People up thread were talking about Rains, Lorre, and Greenstreet. Maltese Falcon also had Elisha Cook, Jr.:

I kind of prefer character actors that are still breathing.

I love one like a brother Johnny Roastbeef a true friend never judged me. Even though he doesn't call me any more I still love the guy as much as I can love anyone.

There are others joe Pesce, Joe Cortese a cool guy, if you consider Armand assante a character actor now he is fantastic.

Oh you can consider Jon Voight a character actor now. He is great in Ray Donovan the new season starts July 7 or 10 I forget which on showtime. He is back for this second year.

Perhaps the greatest character of all-time was Thomas Mitchell. He was probably best known for his portrayal of Uncle Billy in "It's a Wonderful Life" but consider what he did in just one year (1939). He appeared in, "Stagecoach", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", "Gone With the Wind" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". I don't think there's ever been a better year for any actor.

Mitchell did great work in movies in the first half of his career. But in the last half it was mostly TV.

I think the greatest character actor of all time was John Carradine and the most prolific.

Don't forget High Noon was supposed to be Will's friend then throw him under the wagon (they didn't have bus's back then

I like Mitchell also. He was good.

During the 60s there were several character actors who showed up regularly on a number of shows(Above, someone posted the women who did so). Allen Melvin was one. He played a couple of different roles on the Andy Griffith Show and then showed up on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Another one was Thomas Gomez very similiar to the career of Thomas Mitchell. They were probably fighting for a lot of the same parts.

Eugene pallette probably don't remember the name. But the face you cannot forget

In over 250 movies

Mark of zorro Tyrone power played the priest

My man Godfrey the father

Adventures of robin hood friar tuck

We can go on and on

Incident one of my favorite movies mark of zorro and My man Godfrey

1. Clancy Brown
2. Brad Dourif
3. Dianne Wiest
4. Geoffrey Lewis
5. Melissa Leo

Although he was a great leading actor, Paul Scofield also was a splendid character actor. He made "Quiz Show," a very fine film with outstanding performance all around, even though his role was relatively small.

He was great in the movie "The Train"

JT Walsh, in just about anything, but especially in "Backdraft" and "A Few Good Men".

Yes he was good. He died young you remember "needful things"?

He was also excellent as John Ehrlichman in "Nixon" opposite James Woods & Anthony Hopkins.

Not sure if he was mentioned, but John Spencer was a great character actor IMO. He was most famous as Leo McGarry on "West Wing," but was also in "LA Law," "The Negotiator," "Hoffa," and "Cop Land."

How could I forget Leo??? Love John Spencer!

You're slippin SB, just like the Don

As soon as I saw your post, I thought of West Wing. Although in your ultimate West Wing, wouldn't Jeter be the Commander in Chief?

No, the ultimate WW universe is the one where I would be POTUS and he would be the First Gentleman.

Richard Stahl was one of the great character actors of the 1970s, playing the same understated role in nearly every great sitcom of the era - All in the Family, The Odd Couple (9 different episodes), Bob Newhart, WKRP, Soap, Barney Miller. He played the head monk in this episode of The Odd Couple:

I was watching a bit of a movie from the 1930s. Of course, the opening credits listed the stars followed by the bit players (in ever increasing smaller font). I wondered if those players thought that they were on their way to stardom. I'll bet they rushed home to their overjoyed parents, spouses, and friends with the news that they had broken into film and the sky was the limit. Of course, most would probably never again see the inside of a studio. Some would though such as Lon Chaney and John Wayne. Can anyone name a current star (and their initial movie) who started out that way?

Recently I read that the movie "The Pawnbroker" (1964) starring Rod Steiger was being re-released. The film was critiqued and it mentioned that Morgan Freeman played a streetwise teen. I looked up Freeman's film bio and it listed "The Pawnbroker", but his part was not credited. On IMDB he is not credited either. I remember seeing this film in the theater and I recently watched some of it on TV. A very dark drama, but compelling story.

Mary, i enjoy looking at old movies on IMDB and seeing actors who today are famous but back them only had small or uncredited roles. Then go on their page and see how they paid their dues and eventually some of them rose to stardom whle others careers simply died on the vine.

The pawnbroker was one of the best performances ever given by Rod Steiger. I dug that movie but the subject matter was real raw. It was made in black and white if I remember right.

If you have not seen it you should see it.

He was Burt Lancasters co star in the train right? If I am right he and Burt were fantastic in that movie.