Here's a character name I haven't seen on these lists yet, but is easily one of my favorites:
Ray Walston!
No power in the 'verse can stop me.
River ,'War Stories'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Sean K - Dec 01, 2006 7:13:32 am PST #6081 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Aims - Dec 01, 2006 7:14:01 am PST #6082 of 10001
Shit's all sorts of different now.
Seany - can you hop on IM for a seccy sec?
Frankenbuddha - Dec 01, 2006 7:15:54 am PST #6083 of 10001
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Ray Walston!
Poopdeck Papi!
Kathy A - Dec 01, 2006 7:16:54 am PST #6084 of 10001
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
David Warner
Tovah Feldshuh
Beth Grant (she played the stressed-out woman who tried to leave the bus in Speed and Jim Morris's mom in The Rookie)
Sue - Dec 01, 2006 7:17:41 am PST #6085 of 10001
hip deep in pie
I used to think it was an actor who always played a specific type of character, but then many people called "character actors" have had diverse roles.
I would call a character actor someone who plays secondary, but important roles. Often they're actors who disappear into roles, rather than call attention to themselves as an actor. They're usually not conventionally handsome, but they bring flavour to a role.
I think that wikipedia entry is fucked. It's got a modern idea of character actors confused into the idea of someone who plays a character type all their life, which you'd find more in commedia delle arte, or maybe older studio or repertory systems.
Also, it calls a lot of people character actors who've mostly been leading men: Tom Hanks, Laurence Olivier (?!?!) , Kevin Spacey, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman. I think Jack Nicholson is the antithesis of a character actor. He's always Jack, doing his thing.
Kathy A - Dec 01, 2006 7:22:33 am PST #6086 of 10001
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
I was just looking at Beth Grant's IMDB entry, and I completely missed the fact that she had been on Angel--in "Rm w/a Vu," she played Phantom Dennis's mom!
beekaytee - Dec 01, 2006 7:24:19 am PST #6087 of 10001
Compassionately intolerant
Good ones Kathy!
I adore Tovah Feldshuh.
Kathy A - Dec 01, 2006 7:26:25 am PST #6088 of 10001
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
She's really one of my favorite actresses--I love her as Danielle Melnick on L&O.
Aims - Dec 01, 2006 7:26:49 am PST #6089 of 10001
Shit's all sorts of different now.
Ralph Bellamy
Hector Elizondo
beekaytee - Dec 01, 2006 7:27:37 am PST #6090 of 10001
Compassionately intolerant
She's in A Walk on the Moon with Viggo, Liev and Diane Lane. Talk about characters! Love it.