I enjoyed reading the "most hated actors", but always enjoy movie threads more when pictures are involved.

In discussing character actors, its important to use pics because so many of the actors aren't well known. Anyway, here are a few of my favorite character actors:


I've never seen JT Walsh in a role I didn't like. He is one of my favorite actors of all time, even if I were compiling a list that included major stars.


Just so happens that two of my favorites have the last name of Walsh. Are they related? Again, I've never seen M Emmett Walsh in a role I didn't like. I'm particularly fond of his role in Blood Simple. He too would be in a list of my favorite actors even if I were considering major actors.


I think Brian Dennehey is excellent. Perhaps not as much so for his command of all the roles he has ~ but I just tend to enjoy movies/television that this guy is in. Best Seller, First Blood, FX & FX2, as cheesy as those were, and in Miami Vice, among others.


Chris Cooper.


Gary Oldman. One of the finest.


Lee Van Cleef. He is just excellent in the old spaghetti westerns. Excellent.


Eli Wallach. Him too.

Well, I have a few more, but its no fun for me to post all of my favorites...I'll let some of you have some fun.

Anyway, I tend to enjoy character actors much more than the primary stars. And most of the people in the list above represent who I think some of the finest actors are.

Wilford Brimley


David Morse


Willam H. Macy

some just off the top of my head:


John Rhys-Davies



Brian Cox



Oliver Platt



Eugene Levy

Michael Rooker

Philip Baker Hall

William Fichtner


Though Oldman is probably my favorite all time. Need some time to think about the female side ...

Larry Miller

Elisha Cook Jr.

Claude Rains



Sydney Greenstreet



Christopher Walken

Steve Buscemi

-NiCK

A preface: character actors kick ass. I love about 95% of the people mentioned so far. Here's some more.


Warren Oates


Rutger Hauer


John Vernon


Gary Busey

And here's another one I love that I think is just a majestic character actor:


The one, the only. Al Leong.

Wait...almost forgot one of my big favorites!


Bill Paxton.

I wouldn't consider De Niro a charactor actor at all. This thread is about character actors, not all actors. If you are unsure what a character actor is, wiki has a decent explanation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_actor

But as far as actors go, undoubtedly, De Niro is one of the finest.

The wiki link lead me to recall another character actor I left out, who I think is always impressive:



My mom and Brad Dourif lived on the same street as children and they used to play in the same group of kids. He is always fantastic.

Maybe i read the thread wrong,is this better?

Peter Lorre

edit I wouldn't consider Gary Oldman a character actor.

Allright,i think i got this figured out.
Juliette Lewis allways plays a tramp.

Yeah, that one was borderline for me. However, quite a few sites I've read regarding character actors include him, so I did. Plus, while he has had a few lead roles, most films he is in that I'm aware of he is not the lead. Heck, even Brian Dennehey has had a few leads.

Here is a links where he is listed as a character actor:

http://www.dougmacaulay.com/kingspud...or_index_1.php

Perhaps Oldman is more of a "cross-over" as wiki defines it...although I wouldn't consider Dennehey a cross-over.

^^^ yes, and De Niro is listed as a cross over as well, which I agree with. He's sort of become a character actor as of late.

Ronny Cox (middle) and Miguel Ferrer (right)


Christopher McDonald and John Turturro


Jeremy Piven

Yeah, I saw that. And I've thought about it for about an hour, as to whether I agreed that De Niro was truly a character actor. He has had lead roles going back a long time. However, he usually plays the same character, for the most part, in just about everything. And most of the time when he is the lead, it isn't dominating, and seems to be shared with someone else.

I do agree with cross-over as wiki defines it, and I think he is less of a lead and more of a character actor. So, good pick, Leather Face.

I should note that De Niro isn't included on that big list of character actors I referenced above, but nobody said they were the complete authority on this issue.

"I had a guaranteed military sale with ED209! Renovation program! Spare parts for 25 years! Who cares if it worked or not!?"

Dan O'Herlihy also deserves a mention on the subject of character actors in RoboCop. He was great in the first two. Hell, that whole movie is a character actor circus:


Ray Wise


Peter Weller

And from RoboCop 2, another favorite...


Tom Noonan ("CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAINNNNNNNNNNNNN!")

Did you take that photo of Tom Noonan?

How can we have come this far into the thread without a mention of this man?

Holy CRAP ! What the hell are you wearing, Peter Weller!?!

Charles Martin Smith: