# Who are the best sleasball actors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838 "2002-12-15T03:11:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/1 "2002-12-15T03:11:36Z")
I don’t go to movies much any more. I’m not all that interested in watching thing blow up. The two best actors to play fourflushing grifters that I saw were Sheldon Leonard and the late Jack Carson. Any new nominees? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/2 "2002-12-15T03:23:17Z")
Joe Pesci. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/3 "2002-12-15T03:26:54Z")
Richard Widmark, bar none. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/4 "2002-12-15T03:32:02Z")
Can’t get much sleazier than Mickey Rourke. ---
**Author:** ![Global\_Citizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Global\_Citizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Global_Citizen)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/5 "2002-12-15T03:47:30Z")
I nominate [Peter Lorre](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Lorre,+Peter). He was always so good playing creepy characters. Global Citizen ---
**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:** [December 15, 2002, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/6 "2002-12-15T04:11:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > **I don’t go to movies much any more. I’m not all that interested in watching thing blow up.** What about all the really good movies where things _don’t_ blow up? They far outnumber the movies where things do blow up. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/7 "2002-12-15T04:14:24Z")
Steve Buscemi, of course. _Almost_ as wierd-at-a-glance as Peter Lorre. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/8 "2002-12-15T04:15:13Z")
Robert Mitchum ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/9 "2002-12-15T04:39:43Z")
I was thinking the other day how Joe Pantoliano is making a pretty good career for himself playing slightly to very sleazy characters: Risky Business, Midnight Run, Matrix, and more. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/10 "2002-12-15T04:55:08Z")
While not as well known as the others, Jere Burns seems to play nothing but sleazeballs. [http://us.imdb.com/Name?Burns,%20Jere](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Burns,%20Jere) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/11 "2002-12-15T05:08:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*Joe Pesci. \*\* Pesci was tremendous in _Goodfellas_, but I didn’t think of him as a phoney fourflusher. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/12 "2002-12-15T16:50:04Z")
James Woods. David Patrick Kelly. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/13 "2002-12-15T16:53:19Z")
Bruce Dern…the worst ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/14 "2002-12-15T16:54:46Z")
I forgot to mention Eric Roberts ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/15 "2002-12-15T17:11:00Z")
Saverio Guerra He plays Bob on Becker and played the sleazy bartender at the demon bar in Buffy the Vampire Slayer(the show). ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/16 "2002-12-15T17:18:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \* > \*\*Saverio Guerra > > He plays Bob on Becker and played the sleazy bartender at the demon bar in Buffy the Vampire Slayer(the show). \*\* Oh yes, Bob on _Becker_ is what I had in mind. He’s a little too likeable and not quite as oleaginous as some of the characters played by my choices, but he’s pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Maximino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mighty\_Maximino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Maximino)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/17 "2002-12-15T17:48:59Z")
You didn’t mention that he had to still be alive – and I find it hard to believe that anyone could ever be sleazier than M. Emmet Walsh. (If you don’t believe me, go rent **Blood Simple**.) ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/18 "2002-12-15T22:05:10Z")
Second Steve Buscemi. See him in Ghost World and Reservoir Dogs. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/19 "2002-12-15T22:37:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mighty Maximino \* > **You didn’t mention that he had to still be alive –** One of my choices was _the late_ Jack Carson. Probably a lot of you never heard of[Jack Carson](http://www.what-a-character.com/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=982796997) so here is a site. And this one has[a picture.](http://us.imdb.com/EGallery?source=mptv&group=1206&photo=2172_2066.jpg&path=pgallery&path_key=Carson,+Jack) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838/20 "2002-12-15T22:51:31Z")
I have a few old-time radio performances by Jack Carson-- (with almost 1000 hours of archived material, not much of a surprise.) I think my favourite is an episode of _Suspense_ called _The One Millionth Joe_, where he plays a murderer who has the mixed fortune of being selected as the millionth customer to walk through the doors of a big ol’ department store. So he gets a free “getaway” (and plenty of other goodies), but of course the store wants lots of publicity. Not so good. He plays a good schemer, for sure. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-sleasball-actors/142838.md?page=2)