Bit Part Actors

May 2015 Five Years!

2015-05-10T10:04:00.001-04:00

May 10, 2010 was my first Bit Part Actors post. Five years ago. I now have 819 topic labels (821 after I post this) on the right side of this page with everything from 12 Angry Men (1957) to Zsa Zsa Gabor. What a ride! My stat page shows that over 145,000 hits have occurred, so somebody is reading!

First, a word from my grandson. Cayden has Cystic Fibrosis. He also plays little league baseball like any other kid. He spends some time at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to stay as healthy as he can, but when his lungs flare up from a simple cold he has a lot of trouble breathing.
Since I started my blog, some Great Strides have been made in the fight to cure CF. There is now a vaccine for one of the strains of the disease, but not yet for the one Cayden has.

Please take a minute to click on the link and make a small donation. We are very close to hitting the goal for the Walk A Thon in a few weeks. On the page, go down to find my name near the bottom (Allen Hefner) and click on the "Donate" button. Ten bucks will help...more is even better. Cayden and I thank you in advance.

Now back to the Bit Actors. Since I have been writing, I noticed a big mistake since I have neglected one of my favorite Bit Actors, Vito Scotti (1918 - 1996). I can't count the number of times I have called out his name while watching a movie or a TV show. IMDb lists 227 titles from 1949 to 1995, but it seems like more.

Vito was a true character actor. He was born in California but spent his youth in Naples, Italy. He was able to use his accent, but also to twist it into other accents so he could play almost any nationality and you would believe it.

In Mexican garb

He started out as an extra, but he was in movies with the likes of Howard Duff, Burt Lancaster and Barbara Stanwyck. As I looked through the films in the early 1950s that Vito worked on, I gained an appreciation for how many films there are, and how many I have yet to see. I am sure they aren't all great, but most of them can certainly provide good entertainment...if you can find them.

Vito's early television work wasn't as good as the films he was in. I don't remember shows like "Mama Rosa," "Mysteries of Chinatown," and "Life with Luigi." In 1954 he was in "Smilin' Ed's Gang" with Ed McConnell (1882 - 1954), which eventually became "Andy's Gang" hosted by Andy Devine (1905 - 1977), a show I did watch as a kid. Vito also shows up in "Andy's Gang" at least once. Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!

In the last half of the 1950s he is in several episodes of "Mike Hammer" as well as some "The Millionaire" stories. He never gets the money, but he is in the shows.

Vito becomes very busy in television, probably because he can change his appearance and voice so well that he can appear multiple times on the same series and pull it off. Especially westerns. They may need an Italian (no problem), then a Mexican or Native American, which was also easy.

By 1960, Vito was in the groove. I noticed that he played a Maitre D' in Where the Boys Are (1960). I can imagine he stole that scene from all of the young stars of that film.

During that decade, he was a perfect fit for "The Twilight Zone" and "The Addams Family." Quirky parts, like Sam Picasso advising Morticia Addams on sculpture. Yes, I loved "The Addams Family," especially Morticia. (I was a teenager...what can I say?)

It appears that Vito was the most frequent guest star on "Gilligan's Island." I wonder why he never told the Coast Guard where to find the castaways?

As a Japanese survivor

No comment!

There are quite a few TV series' that Vito regularly appeared on. (On which Vito regularly appeared?) Here is a short list, all with at least four appearances by Vito -

The Deputy - c. 1960
Bachelor Father - c. 1960 - 1961
The Rifleman - c. 1962 - 1963
The Flying Nun - c. 1967 - 1969
To Rome with Love - c. 1969 - 1970
Barefoot in the Park - c. 1970
Gunsmoke - c. 1965 - 1970
Love American Style - c. 1969 - 1973
Columbo - c. 1973 - 1989

And of course, "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color."

On "The Dick Van Dyke Show"

Between television work, Vito continued to make movies. Lots of them. Not all great, but many were enjoyable. You have to decide.

Master of the World (1961)
The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
The Perils of Pauline (1967)
The Secret War of Henry Frigg (1968)
How Sweet It Is (1968)
Head (1968 - Yes, The Monkees!)
Cactus Flower (1969)
The Boatniks (1970)
The Aristocats (1970)
The Godfather (1973)

I bet that list brought back some memories. I hope good ones.

Certainly The Godfather was the biggest film Vito was in, but he was just a small part in that epic with lots of other Italians. I am not going to chance a guess on what was his BEST role.

He appeared in some of the Herbie films, and also with Don Adams (1923 - 1985) in The Nude Bomb (1980). What do you think?

With Peter Falk on Columbo

I hope you will enjoy seeing Vito Scotti in an old film or TV show in the near future. You must agree that Vito is a Bit Actor worthy of consideration. He did everything he could to keep his character from getting lost, while never trying to be the big star.

J. Pat O'Malley was in everything

2014-06-26T17:00:00.000-04:00

It should be a household name. At least in any house that had a TV in the early days of television. I am referring to J. Pat O'Malley (1904 - 1985). His face and voice are instantly recognizable, as are so many other Bit Actors.

Before TV and after some small movie roles, his first major role in a feature film was Lassie Come Home (1944), and it was nice to see he also appeared in "Lassie" on TV in the late 1950's. Since many classic film buffs are in the baby boomer generation, you will recognize O'Malley in many Walt Disney productions. His first was The Wind in the Willows (1949) and the same year he voiced a part in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad with a cast that including Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone and Eric Blore.

J. Pat started acting on television in 1950 according to IMDb. After reading his filmography (or videography if you prefer) it may be easier to list all the TV shows he was NOT in! Let's start with his Disney work, and I bet you have seen most of these. Remember, Movies are in BOLD and "TV work" has "Quotes."

Alice in Wonderland (1951) where he voiced Dee and Dum, among others.
"The Adventures of Spin and Marty" was shown on Walt's television show "The Mickey Mouse Club" starting in 1955. I loved that series!
"The Swamp Fox" series started in 1959 on "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color". I only had a black and white TV, but I still watched it (at 9 years old). Swamp Fox starred funny man Leslie Nielsen (1926 - 2010), before he found out he was a comedian.
Goliath II (1960) a 15 minute cartoon about a 6" tall elephant.
101 Dalmatians (1961). Pop quiz - Who played/voiced the original Cruella De Vil in this movie? Yep, it was Betty Lou Gerson (1914 - 1999), who also appeared in The Fly (1958) with Vincent Price.
The Saga of Windwagon Smith (1961) another short, but this one included Rex Allen and The Sons of the Pioneers. I wonder if Roy Rogers was still singing?
Son of Flubber (1963) in a small, uncredited role as a sign painter.
Mary Poppins (1964) in at least eight parts. I'll have to watch it again to find him.
The Jungle Book (1967) voicing Col. Hathi the Elephant.
Robin Hood (1973) as Otto.

O'Malley also worked for other studios. Here are just some of his better films.

The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) starring Glenn Ford.
Courage of Black Beauty (1956) was the second Black Beauty film. This one starred Johnny Crawford who went on to co-star in "The Rifleman." The first was in 1946 with Mona Freeman.
The Long, Hot Summer (1958) starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

In 1961 J. Pat stars in Blueprint for Robbery, a comedy about an armored car robbery in Boston. And there were more films, but not much of note. He appeared in Hello Dolly! (1969) but he was only a policeman in the park. It seems like he was stuck in his character actor mode. He is so recognizable when he is on screen, that he must have had to keep to smaller roles in bigger films.

By far, O'Malley made his mark on the small screen. Take a minute to glance at the (more or less) complete list on IMDb. I guarantee that your favorite TV show had J. Pat in it at least once. He was the uncle, the grandfather, the doc, or just a shopkeeper. And not just in sit-coms. He was in every genre you can think of, from westerns to "The Twilight Zone."

J. Pat O'Malley fits right in with Bit Actor heavyweights like Parley Baer and Henry Jones. You gotta love all they have given us.

Fabulous Films of the 50's Blogathon Time

2014-05-25T15:43:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my installation in the Classic Movie Blog Association 1950’s Blogathon. I have chosen Last Holiday (1950) which was Alec Guinness’ (1914 – 2000) first starring role in a comedy. In keeping with my Blog theme, I will not review Sir Alec (I am sure you can find plenty on him.), but I will take a look at the film and the really important Bit Parts in this classic British dark comedy. Of course, before this film, Sir Alec made Oliver Twist (1948) and Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) where he did have a starring role, but it was shared with others. Last Holiday is his film.

There are two movies called Last Holiday. 1950 starring Alec Guinness and 2006 starring Queen Latifah. I have both films on DVD and they both have their good points. The newer version has a happy ending, which is fine if you are in the mood, and Latifah does a very good job in it, with a very good supporting cast.

The 1950 version has a screenplay written by J. B. Priestley (1894 - 1984), who is also listed as a producer for the film. Priestley was an author and playwright and his plays were often adapted to film and television. Another of his famous works is An Inspector Calls, and the 1954 film version starred Alastair Sim. It was remade in 1982 by the BBC for television.

The British term "holiday" means "vacation" to Americans. The story is about a common working man, George Bird played by Guinness, who is diagnosed with a fatal disease and, having no family, how he spends his life savings on a last holiday fling. George is a farm implement salesman when he goes to the doctor for a checkup and hears the bad news. The acting is superb and I consider this one of the great, classic British films. Think of Basil Rathbone quality.

Once again we see that movies are held together by the small parts adding character to the overall mood of the film. Of course, Guinness is wonderful in the lead, but let's look at the rest of the cast.

There are a few Bit Actors in Last Holiday who are not well known outside of Jolly Old. It makes them no less important to this film. It is a British film, after all.

Beatrice Campbell (1922 - 1979) as Sheila Rockingham, the wife of a ne're do well, and who is convinced by George to try and turn her life around. Beatrice was only in 17 films.

Beatrice Campbell

Brian Worth (1914 - 1978) was Sheila's ne're do well husband, Derek Rockingham. He may be best known in the role of Fred in the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. He was also in The Man in the White Suit (1951) and An Inspector Calls (1954). (Plus a lot of British television work.)

Muriel George (1883 - 1965) was in almost 70 titles, but I am not familiar with her other work. Needless to say, she was the perfect, rich British lady as Lady Oswington. Her maid-servant Miss Fox is played by Esma Cannon who has 73 roles listed on IMDb. One can imagine what it was like at this posh resort, with ladies strutting around in their furs, barking orders at their servants. Small parts but what atmosphere they bring! They also help to clarify what the others are thinking...about why George is at the resort.

Lastly I would like to mention Jean Colin (1905 - 1989) who played Daisy Clarence. Jean only worked in 14 films. I was surprised to see that she was also a singer and had the female lead in the 1939 version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. That is another favorite of mine.

Some actors who may be more familiar:

Bernard Lee, who later starred in many James Bond films as M, plays an inspector sent to capture Rockingham.
Wilfrid Hyde-White, from My Fair Lady and too many other films to list (156 total), plays an industrialist who just happened to invent some of the machines that George was selling. This opens a door for George, since someone is actually listening to his suggestions for improvement. You can tell that he wasn't very well respected at his old job, and the movie is all about opening doors.
David McCallum's father David McCallum Sr. (1897 - 1972) as the "blind" fiddler, who in real life was the concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The fiddler in this film just sets the tone of the story and lets you in on the fact that all is not as it seems.

Sidney James plays Joe Clarence, another regular guy at the posh resort where George is staying, so they hit it off right away. James was in the "Carry On" series of British comedies. I counted 36 Carry Ons, in his 143 roles from 1947 to 1976, the year he died. He would be the one to get a card game together, or meet you in the bar to discuss football (that's soccer to Americans).

Lastly let's mention Ernest Thesiger as Sir Travor Lampington, the doctor who discovered the deadly disease George thinks he has. Born in 1879, he started film acting in 1916. Thesiger played Dr. Pretorius in The Bride of Frankenstein in 1935. He also appeared as the undertaker in the 1951 A Christmas Carol, and is in The Man in the White Suit with Guinness the same year. He can be found as Emperor Tiberius in The Robe (1953) starring Richard Burton, and in 1956 he is in Benny Hill's movie debut Who Done It?

Thesiger made Last Holiday when he was 71 years old, then went on to make another 29 films until his death in 1961. Sir Trevor comes in late to the film. He starts the chain of events that lead to the end. And he does it with flare!

The ending of Last Holiday is dark...you will not see it coming...and if you haven't seen the film, I will not spoil it for you. It may have been typical of British films of the era to make an attempt at irony in the way the ending is written, but for me, it lets the rest of the film down. All through the movie you are rooting for George, who is incredibly likable. The best you can hope for is to see the irony as it is intended. It is certainly a film worth looking for, and I much prefer it to the newer, candy coated version. While the two movies are adapted from the same play and have a similar story, they are two completely different films.

(An apology from the writer for my big OOPS! I spelled Sir Alec's last name incorrectly in the pictures above. The program I use is a pain to correct, so I am sorry. I will try to fix it later.)

Yes, THAT is John Larch

2014-04-29T16:05:00.000-04:00

John Larch (1914 - 2005) is not exactly a household name, not even in television and movie buff circles. I doubt he even comes up in trivia games. But his career spanned almost four decades, 166 titles, and hundreds of TV episodes...and I am certain you will instantly recognize his face. (That's why I put his pic at the bottom.) Even more interesting is that you will probably hear his voice in your head when you see his face.

He started out as a pro baseball player before he got the acting bug. In the early 1950's he worked in radio playing the lead in "Captain Starr of Space." With television still in its infancy, he soon found a home on the small screen. Let's start with his movies.

Larch's first appearance on the big screen was in Bitter Creek (1954) starring Wild Bill Elliott (1904 - 1965) in one of Elliott's last westerns. Through the rest of that decade, Larch appeared in quite a few movies, but most were typical 1950's fare and not spectacular blockbusters. The list of stars in those films was impressive, though. He got to work with Dan Duryea, Edward G. Robinson, Ginger Rogers, Brian Keith, Kim Novak, Joseph Cotton, and even Orson Welles.

Larch's distinctive looks, voice and demeanor were already getting him roles as detectives, lawmen, politicians, cowboys, and even chaplains. To me he always looks like he is sneering. (He has a big nose.) The nice thing is that he could play those roles in almost any genre, on the big or small screen.

In 1962 Larch appeared in How The West Was Won. It was not a very big role, but take a look at the cast list and you'll see how easy it was to get lost in that film. The next year Larch plays Gen. George S. Patton in Miracle of the White Stallions (1963), a Disney film about horses and Nazis. (And one I would like to see.)

Five years of television work go by before his next film, The Wrecking Crew (1968) starring Dean Martin, Elke Sommer and Sharon Tate. And then he is in The Great Bank Robbery (1969) with Zero Mostel.

In 1971 Larch is in Play Misty for Me and Dirty Harry thanks to his good friend Clint Eastwood. It's nice to have friends. John plays a sergeant in Misty and the police chief in Harry.

Now let's take a quick look at his television career. Right out of the box Larch has multiple appearances in "Waterfront," "Space Patrol," "Dragnet," and "You Are There," all in the early 1950's. In the latter half of that decade you will see John in "The Walter Winchell File," "The Restless Gun" and "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color."

I noticed that Larch had single entries in many television series'. Could it have been that he was so well type cast that he would have been recognized if he appeared more than once or twice? He did manage multiple appearances on "Have Gun, Will Travel," "Zane Grey Theater" and "Gunsmoke."

In 1961 Larch is in one of the most memorable offerings on "Twilight Zone." He plays the father of Billy Mumy's (b. 1954) sadistic child character in a story called "It's a Good Life," trying to appease his son and retain his own sanity. He also appeared two more times in T. Z.

Here is a short list of other great series' Larch has appeared in:

Route 66
Wagon Train
Untouchables
Rawhide
Ben Casey
Naked City
Arrest and Trial (He appeared in all but one episode as a regular.)
The Fugitive
The Virginian

And into the 1970s in:

The FBI
Mission Impossible
Cannon
Medical Center
Ironside

If that list doesn't jog your memory, you aren't watching enough classic television! Without a doubt, you have seen John Larch, and more than once. He was one memorable Bit Actor.

He continued to work all through the 1980s, in "Hawaii Five-O," "Lou Grant," "Vega$," and he had major roles in "Dynasty" and "Dallas" before retiring. As promised, here are two pics:

Now do you remember him?

Dickens and Fenster

2014-02-26T14:06:00.000-05:00

Somewhere, back in the dark corners of my mind, I remember watching the 1962 television series "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster" starring John Astin (b. 1930) and Marty Ingels (b. 1936). There are no details in my memory, though. So let's look at the stars of the show.

John Astin is no Bit Actor. Best known as Gomez Addams in "The Addams Family" (a show I do remember well), he has 149 titles on IMDb and countless episodes on the various television series' he worked on. They list 64 episodes of "The Addams Family" alone.

Astin's first film was an independent called The Pusher (1960), starring Robert Lansing (1928 - 1994). The next year he has a small, uncredited part in West Side Story and he gets some notice. He appears in many TV shows in the 1960s, and finally land "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster" in 1962. Astin played Harry Dickens (the married one). For a short run series, they attracted some real talent. Frank De Vol (1911 - 1999) the famous composer and conductor played Mr. Bannister, the boss. You can also find Sally Kellerman, Ellen Burstyn, Harvey Korman, Lee Meriwether, Peter Lupus, and Jim Nabors in various episodes.

"The Addams Family" ran from 1964 to 1966, and after that, John Astin was instantly recognized on large and small screens everywhere. As a teenager I would watch TAF with my best friend every week. We always had a bag of M&Ms and a bottle of coke. Astin was now famous, so let's move on.

Marty Ingels played Arch Fenster (a ladies man with a little black book), and he has about half the listings of Astin on IMDb. I would put Ingels squarely in the middle of Bit Actordom. Famous enough to not be considered an extra, but not really a big star like his wife, Shirley Jones (b. 1934).

Ingels started off in 1958 on "The Phil Silvers Show." Television was his calling, but he was in a number of movies. Early on, he appeared a few times on Jackie Cooper's "Hennesey" and played Rob Petrie's Army buddy on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" before Dickens and Fenster.

Ingels managed to appear once on "The Addams Family" near the end of its run. Later in that decade he was a regular on "The Phyllis Diller Show." His movies in this time were not great, but not terrible either. Look for him in Wild and Wonderful (1964) with Tony Curtis, The Busy Body (1967) with Sid Caesar, A Guide for the Married Man (1967) with Walter Matthau, and If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium (1969) with Suzanne Pleshette.

The 1970s were not as kind to Marty, until he married Jones. His movies for that decade include How to Seduce a Woman (1974) starring Angus Duncan (1936 - 2007) and Linda Lovelace for President (1975). No more need be said about those films. At least he had television.

After his marriage, he worked more as an agent than an actor. But he was also in great demand for his voice-over work for cartoons and advertisements. He keeps his hand in as an actor in the occasional Shirley Jones film, and as a guest on TV. His last appearance was on "New Girl" just last year, and he is working on movies for 2015 release.

John Astin was married to Patty Duke, and Marty Ingels to Shirley Jones. And both had successful careers, and can still be seen working. Not bad!

The Other Gildersleeve - Willard Waterman

2013-10-24T13:17:00.002-04:00

We covered the career of Harold Peary last time. (See below.) He originated the character of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve for the radio show Fibber McGee and Molly around 1939. In 1941 it was spun off to a new radio program, The Great Gildersleeve. The role was really his, and he even created the catchphrase, "You're a hard man, McGee!"

In 1950, due to contract changes, Willard Waterman (1914 - 1995) took over the radio part with a very similar vocal talent. Peary moved to CBS, while NBC retained ownership of Gildersleeve. Waterman was much more visible than Peary, with more TV and movie roles, so many recognize him as The Great Gildersleeve.

IMDb credits Peary with 60 roles and Waterman with 80, but that doesn't take into account the number of television episodes that would put Waterman even more in the lead. In spite of that, Waterman only appeared on screen as Gildy in the 1955 television series, "The Great Gildersleeve."

Waterman started his film career making one-reel comedy shorts. He was in several of the 60 or so Joe McDoakes series with George O'Hanlon (1912 - 1989). Willard has small, mostly uncredited parts in several films in his early days. For example, he is in No Man of Her Own starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town, Riding High with Bing Crosby, Louisa with Ronald Reagan, and half a dozen other films, all in 1950.

He continued getting small parts, in better movies, through the 1950s. Watch closely for Waterman in Francis Goes to the Races (1951), Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952), Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), and Auntie Mame (1958).

But 1955 was his year on television, when he starred in "The Great Gildersleeve." It only lasted one year, but he was the star. I have read that Waterman didn't look the part of Gildy. He was very tall and Gildersleeve was perceived as a small man. At any rate, the part was getting old, since it ran it's course on radio.

After that, he was in demand as a guest star on many TV shows, with multiple appearances on "The Eve Arden Show," "The Real McCoys," and "Bat Masterson."

Waterman continued working in only a few more movies, including The Apartment (1960), Walk on the Wild Side (1962), Get Yourself a College Girl (1964) and Hail (1973). Stick with The Apartment, the rest don't look very good, and watch for Waterman as Mr. Vanderhoff.

Television remained his forte. He was in everything from "Bonanza" to "F Troop." Notably he had multiple appearances on "Pete and Gladys," "Maverick," "Wagon Train," "Mister Ed," "The Lucy Show," and a regular role on "Dennis the Menace" as Mr. Quigley.

He also appeared on "The Red Skelton Hour," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and "The Smothers Brothers Show," which presented some of the best comedy on television.

All in all, Willard Waterman had a wonderful acting career. He passed away in 1995 at age 80.

Two Great Gildersleeves

2013-10-16T16:30:00.000-04:00

After I saw Willard Waterman (1914 - 1995) on an episode of "Bat Masterson" (gotta love that Encore Western Channel) with his instantly recognizable voice, I thought I should take a closer look.

The radio program, Fibber McGee and Molly was a classic. It included a recurring character, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, as we all remember. I don't actually remember the radio program that premiered in 1935 since I was born in 1950, but you may remember. I do remember the TV character. In fact, the character of Gildersleeve was spun off to create his own radio program, and is considered the beginning of the spin off concept so common in television.

Harold Peary (1908 - 1985) created the role for radio. He has ten credits on IMDb for the character, but that doesn't tell his story. Peary's first big screen appearance was as Mayor Gildersleeve in what was billed as "The Hillbilly Howler of the Year!" Comin' Round the Mountain (1940). It starred a musician named Bob Burns (1890 - 1956), plus Una Merkel (1903 - 1986) who is one of my favorites, Jerry Colonna (1904 - 1986) and Don Wilson (1900 - 1982) who was not really an actor. The movie also featured Cliff Arquette (Charlie Weaver from TV) and William Demarest.

The early B comedies must have been very entertaining. Well worth looking for if you are building a collection of true classics.
1941 - Country Fair with Eddie Foy, Jr.
Look Who's Laughing with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
1942 - Here We Go Again also with Bergen and McCarthy.
Seven Days Leave with Victor Mature and Lucille Ball.
The Great Gildersleeve with Peary finally taking top billing, plus the incomparable Jane Darwell.
1943 - Gildersleeve's Bad Day again with Darwell.
Gildersleeve on Broadway with Billie Burke.
1944 - Gildersleeve's Ghost with a lesser known cast.

From there, Peary makes the obvious jump to television. His voice is perfect for a comedic next-door neighbor, or an authority figure like a judge or mayor. But he also played many dramatic parts.

His first regular TV gig in the mid 1950s is on "Willy" starring June Havoc (1912 - 2010). He also can be found in 1957 on "Blondie" with Arthur Lake and Pamela Britton. In 1959, in a twist of fate, he appeared in three episodes of "Fibber McGee and Molly" but there was no Gildersleeve character!

The rest of Peary's television work was basically as a guest star, with several episodes on some series' including "Petticoat Junction."

He continued making a few films throughout his career, but nothing notable after television caught his eye. Films like Wetbacks (1956) with Lloyd Bridges, Outlaw Queen (1957) starring Andrea King who went on to make a film called Blackenstein (1975 - Look that one up!), a Disney film called A Tiger Walks (1964) starring Brian Keith and Vera Miles, and his last film, Clambake (1967) starring Elvis Presley. You can even find him in an AT&T telephone training film called Invisible Diplomats (1965) with Audrey Meadows.

Let's take a look at the career of Willard Waterman who took over the Gildersleeve role next time. Stay tuned!

Olan (not David) Soule

2013-07-19T15:35:00.002-04:00

Here's another face that everyone knows. I was watching a 1958 episode of "Have Gun, Will Travel" and it began with the hotel desk clerk talking with Paladin. I knew his face instantly, but couldn't recall the name. So I waited for the credits...and I STILL didn't know his name!

Olan Soule (1909 - 1994) has 238 titles listed on IMDb. His screen career spans over four decades and his last name is pronounced So-LAY, in case you are wondering. He started acting on radio when he was just 17 years old. No relation to David Soul (b. 1943), but Soul is another Bit Actor.

Olan's first movie was an uncredited Bit part with Doris Day (b. 1924) in It's a Great Feeling (1949). Also that year he narrates a Bette Davis/Joseph Cotten film-noir called Beyond the Forest. A radio background is a good start for narrators.

In the early 1950s he works in more films and some early television. Included in his films were Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Atomic City (1951), Monkey Business (1952), Stars and Stripes Forever (1952)...it just occurred to me that some readers may not know much about some of these movies. I try to mention some of the more popular titles in my posts. In any case, any movie I mention in my blog is worth watching. Of course, as a movie blogger and Bit Actor fanatic, there are very few movies I consider not worth watching. The rest is on you.

I must mention that Monkey Business is really a Cary Grant/Ginger Rogers film, with an early Marilyn Monroe. Monroe plays a character named Lois Laurel. That's Stan Laurel's daughter's name. I have met Lois Laurel. She is very nice, but doesn't quite look like Marilyn.

1952 was a good year for Olan. He started working on a television series called "Dragnet" starring Jack Webb. At first he was just another cop, but he soon became the forensic expert, Ray Pinker. Olan had done television work before, and he would continue on the small screen through his entire career.

Other movies in the mid-1950's include Francis Joins the WACS (1954), Phffft (1954), Daddy Long Legs (1955), This Island Earth (1955, and I still want an interociter!), and Francis in the Navy (1955). Many of these roles were really extra work as a desk clerk or reporter, but that's what Olan did best.

In 1954 he was a regular on "Captain Midnight" with another great Bit Actor, Sid Melton (1917 - 2011). I'll have to write about Sid. Then, Francis in the Haunted House (1956) was the last of the mule pics. I will try to touch base with some of Olan's television work, but let's stick to the big screen for a bit more.

North by Northwest (1959) may be the finest production in which you will find Soule. He plays an assistant auctioneer and he does not get screen credit. The next year he is in Bells Are Ringing with Judy Holliday and Dean Martin.

In 1962 he is an elevator operator in Days of Wine and Roses. It appears he is not getting decent roles in movies, but on TV he is found everywhere. Actually there isn't much more to talk about as far as Olan's movies. In the 1970's you will find him in The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) and The Shaggy D.A. (1976). Soule's final film was Homicide in 1991, starring Joe Mantegna and William H. Macy, and he played a forensic detective similar to what he did on "Dragnet."

Olan Soule is best known for his work on television. He had a range of expressions and a big, fluid voice that worked well on the small screen. People who met him were often disappointed because he was so slight but performed with such a big voice on radio. After his success on "Dragnet" and "Captain Midnight" he was sought by producers for more guest roles on TV.

The bulk of his work and all of his important roles were on television, and he would appear in all genres with multiple appearances on such diverse shows as "The Real McCoys" to "One Step Beyond." He must have been popular with Jack Benny as he appeared on his show multiple times from 1958 to 1961.

Olan has multiple appearances on "Bachelor Father," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," "The Untouchables," "77 Sunset Strip," "Mister Ed," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Perry Mason," "My Favorite Martian," "The F.B.I.," "Petticoat Junction," "Gomer Pyle: U.S.M.C.," and "My Three Sons." And that only takes us up to 1970...plus, it EXCLUDES the westerns he was in!

Soule was the first voice of the animated Batman in 1966, and continued that gig for almost 20 years. He even voiced Batman in "The New Scooby-Doo Movies."

His westerns included all of the best series', including "Sugarfoot," "The Rebel," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "Stagecoach West," "Rawhide," "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," etc., and the aforementioned "Have Gun, Will Travel."

Olan Soule appears on screen hundreds and hundreds of times, and you can't miss him. Even when he is a ticket clerk, working in a bank, or a traveling salesman. Somehow he always stands out from the rest of the Bit Actors all around him.

Richard Greene

2013-06-06T16:05:00.001-04:00

I used to work with a fellow named Greene. He used to say his name had three E's, not all in a row. I remember Richard Greene (1918 - 1985) from his long running television show, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" That ran from 1955 to 1960. I will always remember his soft, elegant voice. As I grew up and started watching old movies (the good ones), I instantly recognized him.

His first role on the big screen was in a 1934 Gracie Fields (1898 - 1979) film, Sing as We Go. Fields was a popular British singer, but Greene only had a Bit part. In 1938, Greene was signed with Fox and came to America. His first film here was Four Men and a Prayer (1938), directed by John Ford and starring C. Aubrey Smith, David Niven, George Sanders, Loretta Young and Greene. It was the start of a good career for Greene.

Richard would star in a few films in his early career. He took top billing in Submarine Patrol (1938) and Kentucky (1938). The next year he worked with one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Shirley Temple in The Little Princess, and also in the first film that paired Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Through the war years and into the late 1940s, Richard continued to make good films. Some were historical, some were war films, and there were some musicals and comedies thrown in. Perhaps it was the war that effected his popularity, maybe it was his considerable good looks, but he was put into some costume dramas, and pretty much got stuck as a swashbuckler.

Forever Amber (1947) seems to be the start of these movies. It stars Linda Darnell and Cornell Wilde. Next Greene finds himself in The Fighting O'Flynn (1949) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In The Desert Hawk (1950) he plays another swashbucker, along side Yvonne DeCarlo as Princess Scheherazade, Jackie Gleason as Aladdin, and Joe Besser as Prince Sinbad. That was some imaginative writing and casting.

This was the time that Greene started working on the small screen. By now, the non-costume movies Greene is making are starting to feel like soap operas. Richard is as handsome as ever, resembling any good doctor/heart throb on "General Hospital." (He never appeared on that one.) But there is something about that suave, British accent that puts me to sleep without some action to go along with it.

The period action films did continue. Look for him in -
The Black Castle (1952)
Rogue's March (1953)
The Bandits of Corsica (1953)
and Captain Scarlett (1953) with an all Mexican cast.

At a time when he was just about out of money, with popularity waning by the minute, he was offered a television role as Robin of Locksley in "The Adventures of Robin Hood." IMDb lists 143 episodes of the show from 1955 to 1960.

In that series Archie Duncan (1914 - 1979) played Little John, Alexander Gauge (1914 - 1960) played Friar Tuck, and Alan Wheatley (1907 - 1991) was the Sheriff of Nottingham. Bernadette O'Farrell (1924 - 1999) was the first Maid Marian, and after 1957 Patricia Driscoll (b. 1927) took over the role. (Personal note; Friar Tuck was my favorite.)

Almost the entire cast of Robin Hood was unknown to American audiences (Donald Pleasence did appear a few times), but the show was a hit. It made Richard a rich man. He did make a few more movies and TV shows, notably (but sadly) some Fu Manchu movies with Christopher Lee.

After that Greene mostly stayed in retirement and raised horses on his Irish estate. But I can still hear the theme song from Robin Hood!

Three Years and Comanche Creek

2013-05-10T16:48:00.002-04:00

First, a word from our sponsor... To the right is a link that will take you to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation page for donations. My 5 year old grandson, Cayden, suffers from this disease. On May 18 there will be a fundraising walk-a-thon for CF. Please consider making even a small donation. Large ones are better, of course.

Cayden has lived with CF all his life. He is a real trooper, and a very happy child. Thanks to his wonderful parents, he is able to play baseball and do many other activities, until he gets sick. Then he is off to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for a few days to have IV antibiotics. He never complains. His big sister also helps take care of him, and they are best friends.

Cayden and my family do not receive anything directly from your donations. It all goes to find a cure for CF. Many advances in the battle have been made in the past few years, and some strains of the disease now have drugs that actually work. Not Cayden's...yet...but they are getting there. If you can spare $5 or more, please make a donation. The web site makes it easy to do. That wasn't too bad, for my annual appeal. Thanks.

Today is the third anniversary of The Bit Actors Blog. I have had fun writing it, and I have learned a lot during my research. It causes you to think in new terms as you watch an old movie, even one you've seen before. And I hope I have inspired you to look at the small parts, the Bit Actors, who make movies great.

I have also met quite a few like-minded people, especially in the Classic Movie Blog Association. Please visit the CMBA site and you will be directed to many well written movie blogs with loads more info about some great movies. But this blog is the only one dedicated to Bit Actors!

Writing has also made me recall memories of some of the wonderful people I have met, famous or otherwise. Margaret Hamilton was a delight, and Henry Brandon was always ready to make you smile. There are few who know who little Jimmy Murphy was. I spent some quality time with him in Blackpool, England, not far from where Stan Laurel was born. Jimmy was Stan's valet for many years. He wasn't famous, but his stories were classic, and my memory of him is cherished.

The last year has been a busy time in my life, and I have not been able to write as frequently as I would have liked. I apologize for that, and will try to get to the blog as often as possible. Enough of that...let's talk about Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963).

Mt. Soledad, by Allen Hefner

My wife and I visited San Diego last year for a short vacation and to visit our son. It is a beautiful city, filled with history. Well, not as much history as Philadelphia, but it is on the left coast and it took us (Americans) a while to get there.

The monument on the hill above La Jolla, Mount Soledad, stands high and can be seen from all around. We were driving along the coast and we just had to go up there. The view along the California coast was great, but I noticed, all around the base of the Easter Cross, memorial plaques to California men and women who served our country in the armed forces. Among them was the most decorated hero of World War II, Audie Murphy (1925 - 1971). Murphy became an actor, but that career pales in comparison to his actions in the war. From the plaque on Mt. Soledad, "The most decorated combat soldier of World War II. Audie has been credited with killing over 240 of the enemy while wounding and capturing many others. Scores of American lives were saved."

That brings me to the movie, that I just watched last week. Murphy made 47 movies and did some TV work in about 20 years. Gunfight at Comanche Creek was toward the end of his career, and I enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed recognizing all the Bit Actors in the film.

Gunfight is presented like a documentary about the National Detective Agency and how they work. The was no National Detective Agency, but it bears quiet a resemblance to Pinkerton. Murphy plays a detective who goes undercover to foil a plot.

The film is narrated by Reed Hadley (1911 - 1974) of "Racket Squad" and "The Public Defender" fame on television in the early 1950s. Hadley has 129 titles listed on IMDb. Look for him in the W.C. Fields classic The Bank Dick (1940) as Francois, the tall actor. His deep voice is right up there with other great voices like Basil Rathbone and Andy Devine and was perfect for narration.

Being a "Star Trek" kinda guy, I was a bit put off by DeForest Kelley (1920 - 1999) playing a bad guy...and the main bad guy at that! I guess he had second thoughts and went back to school to become a Star Fleet doctor. Kelley started acting on film in 1945 and on the small screen shortly after that. His list of work is very long, but I would have to classify him as a Bit Actor, if not for "Star Trek" making him a star. He is the kind of actor who plays Morgan Earp, while Burt Lancaster plays Wyatt. Westerns made him feel most comfortable, and "Star Trek" was just a western set in space.

Eddie Quillan (1907 - 1990) had a very small part as the hotel clerk. I think he is only seen for a minute or two. Eddie was in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and played Connie, one of the displaced farm workers. He has well over 200 roles in movies and TV over a six decade career. Eddie did a series of comedy shorts in the late 1940s and early 50s with Wally Vernon. I hope TCM will add some of them to their Extras.

And then there was Thomas Browne Henry (1907 - 1980) who played the head of the detective agency. Henry has almost 200 roles listed, and you will recognize his face instantly if you ever watch an old Sci-Fi movie or anything on television. Look for him in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), The Thing that Couldn't Die (1958) and Space Master X-7 (1958). He usually plays a military officer in charge.

Well, three years of blogging and some wonderful movies to talk about. See Gunfight at Comanche Creek, or Audie's next film The Quick Gun (1964) if you want a treat for Mother's Day. Both are very good westerns. And I'll see you soon. Please let me know what you think.

Lloyd Corrigan

2013-04-19T12:58:00.001-04:00

Here is another face you will know, but perhaps not his name. Lloyd Corrigan (1900 - 1969) worked in entertainment for 41 of his 69 years.

He started in 1925 as a bit actor in a silent film called The Splendid Crime. It starred Bebe Daniels (1901 - 1971) and Neil Hamilton (1899 - 1984) and was directed by Cecil's brother, William C. de Mille (1878 - 1955). The pay was probably not very good for a young man just starting out, and he found that he was better suited to writing. From 1926 to 1939 he would write and direct films, rather than act in them.

He did make one more silent film of note. He had small part in It (1927), which starred Clara Bow (1905 - 1965) and was the source of her nickname, The It Girl.

As a writer, his most famous work would have been the three Fu Manchu films starring Warner Oland (1879 - 1938). The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929), The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930), and Daughter of the Dragon (1931) which he also directed. He was a writer or director on eight films that starred Bebe Daniels and nine with Neil Hamilton. Hamilton, of course, went on to become Commissioner Gordon on the "Batman" TV show.

In 1939 Lloyd decided he had enough behind the scene work and moved back into the camera's field of view. He would stay there for the rest of his life.

Corrigan was in Young Tom Edison (1940) with Mickey Rooney, which I just watched on TCM. (Thanks!) That same year he made 12 other films, including The Ghost Breakers with Bob Hope, and The Return of Frank James with Henry Fonda.

In 1941 he starts off in Men of Boy's Town with Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney and the great Bit Actor Bobs Watson (1930 - 1999). This would also be the year he starts work in the Boston Blackie series as Arthur Manleder in Confessions of Boston Blackie. Chester Morris played Blackie, as he did in 14 installments. This was the second movie in that line, and Lloyd would be in six of them.

I would like to see some of Corrigan's lesser movies from this era. A look at the cast of North to the Klondike (1942) shows Broderick Crawford, Andy Devine, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Keye Luke. It has to be a good movie. That same year he appears in The Great Man's Lady, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea, and another ten movies! This decade, including the war years, has Corrigan in quite a variety of movies, from Hitler's Children to the Roy Rogers film, King of the Cowboys, and some stinkers like Captive Wild Woman and Tarzan's Desert Mystery. Along with Hitler's Children he made other war/propaganda films, including Passport to Destiny and Rosie the Riveter.

There is not much to write about during the later half of that decade. She-Wolf of London (1946), and Homicide for Three (1948) were two movies for only hard-core 1940s movie buffs. He did appear in Blondie Hits the Jackpot (1949) with Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake.

After a few better movies with bigger stars in the early 1950s, such as My Friend Irma Goes West (1950 with Martin and Lewis, Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) with Jose Ferrer, and Son of Paleface (1952) with Bob Hope, Lloyd starts work in television.

TV brought Lloyd mostly guest spots in teleplays. In 1954 he was cast as a regular on "Willy" starring June Havoc (1912 - 2010). I don't remember that series, or ever hearing about it. His TV appearances were varied, but we do see him in a lot of westerns. He has some recurring roles in "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," and "Happy" starring Ronnie Burns.

In 1963 he plays the mayor in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, along with a cast of thousands (of comedians). Corrigan's final regular work on TV was in "Hank" starring Dick Kallman (Who?) and he ends his work in "Petticoat Junction."

I guess I remember him for all those little television roles. I recently saw him in "Have Gun, Will Travel" and it jogged my memory. I may go back and find some of the Boston Blackie films, where he did some serious character acting as the millionaire. When you see his face, you will remember Lloyd Corrigan.

Hal LeRoy, Tap Dancer

2013-03-07T20:16:00.001-05:00

I was watching one of my favorite things on Turner Classic Movies the other night, "TCM Extras." I sometimes find myself tuning in to TCM about 20 minutes before the next film is scheduled, just to watch for an Extra. I realize how much work it is to maintain a web site, but I do think Turner could do a better job of listing the wonderful short films they use as fillers between features.

They should also offer these great shorts in collections in their store. I searched the store for 'extras' and found E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982) and a series called "Extras" starring Ricky Gervais (b. 1961) that was on television a few years ago. No joy there either.

Back to my viewing experience. The short musical film I caught was The Knight is Young (1938) starring Hal Le Roy (1913 - 1985) and June Allyson (1917 - 2006). This was Allyson's eighth film, all of her work on screen was in shorts (short films, I mean) up until then.

June is trapped in her apartment because she doesn't have the rent money, and Hal is a sign painter she can see from the window. Hal shows June what tap dancing is all about, and later returns to rescue her through the window. Before he comes back, June has a fantasy day-dream about a Scotsman on the new sign Hal just painted, and we enjoy a dance routine by the Gae Foster Girls. June and Hal then go dancing at the Sign Painters' Ball...all in 19 minutes, including a surprise ending.

Two-reelers like this are a load of fun, requiring no thought at all. Just sit back and enjoy. They should be required viewing at every movie theater, taking the place of some of the ads.

When this short started on TV, I thought I remembered Hal Le Roy's name. Sure enough, I had the pleasure of meeting Hal at a Son's of the Desert event in 1982. Since he never became a big movie star, he fits in perfectly here as a Bit Actor.

Hal Le Roy was a vaudevillian, and he played all over. He started dancing on the stage at age 15 and was an instant hit. He was popular through the 1930s at music halls including Radio City, and would occasionally get a dancing role in a movie. His film career was not as good as his Broadway or vaudeville work.

Hal only appeared in 22 films, mostly shorts, and a few television shows. His first feature was Wonder Bar (1934) starring Al Jolson (1886 - 1950), Kay Francis (1905 - 1968), and Dolores del Rio (1904 - 1983). Hal was in black face, but Jolson appeared that way many times. This film was released just a few months before the Hays Code censored anything untoward on the screen. With Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee and Hugh Herbert also in the cast, this is a film I want to see.

Hal's next film gives him a starring role in a feature. Harold Teen (1934) also includes Clara Blandick (1880 - 1962) who would go on the become Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

In 1937 he worked with June Allyson in Swing for Sale. I guess it had some swing dancing. He would also work with June in Ups and Downs (1937), which was Phil Silvers' (1911 - 1985) first screen appearance, and The Prisoner of Swing (1938) which includes Eddie Foy, Jr.

Hal worked with Jimmy Durante (1893 - 1980) in Start Cheering (1938); danced with Betty Hutton (1921 - 2007) in her first film, Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1939); and his final film was Too Many Girls (1940) with Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Ann Miller and Frances Langford.

Le Roy's dancing style has been likened to Ray Bolger. Both were incredibly thin and seemed to be made of rubber. Hal did a great job of incorporating dance into the most unlikely stories. He was a washing machine salesman who excelled by dancing his sales pitch!

I don't remember much about my conversation with Hal or our time together. I did take his photo for you to enjoy. Hal passed away just three years after I met him.

This photo is free for non-profit use.
Please list my credit if your re-post it.
Higher quality is also available. Just e-mail.
Thanks!

Robert Young, with an H.

2013-02-12T16:42:00.002-05:00

Here is a Bit Actor that had a good start, hit some tricky obstacles, went on to make some good movies, and died young. Robert Young, that is, Robert H. Young (1917 - 1951) was known in his later career as Clifton Young.

Clifton started out billed as Bobby Young in some Our Gang comedies as one of Hal Roach's Rascals. He was known as 'Bonedust' for some reason. His first short was called Better Movies (1925) and it starred Joe Cobb and the rest.

Bobby was able to work through the change from silents to talkies while at Hal Roach Studios. His first talkie was School's Out (1930). He also saw the switch of distribution of the Our Gang films from Pathe to MGM, which happened around the same time.

The 1926 silent short called Thundering Fleas was a Hal Roach comedy starring Our Gang, but it also included Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase and James Finlayson. This was one of many films Hardy made without Stan Laurel, although they were being billed as a team by that time. Roach kept Stan and Ollie on separate contracts for almost their entire stay at his company, so he could do what he wanted with them.

Toward the end of his Our Gang career, Bobby got to work with Jackie Cooper. I always wonder how associations like that affect the future of young actors. Bobby's final short with this group was (as far as I can tell) Little Daddy in 1931. He made at least 19 Our Gang films.

Now you have Robert Young who is 14 years old in 1931. He would find out that he couldn't continue his career with that name. Robert G. Young (1907 - 1998) has just made his debut in the Charlie Chan film, The Black Camel (1931). Since Bobby was never billed as Robert, he chose to use Clifton as his stage name. It was his mother's maiden name.

The name didn't really come in to play until later. Young made several films in the 1930's, but he was uncredited in them. He went off to war, as all 24 year olds did, and started acting again in 1945. His post-war debut was in a 13 episode serial called The Master Key (1945) starring Milburn Stone (1904 - 1908). Stone, of course, would become famous as Doc Adams on "Gunsmoke." Young was in episodes 7 and 8. The serial had a great tag line, "Government agents battle a gang of Nazis who are trying to use the Orotron machine, which can turn seawater into gold."

One thing about writing a blog like mine is that I bump into films I think I would love to see. I guess I will have to keep looking, but there are so many. Clifton had a small part in one of those missed films I am putting on my list. Deception (1946) is a Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains Film Noir with Young as a taxi driver. Could it get any better? It even has Benson Fong, another great Bit Actor.

In the 1940's there was a series of short, instructional comedy films with a character called Joe McDoakes. They starred George O'Hanlon and totaled 63 entries that extended to 1956. Clifton Young would show up in several of them from So You Want to Play the Horses (1946) to So You Want to be an Actor (1949). O'Hanlon would go on to fame as the voice of George Jetson in "The Jetsons."

Young is now employed as a contract player at Warner Brothers. Not bad. He is working with Ann Sheridan, Robert Mitchum, Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, and other big stars. I'll stick my neck out and say that his finest role (possibly after some work in Our Gang) was as Baker in Dark Passage (1947) starring Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart.

Also in Dark Passage is Bruce Bennett, who I wrote about recently. Young and Bennett also worked together in Nora Prentiss (1947) and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Some great films, even though the roles for Young were small. In Treasure, he played a bum in the flop house and had no lines.

Clifton also made a few westerns. His best was most likely, Blood on the Moon (1948) starring Robert Mitchum and Barbara Bel Geddes. Another film I should look for.

The rest of Clifton's films are watchable. No blockbusters, but good films I would turn on if they were on TV. Borderline (1950) with Fred MacMurray; Bells of Coronado and Trail of Robin Hood, both 1950 Roy Rogers films; to his last film, Love Nest (1951), with Marilyn Monroe. I just saw that one, and I never saw Clifton in it.

Sadly, Clifton Young died while smoking in bed at age 33. He had quite a career in his short life, and he brought his talent to some great films, including my favorite film, Dark Passage.

Herman Brix A.K.A. Bruce Bennett

2013-01-30T16:24:00.001-05:00

I just had the pleasure of seeing The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) again. It is a movie that exists on several levels. Not only is it a fine action picture, but it can be seen as a real study of human nature. I'll leave the analysis to the other movie blogs, though. I am here to review Bit Actors.

In a fairly small part of this very big movie, we have Bruce Bennett (1909 - 2007) playing Cody, the unwanted and ill-fated companion of three prospectors.

Bruce was an athlete his entire life. He won the Olympic silver medal for the shot put in 1928. He could have gone on to win many more medals but he injured himself making his first movie, Touchdown (1931). His place in the Olympics was taken over by Johnny Weissmuller (1904 - 1984), who went on to become another Tarzan. At the time, Bruce was still known by his real name, Herman Brix.

Herman decided on a movie career. His early screen time is filled with roles, logically, as an athlete. He was a football player, a wrestler, a student, a man in the bar, it all fit at the time. He worked with Jack Oakie, Bing Crosby, W. C. Fields, Ted Healy and his Stooges, and others in those early days.

His first big film had him in a small part. He did appear in Treasure Island in 1934 as a man in the tavern. In 1935 Herman had his biggest break. A serial called The New Adventures of Tarzan was to be filmed in Guatemala. And Herman would have the title role.

Unfortunately, the serial was a financial disaster. Brix and the rest of the cast and crew never made much more than having their expenses paid for all their effort. BTW, Juggs played Nkima the chimp, which was his second film appearance after working with Laurel and Hardy in Dirty Work (1933).

Herman appeared in quite a few films between Tarzan and the late 1930s, but few were notable. He was a Bit Actor in Bit Films and serials. He was typecast in his Tarzan persona and had difficulty convincing studios to let him do much else. He decided to change his name to Bruce Bennett.

As far as I can tell, the first film with Bruce Bennett in the credits is My Son is Guilty (1939) starring Bruce Cabot of King Kong (1933) fame. But the name change didn't seem to make a lot of difference in his career. The films he works on are not all great movies. He even made four Three Stooges shorts as Bennett.

But it isn't all bleak and there are some good films where he shows that he does have acting talent. He is even a co-star in a few films of the era, though not blockbusters. The 1940s were the era of film noir and great war stories. Bruce was in 21 films during the WWII years, in spite of serving in the military himself.

It is also in this time frame that Bruce worked with Humphrey Bogart on four films. The first was Invisible Stripes (1939) with George Raft in the lead and Bennett uncredited. Next was Sahara (1943) and Bennett is near the top of the cast as Waco Hoyt, the tank crewman who risks his neck to go off in search of help.

Without question, my favorite of the four Bennett/Bogart films is Dark Passage (1947). This is my favorite Bogart film, and perhaps my favorite film. It has everything...Bogart with Bacall, a real film noir style, and a perfect cast with Agnes Moorehead as the bad guy you can easily hate.

Bit Actors Tom D'Andrea and Leonard Breman filled in the needed color for a great movie, and Houseley Stevenson put 'noir' in the film. (Read about D'Andrea and Breman by clicking on their names or the Dark Passage link in my label list to the right.) Bruce Bennett plays Bob, Bacall's former boyfriend who nobly steps aside for Bogart. I am still trying to find that bar in Peru! GREAT FILM!

Of course, his last film with Bogart is The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). What more can I say?

One other standout film for Bennett in the forties was Mildred Pierce (1945) starring Joan Crawford. After Treasure, his acting career would go downhill (again). In the next three decades he would appear in many films and television shows, but only a few are worth mentioning.

Task Force (1949)
Angels in the Outfield (1951)
Strategic Air Command (1955)
Love Me Tender (1956, Sorry! I had to put that in for Elvis fans.)

But, as an actor you should know something is wrong with your career when you start taking pictures called The Cosmic Man (1959), The Alligator People (1959), and The Fiend of Dope Island (1961).

Bruce Bennett's last American film was The Clones (1973). He did appear in many TV shows and that kept his career moving forward, and the income would have been decent. It is said that he had an interest in parachuting and his last jump was at age 92. He stayed fit, he was good in business, and I put him in the ranks of some of the best Bit Actors.

Red Ryder!

2013-01-08T15:32:00.003-05:00

I certainly hope everyone got the official Red Ryder carbine-action, 200 shot, range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and the thing which tells time for Christmas. I asked for one, but I got the movie instead. I really can't use a BB gun in my condo, so the movie and the sequel (along with a bottle of liquid entertainment from Kentucky) was just fine for me.

Of course I am talking about A Christmas Story (1983) which has become a holiday classic in many households. But, who was Red Ryder? Come with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...sorry, that was "The Lone Ranger."

Red Ryder started life as a comic strip in 1938, which became syndicated and incredibly popular. A lot of marketing was added to the name, hence the BB gun that is still available from Daisy.

The next important reincarnation was the 1940 movie serial, The Adventures of Red Ryder, starring Don 'Red' Barry (1912 - 1980). Barry was quite an accomplished actor in his long career, but much of his work came as a guest star on television. He was in everything from "Dragnet" in 1955 to "Knots Landing" in 1980.

In his early days, he was a regular in the Dr. Kildare series of films, and he certainly made his mark in a load of B westerns. In fact, you would be best to look for any of his early work, rather than the movies he made later in life. Blazing Stewardesses (1975), Dr. Dracula (1978), etc. Some were better than those, but his parts were usually small and many times uncredited.

Also in the original Ryder series was Tommy Cook (b. 1930) as Little Beaver, and Noah Beery (1882 - 1946) as Ace Hanlon. In 1941 Cook worked in another serial called Jungle Girl. After working on the Red Ryder radio serial in 1942, he made quite a few movies in the 1940s and 1950s and then moved into TV. As an adult, he had difficulty getting acting roles and his popularity and acting career ended. Noah Beery's part as one of the villains in this serial does not continue into later films.

In 1944 we see Bill Elliott (1904 - 1965) take over for the first of a series of Red Ryder movies for Republic. This one is called Tucson Raiders, and Little Beaver is now played by Bobby Blake (b. 1933), a former Our Gang kid who managed a good career before turning weird in his personal life.

Elliott made 16 Red Ryder films, plus over 240 other films, mostly before Red Ryder. He was known as Wild Bill Elliott for much of his career after starring in The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok in 1938. He made 13 films as that character.

For the 16 Elliott/Ryder films, we also see Alice Fleming (1882 - 1952) as Red's aunt in the entire series. Peggy Stewart (b. 1923) appears in many of the films. She had been married to Red Barry for a few years, and she is still working. Look for her in the Adam Sandler (b. 1966) film That's My Boy (2012). It amazes me that she could be in so many of the Ryder series and play different parts each time. Didn't anyone notice?

The final Ryder film with Bill Elliott was Conquest of Cheyenne in 1946.

Next up in the Red Ryder role is Allan 'Rocky' Lane (1909 - 1973). The Rocky Lane character would reappear 36 times for Allan in his best remembered B westerns from 1947 to 1953. Bobby Blake continued as Little Beaver, and Peggy Stewart appears several times in the Lane/Ryder movies.

Santa Fe Uprising (1946) is the first of seven Red Ryder films for Lane, and Red's aunt this time is played by Martha Wentworth (1889 - 1974). Lane ended his stint in Marshal of Cripple Creek (1947), and this was also the last Ryder flick for Republic Pictures.

Jim Bannon (1911 - 1984) finishes the Red Ryder film franchise at Equity Pictures with four movies in 1949. Ride, Ryder, Ride through Cowboy and the Prizefighter. Little Beaver is played by Don 'Little Brown Jug' Kay Reynolds (b. 1937 or '38...) the son of a horse trainer and a great trick rider in his time. Jug only made a few films, all westerns.

Ryder's aunt is now played by Marin Sais (1890 - 1971) and Peggy Stewart is still along for the Ryde in various roles. You may notice the character of Ace Hanlon returning in Roll, Thunder, Roll (1949). This time it is played by Glenn Strange (1899 - 1973) who went on to tend bar at The Longbranch for Miss Kitty in "Gunsmoke."

"Red Ryder" would continue on television in a few episodes starring Allan Lane and Jim Bannon, but by the early 1950s it had run it's course. Information on these episodes is sparse and I am not an expert here. Please write about your memories of Red Ryder on TV.

All of the actors mentioned above, with the possible exception of Jug Reynolds, were Bit Actors of the highest acclaim. None of them have less than 90 titles in their credits and many have more than 200. The fact that Red Ryder was brought back into the public consciousness by Jean Shepherd's (1921 - 1999) story and later movie, is just one more reason for classic film lovers to reach out to the younger generation and show them the background that will enhance their understanding of the new story.

Talk it up with your kids. Maybe they won't shoot their eye out.

The Greatest Show On Earth

2012-12-06T11:18:00.001-05:00

With a title like The Greatest Show on Earth, it could only be about the circus. I took my grand kids to the circus about two years ago. No big top tent, just an air conditioned sports stadium. But there were plenty of acts and animals that made it quite a spectacle. And it was the real circus, not a new age Cirque du Soleil. I would love to see Cirque du Soleil, but it is too expensive. Ringling provides a wonderful, affordable experience.

Back to the movie. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) was Cecil B. DeMille's (1881 - 1959) second to last work as director, and it won the Best Picture and Best Writing Oscars in 1953. It had one heckuva all-star cast. Charleton Heston, Betty Hutton, James Stewart, Cornell Wilde and Dorothy Lamour.

That's enough about the stars. Here are some important players.

Gloria Grahame (1923 - 1981) played the part of Angel, who trained the elephants. Gloria was quite a star, but her career was cut short by cancer. Her first feature film was Blonde Fever (1944) starring Mary Astor and Phillip Dorn, and then she worked with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in Without Love (1945). She next plays Violet the vamp in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), her first film with James Stewart.

The next year, Grahame was in It Happened in Brooklyn with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford and Kathryn Grayson, plus Jimmy Durante. Those were the days! 1947 was a great year for her. She was in Crossfire with the three Roberts...Young, Mitchum and Ryan. Then Song of the Thin Man with William Powell and Myrna Loy, and Merton of the Movies with Red Skelton.

In 1950 she got to co-star with Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place. Bogart apparently wanted Lauren Bacall in the role, but Grahame won out because Bacall couldn't get out of her contract. Here it gets a little strange. Gloria had been married to Lonely Place director, Nicolas Ray. She went on later to marry Ray's son (her step-son) Anthony Ray.

After her circus performance in 1952 she teamed up with Robert Mitchum again in Macao, and was then in Sudden Fear with Joan Crawford, and The Bad and the Beautiful with Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas, all in 1952. She won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Bad/Beautiful.

By this time, Grahame was in demand. She was almost the essence of Film Noir, and had the opportunity to work with all the A list stars. The best of these films could have been The Big Heat (1953) starring Glenn Ford. She was also in the musical Oklahoma! (1955) before embarking on the television cruise.

It seems that after working in television, Grahame's career faltered. Perhaps she was losing her beauty, I am not sure what happened. Her last films were not big hits, and not very good. Check out these titles, Blood and Lace (1971, The Loners (1972), Mama's Dirty Girls (1974) and Mansion of the Doomed (1976). Her last film was The Nesting (1981) and she died that year.

Back to the Greatest Circus Movie on Earth. Do you remember Henry Wilcoxon (1905 - 1984)? He was in eight Cecil B. DeMille films. After a half dozen films, he got his big break as Mark Antony in Cleopatra (1934), starring Claudette Colbert. In addition to Greatest Show where he plays the FBI agent, he was in Sunset Blvd (1950) where he played himself as an actor, and The Ten Commandments (1956).

Wilcoxon had a 50 year career with 74 titles listed on IMDb. Other interesting films include A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949), The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968), F.I.S.T. (1978) and Caddyshack (1980). That's quite a variety.

How about Lawrence Tierney (1919 - 2002) who played Mr. Henderson? Another great Bit Actor. He played the title role in the 1945 film, Dillinger, and was a tough guy ever since. Look for him in Back to Bataan (1945), San Quentin (1946), Born to Kill (1947), and he played Jesse James in The Best of the Badmen (1951).

Tierney also guest starred on television for quite a while. He even made a few "Star Trek" appearances, though not in the original series. His later films include Prizzi's Honor (1985), Reservoir Dogs (1992) and at almost eighty years old, he was in Armageddon in 1998. He worked for close to 60 years.

Almost every other role in The Greatest Show on Earth was either for extras, or cameos for stars. Look for Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in the crowd. Emmett Kelley (1898 - 1979), the famous clown, played himself. William Boyd rode in as Hopalong Cassidy, and even John Ringling North was included. Alas, many of the Bit Parts were filled with great actors, but their roles were overshadowed by the story and the spectacle.

So get out to a circus near you. If you can't, at least watch The Greatest Show on Earth one more time. It may not have been the best DeMille film ever, but it is worth watching.

Herbert Anderson

2012-11-08T16:58:00.000-05:00

I know, everyone remembers Herbert Anderson (1917 - 1994) as the father of "Dennis the Menace" on television from 1959 to 1963. But his career was much more than that.

Herbert's career in the movies started with The Fighting 69th (1940), and action film with a great cast including James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. Anderson went on to work in many military films in the next two decades. Also in 1940 you can find him in Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet starring Edward G. Robinson, The Sea Hawk with Errol Flynn and No Time for Comedy with James Stewart.

Herbert was in three movies with Cagney. The Fighting 69th, The Strawberry Blond and The Bride Came C.O.D., all made at Warner Brothers. Of course, being on contract at W.B. also meant he had to take what they gave him, so we also see Anderson in lesser movies like Knockout, Highway West and The Body Disappears, all in 1941. I haven't seen those.

I recently caught Dive Bomber (1941) on TCM with Anderson and Fred MacMurray. This was the time for movies to show how great our armed forces were, just before we entered WWII. Some others are Navy Blue (1941) and This is the Army (1943). But Anderson seems to be cast as a reporter a lot. I counted six films were he played that part.

He has a good part in The Male Animal (1942) starring Henry Fonda. After a couple of Dan Dailey movies, You Were Meant for Me and Give My Regards to Broadway, both in 1948, we find Herbert trying out the small screen. He was cast in an episode of "Your Show Time" called "The Mummy's Foot" in 1949. It also starred Phyllis Coates, who would go on to play Lois Lane in "The Adventures of Superman."

The changeover from the 1940s to the 1950s was an interesting era. The war was over. People were moving to the suburbs. Television was new and no one knew how much it would change the entertainment industry. I certainly wouldn't want to watch a blockbuster film on the 10" black and white RCA TV I grew up with, but it was OK for "Howdy Doody" and "Crusader Rabbit."

At this turning point there were numerous movies being pumped out by the studios. Many were still filmed in black and white, and these were considered B movies, to be shown along with a full blown, big star, feature. You will find actors like Herbert Anderson in many of these...if you can find them at all. And they included every genre you can imagine.

You Were Meant For Me (1948) Musical with Jeanne Crain and Dan Dailey
The Set Up (1949) Sports/film noir with Robert Ryan
Battleground (1949) Action/war with Van Johnson and John Hodiak
The Yellow Cab Man (1950) Comedy with Red Skelton
The Magnificent Yankee (1950) Biography with Louis Calhern
The Prowler (1951) Film noir with Van Heflin
The Girl in White (1952) Biography with June Allyson

And of course, there were some top notch movies as well. Island in the Sky (1953), The Caine Mutiny (1954) and The Benny Goodman Story (1956) which were certainly not a B movies. The Caine Mutiny would be the second time Anderson worked with Fred MacMurray.

Herbert also worked on some teleplays back then, as he got his TV career moving. On "Ford Star Jubilee" in 1955 he was in "The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal" with Lloyd Nolan playing LCdr. Queeg.

He made a pair of movies in 1957 with Audie Murphy, Joe Butterfly and Night Passage. The later starred James Stewart. And to finish off that year on a high note, he appeared in My Man Godfrey.

From 1958 on, Herbert worked almost exclusively in television, with an occasional movie role. Look for him in everything from "The Real McCoys" to "The Millionaire." As mentioned above, "Dennis the Menace" was his most famous role, and that lasted from 1959 until 1963. His final TV appearance was in 1975 on "The Waltons."

Anderson's final three films spanned nine years. His last serious movie was Sunrise at Campobello (1960) starring Ralph Bellamy as Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1966 he is in Hold On! which is a movie about the rock group Herman's Hermits getting a spaceship named after them. (No, I didn't see it!) And finally he is in a Disney picture called Rascal (1969) about a raccoon that befriends Bill Mumy.

In that final decade of television he must have had some fun. Who wouldn't when you get to work on "Petticoat Junction," "The Man From Uncle," "Batman," "My Three Sons" (his final work with Fred MacMurray), "Bewitched," "Green Acres," "Ironside," and "The Rookies." (Among quite a bit more.)

Dwight Frye

2012-10-25T16:43:00.000-04:00

October brings out the horror film buffs in droves. All the television channels focus on scary movies, and even theaters get into the mood. The local Movie Tavern near us is showing Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) this week, and TCM is screening Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) in a double feature. Its good to be alive.

So, who is the greatest Bit Actor of the horror genre? A good question, and of course, it is open to debate. I will put forward the name Dwight Frye (1899 - 1943), a veteran actor of over 60 titles. Let's take a look.

Frye's first screen appearance was in the Reginald Denny (1891 - 1967) comedy, The Night Bird (1928), which was his only silent film. In 1930 his first talkie was The Doorway to Hell starring Lew Ayres (1908 - 1996). Ayres went on to play Doctor James Kildare in the film series, with Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie. Also look for James Cagney in Doorway, which was Cagney's second film.

In 1931 Frye would take a role that set him up for a life in film that was forever typecast. As Renfield in Dracula (1931) he created a deranged characterization that he could not escape. In 1931 he was also in The Maltese Falcon starring Ricardo Cortez (1900 - 1977) and another famous horror film, Frankenstein, where he played Fritz, another deranged person. In The Maltese Falcon he was Wilmer Cook. Since Wilmer was a sadistic bad guy, he was in character there as well.

Frye is fascinated with bats again in The Vampire Bat (1933) starring Lionel Atwill (1885 - 1946) who is famous as Prof. Moriarty to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes. Also look for Fay Wray and Melvyn Douglas in that one.

There are a few detective stories in this era, but Dwight's next big horror flick is The Invisible Man (1933) starring Claude Rains (1889 - 1967). That was Rains' first sound film and it certainly helped him become a star. Frye works for a third time with director James Whale (1889 - 1957) in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), this time as Karl.

In The Crime of Doctor Crespi (1935) Frye plays a doctor. Probably not a mad one. The mad one is played by Erich von Stroheim (1885 - 1957). And the next year we see Dwight in a lighter film, Tough Guy, with Jackie Cooper and Rin-Tin-Tin Jr.

Things weren't going well for Frye at this point. He takes roles where he is uncredited as an extra, or parts where he played a makeup artist or "man on telephone." The stars he worked with included James Cagney, Slim Summerville, Andy Devine and others.

In The Shadow (1937) Frye is a hunchback once again, this time in the circus, and accused of murder. This one stars Rita Hayworth. He works with Hayworth again in Who Killed Gail Preston? (1938). One reviewer called it a 'murder-musical.' This time Hayworth is the victim.

Dwight Frye

IMDb has Frye unconfirmed as a villager in Son of Frankenstein (1939). Some one was probably watching it in HD and thought he recognized the hump. Or maybe he was eating flies. Who knows. If you see him, please let me know. That year we see Frye in his last work with James Whale, The Man in the Iron Mask.

I have written about an acquaintance of mine, Henry Brandon (1912 - 1990), in a previous post. Henry starred in a serial called The Drums of Fu Manchu (1940), and he worked with Dwight in episode 5.

There were a few war movies, as everyone was expected to make, and in 1941 he worked with Lew Ayres again in The People vs. Dr. Kildare. Nothing spectacular for a horror Bit Actor. So let's end this with the rest of his good stuff.

The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) starring Lon Chaney Jr., Cedric Hardwicke and Bela Lugosi.
Dead Men Walk (1943) with George Zucco, another Rathbone/Holmes foe.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943) again with Lugosi and Chaney Jr.
And in his finale, a change of pace comedy, Dangerous Blondes (1943), where he was uncredited.

Before he passed away Dwight was cast to play a substantial role in Wilson (1944), but he died of a heart attack before filming started. His role was taken by Reginald Sheffield (1901 - 1957).

In the career of one Bit Actor, I have given you a complete month of horror titles. Now go rent or buy some of them and start planning your Halloween party! And make sure you find Dwight Frye in as many of them as you can.

Pedro de Cordoba

2012-10-12T16:41:00.000-04:00

I was watching the great, but sometimes under appreciated Alfred Hitchcock film, Saboteur (1942) last week. In the scene on the circus trailer, a tall, thin man appears. He had a deep voice, and I instantly knew he was John Carradine (1906 - 1988). Well, I was wrong. The part of Bones was played by Pedro de Cordoba (1881 - 1950). After finding my mistake, I thought that I owed it to Pedro to fill in my readers on his long career.

Pedro started working in silent films in 1915. He appears as Escamillo in the Cecil B. DeMille version of Carmen in that year. Since it was a silent film, it was based on the 1845 story by Prosper Merimee (1803 - 1870) rather than the opera by Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875).

After a ten year span of silent films, plus a few years doing something else, his first talkie feature was The Crusades (1935) directed by DeMille and starring Loretta Young (1913 - 2000). That same year he appears in Captain Blood, starring Errol Flynn and Oliva de Havilland. Captain Blood has a wonderful cast of great Bit Actors, including Guy Kibbee and Donald Meek.

The decade of the 1930s is filled with great movies that are difficult to find these days. Pedro was in many of them, including The Devil Doll (1936) starring Lionel Barrymore and directed by Tod Browning (1880 - 1962) who also gave us Dracula (1931) and several of the Lon Chaney (1883 - 1930) silent films.

This was the decade of big stars like Fredric March, Claude Rains, Barbara Stanwyck, Don Ameche, Claudette Colbert, Dolores del Rio and Olivia de Havilland. Pedro worked with all of them. In another great, moody picture starring Boris Karloff, Pedro appears in Devil's Island (1939), and the same year in Juarez with Paul Muni and Bette Davis.

In 1940 we see Pedro in a lighter film, My Favorite Wife with Cary Grant and Irene Dunn, and then in his second film with Errol Flynn, The Sea Hawk. Flynn and de Cordoba would make three more films together in the 1940s. Also that year, he gets to buckle his swash again in The Mark of Zorro this time with Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone.

In 1941 we see Pedro in The Corsican Brothers. That's the one where Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays Siamese twins. And in 1943 he has a pair of great films, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Song of Bernadette but by this time, his career seems to be dropping off. He is found uncredited in many films after 1941.

He shows up in The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), Carnival in Costa Rica (1947) and my favorite title Omoo-Omoo the Shark God (1949). Omoo starred Ron Randall, Devera Burton and Trevor Bardette and garnered a rating of 2.9 on IMDb.

In the early days of television Pedro appears at least twice, on episodes of "The Lone Ranger." His last few films include some Macdonald Carey westerns, Comanche Territory and The Lawless, both released in 1950, and then Crisis (1950) starring Cary Grant and Jose Ferrer. His final film came in 1951, When the Redskins Rode where he plays Jon Hall's father.

Just to set the record straight, de Cordoba and Carradine did appear in seven films together, from 1935 to 1942. Saboteur was not one of them. Pedro de Cordoba was one of those Bit Actors who never made it big, but was clearly important in the films he made. He certainly was colorful enough. And now I will try harder to recognize him.

Jack Elam

2012-10-04T14:56:00.002-04:00

Jack Elam (1920 - 2003) is one of my favorites. (And have a lot of favorites, as you well know by now.) Jack started in the entertainment field as a bookkeeper at Goldwyn Studios. He apparently traded some accounting work for a few small parts on the big screen, and that was the start of a movie career that spanned over 200 roles.

He was blind in one eye, the result of a childhood accident, and that made him a bit different, and quite valuable as a heavy or other character actor, especially in westerns.

Elam's early career was filled with B westerns and dramas where he could play the bad guy. He worked with many stars, such as Chill Wills, Jeff Chandler and Walter Brennan, managing 53 movies between 1944 and 1960.

In 1952, his first big movie (in my opinion) was High Noon. He was uncredited as a drunk. He worked with James Stewart five times, including The Far Country (1954), The Man from Laramie (1955) and Night Passage (1957), plus two more in the 1960s. He made two films with Barbara Stanwyk, The Moonlighter (1953) and Cattle Queen of Montana (1954). In 1955 Jack walks with the animals in Tarzan's Hidden Jungle. This was only notable as Gordon Scott's (1926 - 2007) first film. Scott was about the eleventh actor to play Tarzan.

Around this time we start to see Jack on television. He is on early episodes of "Mr. and Mrs. North," "Waterfront," "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," and "The Lone Ranger." Later in his career he was on almost everything western, and plenty more.

For a change of pace, pick up a copy of the Howard Keel (1919 - 2004), Ann Blyth (b. 1928) Kismet (1955) with Jack Elam in a bit part. Though he was not yet known for comedic roles, he did appear in Artists and Models (1955) starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and the next year with them again in Pardners.

Back to his bad guy roles, Jack played Tom McLowery in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), and the same year he was Fatso Nagel in Baby Face Nelson with Mickey Rooney in the title role.

Most of Elam's work would soon be on television. This was the era of TV westerns and they always needed a bad guy. As far as movies, his first of two films with John Wayne was The Comancheros (1961). He also made Rio Lobo with Wayne in 1970.

In 1963 he works again with Dean Martin in 4 For Texas, but his career would change in 1969 when he is cast in a much larger comedy role in Support Your Local Sheriff! starring James Garner. He would now begin to receive offers with his funny side in mind. His previous experience as a villain would play into these roles. He had the look, and that bad eye, to counter-play against a funny role making the movie even funnier.

The funnier roles would include films called The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County and Dirty Dingus Magee, both in 1970.

Jack did star in a few, low budget films. If you can find them, and you really don't want to, look for A Knife for the Ladies (1974) and Creature from Black Lake (1976). He fared better with Don Knotts in The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979).

Look for him in a small part in The Cannonball Run (1981) and Cannonball Run II (1984). Those Burt Reynolds films had huge casts so it was easy to get bumped down in the credits.

After a few more stinkers with actors like Jimmy Dean, Richard Kiel and Hulk Hogan, Elam made his final film in 1993. He starred in Uninvited...which is also a stinker, but he is the star.

It says on IMDb that he once described what a character actor is, in the stages of his career. He said, "Who's Jack Elam? Get me Jack Elam. Get me a Jack Elam type. Get me a young Jack Elam. Who's Jack Elam?" I think that sums it up.

While Elam never really starred in anything (or anything worthwhile), he brought a lot of color to his many roles. I suggest, instead of watching the movies he made, tune in to Encore Westerns on cable and see how many times you find that trick eye of Jack Elam. It doesn't matter if you watch "The Rifleman," "Gunsmoke," "Lawman," "Bonanza," "Cheyenne," "The Dakotas," or "Temple Houston"... Jack was there.

So That's Dabbs Greer!

2012-09-19T14:30:00.000-04:00

I received a suggestion (Thanks, Michael!) to write about Dabbs Greer (1917 - 2007), and it was one I couldn't pass up. One look at Dabbs' face, and I knew him instantly, although I doubt I ever looked up his name before. He was a guest star on many television shows, and a regular on a few.

Dabbs has over 300 titles listed on IMDb. His career spans 54 years, starting in 1949. His first five or so years in the movies was spent mostly as an extra and uncredited. Look for him as a cab driver in Father's Little Dividend (1951), as well as many other great films like Monkey Business and Million Dollar Mermaid, both in 1952.

By the mid 1950s he was starting to get on-screen credit. He was in the John Wayne, Donna Reed film Trouble Along the Way in 1953, and the same year in House of Wax, the Vincent Price classic. In 1955 he is a tutor in The Seven Little Foys starring Bob Hope.

Other small parts in the 1950s include Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Hot Rod Girl (1956), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), My Man Godfrey (1957), Baby Face Nelson (1957), I Want to Live! (1957), and Cash McCall (1960). You can see the variety of films there, and some big stars were involved, but none of them had Dabbs Greer as the star.

The 1960s didn't see many films for Dabbs, but he is in Roustabout (1964) with Elvis Presley, and then two films with James Stewart, Shenandoah (1965) and The Cheyenne Social Club (1970). For the next decade or two, he mostly does television. His movies include White Lightning (1973) and Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981).

What Greer is best known for today are all the wonderful television shows he either guest starred on, or where he became a regular cast member. He was a regular on "Fireside Theatre," "Cavalcade of America," "You Are There," "Frontier," "Science Fiction Theatre," "TV Reader's Digest," and many other teleplays. According to someone on IMDb, Dabbs was the very first victim saved by George Reeves (1914 - 1959) as "Superman" on that series' first show in 1952. He would appear in Metropolis several more times.

During the era of family sitcoms and TV westerns, Dabbs was right at home as a friendly but grouchy neighbor, or a store clerk or reverend in town. But his face and demeanor worked well for sci-fi shows, too. You can find him on "Twilight Zone," "Kraft Suspense Theatre" and "The Outer Limits." (All the teleplays ended in 'Theatre' for some reason.)

Other spots on TV included "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Perry Mason," "The Fugitive," "Bonanza," and "The F.B.I." He was a regular on "Gunsmoke," and "Little House on the Prairie" became his home as Reverend Alden for it's entire run. In the 1990s he was a regular on "Picket Fences" and ten years later on "Maybe It's Me."

Dabbs' last two movies were both big budget. Con Air (1997) and The Green Mile (1999) would make up for some of the stinker films like Evil Town (1987) and Two Moon Junction (1988). But let's not forget, he was making income from his career all the while.

Dabbs Greer once said, "Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead." I couldn't have said it better!

Roscoe Karns

2012-09-12T14:11:00.001-04:00

Now there's a name. Roscoe Karns (1891 - 1970) was a character actor (Bit Actor on this blog) who was most popular in the 1930s. The name Roscoe means Deer Forest, and the word roscoe is slang for handgun. Who would have thought! You don't hear that name much anymore. Maybe some classic film fans can start to bring it back into use.

Roscoe's first four films were made in 1915 at the Lubin Manufacturing Company studio, most likely in Arizona. Lubin went out of business in 1916 after a fire destroyed most of his films and business turned sour, so Karns moved over to the Christie Film Company in Hollywood. In 1919 he was in an early King Vidor (1894 - 1982) feature film called Poor Relations with Zasu Pitts (1894 - 1963). Karns would make three films with Vidor and four with Pitts.

In 1920 he made his only film, Life of the Party, with another famous Roscoe...Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (1887 - 1933). Look for Roscoe as a boy in the rain (even though he was 32 at the time) in Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent release of The Ten Commandments.

The reason I include some of these obscure silent films in a Bit Actors background is because I think the early days of an actor's career help to form him or her into the acting style they adopt for the rest of their lives. They have experiences and talk with others in those movies. Who knows, Roscoe may have palled around with Eugene Pallette (1889 - 1954) and Charles Farrell (1900 - 1990) who were both extras in The Ten Commandments early in their careers. Perhaps Vidor or DeMille gave him a small piece of direction that stuck with him.

His first, really big movie was also the very first Best Picture winner Wings in 1927. The next year you could look for him in The Jazz Singer, the first successful talkie with dialog. Through the transition from silent to sound, Roscoe would continue to make both. It would be well into 1929 before we can finally say goodbye to most silent films. (Except for Charlie Chaplin, of course!)

In the decade of the 1930s Karns would make 64 movies with stars galore. He was in seven with Gary Cooper, six with George Raft, five with Neil Hamilton, four with Loretta Young and also William Powell. He was in a couple with Bette Davis, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Jack Holt and many others.

Perhaps his finest film was It Happened One Night (1934) the winner of five Oscars. In 1937 he gets the title role in Clarence, along with top billing. In the late 1930s we will see him in a few starring roles, but none of them were big movies.

It seems by 1940 the roles are smaller for Roscoe. He is in His Girl Friday (1940) with Cary Grant, and They Drive By Night (1940) starring Humphrey Bogart and George Raft. Through the rest of that decade Roscoe would make mysteries, comedies, musicals, war movies, whatever came along. By then he was that versatile.

In 1950 he delves into television. Right off he stars in his own series, "Rocky King, Detective" which (according to IMDb) only made nine episodes that aired over four years from 1951 to 1954. But he also had a recurring role in "Hennesey" starring Jackie Cooper in the early 1960s.

Roscoe's last two films were Onionhead (1958) starring Andy Griffith (1926 - 2012), and Man's Favorite Sport starring Rock Hudson (1925 - 1985) and Paula Prentiss (b. 1938).

You have to admit, that is quite a full career, from 1915 silent films to working with Paula Prentiss. Roscoe Karns was a good Bit Actor for sure.

Colorful Brian Cox

2012-09-06T15:09:00.000-04:00

This is curious. I was looking through the filmography of Brian Cox (b. 1946) and he seems to be drawn to movies (and TV shows) with colorful names. Here are a few -

"Redcap" (1966)
"Shades of Greene" (episode called "The Blue Film" 1975)
In "King Lear" (1983) he played Burgundy
"Red Fox" (1991)
"Red Dwarf" (1997)
"Blue/Orange" (2005)
Red Eye (2005)
Red (2008) in a starring role.
"The Color of Magic" (2008)
The voice of the Green Dragon in "Scooby Doo and the Samurai Sword" (2009)
Wide Blue Yonder (2010)
Red (2010) This one with Bruce Willis.

I may have missed a few TV shows, but that will give you the idea. And this is not the Dr. Brian Cox (b. 1968) who is a physicist and astronomer with his own TV show, "Wonders of the Universe."

I first saw Brian in Iron Will (1994) a Disney movie about a dog sled race in the early days of World War I, but his acting career on television goes back to 1965. Iron Will starred Mackenzie Astin (b. 1973) son of Patty Duke and John Astin.

Most of Brian's early work, other than theater, was on television. His first movie was Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). Then, in 1986, he was the first actor to play Hannibal Lecktor, in a movie called Manhunter. In 1990 he co-starred with Frances McDormand (b. 1957) in Hidden Agenda.

I think the roles that solidify him as a great Bit Actor, or maybe a little higher on the acting chain, were his parts in Iron Will, Rob Roy (1995), Braveheart (1995), Chain Reaction (1996) and Kiss the Girls (1997). He didn't star in these movies, but his roles were important to the action. You may be tempted to call him a great supporting actor.

There are some not-so-great movies in this time frame as well. Not everything can be a big hit. The Glimmer Man (1996) starring Steven (need I say more?) Seagal (b. 1952), Desperate Measures (1998) with Michael Keaton (b. 1951) trying to be a bad guy, Merchants of Venus (1998) that's Venus not Venice, and The Corruptor (1999) starring Yun-Fat Chow (b. 1955). I'll pass on those.

In 1999 he has a much better role in a much better film, For Love of the Game starring Kevin Costner. I always said the Costner was at his best in sports films, even though this is really a romance film for guys. He also played an important part in the first two Bourne films, The Bourne Identity (2002) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004), as the bad guy Ward Abbott.

Keeping to the better movies, look for Cox in Troy (2004) starring Brad Pitt (b. 1963) and Eric Bana (b. 1968), and in the Woody Allen film, Match Point (2005) starring Scarlett Johansson (b. 1984).

If you look through Brian's list of titles you will find many films that come from his Scottish heritage. Look for The Flying Scotsman (2006) and The Water Horse (2007) plus others. There is quite a bit of work done in the UK, in film and on television.

Cox made two films called Red. One in 2008 which had no big names but did star Brian Cox, and the one I just watched on FiOS from 2010 starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich, not to mention Ernest Borgnine in a fine Bit Actor role. It was a fun film, filled with violence, comedy, and Mirren as a hit man. Helen Mirren is every bit as talented at Meryl Streep in my book.

Just last year Brian was in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I'll pass on that one, too. You could write an entire blog about all the Ape films!

Brian Cox continues to work on both side of the Atlantic. He has a number of films currently in production. His roles tend to be very serious, government types, with an occasional comedy thrown in. That makes him one colorful Bit Actor.

Hedda Hopper

2012-08-29T14:25:00.002-04:00

Have you ever thought of Hedda Hopper (1885 - 1966) as a Bit Actress? She was, at the beginning of her career in Hollywood.

Most people remember Hedda as a gossip columnist and Hollywood reporter. She didn't begin her column, "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" until 1938. Her first appearance on film was in a 1916 movie called The Battle of Hearts.

In 1917 she was in Seven Keys to Baldpate starring George M. Cohan (1878 - 1942). It would be a shame to feature Cohan, one of America's greatest song writers and performers in a silent film, but he made three of them. And only two talkies. I guess that was the technology at the time, and I am too young to remember vaudeville.

Hedda Hopper in the 1920s

In the silent era, she worked with Mae Marsh, Norma Talmadge, and Billie Burke. In 1922 she was in Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore as Holmes and Roland Young as Watson.

I love a good silent film as much as most of you do, but when you look through the list of silents that Hopper was in, you realize that there were many, many silent films that are probably best as lost films. She made three films with Conrad Nagel (1897 - 1970), and four with John Gilbert (1887 - 1936) including three of his talkies. But the vast majority of her early films were with stars that will never be featured in film festivals.

And then, in 1927, Hedda has a small part in Wings, the very first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Production. She was uncredited. By the way, that was the only silent film to win that Oscar, until The Artist in 2011.

Hopper's first talkie was The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) starring Norma Shearer (1902 - 1983) and Basil Rathbone (1892 - 1967). She would make four films with Shearer, plus a cinematic fundraiser short called The Stolen Jools (1931), which also featured Laurel and Hardy and many other stars.

Now that we have put silent films behind us, a look at Hopper's talkie career isn't much better. Highlights include working with Bette Davis in The Man Who Played God (1932); with Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams (1935); and she was in Topper (1937) again with Roland Young and Billie Burke, not to mention Cary Grant.

Hedda Hopper in the 1950s

Another very good film was The Women (1939) with an all female cast including Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. She also made two films with Jackie Cooper (1922 - 2011), What a Life (1939) and Life With Henry (1941).

By this time she was well into writing her column, and she was being recognized as a writer rather than an actress. It was time to start drawing on her popularity, so she started portraying herself in films. She made a series of Hedda Hopper's Hollywood documentaries in the 1940s, but also look for her as herself in -
The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Pepe (1960)
The Patsy (1964)
The Oscar (1966), which was her final appearance in film.

Of course Hedda Hopper also appeared on many television shows, and that is where I remember her. She was always outspoken, and her feuds with Louella Parsons (1881 - 1972), Spencer Tracy and Joseph Cotten are well documented. But let's not forget her start as a Bit Actor.

Crimson Tide

2012-08-21T14:13:00.000-04:00

The recent passing of director Tony Scott (1944 - 2012) brought to mind several of his great films. Where would Tom Cruise (b. 1962) be without Top Gun (1986) and Days of Thunder (1990)? I think my favorite Scott directed film is Crimson Tide (1995). It is a tense submarine drama involving two clashing warriors, Gene Hackman (b. 1930) as the old school sub captain, and Denzel Washington (b. 1954), the educated first officer who uses intellect and reason rather than blindly following protocol.

Enough about the stars. Let's get to the important Bit Actors who made this film great. People like George Dzundza (b. 1945) who played Chief of the Boat.

Dzundza started working on the small screen in 1974. His first movie was an Italian sex comedy called Fischia il sesso (1974), which translates to 'Whistle sex.' Fittingly, his next film was The Happy Hooker (1975) starring Lynn Redgrave (1943 - 2010). George can be found near the bottom of that cast list.

After a few hit or miss TV appearances on some hit or miss TV shows, his next film was The Deer Hunter (1978) with his name much higher in the cast. It was a great opportunity to work with Robert De Niro (b. 1943) and Meryl Streep (b. 1949).

Dzundza gets his own TV series in 1981 called "Open All Night." It only lasted one season and I never saw it. In 1987 he works with Gene Hackman for the first time in No Way Out, also starring Kevin Costner (b. 1955). Of course, we all remember George as Gus in Basic Instinct (1992) and that scene with Sharon Stone (b. 1958). Dzundza appears in more films and has some regular spots on television. Let's hope we see more of him.

Here are a few interesting Bit Actors from Crimson Tide. Lillo Brancato (b. 1976) played the radio man, in his third film after A Bronx Tale (1993) and Renaissance Man (1984). It sounds like a good start to an acting career, but after a few dozen acting jobs, including a stint on "The Sopranos," Lillo gets involved in a burglary. He is currently serving ten years in a New York prison.

Remember Ricky Schroder (b. 1970)? His big part was in "Silver Spoons" in the 1980s. He has had a quite a few acting jobs since then, including his part as a lieutenant in Crimson. Keep on going, Ricky.

Steve Zahn (b. 1967) went on the play a teenage guitar player in That Thing You Do (1996) and a book seller who worked for Meg Ryan (b. 1961) in You've Got Mail (1998). Other parts are played well by Matt Craven, Jaime Gomez, Rocky Carroll, Michael Milhoan, Scott Burkholder and several more. You can find them everywhere, but they tend to blend in to the parts, as good Bit Actors always do.

It is interesting that most of the cast members are not famous, but they do have long filmographies that show a wide variety of parts in multiple media. They do comedies, dramas, voice over work, and TV shows. Of course, since Crimson Tide takes place almost exclusively on a submarine, almost every male part in the film is an officer or enlisted man in the Navy.

Lastly, at the board of inquiry that ended the film, we see famous Bit Actor Jason Robards (1922 - 2000) who actually starred in countless movies, and also on the board was Skip Beard who was the technical adviser for the film, since he was the real captain of the USS Alabama.

Great film with a great cast.