CHARACTER ACTORS PART 4: MICHAEL RIPPER. Here's why I love him:

X the Unknown (1956) w/ Dean Jagger Quatermass 2: Enemy From Space (1957) w/ Brian Donlevy The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) w/ Peter Cushing The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) w/ Anton Diffring The Mummy (1959) w/ Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee The Brides of Dracula (1960) w/ Peter Cushing Macbeth (1960) w/ Maurice Evans & Judith Anderson Curse of the Werewolf (1961) w/ Oliver Reed Captain Clegg aka Night Creatures (1962) w/ Peter Cushing The Phantom of the Opera (1962) w/ Herbert Lom Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964) Plague of the Zombies (1966) w/ Andre Morell Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966) w/ Christopher Lee The Reptile (1966) Torture Garden (1967) w/ Peter Cushing & Jack Palance The Mummy's Shroud (1967) The Lost Continent (1968) Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968) w/ Christopher Lee Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) w/ Christopher Lee Scars of Dracula (1970) w/ Christopher Lee The Creeping Flesh (1973) w/ Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee "Butterflies" (Britcom 1978-1983) The Witch's Dungeon (Documentary 2006)

If there was ever a patron saint of character actors, it just might be Michael Ripper. He was the heart of Hammer Films appearing in horror/science fiction productions from the House of Horror from beginning to end of the studio. Peter Cushing once quipped to Christopher Lee: "Do you ever get the feeling you're appearing in a Michael Ripper picture?!?" It almost didn't seem like a Hammer film without the friendly face of Michael Ripper; usually tending bar or pounding a beat as a copper. The vast love fans had for this actor overwhelmed him at the end of his life and, when he died in 2000, the guy had to know just how much he meant to horror fans and film fans in general. He was one of the nicest gents who ever lived and I that's why I loved the guy!