Has got to be, at least for my generation (a lot closer to being 40 than I like to admit(8 months and counting)), William Zabka. This guy ALWAYS played the blond bad guy in mid 80s movies. Karate Kid, Back to School, Just One of the Guys, European Vacation…wherever you looked, there he was, always playing the same character. This afternoon I laid down for a brief nap, and as I slept, I dreamed about being back in high school, and William Zabka was there, in my dream, being the obnoxious jock. Jesus, he OWNS that role!
I wonder if I owe him dream royalties now?
M Emmet Walsh and Harry Dean Stanton.
Between them they are in about a zillion films. And they played about a zillion different characters. Ebert even has a rule in his glossery, The Stanton -Walsh Rule: “Any movie with M Emmet Walsh or Harry Dean Stanton is usually worth watching.” (OK, I paraphrased it.)
Dan Hedaya
John C. Reilly.
Philip Seymour Hoffman used to be a good candidate here but maybe he’s too famous now, having won a Best Actor Oscar, to qualify.
William Devane.
Peter Lorre
Keith David
Steve Buscemi, if he counts anymore.
David Paymer
John Wayne.
One of the greatest died just recently: Jack Warden.
Some of my favorites have already been mentioned upthread, but to show that earlier generations had their stalwarts:
Strother Martin
Jack Elam
Burl Ives
Charles Bickford
Lee J. Cobb
Pat Hingle
Ed Begley (not the one still active – Jr.)
Victor Jory
R.G. Armstrong
Slim Pickens
Luke Askew
and I would include Karl Malden, even though he rose to near-star status.
Some of those guys (and gals) who helped make the B Westerns and old TV Westerns so popular were unsung heroes as well.
He’s still alive!?!?!
And available for work!
Jack Gilford
Tony Shaloub
Sandra Oh
Bruce Campbell, the B movie King.
May I jump in here with a Harry Dean Stanton question? I recently saw You, Me and Dupree. In the scene when Dupree is told he can’t keep using the cot at the bar as his bed, I was sure that the character who objected was called “Curly” and it looked like HDS to me. However no-one in the credits appears to be the character I have in mind. It’s only a few minutes in for those yet to see it.
Thanks for any help.
I’ll nominate Frank Nelson.
But perhaps we need to define “most successful.” Made the most money? Most well-known? Most credited appearances?
It seems we have a couple different definitions of what a character actor is. Anyone care to take a stab at defining the term?
Wayne Knight deserves a mention, if only for the one-two punch of Jurassic Park and Seinfeld.
Important point. I’ll give my impression of what a “character actor” is and does, without trying to find an authority to cite.
He/she is an essential character whose actor will not be up for Best Actor. Supporting Role sort of thing. Actors who are regularly cast in such roles begin to earn the label “character actor” when it’s pretty clear casting directors will go to these folks to fill out a cast with competent, creative, reliable performers.
They’re bigger roles than extras and cameos, but occasionally even “Stars” do cameo roles so that’s not much of a distinction.
Another aspect of the designation is that the character will usually have some stereotypical function within the piece (play, movie, show, whatever) that requires a convincing non-trivial portrayal. The emotional range and power the true Character Actor brings is what sets him/her apart form just you Lesser Player.
After the Star(s), the Character Actors will appear next in the billing, often with the “And” or “With” tag at the end of the credits for actors.
What have I left out?
From The Complete Film Dictionary:
I think by just about any standard, **Walter Brennan** must be considered the most “successful”:[ul]
[li]3 Academy Awards, more than anyone in the supporting category[/li][li]Over 200 films spanning half a century[/li][li]Dozens of television episodes[/li][li]Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame[/li][li]Appeared in 5 films on the U.S. National Film Registry and an additional 2 dozen Oscar nominees[/ul][/li]
Not to mention being instantly recognizable in comedies, westerns, dramas, war pix, thrillers, etc.
“Was you ever bit by a dead bee?”
It’s Brennan all the way down.