Favorite character actor or supporting actor...

Okay, I started a thread about taglines, only to have it closed as a repeat thread, so I'm trying to tread carefully here. I've used the "Search" function in the forums for this, so I'm trying to play by the rules here.

I'd like to know who you're favorite character actor is, or someone who seems to get supporting roles most of the time and not starring roles. If they have been the lead in a movie or two, that's cool, just not a huge star. I'll start with a few of my favorites and show you what I'm aiming for:

Liam Cunningham: I really like this guy. The first time I ever saw him was in Dog Soldiers and I've seen him in quite a few since. He lends a pretty intense and tough presence to whatever he's in. Has also been in films such as Clash of the Titans (2010), Centurion, Blood: The Last Vampire, War Horse.

James Gammon: The late actor was a favorite of mine. He of the unmistakable gruff voice, craggy face, with the mischevious glint in his eyes. Some of my faves of his are Major League, Revenge, Silverado. The list goes on and on.

Jeffrey DeMunn: Although The Walking Dead on cable is his most recent claim to fame, he's been around for a long time, in The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, The Blob (1988), Hollywoodland, and many, many more.

Elizabeth Banks: She's been in mainly supporting roles for a long time in films like Slither, Seabiscuit, The 40 Year Old Virgin, yet she's set to bust loose in The Hunger Games films. This, despite that being a supporting role...her pancaked face and over-the-top clothing in the trailers really make her stand out. Look forward to whatever she does.

Okay, mods, if this is a repeat thread, please delete. If not, have fun, folks!

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Robert Duval, John Torturo, Jerry Orbach, William Devine.
Of course, Robert Duval went on to star in movies and even get an Oscar for Tender Mercies.
I think of a character actor as one that 's really good at his craft but does not necessarily became a star do to the fact that his image does not translate into a star. Often character actors are better actors than stars and not all stars are really good actors.
Robert Mitchum was lucky enough to have the image to go with his acting, on the other hand Robert Ryan didn't, although his performances were ceratinly great enough ( Wild Bunch ) for example.
Guys like Ernest Bognine and Lee Marvin did great work but were they more bankable than Cary Grant or Rock Hudson, no they weren't.
Hary Dean Stanton would be a great example of a great character actor that never became a star.
James Dean and Marlon Brando became stars from the get go.
Paul Newman could have been a bigger star if he hadn't been in Brando's shadow.
Kenneth Branagah can act circles around Tom Cruize, but is he a star?

Dennis Farina, he's been in a few films I liked like Snatch, Saving Private Ryan and Manhunter. He's always playing a gangster or policemen or something along those lines and he's a really solid actor- wish he got more parts though.

I guess the same could be said of James Gandolfino.

Well, Loner, since the last post in that thread was in 2005, do we go on with this one, close it, or join the two? I'd prefer to go on with this since noboby has posted in that one in seven years. I do see several threads here that are almost duplicate but are not closed, so...

Good choices, everbody! You get what I'm shooting for.

I'll add:

Michael Ironside: Love this guy! He's been around since the '70s, but really making an impression in the early '80s with Scanners, Top Gun, going on to Total Recall, Free Willy, Starship Troopers, lots of cheesy SyFy Channel movies that he makes watchable with his appearances, and on and on. I will watch garbage just to see what he'll do.

Ving Rhames: I really noticed him first in Pulp Fiction, but he's become really prolific since, and could carry any movie by himself in my opinion.

Thomas Jane: Has been in several leads, but for some reason has never really been what I'd condiser a "star," rather a great actor in starring roles or supporting roles. Such stuff as Deep Blue Sea, The Punisher (2004), The Mist, are just a few places to see him.

Strother Martin: He is one of my all-time favorite actors and an ultimate character actor. The late actor has lent support to innumerable Westerns among other genres, such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, True Grit, and other great movies like Cool Hand Luke, Slap Shot, and Up in Smoke (yes, I consider that one great). I like that he was quoted as saying that he "excelled at playing prairie scum."

Did you see Thomas Jane in Killshot (2008) with Mickey Rourke and Diane Lane? Loved that movie.

No, cinemaafficionado, I haven't seen that one. I'll definitely check it out. Looks like a great cast there, especially Diane Lane!

Harvey Keitel
Christopher Walken
Dennis Hopper
Ray Winstone
Laurence Fishburne
Joe Pesci
Steve Buscemi
Ray Liotta
Don Cheadle
William H Macy
Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Read the book, a lotttttttt better. Killshot was turned to only decent by stupid test audience reactions. But it is an interesting film to see because some shots/delivery show that Joseph Gordon Levitt would have made a brilliant choice to take over the Joker role after Ledger in the Nolan universe of Batman.

Brad Dourif
Brad is one of America's greatest actors.

LOTR


Deadwood


One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest


Dune


Alien: Resurrection


...oh, yeah



and many dozen more performances.

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Have you ever held a lion in your arms? I have. He smelled funky.

Gary Oldman.

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

Chief Dan George
Bruce Dern
Eugene Pallette
Lionel Stander
Sydney Greenstreet
Peter Lorre
Walter Huston
Walter Brennan
Claire Trevor
Gloria Grahame
Marjorie Main
Anne Revere
Beulah Bondi
Diane Ladd

That's a start.

My two fave males actors, Humphrey Bogart and Alec Guinness, were character actors even when they were playing the star. That's probably why they're my faves.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Wow, lots of great choices here! Thanks for the suggestions. I need to check some of these out. Nausicaä, thanks for the heads-up on the book.

Seeing your list, cricket, makes me want to see all those guys together in some epic movie.

Cenydd, Brad Dourif is certainly great. I loved him in Ragtime and Excorcist III also.


Deadite, Gary Oldman is one of the greats. I can't believe this year was his first year to get an Oscar nod. I even love him in movies that a lot of people dislike, like Romeo Is Bleeding.

Mark f, that is an impressive list, and I like that you included a lot of the classic, older-movie actors in there. Wow, Beulah Bondi, you'd be hard-pressed to find a star these days who even knows who she was. She was playing older parts even when she was relatively young, but she did it with class. I first remember seeing Bruce Dern in The Cowboys when I was young. I saw it at the theater and I walked out of the theater stunned at what he had done to John Wayne. I hated him for a while till I was old enough to realize how great of an actor he was to make me hate his character. He's still awesome.

Harry Dean Stanton.....character actor extraordinaire. He's been around for decades and he is still active!

James Cromwell.........You may remember him being Archie Bunker's pal in the All in the Family 70's sitcom. Some years later, he proved himself to be a very capable character actor. And who could forget him as the evil, corrupt police captain in LA Confidential?

Anthony James..............He often played sleazy, creepy types. You may not have known his name. But you would recognize his face. Sort of a strange looking guy. He retired from acting years ago, and last I heard he was an artist.

Dan Hedaya.......I used to watch him play Nick Tortelli on Cheers sitcom. He was also good in wisecracking, no-nonsense cop or villain roles.

Rip Torn is another prolific character actor.

Characters actors are like the unsung heroes of Hollywood. They may not play the leading roles, but they bring so much to a film.

Anthony James! Mountaineer, my Dad and I noticed him in a commercial when I was a kid...he played a purse snatcher who dodged in-and-out of a crowded sidewalk. I'll never forget that face. Even later, when I found out his name, we still called him "purse snatcher." Thanks for triggering that memory.

Gary Oldman is the greatest living actor, whether in the lead role or not.

Buster Keaton and Bruce Lee have always been my heroes.

I say go with this one for reasons you stated.

I'll remove my post above.

Thanks, Loner, I appreciate it.

Another great character actor is Clancy Brown. He's been in too many to mention but I first saw him in the original Highlander as The Kurgan and I've tried to follow him since.

Andrew Robinson: He played one of the greatest psychopaths I've ever seen in Dirty Harry yet has gone on to do other great stuff, including a long run on tv in Deep Space Nine. Funnily enough, he was in Shoot To Kill with Clancy Brown, and there were several backpackers in the wilderness with a killer hiding among them, and boy, throwing Robinson and Brown together was a genius move, not knowing if it was one of them, or if they were red herrings, making you not notice the other guys. I won't tell in case you haven't seen the movie, but it's good stuff.

L.Q. Jones: This guy has been in scores of Westerns, but he excels at other character parts also. He's been in Ride the High Country, Major Dundee, Hang 'Em High, The Wild Bunch, etc. But one of my favorite roles of his was in a "modern" Western, Lone Wolf McQuade, yes, a Chuck Norris movie, but he almost steals the movie. I see on his IMDB listing that he hasn't done anything since 2006, so I don't know what's going on with him. I wish him the best whatever the case may be.

L.Q. Jones is one of the best examples of character actor I have seen. If there was a definition in the encyclopedia, it should include a photo of him.