# In praise of the "Who IS that?" actor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174 "2009-12-14T02:30:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/1 "2009-12-14T02:30:51Z")
I’m talking about the actors who worked forever and never starred in anything but were recognizable and memorable in whatever they appeared. I give you [Mary Wickes.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926897/) I happen to watching _White Christmas_ right now, which is why I’m posting this. She worked in character roles in movies and TV series (six episodes in this, nine episodes in that) her entire career. She apparently hit the jackpot late in life in the Father Dowling series, but she was well known before that. I can think of dozens of others. How about you? ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/2 "2009-12-14T02:55:29Z")
I give you fanetracker - the website for ‘That guy’: [http://www.fametracker.com/hey\_its\_that\_guy/](http://www.fametracker.com/hey_its_that_guy/) ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/3 "2009-12-14T02:55:44Z")
Fametracker profiled many of these in their regular [“Hey! Its That Guy!”](http://www.fametracker.com/hey_its_that_guy/) feature. Sadly, they have not updated the site in 3 years or so. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/4 "2009-12-14T03:27:29Z")
If you don’t know who that guy is, what good is a site that lists actors by name? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/5 "2009-12-14T03:30:46Z")
The qunintesential “Hey That guy” doesn’t seem to be on it. [Dick Miller](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0588241/). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/6 "2009-12-14T03:38:53Z")
To anyone who watched TV in the 60s or 70s: I give you [Bradford Dillman](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=bradford+dillman+tv&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=&aqi=). ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/7 "2009-12-14T04:03:32Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > The qunintesential “Hey That guy” doesn’t seem to be on it. > > [Dick Miller](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0588241/). Nor is James Hampton (probably best known from F TROOP and TEEN WOLF). I’ve been a Dick Miller fan since BUCKET OF BLOOD. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/8 "2009-12-14T04:26:32Z")
[Richard Herd](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4140405504/nm0378800), who is, btw, a prince of a guy. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/9 "2009-12-14T04:44:58Z")
I always think of Oliver Platt, though he might be slightly too successful to really fit this, having had a few starring roles over the years. But, generally, he plays a supporting role, and he seems to work a heckuva lot – my wife and I joke that he’s been in 50% of all films made in the past 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/10 "2009-12-14T05:45:36Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > If you don’t know who that guy is, what good is a site that lists actors by name? 😕 [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com) is great as long as you know the name of the movie or show you’re watching and the name of the character you’re wondering about. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-the-who-is-that-actor/521174/11 "2009-12-14T10:20:25Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com) is great as long as you know the name of the movie or show you’re watching and the name of the character you’re wondering about. And it’s also great for looking up that person, which makes the former site worthless. Far better would be a search engine where you type what little you know, including looks information, whether a description or similarity to a famous actor.