I just wanted to give a shout out to the Bit Player God among Men out there…Richie Cunningham’s brother, Clint Howard.
I love Clint, he seems to be a total professional and I think he is trying his hardest to not be in his bro’s shadow with a huge list of acting gigs on his own -though he never turns down a role in his brothers productions and does surprising well.
When I saw him get a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Movie Awards and he was naturally touched to be recognized (I think they wanted to make it a joke), he made me a fan for life.
Plus you can’t go wrong with a kid who tangled with Captain Kirk on the original Star Trek!
Go Clint Howard!
Anybody else want to throw in with a favorite bit player?
I have two from the 1930s, who can’t even be called “character actors,” as they rarely had roles over a few lines. But always stole their scenes:
Theresa Harris, a lovely black actress who, sadly, played mostly maids. But she also had some great non-maid roles, and was a beautiful, snappy, clever actress.
Polly Walters, a Harlow-esque platinum blonde who made a handful of films in the early '30sm then vanished. She specialized in droning-voiced receptionists and switchboard girls: you’d remember her if you saw her.
I was always a Brion James fan, and let us not forget the man himself, Bruce Campbell. Some definite runners up would be Clint Howard, Brian Cox, Ted Raimi, and these next few are kind of stretches because they’ve become bigger actors, but i’ve also always liked John C. Reilly, David Morse, and Willaim H. Macy.
Dick Miller - a book I read called him “the arcetypal smart-ass”.
He was the truck driver in “Gremlins”, the diner owner in “Twilight Zone - the Movie” and the bookstore owner in “the Howling”.
There was this elderly man named Lou…I can’t think of this last name…He was slight of build and balding and his ears stuck out…I think he was on “Friends” as well as many other sitcoms.
I also think he might have been one of the judges on “Ally
Mc Beal”.He was always the crotchety, tell it like it is, old man…
I got a kick out of him, because he reminded me of my dad. Anybody remember his last name? I think he passed away fairly recently.
Also…I always liked Bert Mustin, another “old man character actor” from various 60’s TV shows and William Schallert who I always refer to as “Patty Duke’s Father”.
More of a supporting role than bit player, but Chris Tucker’s portrayal of Ruby Rod in The Fifth Element was simply outstanding. I feel he should have at least received an Oscar nomination for his work. His character was fully three dimensional and his acting was in place and consistent throughout the movie. He put Bruce Willis to absolute shame.
Here’s a second vote for Dick Miller. I don’t know if it’s apocryphal or not, but he allegedly played an Indian in the morning and a cowboy in the afternoon in one of those infamous Roger Corman grade Z movies - love it. He’s become a sort of “good luck” charm for a lot of directors.
Jeffrey Combs is more of a B-movie actor, but he’s such a damn good character actor! When I saw him play the scary FBI agent in “The Frighteners” I was hooked!