# List your favourite character actors (and a film people would know them from) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117 "2016-01-04T01:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/1 "2016-01-04T01:55:56Z")
I know the expression “character actor” is silly but please play along. Secondary actor is probably more accurate. For me there are too many, both dead and alive. One was Victor Argo, who was in “King Of New York” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”. Paul Calderon, the bartender in “Pulp Fiction” Giancarlo Esposito, who’s in the hospital dealing with the burned Hungarian mobster in “The Usual Suspects” Victor Garber, who played Tish in “Light Sleeper” David Patrick Kelly of “The Warriors” fame (“Come out to PLAYEEEEEE”) ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/2 "2016-01-04T04:58:51Z")
J.T. Walsh, who played [Lt. Col. Markinson](http://ilarge.lisimg.com/image/5707481/1024full-a-few-good-men-screenshot.jpg) in _A Few Good Men_. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/3 "2016-01-04T05:17:21Z")
William Watson, among others. He was prolific in the 1960’s to 1970’s in film and tv so just lookie for one show or movie you like. > **[William C. Watson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Watson_(actor))** > > William C. Watson (October 5, 1938 – November 5, 1997) was an American actor. > Born in Chicago, Illinois, Watson appeared in many television series and films, In the Heat of the Night (1967), Lawman (1971), The Hunting Party (1971), Chato's Land (1972), Executive Action (1973) and Wholly Moses! (1980). > In the 1960s and 1970s, he guest-starred on several TV series such as The Rat Patrol, The High Chaparral, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Streets of San Francisco, Kojak, Hawaii Five-0, The Rookies, Star... ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/4 "2016-01-04T05:38:17Z")
Mark Williams, who was the Pest Control Operative in _The Borrowers_. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/5 "2016-01-04T06:01:04Z")
Stephen Root. His IMDB listing is nothing short of astonishing, with range that will shame most leading actors. From Milton in “Office Space” to the a political operative in “The West Wing” to and insane judge in “Idiocracy” ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/6 "2016-01-04T06:24:12Z")
Well, if it’s a mega-character actor you want, few could match the late Christopher Lee’s body of work. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/7 "2016-01-04T06:26:21Z")
John Dehner, who often played the bad guy, possibly best known as Pat Garrett opposite Paul Newman as Billy the Kid in “The Lefthanded Gun” or as the mill owner in “Carousel.” He also did comedic roles, and was great as Jane Fonda’s father in “Fun With Dick and Jane,” especially in the scene in which George Segal tries to beg money from him and Dehner explains how he’s jealous at how lucky Segal is to be challenged with financial difficulty. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/8 "2016-01-04T06:33:19Z")
Stephen Keats was a likable bad guy on tv. But he also did rom-coms in movies. Hester Street (1975) and The Ivory Ape (1980) come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/9 "2016-01-04T08:01:47Z")
[Margot Martindale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0553269/reference). She’s been in tons of things but I first really noticed her in a segment of Paris, je t’aime, where she got to shine as a lonely but awed American sightseeing around Paris. She’s narrating, reading her journal to her French club buddies back home. Her French is atrocious and when she tries to speak to a local they gently guide her into speaking English, which is a bit frustrating if you’re trying to practice your French. It’s a short but sweet, delicate and melancholy little thing, on [YouTube](https://youtu.be/mJG0lqukJTQ). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/10 "2016-01-04T13:14:48Z")
Keith David. 256 IMDB acting credits. A voice so good he’s the voice of the U.S. Navy. David Keith. _An Officer and a Gentleman._ For symmetry. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/11 "2016-01-04T13:58:38Z")
[Charles Lane](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0485272/), of course. 364 acting credits. During the 1930s and 40s, he would appear in a dozen movies a year (19 in 1937, for example), usually with just one or two lines. He would often go to one studio in the morning, do his scene, then go to another studio to do his scene in the afternoon. His voice and face are unmistakable: he had a ratchety voice and he’s always described at “hatchet-faced,” with a nose like a beak. When he wasn’t just some guy with one line, he played a grouchy banker type. His best-known film was _It’s a Wonderful Life_ as one of Potter’s flunkies. His closest thing to a major role was as Homer Bedloe, the villain in _Petticoat Junction_ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/12 "2016-01-04T14:24:33Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Stephen Root. His IMDB listing is nothing short of astonishing, with range that will shame most leading actors. From Milton in “Office Space” to the a political operative in “The West Wing” to and insane judge in “Idiocracy” I second this. He’s always a hoot. I particularly liked him as Gaston Means in _Boardwalk Empire_; he’s also the voice of Bill Dauterive in _King of the Hill._ ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/13 "2016-01-04T20:28:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I second this. He’s always a hoot. I particularly liked him as Gaston Means in _Boardwalk Empire_; he’s also the voice of Bill Dauterive in _King of the Hill._ Yeah, does a huge amount of voice work as well. I can’t believe I forgot to mention his bit as the blind radio station operator in _O Brother, Where Art Thou_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/14 "2016-01-04T20:33:17Z")
Michael Ironside is my favorite, “oh, that guy!” actor. He was Richter in \*Total Recall \*and Rasczak in _Starship Troopers_. He also has one of my favorite quotes: “I like to play bad guys, since good guys are always beaten up several times during the movie. Bad guys are beaten only once, in the end.” ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/15 "2016-01-04T20:39:19Z")
My favorite character actor is [Nicholas Pryor](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0699425/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1). He’s better known for his T.V. roles than for movies, although he has quite a few film credits. You might recognize him as Tom Cruise’s father in _Risky Business_, but you definitely know his face if you’ve watched T.V. at all since 1954. ---
**Author:** ![Richey84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Richey84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richey84)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/16 "2016-01-04T20:51:59Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > [Margot Martindale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0553269/reference). She’s been in tons of things but I first really noticed her in a segment of Paris, je t’aime, where she got to shine as a lonely but awed American sightseeing around Paris. She’s narrating, reading her journal to her French club buddies back home. Her French is atrocious and when she tries to speak to a local they gently guide her into speaking English, which is a bit frustrating if you’re trying to practice your French. It’s a short but sweet, delicate and melancholy little thing, on [YouTube](https://youtu.be/mJG0lqukJTQ). She’s even referred to as Character Actress Margot Martindale in the Netflix animated seris “Bojack Horseman.” She’s a very funny actress. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/17 "2016-01-04T21:15:41Z")
Percy Helton. Short bald guy with a raspy, breathless voice. I always picture him as the night clerk on duty in a dingy hotel when the hard-boiled _noir_ gumshoe bursts in and says “\*Where’s \*_Murphy_?” Percy replies: “Oh, Mr Murphy? He just went up the stairs!” Robert Easton, the lanky blonde guy with the prominent Adam’s apple who was typecast as a Texan/Southerner/Hillbilly. I was bowled over when I learned he played the Klingon High Judge in _ **Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country** _. Leonid Kinsey. Played Sasha the bartender in\*\*\* Casablanca\*\*\*, but I remember him best for acting alongside the Three Stooges in at least one short, and as POW Vladimir Minsk in the _ **Hogan’s Heroes** _ pilot. He really was born in Russia and emigrated after the Bolshevik Revolution. Kathleen Freeman. She bore enough of a facial resemblance to Loretta Swit that for a long time I thought they were related, maybe mother and daughter. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/18 "2016-01-04T21:30:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Kathleen Freeman. She bore enough of a facial resemblance to Loretta Swit that for a long time I thought they were related, maybe mother and daughter. The first thing that comes to mind for Kathleen is \*\*\*Hogan’s \*\*\*_ **Heroes** _, where she played the first Frau Gertrude Linkmeyer. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/19 "2016-01-04T21:41:42Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > J.T. Walsh, who played [Lt. Col. Markinson](http://ilarge.lisimg.com/image/5707481/1024full-a-few-good-men-screenshot.jpg) in _A Few Good Men_. Excellent actor; he was good in _Pleasantville_, too. But I loathe the character of Col. Markinson. **J.K. Simmons** - Dr. Skoda in _Law & Order_, J. Jonah Jameson in _Spider-Man_, and (hysterically) Cave Johnson in _Portal 2_. **Bruce Boa** - A colonel in _Full Metal Jacket_ (“Son, all I’ve ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God.”) and a demanding guest who wants a Waldorf Salad at _Fawlty Towers_. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117/20 "2016-01-05T01:57:15Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Stephen Root. His IMDB listing is nothing short of astonishing, with range that will shame most leading actors. From Milton in “Office Space” to the a political operative in “The West Wing” to and insane judge in “Idiocracy” Yes. Steven Root. He’s been in… **everything**. Had a big part in the movie\* Dodgeball\*. Was in the season opener of last years’\* Big Bang.\* The wiki listing all his parts is several pages long. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-your-favourite-character-actors-and-a-film-people-would-know-them-from/742117.md?page=2)