Brillant character actors.

When I think of a character actor, its someone like those guys on 70s and 80s TV cop shows with a not-perfect face, a funky nose, deep lines or wrinkles, someone whose life experiences are right there in plain site!

Think of Henry Morgan, Carl Malden, Dennis Franz, Walter Matthau, William Conrad, even someone more recent like Joe Montegna, Phillip Seymour Hoffman or William H Macy ... heck, Tommy Lee Jones!
Or Angie Dickenson, Diane Keaton, Ellen Burstyn, Ellen Barkin, ...

or James Garner, for goodness sakes! No matter what role he was in, it was always him ...

sKiZo said:
Tatiana Maslany? Something to be said about diversity, but playing as many roles as she does simultaneously in Orphan Black is quite the accomplishment.

orphan-black-tatiana-maslany-clones-sarah-alison-cosima-helena-rachel.jpg
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Much as I love the Orphan Black show, Tatiana's not quite a character actor - she's an actor playing many characters ...
& don't forget Tony!

Tony.png
 
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How about Frank "Wizard of Oz" Morgan? Elisha "Wilmer the Gunsel" Cook Jr? Beula Bondi? Eddie Anderson? Herman Bing? Edward Everett Horton - that master of light comedy? Maria Ouspenskaya? Misha Auer? Rex Ingram? Anna Mae Wong? Louis Wolheim? God, the list goes on and on, particularly during Hollywood's Golden Age, when small parts were filled with people who may have studied under Max Reinhardt or been headliners for the Moscow Art Theatre and became refugees. Just think of the small parts in Casablanca, with people like Curt Bois, Marcel Dalio, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Conrad Veidt, and Leonid Kinsky bringing tiny roles to life.
 
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bobsvinyl said:
The Man with One Red Shoe (1985)
Fresno (TV miniseries) (1986)
Dragnet (1987)
Sworn to Silence (TV) (1987)
The Slap Maxwell Story (TV) (1987–88)
Hot to Trot (1988)
Where the Heart Is (1990)
Short Time (1990)
Never Forget (1991)
Drexell's Class (TV) (1991–92)
Meet the Applegates (1991)
Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991)
There Goes the Neighborhood (1992)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
The Beverly Hillbillies (1993)
Judicial Consent (1994)
Clifford (1994)
Madman of the People (TV) (1994–1995)
Witch Way Love (1997)
Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998)
You've Got Mail (1998)
My Date with the President's Daughter (1998)
Taken (1999)
Giving It Up (1999)
Inspector Gadget (1999)
Stuart Little (1999)
Recess: School's Out (2001)
The Guardian (2001–04)
The Climb (2002)
Moonlight Mile (2002)
Where the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Domino (2005)
Heartland (2007)
Hard Four (2007)
Law & Order: SVU ("Snatched") (2009)
Boardwalk Empire (2010–11)
Pound Puppies (animated TV series) (2010–11) voice of the Mayor (Season One only) :thmbsp:
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Evidently, I need to pay more attention. Thanks, Bob.
 
Fleischer said:
How about Frank "Wizard of Oz" Morgan? Elisha "Wilmer the Gunsel" Cook Jr? Beula Bondi? Eddie Anderson? Herman Bing? Edward Everett Horton - that master of light comedy? Maria Ouspenskaya? Misha Auer? Rex Ingram? Anna Mae Wong? Louis Wolheim? God, the list goes on and on, particularly during Hollywood's Golden Age, when small parts were filled with people who may have studied under Max Reinhardt or been headliners for the Moscow Art Theatre and became refugees. Just think of the small parts in Casablanca, with people like Curt Bois, Marcel Dalio, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Conrad Veidt, and Leonid Kinsky bringing tiny roles to life.
Click to expand...

Good post.
 
Denzel Washington.

Imho, i am convinced he is the most believable actor i have ever seen on screen.
Tellin you, swear the guy actually uterly transforms himself into who he's portraying.
 
John Hawkes..."Deadwood", "Winter's Bone", "Taken", "The Sessions" (Try making an entire film flat on your back!) Extremely talented guy who disappears right into his roles.
 
- Crispin Glover
- Christopher Walken
- Steve Buscemi
- Brian Cox
- John Turturro
- Phillip Seymour Hoffman
- Dennis Farina
- Sam Elliott
- J.K. Simmons
- Paul Gleason
- Kevin Bacon
- Gary Cole
- Harry Dean Stanton
- Adam Baldwin
- Sally Field
- William Hurt
 
Crispin Glover (the nebbish in the original 'Back to the Future', the swordsman in 'Charlies's Angels', and was in one of the Friday 13 films, among other things).
"It is my fate. It is my density."

I remember Whit Bissell from 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' and 'Seven Days in May', among other works.

John Glover: Lionel Luthor in 'Smallville', Clamp in 'Gremlins 2', among other things

Alexi Denisof: Wes in Buffy/Angel, Grimm, many others.
 
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Dabs Greer. Several episodes of Perry Mason, Little House on the Prarie, etc.

Steve Ihnat. memorable role in Star Trek's 'Whom Gods Destroy', and the Outer Limits' 'The Inheritors'.
 
I watched one of my favorite movies again over the weekend, People Will Talk from 1951. In addition to the leading couple (Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain), the cast includes some great character roles for Margaret Hamilton (uncredited cameo), Finlay Currie, Hume Cronyn, Sidney Blackmer, and Walter Slezak.
 
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