Any actors today who make a living by guest starring on tv shows? I watch a lot of 50s/60s tv shows and there were a slew of character actors who seemed to show up on a different show each week. Last week the villian on Wild Wild West, this week a rancher on Gunsmoke, next week a nazi on Hogan's Hereos, week after that the villian on Hawaii Five-O, week after that a KAOS agent on Get Smart and on and on. Any actors like that around today?

Tracy Middendorf

Tim Bagley

Conor O'Farrell

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640970/

Just look at his resume and he's been making his living as a TV guest star.

Heather Locklear -- The definition of TV guest star.

Tim Guinee

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0347375/

Joe Spano -- Doesn't hop around as much, but he's a recurring guest star on NCIS

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0816876/

Sharif Atkins -- Regular on White Collar, but always credited as special guest star. He's guest starred on a lot of shows for a younger actor.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0040653/

Also, Natalie Zea:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0954036/

She's a regular on Justified on FX, but she's guest starred on so many shows. She was on Royal Pains and Franklin and Bash recently and will be on Californication next season.

Garret Dillahunt

For me there's one name that defines King of Guest Stars: Frank Nelson

The OP specified current actors, Nelson has been dead for 25 years.

Goose, your pictures do not appear

Damn IMDB.

Sorry, read the topic title but not the first post.

Had to do some searching to figure out the guy's name, but he's been a major figure in guest spots for years.

Clyde Kusatsu:

Also a regular on ER for a few years.

Then there's Mark A. Shepard, who has a semi-regular role as "Crowley" on "Supernatural", but has also been featured (almost always as a villain or shady character) on "Battlestar: Galactica", "Warehouse 13", "Leverage", "Chuck", "White Collar", "CSI", "Burn Notice" "In Plain Sight" , "Dollhouse" and the current season of "Doctor Who", -and we're only scratching the surface.

Frances Sternhagen

She gets a lot of recurring character roles, but not as a regular, so I guess she counts.

Edit: Here's another one I always get her confused with:
Kathryn Joosten
Looks like she was on Desperate Housewives as a regular.

Clint Howard has been doing this for almost 50 years now and not just when brother Ron directs.

Dillahunt is on Raising Hope now as one of the leads. Before that he was a regular on Terminator:TSCCC. Before that John from Cincinnati. Before that The 4400 and Deadwood. He just has a lot of short lived shows.

This is the first person I thought of..

Titus Welliver is another candidate. He's probably best known as "The Man in Black" on "Lost", but he's also been on "Sons of Anarchy", "The Closer", "The Good Wife", "True Blue", "Suits", "Raising The Bar". Law and Order: LA", "Third Watch", "Supernatural", and "Prison Break", just to name a few.

Mark Pelligrino is pretty much the "go-to" villain these days, though he's most recognized as the mysterious "Jacob" on "Lost". He's been on "Supernatural", "Being Human (U.S.)". "Breakout Kings", "The Mentalist", "CSI"< "The Ghost Whisperer", "Chuck", "Prison Break","Dexter", "Grey's Anatomy" and "Burn Notice", and more...

I can't believe I forgot Canadian superstar Callum Keith Rennie, who probably best fits the "professional guest star" category right now. He's appeared in "The Killing" (as the long-suffering fiancee of the lead actress), "Alphas", "Battlestar: Galactica" , "24", "Harper's Island" (as The Thinking Man's "Jason Voorhees"), "Flashforward" "Californication", "Men In Trees", "Smallville", "The L Word", "Supernatural" and hundreds more.

Damn, I can't believe I forgot him too. He's the epitome of guest star. I believe he was also the lead of some Canadian procedural drama called Shattered recently.

His guest starring days might be over though. He signed on as a series regular for "The Firm" on NBC for Spring 2012.

One who was around in the 60' and is still at it today is James Hong. Great Asian character actor. Voice actor in video games and movies - Kung Fu Panda. Series - Chowder, Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Bobes, Las Vegas,King of Queens, Malcolm in the Middle and going further back - Seinfeld, Friends, Brisco County, Jr., X-Files, Lois&Clark and going back to the early 60's in The Outer Limits, original Hawaii Five-O and Perry Mason. Just to name a few.

Doug

I just watched a terrific documentary on one of the Showtime Channels called "That Guy Who Was In That Thing". It features 16 different very familiar character actors discussing the life and profession they've chosen. Actors include Bruce Davison, Zjelko Ivanic, Xander Berkely, and Gregory Itzen. It really makes you look at these actors, and that type of actor, - differently, particularly when they get down to the nitty-gritty of making a living.

I tried watching that.

Was greeting for ten minutes then it got boring as it was just all talking heads and not muchif any clips of the movies they wherein.

Huh?

greeting for 10 minutes? Yeah what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Yikes auto correct strikes.

Was watching......