Essential Character Actors

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During the studio era character actors were common (and respected) much more so than today. Whether it was MGM Warner Bros. or you name it each company had some stock players that were excellent supporting players whether they were typecast or not. Sometimes it was directors (e.g. like John Ford later copied by Clint Eastwood) who chose to employ the same personnel in picture after picture of their movie portfolios. In any case there are some faces that every film fan should recognize because they were prolific or otherwise unforgettable (in no particular order) great character actors:

Ward Bond – one of Ford’s regulars appeared in more John Wayne films than any other too

Walter Brennan – the granddaddy of character actors actually won three Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards out of his three Oscar nominations in that category.

Edward Brophy – not always credited bald grinning sometimes flustered

Joseph Calleia – played gangsters and other ethnic types

Leo G. Carroll – who appeared in more Hitchcock films (six) than any other actor (of course the director appeared in more;-)

Charles Coburn – a likeable father figure excelled in comedies with Jean Arthur (one Academy Award out of three Supporting Actor nominations)

Jimmy Conlin – smallish older distinguished by his glasses and hat lots of roles (frequently uncredited)

Jerome Cowan – a lawyer a friend not the one the woman chooses (much like Ralph Bellamy?)

Donald Crisp – perhaps it’s not really fair to include him here but I did include Walter Brennan

Harry Davenport – this veteran unlike Walter Brennan (and some of these others) never received any recognition; played a lot of wise older relative in a big wealthy family roles

Edward Gargan – did not receive a lot of screen credits appeared as police detective in comedies like The Falcon Series

James Gleason – older gentleman thin usually wisecracking what a character!

Paul Guilfoyle – frequently played ethnic ‘hoods’ not always credited for his work

Alan Hale – big affable laughing and loud besides being the Skipper’s (from TV’s Gilligan’s Island) father he’s best known as Errol Flynn’s sidekick

Charles Halton – wears glasses the person I was thinking of when I wrote about Foulger below

Edward Everett Horton – appeared in a lot of comedies (e.g. with Fred Astaire and others) oftentimes a theater producer (or a would-be one)

Allen Jenkins – often played street smart New Yorkers with a gift for jargon and slang

Tom Kennedy – big faced comedic sometimes serious actor who wasn’t credited as often as he appeared

Guy Kibbee – his puffy smiling face contributed to the affable roles he usually played

John Litel – tall dependable lawyer or those type of roles

Gene Lockhart – usually played a slippery not to be trusted fellow; goofy at times cunning at others

Donald MacBride – usually appeared in comedies “king” of the double-take

Barton MacLane – played figures of authority police detectives not always on the up and up

Mike Mazurki – big tall unique face dozens of movies played comedic foils and tough guys mostly

Frank McHugh – one of the Irish mafia (in movies with Pat O’Brien & James Cagney) with a wisenheimer laugh that was perfect for providing comic relief

Thomas Mitchell – did play meatier roles at time won a Supporting Oscar for Stagecoach (1939)

Alan Mowbray – sometimes suave sometimes serious somewhat effeminate British actor that played a wide range of roles specialized in the double take

Henry O’Neill – grey haired father figure who appeared in so many films

Eugene Pallette – frog voiced barrel chested height challenged actor who was a staple in comedies

Franklin Pangborn – specialized in playing befuddled hotel concierges

Nat Pendleton – played big dim-witted characters (ex-football players in the mob?) like bouncers exceptionally well

S. Z. Sakall – the man with the squeezable cheeks a cuddly immigrant with a unique take on the English language

C. Aubrey Smith – renowned distinguished British actor father or authoritarian (trusted) figure

Ned Sparks – cigar chomping sometimes wry and/or sarcastic scene stealing everytime!

Lewis Stone – think Henry O’Neill with a mustache;-) Actually seems to have appeared in as many films as Charles Lane because Stone’s career begun in the silent era; played Andy Hardy’s dad

George Tobias – Brooklyn New Yorker type humorous friendly likeable; played a number of different ethnic urban roles

John Williams – dependable distinguished British actor perhaps best known for his role in Dial M for Murder (1954)

Rhys Williams – large bald not always trustworthy

Eddie Albert – though he was the leading man on TV’s Green Acres in movies he was frequently a piano playing sidekick (received two Supporting Actor Oscar nominations)

Edward Arnold – serious gruff father or other (frequently flawed) man in charge business owner etc.

Mischa Auer – often played eccentric foreign actors those able to use their “foreign-ness” to scam Americans

Irving Bacon – tall almost lanky service industry personnel (e.g. behind the counter or manservant)

Willie Best – a face (and dated characteristics) that everyone should recognize

Eric Blore – a dependable manservant easily confused by his employers; goes off does what he’d told only to return and find out that circumstances have changed and unfortunately he then has to expend more effort doing just the opposite

Felix Bressart – often used a funny accent to go with his eccentric (and often ethnic) characters in comedies

Al Bridge – appeared in Westerns and most Preston Sturges films

Leo Carrillo – has a California state park named after him; played roles in gangster and western movies alike

Hobart Cavanaugh – can easily be confused for Byron Foulger

Eduardo Ciannelli – often confused with Joseph Calleia (above) played ethnic tough guys

Cliff Clark – almost always a beefy police officer

Fred Clark – mustache bald sometimes an official who’s been proved to be wrong

Elisha Cook Jr. – played quirky characters with an edge opened his mouth in surprise

Henry Daniell – a good villain not always trustworthy British cultured educated characters

William Demarest – started out as one of director Preston Sturges’s group

Charles Dingle – another who can be confused with Kibbee

Byron Foulger – think of the guy who sweeps up after Rocky and Bullwinkle at the end of their show the mustached sanitation worker; played administrators accountants bureaucrats etc. who twisted their facial hair between their fingers

William Frawley – went on to fame on TV

Porter Hall – quirky sometimes with a twitch played funny or evil characters equally well

John Hamilton – not only played Perry White in the Superman TV series but he appeared (often uncredited) in countless B&W films

Harry Hayden – a father a priest or other authority figure; often trustworthy

Selmer Jackson – tall grey haired frequently uncredited background actor in a position of authority within a company or the government

Roscoe Karns – the reporter that needs a story?

Cecil Kellaway – similar in appearance to Guy Kibbee and J.M. Kerrigan Irish affable kind sometimes comic relief

J. M. Kerrigan – can be confused for Kibbee he’s kind of the Irish version of him;-)

Otto Kruger – memorable in “bad guy” roles filling the bill as a German in some war pictures

Charles Lane – perhaps the most prolific of all character actors. Is there a movie he’s not in?

Donald Meek – appropriate surname for the parts this bald short older gentlemen played

Grant Mitchell – another dependable father-like figure often in comedies

J. Carrol Naish – very prolific received two supporting actor Academy Award nominations including one for his role in Sahara (1943)

Reginald Owen – British in some biopics oftentimes humorous distinctive voice

John Qualen – played virtually every kind of foreign immigrant part there was

Joseph Schildkraut – inhabited his roles appearing differently in each one much like lead Paul Muni in The Life of Emile Zola (1937) for which he received a supporting actor Oscar

Henry Stephenson – tall old grey haired gentleman with impeccable manners making him ideal for wise wealthy father roles

Guinn Big Boy Williams – probably not an essential but he did appear in a lot of films as a laborer prisoner big strong not too sharp mug

Ian Wolfe – so very recognizable and prolific bald headed with a large nose; played butlers domestically or abroad and/or other officials etc.

Will Wright – veteran older actor that appeared in lots of different genres

I would be remiss if I didn’t include mention of the “Oriental contingent” that appeared in so many classic films often uncredited (even in key roles) frequently portraying villains (in war movies) servants or as comic foils (negatively stereotyped):

Philip Ahn

Benson Fong

Willie Fung

Richard Loo

Keye Luke