# Your favorite character actor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151 "2011-08-02T04:39:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/41 "2011-08-03T16:55:09Z")
Walter Brennan. He was the go-to guy whenever a cussed old western sidekick, comic hayseed, or shrewd cowboy villain was needed. He also stole more than his regulation share of scenes from the lead guy. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/42 "2011-08-03T16:58:37Z")
Definitely going to go with Gary Oldman, Alan Tudyk takes second. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/43 "2011-08-03T17:07:57Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > No love for [Steven Tobolowsky](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0864997/) yet? He’s seems to have been in every show and movie ever made. 🙂 Needle-Nose Ned? Ned the Head? They’ve had lead roles, but in small movies and are still essentially character actors: [Richard Jenkins](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0420955/) [J.K. Simmons](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0799777/) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/44 "2011-08-03T18:25:09Z")
More love for Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Oldman and Strother Martin. For the ladies, Margaret Dumont, Holland Taylor (Evelyn Harper on 2.5 Men), and the late Nancy Walker. ---
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/45 "2011-08-03T19:50:47Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > [Vincent D’Onofrio] played the lead role on a successful TV show for 10 years! IMO, that kinda DQs him as a “character actor”. No need to hold it against him. “Often referred to as an actor’s actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of Human Chameleon.” --Wiki biography ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/46 "2011-08-03T20:02:14Z")
I miss not seeing John Cazale around any more, he was always fascinating to watch. I just read his Wiki, and he was only in a half-dozen films, and died at 42. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/47 "2011-08-03T20:20:30Z")
Another vote for William H. Macy. I will see anything that has him in the cast list. ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/48 "2011-08-04T16:34:10Z")
I have all the love in the world for [David Morse](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001556) ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/49 "2011-08-04T17:12:10Z")
Wilhelm Scream. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/50 "2011-08-04T20:03:25Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Harry Dean Stanton Even back in 1971, In what is now a sort of cult hot rod flick staring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. There was a brief part about a gay hitchhiker, who? Harry Dean Stanton. Billed as H.D. Stanton. And it was just a great little odd moment, in a great little odd film. “Two Lane Blacktop.” One of my favorites. I still say Warren Oates should have got an Oscar. > **[Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) ⭐ 7.2 | Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067893/)** > > 1h 42m | R ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/51 "2011-08-04T20:06:00Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Wilhelm Scream. Yeah, he’s been in a LOT of movies! ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/52 "2011-08-04T20:22:35Z")
Ian Holm: [his IMDB entry](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000453/). (There are others I would have mentioned, but they graduated to leading roles after many years of supporting roles, so they’re DQ’d for the purposes of this thread.) ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/53 "2011-08-04T22:41:32Z")
Timothy Carey for the win. Walter Brennan, Harry Dean Stanton, and Elisha Cook, Jr. for honorable mentions. (No offense, gang!) ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/54 "2011-08-06T03:54:37Z")
What about Denis O’Hare? For the longest time, I knew his face but not his name. He was in lots of Law & Order shows and had supporting roles in other films and TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/55 "2011-08-08T16:51:33Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Even back in 1971, In what is now a sort of cult hot rod flick staring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. There was a brief part about a gay hitchhiker, who? > > Harry Dean Stanton. Billed as H.D. Stanton. > > And it was just a great little odd moment, in a great little odd film. > > “Two Lane Blacktop.” > > One of my favorites. I still say Warren Oates should have got an Oscar. > > [Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067893/) You have good taste. This is without a doubt one of the best movies ever made. It’s a minimalist masterpiece. Warren Oates played such an amazingly good drifter, he had a story for everybody, and in the end it came all the way back around. Highly recommended movie. I thought I was one of the 20 or so people left on Earth that actually liked it. It’s hard to believe that there are two of us here. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/56 "2011-08-08T17:04:16Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > You have good taste. This is without a doubt one of the best movies ever made. It’s a minimalist masterpiece. Warren Oates played such an amazingly good drifter, he had a story for everybody, and in the end it came all the way back around. > > Highly recommended movie. I thought I was one of the 20 or so people left on Earth that actually liked it. It’s hard to believe that there are two of us here. Better make that 3 of us. I own it on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/57 "2011-08-08T23:00:37Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > And another personal favorite: James Hong. Whenever an oriental actor was needed, he seemed to be the go-to guy for decades. But James Hong isn’t just the “generic Asian actor.” He’s the generic Asian high-class authority-figure actor. He always seems to turn up as a businessman, politician, diplomat, mob boss or master-of-something. Need a guy to play Cassandra’s stuffy dad in Wayne’s World 2? James Hong is your guy. He’s the Chinese James Rebhorn. And of course, there’s Tzi Ma, the Bill Pullman to Hong’s Bill Paxton. Or maybe it’s the other way around. He’s not quite as ubiquitous or as typecast as Hong, but he’s the other Asian go-to guy for the same types of roles. The Will Patton to Hong’s Bill Pullman and Ma’s Bill Paxton (or maybe its the other way around) is Al Leong. If you need crazy violent Asian guy with a great mustache, Al Leong is going to be your first choice. Genghis Khan? Check! And let’s not forget B. D. Wong, who is the…well, I’m out of Bill/Will P\_\_\_ns. He has the little delicate Asian guy market cornered. Approximately 50% of all Hollywood roles for Asian men are filled by either Hong, Ma, Leong, or Wong. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/58 "2011-08-09T17:57:11Z")
Dwight Frye Edgar Buchanan John Carradine Tim Blake Nelson Charles Durning ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/59 "2011-08-09T20:53:32Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > And another personal favorite: James Hong. Whenever an oriental actor was needed, he seemed to be the go-to guy for decades. He was the evil Lo-Pan in “Big Trouble In Little China,” the eyeball-making cyberneticist Chew in “Blade Runner,” (“I only do eyes! Just eyes!”), and the Korean restaurant matre 'd on a “Seinfeld” episode. Oh yeah, he also voiced Po’s father in “Kung Fu Panda.” You forgot his roles as Booger’s mentor in “Revenge of the Nerds, Nerds in Paradise”, and Mike Meyer’s future father-in-law in “Wayne’s World 2” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151/60 "2011-08-09T21:00:28Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > And let’s not forget B. D. Wong, who is the…well, I’m out of Bill/Will P\_\_\_ns. He has the little delicate Asian guy market cornered. B.D. Wong is the Billy Zane to Hong’s Bill Pullman to Ma’s Bill Paxton. They both have played effeminates (Father of the Bride, The Freshman, Tombstone). They both have played badasses (Executive Decision, The Phantom, Posse). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-character-actor/591151.md?page=4)