# The "Oh, that guy!" thread. Character actor's faces, names and characters. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243 "2018-08-07T18:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/41 "2018-08-10T16:21:22Z")
[Michael J. Pollard](https://mubi.com/cast/michael-j-pollard), who was in “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Roxanne”, among others. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/42 "2018-08-10T16:39:35Z")
[James Tolkan](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0866055/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (Principal/Marshal Strickland in the _Back to the Future_ trilogy) was seemingly everywhere in the Eighties & Nineties. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/43 "2018-08-10T16:39:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [Michael J. Pollard](https://mubi.com/cast/michael-j-pollard), who was in “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Roxanne”, among others. And the _Star Trek_ episode “Miri” – “[Bonk bonk on the head!](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/f/f1/Jahn.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110421151315&path-prefix=en)” One of those guys whose face never really changed. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/44 "2018-08-10T16:50:09Z")
Needed a tough guy with a Little Italy accent in the Seventies? [Val Bisoglio](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0084267/?ref_=tt_rv_t10) was your man. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/45 "2018-08-10T18:15:25Z")
When you have a small part for a non-threatening old woman, you call [Frances Bay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3c/Frances_bay.jpg/220px-Frances_bay.jpg). One of those actors who’s been “old” seemingly for forever. ---
**Author:** ![vperry1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ee7513/32.png) [@vperry1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vperry1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/46 "2018-08-10T20:56:27Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The guy I’d like to add is [Oliver Platt](http://images.fandango.com/ImageRenderer/0/0/redesign/static/img/default_poster.png/0/images/masterrepository/performer%20images/p57054/2012-pm-oliverplatt-13.jpg). He’s had a few lead roles, but he’s usually a supporting actor, and seems to specialize in slightly nebbishy or eccentric roles. For a while there, in the 90s and early 2000s, it seemed like he was in every other movie. He’s an okay actor in my book, but a fantastic narrator. Flawless delivery and word pauses without dramatic emphasis. Just watch American Experience and hear for yourself. Perfect. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/47 "2018-08-10T22:34:39Z")
I’ve been watching a bit of UK TV, so I keep seeing [Anton Lesser.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Lesser) ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/48 "2018-08-12T09:43:34Z")
Yes, Anton Lesser is “everywhere”. He also has a distinctive voice. I’ve thought of some others to mention. Bonnie Bartlett [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0058783/?ref\_=nm\_ov\_bio\_lk4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0058783/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk4) and William Daniels [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200122/?ref\_=nmbio\_bio\_nm](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200122/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm). Both recognisable faces with long TV resumes. They have been married in real life since the 1950s and both still working. Most recently, I saw William in Grey’s Anatomy, he had a recurring role in that. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/49 "2018-08-12T13:08:06Z")
Since he’s been dead for going on 50 years, the odds are not so good that [Sonny Tufts - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0876211/?ref_=nv_sr_1) **Sonny Tufts** gets his name used “in jest” as much as he did say 20 years ago. But there for a while you’d hear other showbiz types use his name almost as a running gag on TV talk shows and the like. If I ever saw him in a movie, I can’t recall where, but the name has stuck! And his female counterpart would have to be [Zasu Pitts - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0686032/?ref_=nv_sr_1) **Zasu Pitts**. They were almost the **Randolph Scott** (Blazing Saddles) counterparts 20-30 years ago. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/50 "2018-08-12T13:28:29Z")
Zasu (pronounced SAY-zu, BTW) Pitts was one of Hollywood’s best character actresses. She could upstage W.C. Fields. He’s gone now, but Pete Postlethwait (Mr. Kobiashu in _The Usual Suspects_) was everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/51 "2018-08-12T13:38:35Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > How about Beth Grant. The annoying biddy it is so easy to dislike in almost everything. > > [Beth Grant - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0335275/) A busy annoying biddy. She has 220 credits, ten this year alone. I mentioned [James Karen](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM1Mzk4ODY5Ml5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMzA1OTU3._V1_.jpg) in another thread recently. Known as Mr. Pathmark to supermarket shoppers in the Northeast, he’s 94 and still working occasionally. He’s another one with [200+ credits.](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0439170/) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/52 "2018-08-12T14:05:35Z")
All this way and no mention of the incredible [Burt Mustin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Mustin)? You needed an old guy in the 50s through the 70s Burt was your guy. He started acting seriously at 67(!!!) in 1951 and his last appearance was in 1976. Appeared on innumerable Jack Webb shows - Dragnet, Emergency, Adam-12 - as well as The Brady Bunch (playing a guy who’s dad was killed by Jesse James!) and All in the Family. Just a classic ‘that guy’ actor. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/53 "2018-08-12T14:12:34Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > A busy annoying biddy. She has 220 credits, ten this year alone. > > I mentioned [James Karen](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM1Mzk4ODY5Ml5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMzA1OTU3._V1_.jpg) in another thread recently. Known as Mr. Pathmark to supermarket shoppers in the Northeast, he’s 94 and still working occasionally. He’s another one with [200+ credits.](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0439170/) He is probably best known as Mr. Pathmark but I will never forget him in Return of the Living Dead-- an underrated zombie movie along with Night of the Comet. Night of The Comet featured That Guy [Geoffrey Lewis.](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--m8LblYoR--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/le5wpgodbexhoqty9dre.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243/54 "2018-08-12T15:38:35Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > He is probably best known as Mr. Pathmark but I will never forget him in Return of the Living Dead-- an underrated zombie movie along with Night of the Comet. Night of The Comet featured That Guy [Geoffrey Lewis.](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--m8LblYoR--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/le5wpgodbexhoqty9dre.jpg) Yes! And I remember being taken out the movie momentarily when Mr. Pathmark showed up. It was like Mr. Whipple showing up with some Charmin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oh-that-guy-thread-character-actors-faces-names-and-characters/819243.md?page=2)