanks for adding Leslie Nielsen. What a sense of comedic timing, but he could play the dramatic lead when he wanted to (Forbidden Planet). To anyone who suggests he was a leading man (even the spoof comedies Naked Gun he was the star) and did not choose to be a character actor, just check out the bridge of cruise ship on The Poseidon Adventure He was the captain.
EDIT: Surely, you can think of more women who were character actors. Yes, I just called you Shirley.
Couldn't resist.
LOL
For females, the late, great Peggy Cass comes to mind. I've seen her in a lot of things, but the one that sticks in my mind is Auntie Mame as Agnes Gooch. LOL
https://youtu.be/aKy3qEibwmk
Laurie
There is just to many to list so I cheated and used the IMdb to find them all here ya go :)
Top 20 Female Voice Actors of All Time for cartoon and animations
Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood, Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart...
Audrey Hepburn, Katherin Hepburn, Lauren Bacall...
and way too many others, most of whom aren't with us anymore...
These are almost all leading gents and ladies. The OP was thinking more character or supporting actors and actresses :)
Laurie
Jeffrey Combs
mostly for his many different characters in the Star Trek series (DS9, Voyager, Enterprise), but check out his IMDB (link above) for loads of other work (including VO and live action)
Michael Sheen. Very good actor; if you've seen the movie Passengers, you know his work (he's the bartending android). He also does the voice the character House in an episode of Doctor Who.
Great additions, everyone. One of my favorite actresses was Mary Wickes.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926897/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm
I remember her best for White Christmas, but she was another actress who seemed to appear in almost everything.
A more recent actress (compared to the people that I have been posting) that I can't believe that I have left off until now is the great Linda Hunt. She absolutely stole the show in The Incredibles. "No capes!"
I've been watching old reruns of Petticoat Junction to which my 20 year old son comments "Dad, this is the stupidest show." To which I respond, "Yes, but to watch the talents of Bea Benedett, Edgar Buchanan and Charles Lane makes up for any lack of sophistication." Such enormous talents across television, film an voice acting!
Petticoat Junction! Wow, I recently had the flu and in my fevered delirium found myself watching the original pilot episode of Petticoat Junction. Not sure if I stumbled on it by surfing channels or somehow managed to trigger it on a streaming service. Either way, it really was a stupid show, but oh so entertaining! Cast on-screen chemistry is so important, just ask the Seinfeld cast. Bea Benedett, Edgar Buchanan and Charles Lane were among the very best at their craft.
Charles Lane is attributed with a quote that I think sums up my feelings about character actors. I hope some of the talented PAs can provide us with some of these friends to help us tell our stories.
Um, the character Edna Mode in the Incredibles did look a lot like Linda Hunt, but she was not voiced by Linda Hunt.
Elisha Cook Jr who appeared in many big budget films (TheMaltese Falcon, The Big Sleep), but never had a staring roll. Over 200 film credits.
And Agnes Moorehead who was a very fine actor. Loved her in her films from the 40s.
Slim Pickens
I like the cast of Green Acres, Eddie Albert plays such a good patient hapless grouch to the rest of the crew's befuddled helpfulness. Lots of old shows were like that and the good new ones were too, although I watch TV so infrequently now the last show I remember with that dynamic was Everybody Loves Raymond.
Whilst he's definitely had some lead roles, it's usually in smaller budget works or films that didn't go anywhere, but he also regurlarly pops up in some bigger/major films as a character/supporting actor and he's one of my favourites, so I have to mention - Sam Rockwell.
Some of the many others are William Sadler, Denholm Elliot, Patricia Clarkson, J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney (usually steals the show), John Hawkes, Chris Cooper, Alan Rickman, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Julie Walters....in fact, pretty much every adult actor in the Potter movies, both male and female, and of course there's Judi Dench.
People are really bringing out some wonderful actors and actresses.
I certainly agree about the adult cast of the Potter movies. Each movie in the franchise seemed to add at least three more English actors with significant gravitas. And Sam Rockwell could make my list just for Galaxy Quest, but has done so much more. And Allison Janney - give me more Allison.
Green Acres and Everybody Loves Raymond are perfect examples of surrounding a "sane" central figure with comedic characters. Perhaps the most extreme form of that was the original Bob Newhart Show, in which he played a psychologist so they could have part of the comedic circle be he his patients. The Mary Tyler Moore Show used this approach as well.
Slim Pickins! Yes! Enough said.
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@wwes - my apologies to Brad Bird and to Linda Hunt. Unforgivable on my part. Linda Hunt gets to stay on my list though, and will just have to content herself with her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
I really like the additions of Elisha Cook and Agnes Moorehead. They just showed Maltese Falcon and Citizen Kane on TCM, so both actors were on my mind.
The discussion of 60s/70s TV shows made me think of an iconic sidekick - Bill Daily. He played the pilot neighbor on Bob Newhart and "master's" best friend on I dream of Jeannie. Spent a lot of time in uniform!
Brandon Gleeson is awesome.
Congratulations to two of our favorites!
And the Oscars for best performance in a supporting role go to
Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney
The name that popped into my head when reading this thread was Ed Bishop. He's probably best known for playing Commander Straker in UFO, but he seems to have been the only American actor working in the UK during the 1970's. Any show on British TV that needed an american character to appear in an episode turned to Ed Bishop first. Burt Kwouk had a similar monopoly on Japanese characters. Both were good actors though.
I tend to favor actors with faces that look like they've been lived in - and have hit, at times, the occasional door or the odd fist or two - Charles Bronson, Charles Coburn, and Martin Landau, before they made it into the staring roles. And the general-purpose villain, Anthony Zerbe.
Did you mean James Coburn? And as long as we're nominating guys with a well worn face (and acting chops to boot), there's also Lee Marvin. Man, I really loved him. LOL Donovan's Reef, Paint Your Wagon, Cat Ballou, etc :). Oh, and Jack Palance!! "I crap bigger'n you." LOL
Laurie