It has to kinda suck to be a supporting actor. Your face is recognizable in many films, but most people don't know your name. Yet, they are the ones who add the flavor and spice to a good character tv show or movie.

Here's some of my faves:

William Fichtner - It's a shame that he has never had a lead role in movies. This guy has starred in some of Hollywood's biggest films:

Perfect Storm
Armageddeon
Black Hawk Down
Crash
The Dark Knight

He was hysterical in Go, and awesome in Prison Break as the tortured FBI agent.



JT Walsh

Sadly, JT passed away several years ago, but you would recognize him as the hard ass in films like Good Morning Vietnam as Sgt. Major Dickerson, a Few Good Men, Sling Blade, Breakdown and The Negotiator.

Joe Pantoliano

Bad Boys & Bad Boys II[/b]
Memento
The Matrix
The Fugitive & U.S. Marshals
Bound
Midnight Run
Empire of the Sun
Amazon Women on the Moon
The Goonies

The man has been a great actor in some great movies, but has never really took the lead.

Although Charles Laughton became a leading man quite quickly, most people probably think of him as a character/supporting actor.
Walter Brennan - probably the greatest supporting actor of them all.
William Bendix
Ernest Borgnine
Lee Marvin -before he became big
Barry Fitzgerald
Leo McKern
Ward Bond
Victor McGlaglen
E.G. Marshall
Martin Balsam
[B]Will Geer[B]
Jeff Corey
Donald Pleasence
Hume Cronyn

Royal Dano

(I just love that name too)

M. Emmet Walsh
Will Patton
Michael Madsen
Michael Biehn
Brendan Gleeson
Tom Sizemore

I really like Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a supporting actor, his leading performances are nice, but I'd like to see him take a step back.

Tom Sizemore is great too. There's still room for a comeback.

Barry Pepper. Nothing ever really happened with him, but he was great in Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile.

As I was watching APPALOOSA, I was thinking, "Wouldn't it be great if Lance Henriksen was in this?" and--Holy Crap!--in the next scene he shows up!

I know that Mickey Rourke had a comeback as a star in THE WRESTLER, but I prefer him as a character actor, as in DOUBLE TEAM, JOHN GRISHAM'S THE RAINMAKER, and SIN CITY.

William H Macy

Walter Brennan was the first to pop into my mind.

Warren Oates

Not so sure about that. True, your face isn't plastered on the magazine covers but you also avoid the madness of the paparazzi and everything associated with that aspect of Hollywood. An actor who primarily takes supporting roles can work more often and has more freedom in his choices and still make a very good living. William Fichtner may not have homes in four countries but I'm sure he isn't hurting for cash.

I always think of Laura Linney as having a perfect career and someone to which all actors should aspire. She moves between lead and supporting roles, big studio pics and indie darlings, film, TV, and theatre, and has a significant amount of awards recognition to boot. On top of this, she is not a paparazzi target and is able to live a relatively normal life while still getting to work with the best in the industry.

I guess what it comes down to is whether you want to be a STAR or an ACTOR.

I think Battlefield Earth put a pretty big damper on his career though I agree with you I do enjoy seeing him on screen.

If you haven't already seen it I'd recommend 61* a very good HBO film where he plays Roger Maris, and he was fantastic in 25th hour.

I thought he was better than Denzel in 'Remember the Titans'

Chiwetel Ejiofor, though I think he should be receiving more leading roles than he gets.

Never saw Battlefield Earth, poor guy. I have heard very good things about 61 and completely forgot about 25th Hour, one of my favorites.

another one... Chris Cooper.

Saïd Taghmaoui...Traitor, G.I. Joe, LOST, Spartan (just like him whenever he pops up for some reason)

Chiwetel Ejiofor...Serenity, Inside Man, Children of Men, Four Brothers, Love Actually (though he is becoming a lead, slowly but steadily, he is great in all of his former works)

Ving Rhames...M:I, Out of Sight, Dawn of the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Dark Blue (as a supporting actor)

I've had a man-crush on Michael Biehn for over 20 years now.

Without repeating any of the above names, I'm gonna try and top you:
Thomas Mitchell
Edward Arnold
James Gleason
Guy Kibbee
Frank McHugh
Allen Jenkins
Roscoe Karns
Lionel Barrymore
Donald Meek
John Carradine
Eugene Pallette
Alan Hale (Sr., that is)
Arthur Hunnicutt
Laird Cregar
Lionel Atwill
Lewis Stone
Wallace Ford
Ted de Corsia
Joe Sawyer
Elisha Cook Jr.
and the greatest of them all, who died two years ago at the age of 102, Charles Lane.

And let's not forget the actresses:
Thelma Ritter
Eve Arden
Una Merkel
Ruth Donnelly
Hattie McDaniel
Louise Beavers

Still, the three WB's you named are hard to beat: Walter Brennan, William Bendix and Ward Bond.

Gilbert Roland
Whit Bissell
Paul Fix
Jay C. Flippen
Steve Brodie
Charles McGraw
Michael Ripper
Jeremy Kemp
Herbert Lom
Marc Lawrence
Keenan Wynn
The Irish guy always played leprechauns in the 60s

John Cazale
Joe Pesci
Joe Spinell

I was going to say this.

And let us not forget his great supporting role in the late 80's film LaBamba, where he displayed his hair-loss without a "piece." A nice, understated, but totally Joey Pants performance.

YES!

this guy was probably the only thing i actually liked about Two Lane Blacktop

Claude Rains.

Okay, you topped me!!
But here's a few you missed:

Gale Sondergaard
Judith anderson
Burl Ives
Leo G. Carroll
S.Z. Sakall
Sydney Greenstreet
Peter Lorre
Albert Dekker
Paul Henreid
Kathy Bates
Charles Martin Smith
Jack McGowran
Richard Baseheart
Simon Oakland
James Whitmore
Ossie Davis
Ruby Dee
Sig Ruman
Margaret Dumont
Ben Johnson
Harry Carey (Jr that is!)