# Character Actor ID. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840 "2019-05-12T01:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/81 "2019-05-15T02:15:12Z")
Kiley is too handsome (And it’s not Theodore Bikel either, too heavy). Forster I’d know, especially since his career had something of a rebirth. And Barry Atwater is a good guess, but it’s not him either. And while we’re eliminating Barrys, it’s not Barry Sullivan. These guys are all way too well known. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/82 "2019-05-15T02:27:25Z")
[Whit Bissel](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000946/?ref_=tt_cl_t7)? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/83 "2019-05-15T03:10:20Z")
Kevin McCarthy? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/84 "2019-05-15T03:11:27Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Whit Bissel](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000946/?ref_=tt_cl_t7)? I thought of this yesterday, but he’s the scientist, not the accountant, and he had no glasses I know of. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/85 "2019-05-15T15:15:07Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Kevin McCarthy? As if I wouldn’t recognize the lead from “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. Hey, Whit Bissel was is _that_ too. Wasn’t he? OK, to round that out, it isn’t Richard Deacon or Larry Drake either. The guy I’m looking for is as nondescript as hell. The kind of guy you can’t describe five minutes after you see him. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/86 "2019-05-15T16:13:28Z")
Why do I feel like I walked into a _The Kids in the Hall_ sketch? Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/87 "2019-05-15T16:22:53Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > As if I wouldn’t recognize the lead from “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. Hey, Whit Bissel was is _that_ too. Wasn’t he? OK, to round that out, it isn’t Richard Deacon or Larry Drake either. The guy I’m looking for is as nondescript as hell. The kind of guy you can’t describe five minutes after you see him. Heh. Was it Jay Robinson? In a timeframe-relevant episode of BANACEK, a bespectacled Jay Robinson uses this as his hide-in-plain-sight gimmick, in a con involving an insurance company. Showed up on STAR TREK, even, before acting on BARNEY MILLER and MANNIX and HAWAII FIVE-O and so on and so on. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/88 "2019-05-15T16:32:45Z")
Ok maybe Charles Drake or Ian Wolfe. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/89 "2019-05-15T16:48:55Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > William Shallert? [William Schallert - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0769974/) William Shallert is best known for playing the father on The Patty Duke Show. I cannot imagine him being even slightly “menacing.” Also I would consider him a star (altho not big), not a character actor. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/90 "2019-05-15T16:57:55Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > William Shallert is best known for playing the father on The Patty Duke Show. I cannot imagine him being even slightly “menacing.” Also I would consider him a star (altho not big), not a character actor. He played Nilz Baris in “The Trouble with Tribbles,” in which he at least attempted to be menacing. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/91 "2019-05-15T17:34:34Z")
It is not Commodore Stocker or Mr. Atoz. (A to Z, get it?) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/92 "2019-05-15T22:18:56Z")
> [@Powers](#): > > Why do I feel like I walked into a _The Kids in the Hall_ sketch? “It’s not much of an actor’s workshop, is it?” “Finest in the district!” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/93 "2019-05-16T01:09:22Z")
John Dehner? (Older in the IMDb photo; more 60s/70s-era in the wikipedia one.) > **[John Dehner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dehner)** > > John Dehner (DAY-ner) (born John Dehner Forkum, also credited Dehner Forkum; November 23, 1915 – February 4, 1992) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor. From the late 1930s to the late 1980s, he amassed a long list of performance credits, often in roles as sophisticated con men, shady authority figures, and other smooth-talking villains. His credits just in feature films, televised series, and in made-for-TV movies number almost 300 productions. Dehner worked extensively as... > **[John Dehner - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0215000/)** > > John Dehner. Actor: The Boys from Brazil. He had one of Hollywood's most distinctive faces and a stentorian baritone voice to match. Character actor John Dehner, was born John Forkum in Staten Island, New York, the son of a globe-trotting artist. He... ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/94 "2019-05-16T02:38:03Z")
No, it’s not John Dehner. I’ve always liked that guy though. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/95 "2019-05-16T03:28:00Z")
Robert Ryan? Neville Brand? ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/96 "2019-05-16T05:59:08Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > …I’ve been going nuts trying to remember a character actor. I can picture him in my head but don’t remember his name or a single damn thing he was in… Verbal descriptions and random guesses aren’t working. If only you were a police sketch artist, you could draw a picture. Wait - there’s an app for that! Download the free version of Ultimate Flash Face (no link). If you can come up with a reasonable likeness, add it to this thread. Somebody is likely to know him. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/97 "2019-05-16T12:33:01Z")
Probably _too_ old of a white guy, but what the heck: [Burt Mustin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Mustin)? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/98 "2019-05-16T13:33:10Z")
[Paul Carr](https://www.google.com/search?q=paul+carr&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinrLPZlKDiAhXqTN8KHYHfD8wQ_AUIDygC&biw=1113&bih=823)? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/99 "2019-05-16T14:46:40Z")
Not Mustin or Carr. George Murdock would have been a good guess but he’s too “craggy”. [https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1172&bih=859&ei=5XfdXJKVCpC8sAXMqYHQAg&q=george+murdock&oq=geor&gs\_l=img.1.0.35i39j0l9.736.1282..3108...0.0..1.99.369.4......1....1..gws-wiz-img.....0.EiTklqlAPHQ](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1172&bih=859&ei=5XfdXJKVCpC8sAXMqYHQAg&q=george+murdock&oq=geor&gs_l=img.1.0.35i39j0l9.736.1282..3108...0.0..1.99.369.4......1....1..gws-wiz-img.....0.EiTklqlAPHQ) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840/100 "2019-05-16T15:09:36Z")
Barry Russo has a Trek credit to like, and it’d be easy to skip past his IMDB pic since he has a mustache in it — but when he’s clean-shaven, he looks like what he was: a guy who earned 1970s credits on shows like MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and BANACEK and MANNIX and CANNON and HAWAII FIVE-O and so on and so forth. (And, from a look at his _other_ credits, sometimes he’s playing a mafia don or a police desk sergeant; and sometimes he’s playing Lieutenant Myrowitz or Doctor Terrell.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-actor-id/833840.md?page=6)