HOWEVER, I know there has to be SOMEBODY out there who fulfills the role of GREAT character actor. Any suggestions for a present-day one?!?
CHARACTER ACTORS PART 14: JOHN QUALEN
Qualen's magnificent as the haunted, slightly "tetched" farmer who was forced off his land when the bank foreclosed during the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression. His flashback speech is absolutely gripping: "There ain't nobody gonna push me off my land! My grandpa took up this land 70 years ago, my pa was born here, we were all born on it. And some of of us was killed on it! ...and some of us died on it. That's what make it our'n, bein' born on it,...and workin' on it,...and and dying' on it! And not no piece of paper with writin' on it!" Qualen tells his heartbreaking story in the ruins of the old Joad shack. The darkness is all around the actor as his face is only illuminated by a single light from below as he tells them how the bank bulldozed his home into the dirt and now he haunts the deserted and blasted fields at night like a ghost. The eerie dust bowl wind howls outside in one of the most atmospheric scenes ever committed to nitrate stock. This first part of the film (before Tom Joad meets up with his family) is my favourite part of "The Grapes of Wrath" and John Qualen's performance has a lot to do with that!
Believe it or don't but I've never actually read ANYTHING by Charles Dickens. Oh, I can see you now standing there aghast in your shorts! Nope, not even "A Christmas Carol" which is wafer-thin. And "Great Expectations" is the one I've always wanted to start with.
As for "Moby Dick", well I've always wanted to read that too; even though I actually HAVE read some Melville in the past. Bartleby the Scrivener (which I didn't particularly like) and Billy Budd (which I loved). But THIS book. Well, it's THE book, isn't it. The one that's intimidating and stands there mocking you just like the great whale itself. So anyway, I have the best intentions to read them both. This year. Whether I make it or not is for you to call me on. Also, let's hear from Midnighter (and any other of my friends who have read either book). Midnighter, I know you finally read "Moby Dick" a couple years ago so what's your advice, mate? I mean, besides that I should wear a rain slicker while reading it. 
CHARACTER ACTORS PART 13: DWIGHT FRYE
Dracula regards them as him own personal juice boxes and the ship arrives at Whitby with no one on board but a corpse strapped to the wheel and the totally insane Renfield. The scene where the hatch is opened to reveal Dwight Frye, fully given to madness, ravenously grinning up at the camera from the bottom of the hold, is genuinely frightening. (Here we see Frye with his fellow "Dracula" castmates Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Helen Chandler and Edward Van Sloan). Soon after that, Universal (and James Whale) cast Frye in "Frankenstein" as the original deranged (and homicidal) hunchback assistant to Colin Clive's mad doctor. After that, every Universal Frankenstein movie featured Dwight Frye in the cast (until his untimely death after "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man"); albeit in smaller and smaller roles which eventually amounted to nothing more than a cameo. 
The actor suffered from heart trouble and his health was slowly deteriorating during the 40's. During this time, Frye also had a small role in one of the best Saturday morning serials ever made: "The Drums of Fu Manchu" where he played (what else?!?), a criminal henchman. Frye would fare much better with more substantial roles in such horror films as "The Vampire Bat" and "Dead Men Walk" in which he played much the same character as he had in "Dracula" and "Frankenstein". The versatile actor was firmly typecast in "Renfield" roles and had to do war work in a Lockheed factory to make ends meet. He was to have a fairly chunky role in a non-horror film (in one of my all-time favourite biopics "Wilson") about President Woodrow Wilson (which also featured fellow horror vet Vincent Price) due to Frye's uncanny resemblance to World War I Secretary of War Newton Baker. Sadly, Dwight Frye suffered a fatal heart attack while riding on a bus a few days before shooting began. While the actor never really got his chance to show his versatility on film, Dwight Frye carved an indelible spot in the hearts of horror fans everywhere and that's why I love him. 
CHARACTER ACTORS PART 12: MILDRED NATWICK.
Mildred's son (played by gruff Jason Robards) has been so scarred by the early death of his wife that he refuses to allow a Christmas tree in the house. Mildred's granddaughter enlists her grandmother to try to change his mind. This TV movie from 1972 remained lodged in my memory for years and haunted me until I finally found a VHS copy in the 1990's and the film was every bit as terrific as I recalled. Remember when PBS used to air filmed stage plays in the 80s?!? Well, I also loved Mildred in one of those: "The Booth" was a three-part stage play in which the action centered around a banquet booth. Each of the three sections of the play featured different characters, actors and stories. The section concerning Mildred found her playing an old lady who goes to her class reunion only to find that she and Barnard Hughes are the only classmates still living. Both characters have failing memories and don't remember each other. The comic banter back and forth between these two veteran performers is both poignant and hilarious. I can never again hear the song "Don't Fence Me In" without thinking of Mildred Natwick in this play! 
Her final film was "Dangerous Liaisons" in which she played a wise and savvy dowager who is quite aware of the naughtiness John Malkovich gets up to. I remember the first time I saw the film; I almost shouted out loud "Hey, that's Mildred Natwick!" That's the kind of joy she brought to the screen and that's why I love her. 
As you may recall, there was a ridiculous claim made by Cheekies that Beaker (the lameoid to the left) is a much better Muppet than Pepe the King Prawn. (Miss Jenny Penny actually did agree with him in the comment but I'm going to chalk that up to excessive zeal and hope that she will come to her senses -- especially since both Buffy AND Vicki Mars have already made their preference for Pepe known to me). Now, while there could be a legitimate case for a another Muppet being better than Pepe, choosing Beaker as the one is not wise; Beaker is not the go-to Muppet, folks. He's essentially a "one joke" Muppet who resembles a table leg with a box of french fries on his head. Once you've seen him . . .you've SEEN him. 
And once you've HEARD him more than a few times, he gets REALLY ANNOYING folks!
So, as a public service to those naysayers who actually think that Beaker is better than Pepe; we have conducted a scientific study with the help of NASA and McDonald's wherein the popularity and general "much betterness" of each Muppet has been calculated in relation to the aforementioned Beaker. We will thus have mathematical evidence as to which Muppet is better or worse than Beaker. And here are the results (those Muppets that are better than Beaker appear in blue while those that are worse appear in red):
Pepe the KING Prawn: 90% better than Beaker
Animal: 85% better than Beaker
Bobo the Bear: 70% better than Beaker
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew: 2% worse than Beaker
Dr. Teeth: 14% better than Beaker
Sgt. Floyd Pepper : 4% better than Beaker
Fozzie Bear: 94% better than Beaker
Gonzo: 77% better than Beaker
Janice: 17% worse than Beaker
Kermit the Frog: 100% better than Beaker
Miss Piggy: 54% better than Beaker
Rizzo the Rat: 92% better than Beaker
Robin (Kermit's little nephew): 66% better than Beaker
Rowlf the Dog: 20% better than Beaker
Sam the Eagle: 22% worse than Beaker
Scooter: 71% worse than Beaker
Statler & Waldorf: 87% better than Beaker
Swedish Chef: 35% better than Beaker
Sweetums: 19% better than Beaker
Zoot: 7% better than Beaker
Big Bird: 9% better than Beaker
Oscar the Grouch: 91% better than Beaker
Grover: 98% better than Beaker
Elmo: 100% worse than Beaker
The Count: 94% better than Beaker
Ernie: 96% better than Beaker
Bert: 83% better than Beaker
Mr. Snuffleupagus: 74% better than Beaker
Cookie Monster: 91% better than Beaker
Judge Ito * : 25% better than Beaker
And, as if all this wasn't proof ENOUGH, I'll enter this additional evidence: I don't recall ever seeing a Beaker balloon in a Thanksgiving Parade. HOWEVER, you will notice there's a photo of a Pepe the King Prawn float right down there making it's way in the Thanksgiving Parade. So nertz to you, naysayers.
* Didn't realize Judge Ito was a Muppet, did you????
Gloria never seemed to catch a break. She was either the woman some man done dirt to or else the floozy who never got any respect. In "The Big Heat", Lee Marvin horribly scars her by hurling a boiling pot of coffee in her face. "In A Lonely Place" finds Humphrey Bogart similarly terrorizing her. Even in the perennial family feel good Christmas staple "It's A Wonderful Life", it's Gloria Grahame who plays a "loose woman". Gloria seems to be one of the quintessential film noir dames. When she falls for hack writer Humphrey Bogart in "In a Lonely Place" after providing an alibi for him when a girlfriend is murdered, things seem to be going along fine. However, Bogie soon reveals a terrifying, violent temper leading Gloria to doubt whether or not the man she loves is actually a murderer. Bogie's performance is actually terrifying while Grahame makes you feel genuine fear and concern for her welfare. 
"In A Lonely Place" is actually a kinda nastier version of Alfred Hitchcock's "Suspicion". There is a particular aspect to Gloria Grahame which is so beaten-down by life that it lends itself to so many of the roles in which she was cast. Something in her eyes (those half-open, heavy-lidded eyes) seems to speak to a life of hard knocks and a happy ending never seems to loom in her future. 
Then Agnes went to television and did a reverse of her radio performance when she performed on one of the most famous Twilight Zone's ever ("The Invaders") without speaking a word!!! Tragically, the casting of Agnes Moorehead in that mega-bomb "The Conqueror" (featuring John Wayne as Genghis Khan for goshsakes) signed her death warrent. The film was shot in the desert where recent nuclear bomb tests had been made. Worse still, skads of radioactive dirt were shipped to the studio sets so scenes shot on the movie lot would match! This naturally resulted in a large percentage of the cast and crew (including Wayne, Moorehead, Susan Hayward, Thomas Gomez, Pedro Armendariz and director Dick Powell) contracting cancer and dying from it. 
But most of us will always think of Agnes as the delightfully devious Endora on "Bewitched" as she unendingly torments Darren (whichever one). Agnes Moorehead had the acting chops to handle every role but she still maintained a down-to-earth sense of fun. And that's why I love her.
CHARACTER ACTORS PART 9: WILLIAM DANIELS.
Ironically, real life had a similar surprise for William Daniels. He was nominated for a Tony Award for best supporting actor during the Broadway run. Now, John Adams is clearly the lead role in the play but, since Daniels wasn't top billed, he wasn't eligible to be nominated for best actor. Daniels declined the nomination. Courteously. No matter. He subsequently starred in the film version of the musical (here he is with Howard DaSilva as Ben Franklin) and no one will ever be a better John Adams than William Daniels. And that's why I love the lug.
CHARACTER ACTORS PART 8: MARGARET DUMONT.
Here are some reasons why I love her:
The Cocoanuts (1929)
Animal Crackers (1930)
Duck Soup (1933)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
A Day at the Races (1937)
The Women (1939) w/ Joan Crawford
At the Circus (1939)
The Big Store (1941)
Never Give A Sucker an Even Break (1941) w/ W. C. Fields
Bathing Beauty (1944) w/ Esther Williams & Red Skelton
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) w/ Jack Benny
Little Giant (1946) w/ Abbott & Costello
What a Way To Go! (1964) w/ Shirley MacLaine
The ultimate straight man was a woman! Margaret Dumont was the oh-so-proper hoity-toity upper-class grande dame the Marx Brothers revelled in levelling. Seemingly a constant fixture with the Marx Brothers, it is probably an essential part of her perfection that she never got a single joke the Marx Brothers ever made. And since they were usually at HER expense, that's probably just as well. I can see her now, bending over a hot stove. But I can't see the STOVE! Apparently she enjoyed working with the boys but she probably couldn't have told you why. Margaret Dumont was the great oak tree standing proudly in the forest while four ridiculous, manic woodpeckers flapped around her. Because one thinks of her solely in proximity to the Marx Brothers, it is somewhat shocking to realize that she actually appeared with a great many comedians of Hollywood's golden age including W.C. Fields, Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton and Jack Benny. Although she may not have understood the Marx Brothers' humour, you only have to look at her face to realize she's still having the time of her life. Surely she couldn't have been as stuffy as the characters she played. Dumont had a long career on the stage but film fans will always remember her for the Marx Brothers movies.
An interesting sidebar: the 1992 film "Brain Donors" was an out and out homage to the classic Marx Brothers films starring John "Barton Fink" Turturro in the "Groucho"-like role and Nancy "The Sopranos" Marchand in the Margaret Dumont-like role. While many thought "Brain Donors" fell flat, I personally think it's funny as hell. Of course, I doubt if Margaret Dumont would've gotten that film either. And that's why we love her!
CHARACTER ACTORS PART 7: HAVE A PO-TA-TO, ERNEST THESIGER!
Thesiger and hope that the audience would notice you AT ALL?!?!? Director James Whale (seen here with his daffy diva on the set of "Bride") was so fond of Thesiger that he used him in both his classics "The Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Old Dark House" (Ernest is seen here with future "Titanic" actress Gloria Stuart). 
James Whale insisted on Thesiger's casting as the dotty Dr. Pretorius in "Bride of Frankenstein": undoubtedly one of the most memorable performances in the history of horror films. Pretorius' toast of "Here's to a world of gods and monsters" even provided the title for the recent James Whale biopic starring Sir Ian McKellen. As the archly fey Horace Femm in "The Old Dark House", almost every line spoken by Thesiger is a bona fide classic of cutting wit. Only Thesiger could deliver a line like "Have a potato" in such a way as to reduce a viewer to howls of laughter. 
(not to be confused with the Humphrey Bogart picture of the same name) which stars Emlyn Williams as a recently released convict who becomes a suspect in a strangulation murder he didn't commit. The first half of this wonderful movie is pure "innocent man on the run"; however, about halfway into the film it veers sharply into all-out horror with an absolutely stunning "face at the window" zoom shot you have to see to believe. Ernest Thesiger was as arch as his nostrils and that's why cinema fans like me love him. So have a potato, Ern. It's my ONLY weakness!
CHARACTER ACTORS PART 6: ***SIGH*** . . . DENISE NICHOLAS.
Here (below) is one of the reasons I love her:
Since then, she's been in the forgotten (though fun) 70's sitcom "Baby, I'm Back" in which her ex-husband (played by Sanford and Son's Demond Wilson) tries to re-enter her life. 
I never watched the TV show "In the Heat of the Night" in which she co-starred with Carroll O'Connor; had I only known she was in it I would have tuned in every week!!! I hesitate to include her as a "character actor" since she always seemed like a leading lady to me. However, Denise Nicholas never seemed to have the one breakout role which would catapult her to stardom. So here she is. And I'm glad to see her at ANY opportunity. In 1995, Harvard University's Harvard Foundation named her Cultural Artist of the Year for her contributions to American performing arts and intercultural relations. Denise Nicholas has also won 5 N.A.A.C.P. Awards and 2 L.A. Emmys. So, OK now everybody whistle the theme song to Room 222. Go on, you know it. And if you don't -- what in the hell's wrong with you?!?!?!?!?!!!
Over to the right there in the archives you'll find me blathering on about Mantan Moreland and his groundbreaking interracial "buddy films" with Frankie Darro. Look over there. It's in February 2006 archive and the article is called "IRISH LUCK". Go ahead. I'll wait.
Oh, you're back. OK, well Mantan was really the star of almost every picture he was in (take King of the Zombies for just one example -- he's the only reason to watch it and he lifts the film from abysmal to magical). Like all other actors of colour at the time, Mantan Moreland was mostly relegated to the role of valet, porter, janitor, chauffer or any number of other working class jobs. For this inescapable fact of life in old Hollywood, Moreland would later be lambasted and ridiculed for his "demeaning and offensive roles". This was quite unfair and, in fact, quite untrue. Unlike stereotyped portrayals by, for instance, Stepin Fetchit, Mantan Moreland shaped his film portrayals in much the same manner as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson; that is, he was usually smarter than his boss and didn't hide that fact -- slipping in sarcastic barbs which usually went over their heads.
In his new book “Mantan the Funnyman”, Michael H. Price describes an interesting conversation he once had with the N.A.A.C.P.’s Dr. Richard Jones; who referred to Moreland as an “Uncle Tom” and admitted that his organization actively strove to “put the wraps on his career”.
“Well, sir,” replied Price, “all due respect, but I’ve always found Mantan to be pretty darned heroic and quick-witted. Closer to Paul Robeson than to Stepin Fetchit, if you’re talking about dignity and resourcefulness.” Price later goes on to relate Dr. Jones’ response: “Well, it’s not as though we had tried to kick him out of the race, or any such thing. The organization’s lobbyists merely discouraged his employment among the moving-picture companies and urged him to apply his talents to a higher calling.” Price goes on to make the cogent point that Dr. Jones added “That was a long time ago” as if to suggest that character assassination and career sabotage came equipped with a statute of limitations”.
Mantan was a life-long consummate comedian and, as such, went for the laugh. In his good number of horror films (and mysteries featuring Charlie Chan), Mantan played the scared assistant in much the same manner as Lou Costello would have. The mere fact that some people falsely point to this as "a demeaning portrayal" simply because of the colour of Moreland's skin points out their own racism; if comedians like Lou Costello, Harold Lloyd, Bert Lahr or the Three Stooges could portray the same type of cowardly characters why should Mantan Moreland be denied the same right?!? Speaking of the Three Stooges, it was the express wish of both Moe & Shemp Howard that Mantan Moreland take Shemp's place in the Three Stooges. Moe, as late as 1973, was still lamenting the fact that the studio would not allow it and stuck them with prissy Joe Besser. While Mantan was only a supporting player in mainstream Hollywood films, he was allowed to headline in films made for and by African Americans such as Lucky Ghost (one of his funniest). The political correctness which almost destroyed his career in the 1950's hurt Moreland very badly; especially since he knew in his heart he never demeaned himself on the silver screen. It wasn't until the 60's when Mantan's career began to be reevaluated and his unfair treatment began to subside. Director Jack Hill brought him aboard for his film "Spider Baby" and others like Bill Cosby and Carl Reiner welcomed Mantan on to their productions as well. Sadly, his chronic ill health finally ended Moreland's life just as he was beginning to find work again. The fact remains, however, that Mantan Moreland lived to provide joy and entertainment for the entire world.
*** All sentences in red are either direct quotes or paraphrases from Michael H. Price’s book “Mantan the Funnyman” available from Midnight Marquee Press. CLICK HERE and buy a copy right away!
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!
And who can forget Thelma in Hitchcock's Rear Window (I know Whatshisname can't) when she mused about chopped up body parts fitting in a trunk? Or her phenomenal role in the film noir classic Pickup On South Street. Or her hysterically funny turn in Doris Day & Rock Hudson's Pillow Talk. And don't forget: Thelma never trusted that wicked Anne Baxter and you know what - - Bette Davis shoulda listened to her because Thelma ALWAYS knows best! If I could entrust my daily life to Thelma -- well, hell I'd sure be a lot better off! Thelma was a hell of a broad and I love her!
