Best Character Actors

[Jeremy Goodwin]

Not the best, but here are some according to
http://www.movieactors.com/characters/index.html

Dan Hedaya
Jeffrey Jones
Burgess Meredith
Daniel Stern
John Vernon
Burt Young

 

[didntdoit19]

The late, great J.T. Walsh.

 

[DanOregon]

Oliver Platt
John Mahoney
David Morse
Judy Greer
Elizabeth Banks
Paul Dooley
Bruce Greenwood
Greg Kinnear
James Gammon
and I could go on...
Ron Rifkin and Bob Balaban made careers out of playing pricks. Come to think of it, the entire cast of The Negotiator consists of great character actors.

 

[EStreetJoe]

Steve Buscemi

great call.. was going to be my answer

 

[EStreetJoe]

Would Jeffrey Jones too big a name to be in the character actor category?

 

[part-timer]

Charles Durning
Brian Dennehy

 

[BigSleeper]

Clint Howard

Dude, lay off the cough syrup. Seriously. I'm worried about ya, man.

There was a time when Fred Dalton Thompson could be counted on to for a decent supporting performance or, at the very least, a memorable line or two.

 

[YankeeFan]

I know he's a star, but I'm going to say Gene Hackman anyway.

 

[shockey]

gary oldham.

looks different in every role. a real cameleon. tremendous actor to boot.

 

[BigSleeper]

How about Ed Harris? Aside from "Pollack," he most seems to stick to supporting roles ("Apollo 13," "Gone, Baby, Gone," etc.)

 

[Bubbler]

Does Phillip Seymour Hoffman count, or has he gotten too big?

How 'bout John Turturro, James Rebhorn, and this guy ...

Seinfeld's Slippery Pete, The Big Lebowski's Ulee Kunkel (nihilist), and one of the bad dudes with Steve Buscemi (another candidate?) in Fargo. Name is Peter Stormare.

Still one of the greatest commercials, perhaps the greatest commercial, of all-time.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Gary Oldman
Steve Buscemi
Ed Harris

 

[Bubbler]

Warren Oates is an all-timer.

 

[Songbird]

Janeane Garofalo.

 

[beardpuller]

I was thinking about this earlier while I was watching "Juno." As usual, J.K. Simmons (who played Juno's father) was outstanding as he usually is (i.e. in the Spiderman movies).

Which character actors are your favorites?

Jesus Christ. I clicked on this thread to post "G.K. Simmons."

Oh, well. I can tell I'm going to need to be much more obscure.
How about Amy Aquino? She had a recurring role as the scary Girl Scout cookie mom on "Everybody Loves Raymond." She also was the rabbi Hank thried to hit on on "The Gary Shandling Show," and she was in one of my favorite episodes of "Murphy Brown."


Also, has anyone mentioned Harry Dean Stanton?

 

[old_tony]

The late, great J.T. Walsh.

I saw the thread title and that's exactly who popped into my mind.

 

[Webster]

Chris Cooper
David Paymer

 

[old_tony]

He got a few of his own shows as the lead character, but does anyone think Dabney Coleman fits the bill?

 

[GBNF]

I would define a character actor as the glue guy to a movie/show. You watch a show like Friday Night Lights, and as important as Taylor is, I'm always more impressed by Smash's mom and Landry's dad. Just fantastic acting — makes you not even imagine someone else in that role.

1) JT Walsh
2) Glenn Morshower (Pierce on 24/Mr. Clarke on Friday Night Lights)
3) Paul Giammatti before 2003.
4) PS Hoffman before 2005.
5) John C. Reilly
6) William Devane
7) Ron Eldard
8) Ned Beatty
9) Powers Boothe
10) Chris Cooper
11) Philip Baker Hall
12) Ian Holm
13) Michael Ironside
14) Michaet Jeter
15) David Paymer

And the ULTIMATE character actor
...
John Cazale

 

[toivo99]

William H. Macy