Favorite Character Actor/Actress of Hollywood's "Golden Era"

[WI_DEM]

Ok, you film historians out there who love the classic films of the 30's thru the 50's, who are some of your favorite character actors and actresses? Usually not the star of the film but often the best thing in a movie.

[ronnykmarshall]

1. Mary Wickes

She was wonderful. One of her last films was the two "Sister Act" movies. She had one of the best lines:

Whoopie: Oh come on, we'll always be together.

Mary: That's what Diana Ross said.

[wryter2000]

2. Other greats

James Gleason. Edna Mae Oliver.

[CBHagman]

4. YES! YES!

I love to see both Gleason and Oliver. My tapes of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Arsenic and Old Lace" get quite the workout.

Frankly, it was hard to pick just one character actor. I'm quite fond of Charles Bickford, Claude Rains, Mary Wickes, S.Z. Sakall and others. I picked Thelma Ritter from the list above because she is always wonderful.

And let's not forget George Tobias and Henry Travers and many others.

Do I got to pick just one?!

[wryter2000]

10. Gleason and Oliver together

They did a brief series of mysteries. I saw one on AMC when they were still showing old movies. I'd love to track down the rest.

Gleason was brilliant in "Meet John Doe." The scene where he's drunk is a classic of great acting.

"Drums along the Mohawk" with a young Henry Fonda is a great Edna Mae Oliver movie.

[CBHagman]

18. Yes, that was the Hildegarde Withers series.

Turner Classic Movies ran "The Penguin Pool Murder" recently, which was the first in the series. The other titles are listed in Leonard Maltin's movie guide (Just look under "Hildegarde Withers"). I'd have to look up the other titles and whether they're on DVD or VHS, but you can probably check all that at www.imdb.com or www.turnerclassicmovies.com

[Guy Fawkes]

3. James Dean (born 1931, died 1955)

[Kahuna]

8. Self deleted.

[Kahuna]

5. Mary Boland, Lionel Barrymore, Edna May Oliver, Edward Everett Horton..

Frank Morgan, Melville Cooper, Walter Brennan.

[CBHagman]

6. How could I forget Edward Everett Horton?

And here I'll mention Thomas Mitchell, another of the greats. Then there's Eugene Pallette and Una O'Connor and Dame May Whitty and Cecil Kellaway and Edmund Gwenn...

[Kahuna]

7. Una O'Connor!!! I love her! Saw her the other night in, The Bride..

of Frankenstein. She's in so many movies that I love. How could I forget her? Thomas Mitchell and Edmund Gwenn are also great additions.

[wryter2000]

11. Cecil Kellaway!

One of my favorites. Also, Charlie Ruggles. And the woman who played Elwood's older sister in Harvey (was also in Arsenic and Old Lace). Damn, I can't think of her name.

[Tom_Foolery]

9. Brian Donlevy was the best bad guy...

I always sit in stunned silence at his acting ability.

Edit: Added pic of the man.

[Magrittes Pipe]

12. Mrs. Kane, of course.

But mainly because she was Endora. ;)

[Ron Green]

13. Barbara Stanwyck.....

she was a strong woman, and she was HOT!!

[Ron Green]

20. Oops, now I see it says CHARACTER actor.

Stanwyck was definitely a lead.

[oxymoron]

14. Spring Byington and a few more notables...

Estelle Winwood, Marie Dressler, Hermione Gingold, Kathleen Freeman, Margaret Rutherford, Marjorie Main, Judith Anderson, Margaret DuMont, Henry Travers, Raymond Massey, Patsy Kelly, Fred Clark, Beulah Bondi, Marion Lorne, Jack Elam, Ruth McDevitt, Kay Medford, Jesse Royce Landis, Billie Burke, Eilene Heckart, Barry Fitzgerald, Margaret Hamilton, Walter Brennan, Leo G. Carroll, Elsa Lanchester, Ellen Corby, Pert Kelton, Peter Lorre, Joan Blondell, Slim Pickens, Sylvia Sidney, Ethel Waters, Alice Pearce, and Sterling Holloway. Gawd that was fun.

[jcappy]

15. Lee J Cobb....

Leo Carroll, Elisha Cook Jr., Joan Blondell... a few more who come to mind.

[beanball]

16. Actor/Actress

Sidney Greenstreet actor,Marjorie Rambeau actress.

[Catshrink]

17. Don't forget the creepy Peter Lorre.

Bogart, Greenstreet, and Lorre. Oh heck, why not the whole Casablanca cast?

[pfitz59]

26. Yep, Peter Lorre

master of the creepy look!

[bobthedrummer]

19. Peter Greenstreet had many memorable bit parts and roles.

So I voted other.

[chaska]

21. Walter Brennan - He's "weevil brained and buttsprung."

One of my favorite lines ever. I wish I could remember the name of that movie.

On edit: It's 'Bad Day at Black Rock' (1955).

[VOX]

22. Sidney Greenstreet, Franklin Pangborne, Spring Byington, Jane Darwell,

Ward Bond, Frank Faylen, Billy Gilbert, Gloria Grahame, Thomas Mitchell, William Bendix, Mike Mazurki, Keenan Wynn, Chill Wills, Linda Darnell, Claire Trevor...

For starters, anyway. :toast:

[mitchum]

23. Franklin Pangborne, George Sanders, Walter Brennan, Agnes Moorehead

[pagerbear]

24. All of the above and then some!

[smirkymonkey]

25. Celeste Holm, in addition to most of the above mentioned

names...

[PassingFair]

27. If I could pick only one of each gender...

Rita Hayworth; and
Robert Mitchum