,The Best Character Actors?

[jdb1]

All such good choices, and there are so many others. I can add:

Harry Davenport
H.B. Warner
Helen Westley
Selena Royle
Arthur Hunnicutt
Sara Haden (she was the Agnes before Agnes)
Moroni Olsen

[CharlieT]

What? No Irving Bacon or Charles Lane? Preposterous!

[Professional Tourist]

Here are a few more character actors to add to my list (after my #1 heart-throb already mentioned ):

Thelma Ritter
Eve Arden
Frank Morgan
Cecil Kellaway
Mildred Natwick
S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall
Robert Preston
Charles Bickford

[srowley75]

A few other favorites that occurred to me while I was working late...I don't think they've been cited yet, but then my eyes aren't as quick as they used to be...

Felix Aylmer
Henry Daniell
Sid Haig (I say he counts)
Ernest Thesiger
Margaret Rutherford
Robert Morley
C. Aubrey Smith
Margaret Dumont
Gale Gordon (radio mostly, but he did make some films)
Jane Darwell
Charles Middleton
Constance Collier

[srowley75]

Now that we have the names, any favorite performances to discuss?

I guess I'll list a few of mine:

Edna May Oliver: either David Copperfield (1935) or A Tale of Two Cities (1937). She makes a delightful avenging angel in both.

Mary Wickes: Now, Voyager (1942). Her comic relief schtick never seemed more welcome than in this film.

Franklin Pangborn: The Bank Dick (1940). Poor Franklin almost always played befuddled, effete men who were bullied, humiliated, or insulted by more confidant and self-assured leads, but I don't think he was ever tortured more thoroughly than during the going-over W. C. Fields shells out to him in The Bank Dick: Fields drugs him into nausea then visits his sickbed to exacerbate his condition ("How about some nice chili con carne?"), allows him to fall out a second-story window, humiliates him before the townspeople of Lompoc, breaks his glasses, and mashes his hand in a letter press.

Eve Arden: Mildred Pierce (1945), which I guess would be most everyone's choice. Arden (who was of course Oscar-nominated) serves as the blunt, sardonic voice of the audience to the sleazy selfish characters who inhabit this film.

William Demarest and Elsa Lanchester: My introduction to both of these greats came courtesy of their show-stopping performances as a constantly bickering married couple living next door to flighty Hayley Mills in Disney's fluffy comedy That Darn Cat!. There's no question that each gave better performances during their respective careers (the former in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek and the latter in Witness for the Prosecution), but they're the reasons that I find myself revisiting this fun bit of nonsense from time to time.

[CineMaven]

Some of you have already named some of my favorites: (Eve Arden, Thelma Ritter). I'd like to add these names to the list of character actors. (Fancy schmancy Miss Goddess with your photos).

For my picks...the best?? I dunno. But my palms sweat and my pulse quickens when I see that they are in a movie. So....in no particular order:

1. Rosemary DeCamp
2. Una Merkel
3. Louis Jean Heydt
4. John Ridgely
5. Iris Adrian
6. Helen Broderick
7. Cecil Cunningham (Aunt Patsy in "The Awful Truth"-Helen Broderick might've been busy).
and yes two of my very very favorites:

8. Theresa Harris (wonderful in "Out of the Past.")
9. Samuel S. Hinds. (I want to have his baby!)

[Professional Tourist]

Favorite performances, hmmm, okay:

Agnes Moorehead -- Magnificent Obsession, Johnny Belinda
Thelma Ritter -- How the West Was Won, Miracle on 34th Street
Eve Arden -- Mildred Pierce, Anatomy of a Murder
Frank Morgan -- The Wizard of Oz, The Stratton Story
Cecil Kellaway -- Hush. . .Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Mrs. Parkington
Mildred Natwick -- Barefoot in the Park, The Quiet Man
S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall -- In the Good Old Summertime, Christmas in Connecticut
Robert Preston -- Victor/Victoria, How the West Was Won
Charles Bickford -- Song of Bernadette, A Star is Born

[melwalton]

Great topic, Hollis, some great choices too.
I'd like to add:
Edward Arnold
Edward Brophy
Alan Jenkins
Jean Hagen
Irene Handl
Terry - Thomas
Dennis Price
Joan Simms

[rohanaka]

Wow... a LOT of my most favorites have already been listed by others.... (but still want to give a quick shout out for Walter Brennan.... my ALL TIME fave)

Aside from SEVERAL that I would list that have already been named by others here, I can also think of: (sorry if any of these are duplicates too)

Edward Arnold (is he a character actor? ha) (PS... Hi Mel Walton.... I am editing my post because I see now that E. A. made your list too!! That answers my question!! ha)
Jack Elam
Barry Fitzgerald
Henry Jones ( oh my poor, awful, mean and nasty LeRoy)
Leon Ames
Harry Davenport
Felix Bressart
Dame May Whitty
Eileen Heckart (another Bad Seed alumni... ha)

[melwalton]

Hi, ROHAN
I would say that Arnold was a charactor actor, he played Jim Brady .
Anyway he was a grade A actor. ... mel

[vallo]

Shame for not mentioning "J. Carrol Naish " from "What Price Glory" his first film to "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" his 219th. film. He played everything from Arabs to hunchbacks. Great character.




Bill

[Metry_Road]

I don’t have a long list, bur a few memorable actors that spring to mind are:

Lee J. Cobb - For his amazing and emotional performance in ’12 Angry Men.’ Some of the other actors around that table would also qualify for inclusion here.

Gladys Cooper who played an unforgettable mother from hell in several movies.

Victor McLaglen – A bit limited as an actor, but he certainly brightened up any movie he was in.

Raymond Massey – Great at cerebral or pompous characters (much like himself).

Frank Thring – Droopy-eyed villain in several classic epics.

Best wishes

Metairie Road

[jdb1]

Douglas Dumbrille
Walter Abel
Norma Varden
Verna Felton

[srowley75]

I looked twice through and didn't see anyone mention Charlie Ruggles, so I had to throw him in there.

I'd also add Marie Windsor, John Carradine, Sig Rumann, Ed Wynn, Hermione Baddeley, and Leo McKern.

And I'd also throw in Peter Lorre. Even though he also played leading roles, it's hard to imagine Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, or The Maltese Falcon without his contributions.

[MissGoddess]

Shame for not mentioning "J. Carrol Naish " from "What Price Glory" his first film to "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" his 219th. film. He played everything from Arabs to hunchbacks. Great character.




Bill

Bill! I love your avatar of sweet Clark! Is that by a famous charicaturist?