In Hollywood, it just seems like one can have a longer movie career playing heroes instead of villains. I remember that in the 1980s/1990s, there would always be that one actor who was playing villains in consecutive big-budget Hollywood films, and then they disappeared from cinema (but probably ending up still having a good tv/direct-to-video career). Which 1980s/1990s movie villain actors do you miss?

Here's my list:

1. Kurtwood Smith


2. Michael Ironside


3. Michael Wincott


4. Ronny Cox


5. Bolo Yeung


6. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa



(and yes, it looks like i'm a fan of Paul Verhoeven's villains)

I always thought Wesley Snipes played villains really well.

William Zabka

Al Leong

I second William Zabka and I always considered Al Leong the henchman who dies in every movie rather than a villain

I'll second Michael Ironside. He made such a great villiain with his tremndous intensity. Scanners is a friggin' classic thanks to him.

Michael Dudikoff

Kurtwood Smith was the shit in RobCop!
Has he ever played a better bad-guy then in RobCop?

Not exactly a villain but he was the nemesis for many characters in several movies:



Dabney Coleman.

Red Foreman.

great bad guy. "Just gimme my fuckin' phone call." I love that scene.

I always thought John Travolta played some of the most badass villains in Broken Arrow and Face/Off. Though admittedly, Nic Cage did it better in the brief scene in the beginning of the film.

William Atherton in Real Genius.

JT Walsh
He was an asshole in everything he's been in, but I liked him.
RIP


Billy Drago


Vernon Wells...too bad he left movies to play on the BlueJays.

I forgot about JT Walsh and William Atherton, and I'll also add Jeffrey Jones..

"don't mess with the bull young man, you'll get the horns"
Paul Gleason

Sven Ole Thorson!!

I about lost it when Michael Ironside was revealed as the major bad guy in that 3 or 4 parter of Texas:Walker Ranger.

Robert Davi needs a mention as well.

Surprised no one mentioned Brian Thompson yet.




Or Jeffrey Jones:

I can't think of his name, but he was the blonde haired kid in Karate Kid who fought Ralph Macchio in the finals, and he also played the same arrogant badguy in Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield. He was always an unlikeable guy in the 1980's films.

Brion James

William Zabka.

Thomas Wilson


Im also going with Michael Ironside

I used to think this was the same guy

There's a guy whose name I can't think of now, but he always played a Mafia type. Tall, dark hair, skinny rather than fat, acne scars on the face. He'd be my pick.