# Best Character Actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2001, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240 "2001-09-17T19:53:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/41 "2001-09-19T20:43:34Z")
**Dwight Schultz** - oh hell yes! If you thought he was just the crazy guy on “The A-Team”, please rent “Fat Man & Little Boy” with Paul Newman & John Cusack, among others. Dwight’s portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer was amazing. **Fred Thompson** - lawyer (argued before the Supremes at least once), actor, senator- it’s all good! **Robert Loggia** - he made the difference in Return to Me. **Joe Pantoliano** - I really wish they’d give him another TV series- The Fanelli Boys was the funniest & best show you never watched. **Michael Ironside** - was he even hotter than Tom Cruise in Top Gun? **Roma Mafia** - gotta get some modern ladies in here! **Diane Venora** - has co-starred with the likes of Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, Antonio Banderas and Richard Gere, and that’s just in the last few years. **Alex Karras** - but then I have a soft spot for Blazing Saddles alumni. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/42 "2001-09-19T22:03:02Z")
Good stuff! This sounds like the crowd to help me track down a name I’ve been itching to find for years. This guy usually played shopkeepers in TV and movie westerns made in the 50s and maybe early 60s. He was short, stooped over, round-faced and had a distinctivly wheezy voice. He may have been in a Twilight Zone episode, too. Amy help from the Teeming Millions would be appreciated. Thanks, Hometownboy ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/43 "2001-09-19T23:54:32Z")
More to add: Nehemiah Persoff Anthny Zerbe Roger C. Carmel Whit Bissel Alan Fudge Lee J. Cobb Lee Van Cleef Liam Sullivan Pat Hingle J. Pat O’Malley (could this be who you’re thinking of, Hometownboy?) Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![kebbyrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@kebbyrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kebbyrd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/44 "2001-09-20T01:08:09Z")
Hometownboy, I believe you may be thinking of Percy Helton. I tend to think of him most easily as Homer Cratchit, the abused bookkeeper of The Beverly Hillbillies. Check out his biography on IMDb and be amazed at a 70+ year career. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/45 "2001-09-20T05:39:31Z")
Wow! Many, many thanks \*\*kebbyrd \*\*! Percy Helton it was indeed. Plugging his name into Google gave me a picture at [What A Character](http://www.what-a-character.com/cgi-bin/main.cgi?indexby=tvguest&title=Alcoa%20Presents), and the Blockbuster site quoted the All Movie Guide: “Perhaps the quintessential ‘who is that?’ actor, Helton popped up, often uncredited, in over one hundred succinct screen characterizations. Forever hunched over and eternally short of breath, he played many an obnoxious clerk, nosey mailman, irascible bartender, officious train conductor and tremulous stool pigeon.” By the way, the IMDB listing is indeed amazing. Mr. Helton got his start in vaudeville at the age of two, played on the stage under the guidance of George M. Cohan, earned a Distinguished Service Cross in WWI, and began his movie career with an appearance in a silent movie in 1915 (!) He went on to appear in such amazingly diverse flicks as “Miracle on 34th Street” (as a drunken Santa!) Bob Hope’s “Fancy Pants” biblical flick “The Robe” Marilyn Monroe’s “How to Marry a Millionaire” the 1954 Judy Garland “A Star Is Born” Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” “Jailhouse Rock” “The Music Man” “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte” The Monkees’ “Head” and even “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Now them’s credentials. Not to mention his TV work as bookkeeper “Homer Cratchit” on a half dozen 1962 episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. He also appeared on two Twilight Zones, four Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes, Maverick, Batman, Get Smart, The Adventures of Superman, Green Acres, My Three Sons, The Untouchables. Mr. Ed, Perry Mason, Death Valley Days, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Real McCoys, Gunsmoke, the Wild, Wild West, Petticoat Junction and Mission Impossible. He died in 1971. What a career! Love the SDMB. You guys are great. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Harvey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@Max\_Harvey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Harvey)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/46 "2001-09-20T05:54:48Z")
A thread about character actors and no mention of **Wallace Shawn?!?** Inconceivable! And **Stephen Tobolowsky** , the nerd who was seduced for his password in Sneakers, the “Bing!” guy in Groundhog Day, the would-be rapist in Single White Female, etc. etc. etc. etc. These two are the quintessential “Hey! You’re that…_guy_…in that…_movie_” actors. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/47 "2001-09-20T15:45:23Z")
Glad to see that Franklin Pangborne got mentioned, even though he always played the same guy - namely, Franklin Pangborne. Peter Lorre has also been mentioned, and he’s among the best. Walter Brennan was good as well, even though he usually just played himself: My Darling Clemintine, Support Your Local Gunfighter, and as the rummy in To Have and Have Not. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/48 "2001-09-20T15:55:07Z")
Hey guys, I was gonna throw in **Dub Taylor** ’s name and went looking for a link and found a picture of [**Ukelele Ike!**](http://www.surfnetinc.com/chuck/pals2.htm) If you scroll down you can find a pic of Dub as well, but you can find a better pic [here.](http://cialab.ee.washington.edu/Marks-Stuff/Gunsmoke/shots/30-taylor.htm) Has anyone mentioned **Andy Devine?** How about **Edward Everett Horton?** Most people will recognize his voice from thr Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (he narrated Fractured Fairy Tales) but he was in over 100 movies from the '20s through the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/49 "2001-09-20T18:37:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BingoBurringo \* > \*\*Michael Ironside, baby. > > He’s never smiled. EVER. \*\* I’m pretty sure he smiled in his role as Dr. Swift on “ER”. Once or twice I’m sure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dlb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@dlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/50 "2001-09-20T19:01:26Z")
I don’t believe it. I simply don’t believe it. This thread has gone on this long, and no one has mentioned **John Saxon**. The man is amazing. He can do it all. Leading man when necessary, broken down sheriff, suave continental detective, martial arts expert, corporate executive, cop, all these disappearing into the role so completely you don’t notice him. Maybe that is why he has not received his due; he is too damn good. I notice that no one has also mentioned Leo G. Carroll (I think that is the right spelling). From a score of Topper films to the role of Alexander Waverly on the Man from Uncle, setting the standard for crusty commanders (yes, even more than “M” from the Bond films). I second Robert Loggia. I remember him as a kid from a one season wonder: “T.H.E. Cat”, where he played a cat burglar turned bodyguard. I wanted to be that cool so bad I could taste it. ---
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/51 "2001-09-20T20:47:26Z")
BIG biker looking guy, usually with a scraggly beard and huge beer gut. IRL the nicest guy you have ever met. He has done everything from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman to The Doors, No Way Out, Mask, Tin Cup and a bunch of other movies and TV roles. I couldn’t find a pic online of him… ## O Vidi Vici Veni! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/52 "2001-09-20T20:53:29Z")
ADD: Malachi Throne IIRC, Burkley did a breath mints commercial wherein he and a bunch of little old ladies are riding a subway, and of course he looks like a terror, but one lady compiments him on his fresh breath and he’s really a sweet pussycat. This may help folks remember and say “Oh, yeah, that guy.” Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Oicu812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f475e1/32.png) [@Oicu812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oicu812)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/53 "2001-09-20T21:11:34Z")
That’s funny. You have a 30 year career, and people remember you for a breath mint commercial. O ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/54 "2001-09-20T21:40:24Z")
Most of mine–Blore, Horton, Moorehead, Arden, Rains, Brennan–have been mentioned, but here are a few more: Arthur Kennedy (_The Man from Laramie, Some Came Running, Lawrence of Arabia_) Thelma Ritter (_Rear Window, Pickup on South Street, All About Eve_) David Strathairn (_Matewan, Passion Fish, L.A. Confidential_) Margaret Rutherford (_Blithe Spirit, The Importance of Being Earnest_) Ward Bond (_The Searchers, On Dangerous Ground, It’s a Wonderful Life_) Marjorie Rambeau (_Man’s Castle, The Primrose Path, Min and Bill_) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/55 "2001-09-20T22:27:58Z")
Another Burkley moment folks may remember (and I’m pretty sure it is he) is from a flick which I can’t recall the title of, but stars John Ritter, I think, as a nerdish guy being bullied by Burkley. Ritter: What are you going to do, beat me up? Burkley (twangy voice): Beat you up? Heck no, these are the 90s, we’re gonna sue ya. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Trenchmouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Trenchmouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trenchmouth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/56 "2001-09-21T01:41:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EJsGirl \* > [B > > **Joe Pantoliano** - I really wish they’d give him another TV series- The Fanelli Boys was the funniest & best show you never watched. > > \*\* So THE SOPRANOS doesn’t count now? How someone can be so creepy and hilarious at the same time is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/57 "2001-09-21T06:04:38Z")
Man! Everyone’s naming all the great ones! I am usually a freakin’ encycleopedia of character actors, but for some reason I’m running dry. But a few names have leaped up. Susan Oliver (She was in everything, always fabulous!) Margaret Nolan So great in “Dirty Sally”, wife to John McIntire. Monte Markham (He’s been in _everything_, and doesn’t seem to age.) Ken Curtis (you think he just was Festus on “Gunsmoke”? He had a small part in “Mr Roberts”, and waas almost unrecognizable!) Perry Lopez (“Chinatown” and countless other roles.) James Best (you think he was only the goofy Sheriff in “Dukes of Hazzard”? He can play good guys and bad guys, and was quite a hunk in his youth!) Pepe Serna (“Reno” in “Buckaroo Banzai” and umpteen other roles.) I just saw Michael Ironside on an episode of “Outer Limits” last night, and damn, he was good. He played a “good guy” (this is a rare thing, so I appreciated the novelty.) He even smiled. I second the vote for John Saxon. He’s just fabulous! And who can forget William Smith? He usually played bad guys, but he could be damned good with good guys too. I always enjoyed seeing him. Don Stroud. Another “bad guy” that doesn’t get enough good guy rolls (IMO). Richard Jordan. Very eclectic rolls, usually weirdos and bad guys, but not always. Died too soon. And I just remembered - the incomparable Brad Dourif! Man! He is the BEST! Such bizarre rolls he will play, and always wonderfully! Has anyone seen him in “Common Bonds” with Michael Ironside? Not the best movie, but has a lot of heart. And interesting and different roles for both actors. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/58 "2001-09-21T14:08:58Z")
Jeremy Piven ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/59 "2001-09-24T18:52:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trenchmouth \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by EJsGirl \* > > [B > > > > **Joe Pantoliano** - I really wish they’d give him another TV series- The Fanelli Boys was the funniest & best show you never watched. > > > > \*\* > > So THE SOPRANOS doesn’t count now? How someone can be so creepy and hilarious at the same time is amazing. \*\* Actually, I meant his OWN series. He sure deserves it. ---
**Author:** ![caircair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@caircair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caircair)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240/60 "2001-09-24T20:32:16Z")
I’m surprised no one mentioned Ned Glass. He was the typical Jewish older man – best known as “Doc” in WEST SIDE STORY. Incidentally, I thought his performance in that movie was heartrending. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-character-actors/82240.md?page=4)