Favorite character actors.

[Bugman]

I love classic films, so it is no surprise that my favorites come from that era. Great character actors add so much to a film.

A few of my favorite female character actors.

Margret Hamilton, remembered by most as the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz.

Billie Burke, who played the good witch Glenda in the same film and had a long career in films and on stage.

Jane Darwell. She won the Academy Award in 1940 as Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. Her last film appearance was as The Bird Woman in the 1964 Disney classic Mary Poppins. In my opinion, Darwell was the greatest female character actress of her time.

Beulah Bondi. She had roles in many films including It's A Wonderfull Life, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and as Mrs. Webb in the 1940 film Our Town.

Joan Blondell. Blondell was the leading lady in a number of films in the 1930s, then began taking smaller, supporting roles.

There are more, but this is enough for now. Next up, the men.

Post your favorites here, from any era.

 

[C.A.B.]

YES! You nailed many of my favs.... hrrrmmmmm.... in no particular order:

Lionel Barrymore
Henry Travers
Sir Anthony Hopkins
Gary Oldman
Ralph Fiennes
Daniel Day-Lewis
Mo Collins
Gene Wilder

 

[Bugman]

In no order:

Harry Morgan. Most remembered for his roles as Bill Gannon from Dragnet and the sometimes acerbic Col Sherman T. Potter from M*A*S*H*. Morgan had roles in over one hundred films, including as the judge in the 1960 Stanley Kramer classic Inherit The Wind.

Nigel Bruce. Bruce played Dr. Watson in a series of films as second fiddle to Basil Rathbone, who starred as Sherlock Holmes. He had roles in many films including Treasure Island and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
and The Charge of The Light Brigade, 1936.

 

[Bugman]

YES! You nailed many of my favs.... hrrrmmmmm.... in no particular order:

Lionel Barrymore
Henry Travers
Sir Anthony Hopkins
Gary Oldman
Ralph Fiennes
Daniel Day-Lewis
Mo Collins
Gene Wilder

Thanks C.A.B. Barrymore and Wilder are also favorites here, and what can one say about Sir Anthony Hopkins? The man was brilliant on the silver screen.

 

[Bugman]

Walter Brennan is one of the greatest character actors in Hollywood history. He was often cast as an old curmudgeon, appearing in several John Wayne films in that role. In 1936 the first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor was awarded to Brennan for his role in Come Get It. He would be nominated three more times, winning twice.

Brennan was the sympathetic Pastor Rosier Pile in the 1941 Howard Hawks classic Sargent York with Gary Cooper in the title role. He also had a role in the classic King Vidor film Northwest Passage starring Spencer Tracy (1940.) Brennan appeared in more films than I would attempt to mention. Later in life, he was Grandpa Amos McCoy in the TV series The Real McCoys, which aired on the ABC Network 1957 - 1962, moving to CBS for the final 1962 - 1963 season.

 

[C.A.B.]

how could I forget the great Jack Nicholson

 

[Bugman]

Andy Devine. Appearing in some four hundred films, Devine built an impressive body of work as a supporting actor. Some early roles include parts in A Star Is Born (1937) and Stagecoach. (1939.) His portrayal as the cowardly town Marshall Link Appleyard in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) is one for the ages. He also was a regular on radio and later television.

Edmund Gwenn. His career began on the London stage in 1895. George Bernard Shaw noticed him and was so impressed he cast Gwenn in six of his own plays. Some of his film roles are Pride and Prejuidce (1940)
and Of Human Bondage. (1946.) Today, most people remember him as Kris Kringel in the 1947 Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street. He won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for that film, the only man to win an Oscar for playing Santa Claus.

 

[r4j20c67]

Lon Chaney Sr.: An actor who was able to bring a character to life without speaking, The Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Unholy Three are probably the best known of performances. Was portrayed by James Cagney In the Biopic "Man of a Thousand Faces" and in 1994 was honored by being placed on a United States Postage Stamp.

 

[C.A.B.]

ya know, I'm gonna throw the under-sung Fred Gwynne up there... besides Car 54 and Herman Munster... his career was making a comeback with his portrayal of southerner Judge Chamberlain Haller and yankee Jud Crandall - shame he passed too soon

 

[Bugman]

Lon Chaney Sr.: An actor who was able to bring a character to life without speaking, The Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Unholy Three are probably the best known of performances. Was portrayed by James Cagney In the Biopic "Man of a Thousand Faces" and in 1994 was honored by being placed on a United States Postage Stamp.

A true legend of the silver screen. How sad that some of his films are lost. Cagney (a legend in his own right) brought many of his characters back to life in Man of a Thousand Faces. The Penailty, He Who Gets Slapped, etc. Lon Chaney was taken from us far too soon, dying at age 47.

 

[paristickler]

Gee, guys, you're all talking my language here ! My favorites : Lionel Barrymore (probably my favorite actor when it comes to the voice !), Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Sr, Peter Cushing, Marcel Herrand (French actor), Christopher Walken.... and many others !

 

[Bugman]

ya know, I'm gonna throw the under-sung Fred Gwynne up there... besides Car 54 and Herman Munster... his career was making a comeback with his portrayal of southerner Judge Chamberlain Haller and yankee Jud Crandall - shame he passed too soon

While Fred Gwynne mostly missed out on The Golden Age of Hollywood (except for his role in On the Waterfront (1954) he was a damn fine character actor, and I loved Car 54 as a kid. You are quite right C.A.B., about his role as Judge Haller in My Cousin Vinny. I have that film on DVD. And he did leave us too soon, at age 66 I think.

And from the same film, Bruce McGill as Sheriff Dean Farley. Watching that film for the first time, I wondered how many people recognized him as "D-Day" from Animal House. Another fine character actor, and a Texan to boot. 😀

 

[Bugman]

Peter Lorre.

The Maltese Falcon. 1941.

Casablanca. 1942.

Passage to Marseille. 1944.

Arsenic and Old Lace. 1944.

Many more...

 

[r4j20c67]

When you talk about older Horror actors the first one that comes to mind for me is Vincent Price.
House of Wax-1953
House on Haunted Hill-1959
The Tingler-1959
The Pit and the Pendulum-1961
Tales of Terror-1962
The Comedy of Terrors-1963
Just to name a few of his many movies then he also did the voice over for Alice Coopers first solo album "Welcome to my Nightmare" in 1975 and of course did the monologue for Jackson "Thriller" in 1982.

Almost forgot "Diary of a Madman" from 1963, I've always thought this was one of his best performances.

 

[kis123]

When you talk about older Horror actors the first one that comes to mind for me is Vincent Price.
House of Wax-1953
House on Haunted Hill-1959
The Tingler-1959
The Pit and the Pendulum-1961
Tales of Terror-1962
The Comedy of Terrors-1963
Just to name a few of his many movies then he also did the voice over for Alice Coopers first solo album "Welcome to my Nightmare" in 1975 and of course did the monologue for Jackson "Thriller" in 1982.

Almost forgot "Diary of a Madman" from 1963, I've always thought this was one of his best performances.

Yeah baby!

Vincent Price was definitely the man.....everything he touched was pure gold in my book.

Raymond Burr, Rock Hudson, James Stewart (yes these are leading actors but they had to start somewhere). I'll work on the female actors very soon as well as others........

 

[Amnesiac]

Lance Henriksen
Bill Moseley (Chop Top in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2)
Walter Huston
Fred Gwynne
Edmund Gwynne
Ed Wynn (unforgettable but overlooked)
Richard Riehle
Troy Evans
Richard Jenkins (seriously if you have NOT heard of this guy, fuck you)
Steve Buscemi
Gabrielle Rose
Madeline Kahn
Beth Grant
Stephen Root
Garret Dillahunt
Denis O'Hare
Norman Fell (the man, the legend)

...there's more, way too many more...

 

[Mitchell]

LOL, Amn, I like that "Fuck you", if you havent heard of Richard Jenkins. I first saw him in the Secret of My Success, playing board member to the late Richard Jordan's character.

Now, as to the title of the thread. Fav character actors. Doesnt that depend on what one considers.. as .. "character actor". Some people listed some of the biggest names in acting history. To me when I think of "character actor", I think of secondary actors who played character roles.

Norman Fell was excellent, not only as Stanley Roper on Three's Company, but in some of his other roles as well. He played a comic being held hostage in a resturant, on a Starsky and Hutch episode, in which Paul Michael Glaser's character, Starsky, was seriously wounded.

Chris Walken: One of my all time favs. He was amazing as Leo Dicaprio's father in Catch Me If You Can.


Those are just a few of mine.

 

[C.A.B.]

ugh... how could forget the great Gerard Depardieu... and equally ranged Peter Sellers

 

[C.A.B.]

Ed Wynn (unforgettable but overlooked)

Great call!

 

[osprey825]

Harry Dean Stanton.
M. Emmett Walsh.
Strother Martin.
Kevin Pollak.

 

[Bohemianne]

Christopher Lee
Kenneth Brannagh
Jim Carrey
Gary Oldman
Gerard Butler
Johnny Depp
John Malkovich
Christian Bale
Eddie Murphy
Al Pacino
Tommy Lee Jones
Jude Law
Ed Harris
Robert De Niro
Pierce Brosnan
Robin Williams
Rowan Atkinson
Yul Brynner

Hehe..too common ones, but whatever. Love them.

 

[Bugman]

Great call!

Indeed, along with Walter Huston and Strother Martin. Who could forget him as Captain from Cool Hand Luke, (1967) Col. Stonehill in the real True Grit, (1969) or as the cantankerous miner Percy Garris in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, also 1969. "Morons. I've got morons on my team." Martin was one of the greats, and appeared in what I consider three of the best films to come out of the 1960s.

I would add Wallace Beery and his nephew Noah Beery Jr., who had many film credits and enjoyed a long run on the TV series The Rockford Files as the father of James Garner.

 

[Mitchell]

osprey has a good one that I didnt even think of.
How could I forget Harry Dean? He was awesome as Molly Ringwald's father in Pretty in Pink, and as Roman Grant in Big Love.

 

[General Zod]

George C. Scott.
His greatest roles were,imo,Patton,Rage, Dr. Strangeglove.

Lee Marvin.
The Professionals, The Dirty Dozen, Emperor of the North (Pole)

Ernest Borgnine,
That man could play some great bad guys you just could not hate.

George Kennedy.
He was more of a supporting actor to me. But he played some outstanding characters. Especially in The Eiger Sanction.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

Here's a few more (although I admit i'm not sure what the deffinition of a "Character actor" is)

Luis Guzmán (Because he's been in like fucking EVERYTHING, but i don't think he has got a staring role in a major film to date)

Michael Wincott (Because he's Canadian and his gravely voice is iconic. Probably best known for his roles in "The Crow" as Top Dollar, "The Three Muskateers", and "Strange Days".)

Clancy Brown (Another actor with an iconic voice, and has a large 6 foot plus frame to go with it. Best known for his roles in "The Shawshank Redemption" as the head guard and his role of Brother Justine in Carnival, as well as the voice of Lex Luther in the most recent "Superman", "Justice League", and "Justice League Unlimited".)