It was a different era when Hollywood’s studios also owned theaters and had to crank out new features weekly to fill them.  Star power wasn’t really any different than it is today – the biggest ones would all but guarantee a decent box office – except that the studios (vs. the actors themselves) controlled their actors’ images, and employed ‘fixers’ to keep all but their biggest indiscretions out of the papers.  MGM and Warner Bros. (etc.) had stars galore, but they also needed ‘filler’:  actors to complete their storylines (and various eye candies, from blondes to exotic travel locales).

These essential character actors became more formerly known as Supporting Actors by the Academy, which finally recognized them as necessary enough for their own category in 1937 (for films released in 1936).  Their faces and their voices, if not always their names, are familiar to the casual ‘old movie’ viewer and history recalls their Oscar winning or nominated performances:  classic scene stealers from Walter Brennan and Eve Arden to William Demarest and Thelma Ritter.  However, there was also a second tier character actor:  those that allowed themselves to be typecast, in a particular role movie after movie.  Their appearances could be as short as one brief scene with the leading actor(s), or they could be seen in the background throughout the film without having but a very few perfunctory lines.  But because they were always ‘there’, frequently in the same roles, they made an impression such that the audience knew what to expect from them.  As time went by, introducing their characters became less and less necessary; the audiences already ‘knew’ about their trustworthiness (or lack thereof) because these traits were always reinforced.  Their uniqueness was such that those of us who have absorbed TCM regularly remember them fondly.

It’s been more than a year since Richard wrote about Charles Lane, the king of the recognizable unknowns, longer still since I wrote about John Qualen and almost exactly 12 months since I ‘quizzed’ you about Henry O’Neill.  Let me share with you a few of my favorite second tier supporting players, those that never received an Oscar nomination (or, in most cases, any real significant roles), but whose appearance in a classic always perks me up, bringing a smile to my face or at least a knowing grin.

I’m not talking about Eric Blore and Edward Everett Horton from Fred & Ginger’s musicals (etc.); I’m not talking about Leo G. Carroll or John Williams from Alfred Hitchcock’s films, or Georgia Tobias, Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee or any number of popular character actors for which TCM has made a “What a character” feature.  Those that were regulars in Preston Sturges comedies or were part of John Ford’s stock company (like Ward Bond) don’t count either.  No, I’m trying to specify ‘in the background’ or typecast minor player actors that show up in classic movie after classic movie that (perhaps) never stole a scene but whose presence is noticed for their sheer volume of work and propensity to play the same roles.  Another characteristic may be the difficulty with which one can find a picture of them using Google’s image search:  the kind of actor who, if they were in a picture with other stars, wouldn’t be identified in the photo’s description.  For instance:

The somewhat tall and baldheaded Ian Wolfe played undertakers and other such characters throughout his career; his higher than normal voice was another distinguishing characteristic.

A shorter version of Wolfe, bald with a unique voice character actor that frequently played timid persons is Donald Meek.

Blond-headed Billy Benedict played delivery boys (sometimes on a bicycle) well past his teen years

Eily Malyon (and Rafaela Ottiano) were family maids or servants, the former’s gaunt facial features foreshadowed her stern disposition and sometimes evil intentions

Edward Gargan and Cliff Clark were sound era Keystone Kops with big expressive faces (and noses) who never got their man, but tried earnestly.

One could easily confuse Charles Halton (right) with

Harry Hayden (left) or

Byron Foulger (right) or

even Hobart Cavanaugh (left); their glasses and moustaches (or lack there of) but especially the roles they played - accountants, administrators and bureaucrats, clerks and other trustworthly roles (including priests).  Foulger always reminded me of the guy who sweeps up at the end of a TV “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoon.

Irving Bacon played soda jerks and other men behind the counters (bartenders) in restaurants and other establishments.

Though not on par with Henry O’Neill (who wasn’t quite Lewis Stone’s peer), Selmer Jackson was a tall, grey haired, frequently uncredited background actor in a position of authority, within a company or the government.

Finally, Dick Elliott was known for his loud distinguishing laugh (or wisecracks) and somewhat unique (though not on the level of a Eugene Pallette) voice.

Of course, any article such as this that doesn’t mention the prolific Bess Flowers (being somewhere in the background) is incomplete!

You can find lots of character actors’ pictures, their filmographies or mini biographies at Doug Macaulay’s site or Class Act.