# Who are the best/your favorite non-actor actors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [November 16, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325 "2024-11-16T18:23:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/21 "2024-11-17T00:58:01Z")
Fred Thompson. Match **that** resume! > **[Fred Thompson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Thompson)** > > Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 1994 to 2003. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the Republican Party presidential primaries for the 2008 United States presidential election. > He chaired the International Security Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of State, was a member of the U.S.–Ch... ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/22 "2024-11-17T01:01:08Z")
Bill Burr impressed me in both Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian. That’s good range for a comic. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/23 "2024-11-17T01:07:49Z")
And then there’s Slim Pickens, who was a rodeo performer before he got into the movies as a character actor. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/24 "2024-11-17T01:55:15Z")
Didn’t Audie Murphy star in a couple of films? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/25 "2024-11-17T02:13:37Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Roger Daltrey deserves a mention. My favorite role of his was as host of the short-lived “Extreme History” series. Sadly, except for a few short clips it doesn’t seem to be available anywhere online. I liked him as Fitzcairn in Highlander the Series. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/26 "2024-11-17T02:29:31Z")
Andre the Giant ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/27 "2024-11-17T02:34:19Z")
I don’t know if he counts, but **Danny Aiello** didn’t become an actor until he was in his 40s, after years of working various odd jobs to make a living, including a stint as president of a transit workers union and as a nightclub bouncer. Starting with a couple of small roles in the early 1970s, including one line in “The Godfather,” he went on to dozens of acclaimed roles in television and motion pictures. I always enjoyed seeing him in anything he made. For him, life began at 40. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/28 "2024-11-17T04:41:50Z")
Richard Farnsworth. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/29 "2024-11-17T06:20:43Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Didn’t Audie Murphy star in a couple of films? About 40 of them. Don Siegel was going to cast him as the psycho sniper in _Dirty Harry_ just before Murphy died in a plane crash. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/30 "2024-11-17T06:40:17Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Dennis Farina Thanks for the background! I had no idea about that, and I definitely love every role I ever saw him in. ---
**Author:** ![Mongoose3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@Mongoose3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongoose3)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/31 "2024-11-17T07:16:04Z")
OJ Simpson ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/32 "2024-11-17T07:32:53Z")
Joseph N. “At last sir, have you no decency” Welch in Anatomy of a Murder. No argument, a bit wooden, but a delight nonetheless. According to the story I’d heard, for the 1976 version of Midway, they tried to put actual participants both Japanese and American on mock-ups of their battle stations, but they froze up in terror. Seems 35 ml cameras are more terrifying than 16” guns. And if we really want to go through the looking glass, there was M. E. Clifton James, a legitimate actor who was tapped by British Intelligence by virtue of his resemblance to Bernard Law Montgomery to act as his double to fool with Axis intelligence. When a movie was made of the switch, of course he got the part. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/33 "2024-11-17T08:28:07Z")
Just for your entertainment, here are Farina and Jones together in Snatch: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/n1NzKGCNmmY/maxresdefault.jpg "Snatch: Stuck in the window of the car HD CLIP") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1NzKGCNmmY) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/34 "2024-11-18T01:59:12Z")
Yep, I kept scrolling to see if someone had mentioned him. My favorite role of his was as the naval office in Hunt For Red October. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/35 "2024-11-18T02:00:45Z")
I rremember watching him the first time, squinting at the TV, and asking myself “Isn’t that…?” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/36 "2024-11-18T02:59:44Z")
You wouldn’t think Farina could be funny, but if you haven’t seen it, Dave Barry’s **Big Trouble** is a hoot and he’s great! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/37 "2024-11-18T03:01:18Z")
I really liked that movie, and Dennis Farina was great in it. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2024, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/38 "2024-11-18T03:09:30Z")
I’m not sure if John Mahoney (best known as Martin Crane in _Frasier_) entirely qualifies, but he spent years as an English teacher, and an editor for a medical journal, before he decided to take acting lessons; he didn’t quit his day job to become a full-time actor until he was in his late 30s. However, by the time he had his breakthrough as an actor (both on stage and in films), it appears that he’d been working at the craft for some years. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/39 "2024-11-18T03:17:03Z")
John Houseman was 71 when he got his first major movie role (“Paper Chase”), but this might not count as he was very busy in theater up to that point. He had only a fifteen year movie career. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2024, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325/40 "2024-11-18T03:22:02Z")
And Houseman won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for that first role; his previous experience was as a theater and film producer and director. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-your-favorite-non-actor-actors/1010325.md?page=3)