Jeroen Krabbe
(1944 - )| Are the character actors of today on a par with those classic actors of the past? The answer is an unequivocal YES! Case in point, Jeroen Krabbe, one of today's many fine character actors who continue ...Click on photo to read biography |
Mary_Jane Croft
(1915 - 1999)| Although her body of work was limited, she was one of those who put the "character" in character actor. Primarily a radio and television actress, she did appear in other media ...Click on photo to read biography |
Ross Elliott
(1917 - 1999)| He was cast most often in the role of authoritarian or professional types. Tall, sturdily built with a nondescript but handsome face, he was a solid actor in all media. He was born on June 18, 1917 in ...Click on photo to read biography |
Lee Van.Cleef
(1925 - 1989)| He had the perfect face for a villain with sharp features, dark hair, often a black mustache, and piercing eyes. He was, to be sure, one of the most memorable villains in film hi ...Click on photo to read biography |
Denver Pyle
(1920 - 1997)| His was a most recognizable face in films and on television for many years although in recent years he had more facial hair and a grizzled look. Tall, burly and light-haired with a pair of beady, squi ...Click on photo to read biography |
Armin Mueller-Stahl
(1930 - )| He is one of today's finest actors who is steadily building up a great body of excellent performances on film. Cool, calm and collected, he has a grandfatherly look about him yet his diversity shows i ...Click on photo to read biography |
Harry Carey_Sr.
(1878 - 1947)| One of the stalwarts of the early days of film, he was a most popular personality among his peers in the film community. He started out as a western star but ...Click on photo to read biography |
Harry Carey_Jr.
(1921 - )| The son of Harry Carey Sr. and Olive Golden Carey, he looked very different fr ...Click on photo to read biography |
Fran Ryan
(1926 - 2000)| She was a Marjorie Main look-alike and her roles were quite similar in style. Big, stocky with a mane of red hair usually in a bun, and strong features, she had a gravelly voice like Main's also. She ...Click on photo to read biography |
Irene Ryan
(1902 - 1973)| Another Ryan, unrelated to Fran, was Irene, best known for her role as Granny on the very popular TV series "The Beverly Hillbillies" but a veteran of all aspects show business. She was small, fragile ...Click on photo to read biography |
John Randolph
(1915 - 2004)| John Randolph is a perfect example of the underrated, unappreciated character actor. Like many of his fellow character actors he is a solid, reliable and extremely talented actor who never gets his du ...Click on photo to read biography |
Robert Webber
(1924 - 1989)| He's another of those actors whose face you know but "what's his name?" He, too, was a solid actor who started as a leading man and switched to character roles but was virtually unappreciated by criti ...Click on photo to read biography |
Fritz Weaver
(1926 - )| Fritz Weaver was a classy stage actor who successfully made the transition to film and television. He was tall, lean and sedate looking with a long kindly face, bushy hair and booming resonant voice, ...Click on photo to read biography |
Jay Novello
(1904 - 1982)| He most often played ethnic types and was a quite familiar fixture on television and in films. Small, wiry and dark haired with a very lived-in face, sad eyes and a pencil-thin mustache, he was equall ...Click on photo to read biography |
Nedra Volz
(1908 - 2003)| They say that good things come in small packages and in the case of this familiar, diminutive actress it's absolutely true. Tiny, round and sweet with a bun of white hair, rosy cheeks and twinkling ey ...Click on photo to read biography |
Jeffrey Jones
(1947 - )| He is one of the most versatile, effective character actors working today. Tall, fair-haired with a sharply featured face, ruddy complexion and classic aura about him, he has built up a most eclectic ...Click on photo to read biography |
Lionel Stander
(1908 - 1994)| He was the perfect lovable hoodlum; stocky, burly and brutish looking with a square jaw, coarse featured face and a gruff foghorn voice but with a warm smile and charming demeanor. He was typecast as ...Click on photo to read biography |
Robert Easton
(1930 - )| Robert Easton was an extremely interesting character actor, always playing the young country hick or yokel and always fun to watch. Tall and gangly, with a mop of whitish-blonde hair, wide eyes and a ...Click on photo to read biography |
Donald Moffat
(1930 - )| Although it's difficult to think of Donald Moffat as a British actor, he was a native of Great Britain and trained as a British stage actor. Tall and lanky with sandy hair, a classic face, bushy blond ...Click on photo to read biography |
Florence Halop
(1923 - 1986)| Although her body of work was quite small and limited, it is the quality of her performances that warrant her a place on any list of great character actors. She was a small, stocky woman with coarse f ...Click on photo to read biography |
Frank Nelson
(1911 - 1986)| One of the most recognizable stars of the 1950s, 60s & 70s on television was Frank Nelson who had to deal with the likes of Jack Benny and Lucille Ball. Slightly rotund with a round face, neatly groom ...Click on photo to read biography |
Ford Rainey
(1908 - 2005)| Ford Rainey is the All-American man-down-the-street type. He looks like your next door neighbor, the local mailman or the bus driver that takes you to work. Medium built, with non-descript features sa ...Click on photo to read biography |
J.Pat O'Malley
(1904 - 1985)| He was a very familiar face on sitcoms and dramas of the 1950s, 60s & 70s on television. A Round, bald and jolly Irishman, with a warm smile and twinkling eyes, he played mostly avuncular and grandfat ...Click on photo to read biography |
James Whitmore
(1921 - )| He was one of the most well-known and popular character actors of his day and was "on the cusp" between character and lead roles. Short, very stocky and solid with wavy hair, a kindly looking face and ...Click on photo to read biography |
Walter Huston
(1884 - 1950)| The patriarch of an extremely talented cinematic family, he was an excellent actor first as a lead and later enjoying his biggest success, as a senior and character actor, at the hand of his son, dire ...Click on photo to read biography |
Frank Cady
(1915 - )| He was another very familiar face, mostly on television, and always played a dependable friend or loyal neighbor type. He was tall, lanky and bald with a mustache and below it a warm smile. He often p ...Click on photo to read biography |
Peggy Wood
(1892 - 1978)| Although she was best known for two excellent characterizations she created, she was indeed a versatile and talented actress. Small and slight with blonde hair, a very warm smile and sparkling eyes sh ...Click on photo to read biography |
Richard.B. Shull
(1929 - 1999)| With a face like his he was destined to become an actor. He was a born scene stealer and excelled in most of his performances on stage, screen and television. His dark wavy hair, rubbery, doughboy-lik ...Click on photo to read biography |
Basil Rathbone
(1892 - 1967)| Although he was a star in his own right, especially as Sherlock Holmes in the movie series, most of his roles were definite character types. He was tall, lean and handsome, with a resonant baritone vo ...Click on photo to read biography |
Jack Gilford
(1907 - 1990)| He was a comedian's comedian and was well respected by his peers. With his rubbery face, curly mop of fair hair and a unique sense of humor he excelled at comedy parts and was surprisingly proficient ...Click on photo to read biography |
Rex Ingram
(1895 - 1969)| Rex Ingram was an American original. He broke down barriers all through his life. He was a handsome individual, tall and white-haired as we best remember him, with a booming baritone voice. He was bor ...Click on photo to read biography |
Bert Freed
(1919 - 1994)| He was a familiar face who most often played menacing individuals...bosses, cops, outlaws, authoritarian types, but he could play fatherly, loving types also. Stocky and solidly built with a stern fac ...Click on photo to read biography |
Richard Farnsworth
(1920 - 2000)| He most often played an older-but-wiser character in films and anyone who's ever seen him interviewed knows that he is truly a gentleman; in fact he despised vulgar language. Taller than he looks, gre ...Click on photo to read biography |
Ivor Francis
(1918 - 1986)| The following three talented actors were selected primarily for their superb work on the brilliant television series of the 1980s "Meeting of Minds" created by Steve Allen. This series offered stimula ...Click on photo to read biography |
Shepperd Strudwick
(1907 - 1983)| Today I turned on TVLand to the old TV series "Wagon Train" and the episode featured actress Nina Foch but it was Shepperd Strudwick, as her Cavalry officer husband intent on keeping peace with the In ...Click on photo to read biography |
Harris Yulin
(1937 - )| This magnificent, chameleon-like actor played two roles on "Meeting of Minds" both extremely memorable and brilliant. He was a very human and fragile Leonardo Da Vinci and stunning as William Shakespe ...Click on photo to read biography |
Shirley Knight
(1936 - )| This multiple award winning, dedicated and extremely talented actress has had two careers in acting; one as a lead actress and the latter as a character actress. A plain looking, but attractive, blond ...Click on photo to read biography |
Dave Willock
(1909 - 1990)| For over 50 years his was one of the most familiar faces in film and television and probably the least known by his given name. Tall and lean with a thin face marked by a pleasant smile and friendly e ...Click on photo to read biography |
Robert.J. Wilke
(1914 - 1989)| Pictured here as if he was on the receiving end of the hero's fist is one of the most prolific, yet unknown, villains in the history of filmdom. It's very likely that most movi ...Click on photo to read biography |
Hoyt Axton
(1938 - 1999)| Like Chuck Connors, Truman Capote, Merlin Olsen, Barbra Streisand, Cher and others, Hoyt Axton came into acting from another profession. He became a solid character actor with his stocky build, good l ...Click on photo to read biography |
Joe Sawyer
(1906 - 1982)| Another very familiar face of old movies and the early days of television is Joe Sawyer, probably best known for his role as Sgt. Biff O'Hara on the "Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" TV series. With his squ ...Click on photo to read biography |
Josephine Hull
(1886 - 1957)| Like many other actors on these pages, Josephine Hull had a very limited movie and television career as she was devoted to theatre and the stage. She did, however, create some extremely memorable role ...Click on photo to read biography |
Fay Bainter
(1892 - 1968)| If ever there was a veteran character actress, it was Fay Bainter. She was most often seen as a faithful wife, adoring mother, beloved aunt or other sympathetic types. She was a small woman, with dark ...Click on photo to read biography |
Edward.Everett Horton
(1886 - 1970)| No list of great character actors would be complete without the inclusion of certain "masters" of the supporting role, chief among them Edward Everett Horton. Pictured here in his earlier years, he wa ...Click on photo to read biography |
Richard Haydn
(1905 - 1985)| He was an interesting character actor to say the least. Tall and aristocratic looking, with a wispy mustache, dark, sinister eyes and nasally, croaking voice, he was quite adept at playing the pompous ...Click on photo to read biography |
Norman Lloyd
(1914 - )| Like Philip Ober, Norman Lloyd is particularly best remembered for a single scene in a film. Strangely enough the scene was directed by the same man, Alfred Hitchcock. It takes place atop the arm of t ...Click on photo to read biography |
Wilford Brimley
(1934 - )| This barrel-chested, rustic looking actor has become quite popular in American culture for various reasons. He's an engaging actor, can sing and has promoted the good things in American life. His stoc ...Click on photo to read biography |
Ray Walston
(1914 - 2001)| He began on the stage but became best known as a TV and movie actor. He was perfect as the droll, brassy, wiseguy type and played servicemen and buddy types in his early years and teachers, judges and ...Click on photo to read biography |
Arnold Stang
(1925 - )| One of the most recognizable character actors in the history of film, he is most likely remembered by latter generations for his equally recognizable voice. Small, slight, bespectacled with horn-rimme ...Click on photo to read biography |
Arthur Treacher
(1894 - 1975)| He was the perfect butler, in films. With his tall, slightly hunched physique, his staid, stuffy manner, and an aristocratic accent he was the epitome of a valet or butler. He was born Arthur Veary in ...Click on photo to read biography |
Rutger Hauer
(1944 - )| One of the fiery newer character actors, he has a unique screen presence. Initially cast in villainous roles, he has shown a versatility for portraying many diverse types. Tall, muscular and blonde, w ...Click on photo to read biography |
Walter Slezak
(1902 - 1983)| He was a very solid and popular character actor who could play the vilest villain, a trusted friend, a kindly professor or a romantic lead. He was a stocky man with a round face, well groomed mustache ...Click on photo to read biography |
Eli Wallach
(1915 - )| One of the most beloved of American character actors, he has had a long and prosperous career in films and on the stage. Short and slight with balding dark hair, a slightly raspy voice, a sly look in ...Click on photo to read biography |
Lionel Barrymore
(1878 - 1954)| As you may or may not have noticed, about half the cast of the film "It's a Wonderful Life" are included on these pages and more may soon join them. The truth is that I feel it is one of the Top 5 fil ...Click on photo to read biography |
Mako
(1933 - 2006)| He is a very charismatic Asian actor who made an impact in his debut film, "The Sand Pebbles." A tall, wiry man with very expressive, smiling eyes and often a shaved or buzzed head, his versatility al ...Click on photo to read biography |
Bill Quinn
(1912 - 1994)| One of the most familiar faces on TV in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, he was often seen as a bartender, judge, father, sheriff or military officer. Tall, thin and bald, with a skull-like face, deep-set ...Click on photo to read biography |
John Ireland
(1914 - 1992)| Another very familiar face, he was a veteran character actor whose career spanned some 50 years. Pictured here early in his career he was tall, dark and handsome with intense eyes, He began his career ...Click on photo to read biography |
Martha Scott
(1912 - 2003)| She has enjoyed a long and successful acting career dating from her early days in theatre on thru movies and television totaling over 60 years. Pictured above in her early years as a strawberry-blonde ...Click on photo to read biography |
Sterling Holloway
(1905 - 1992)| Not only was he one of the most familiar faces in show business, but he also had one of the most familiar voices ever. Tall and gangly looking with a mop of reddish-blond, curly hair, a most unusual l ...Click on photo to read biography |
Charles Bickford
(1891 - 1967)| Charles Bickford was the epitome of the authoritarian in films. Stern, cranky and ultra-serious, he almost seemed menacing at times. With his tall, solid physique, head of thick white hair and bushy e ...Click on photo to read biography |
Billy Benedict
(1917 - 1999)| Every Bowery Boy fan remembers him best as 'Whitey' one of the most beloved of the gang, but he had a long and busy career as a character actor in films and TV. He was short, slim and had platinum-whi ...Click on photo to read biography |
Kurtwood Smith
(1943 - )| Some actors are just too good not to be included on a list of great character actors even though we have so little information on them. Kurtwood Smith is such an actor. He has become a master at portr ...Click on photo to read biography |
Seymour Cassell
(1935 - )| He is quite a fascinating character actor. With an unusual, but interesting looking, face, a thick mane of white-gray hair and an intensity rare in actors he commands one's attention. Born in Detroit, ...Click on photo to read biography |
Keith Andes
(1920 - 2005)| For some strange reason I have always confused the next five actors here on Page 5, especially Homeier and Marlowe. Maybe it's because they were all handsome lead type actors of near the same age who ...Click on photo to read biography |
Skip Homeier
(1930 - )| Of the three actors mentioned here, Skip Homeier has had the longest most prolific career in acting. He too was a handsome, long-faced man with fair wavy hair, almost glaring eyes and an introspective ...Click on photo to read biography |
Hugh Marlowe
(1911 - 1982)| How I got Hugh Marlowe confused with this bunch of actors is a mystery. He had dark hair, was of medium build, with a square but handsome face and a mellow, memorable voice but he played similar type ...Click on photo to read biography |
Richard Webb
(1915 - 1993)| Anyone who ever watched "Captain Midnight" on Saturday mornings will remember this face. Although he looks similar to the others, he is the most recognizable. Blonde, square-jawed and handsome with a ...Click on photo to read biography |
Grant Williams
(1930 - 1985)| The last of the bunch of 'second lead', blond actors of the 1940s, 50s and 60s that tend to confuse me is Grant Williams. Throw in Grant Withers whose name just adds to the confusion and that about wr ...Click on photo to read biography |
Clara Blandick
(1880 - 1962)| She is best known and loved for one particular role, that of Auntie Em in "The Wizard of Oz." She was a small, petite lady, with chipmunk cheeks, sparkling eyes and a warm demeanor which was perfect f ...Click on photo to read biography |
Edward Andrews
(1914 - 1985)| He was one of the most recognizable character actors on television. When we were kids we didn't like him, which means that he did his job, of playing unsavory characters, well. Big and tall with a rou ...Click on photo to read biography |
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