Obscure actors with frequent minor roles

[bandit957]

Anyone else remember actors who kept appearing in single episodes of TV shows or other media but who weren't really famous?

I remember an actor who played the villain in lots of cop shows around 1980. He was always a yahoo-like character who yelped with excitement. He was kind of skinny with dark hair and a wide mouth.

I also remember an actor who appeared in some sitcoms in the '70s who played middle-aged characters, often retired athletes.

There was also an actor who played a disheveled, toothless old man in humorous scenes around 1990. I think he was mostly in music videos. He must have been pretty old then, so I can't imagine he's still living now.

[KeithE4Phx]

Sure.  They're called "character actors," and there are hundreds of them, if not thousands, in Hollywood.  They may not be big stars, but between small parts in movies, TV series, and commercials, they get steady work and make a decent living at it.  Some get a big break later on and become stars, but most are "worker bees" and are good actors.

IMDB is your friend if you want to check them out. 

[bandit957]

Sure.  They're called "character actors," and there are hundreds of them, if not thousands, in Hollywood.  They may not be big stars, but between small parts in movies, TV series, and commercials, they get steady work and make a decent living at it.  Some get a big break later on and become stars, but most are "worker bees" and are good actors.

IMDB is your friend if you want to check them out. 

One such actor was Ike Eisenmann, who kept playing teenage male characters in the late '70s or early '80s. He was in 'CHiPs' and 'The Jeffersons'.

I also remember a blonde woman who kept appearing in commercials in the early '80s. I'm pretty sure she was in a commersh for Harlequin novels and some other ads (maybe for paper towels).

I've recognized the voices of some voice-over people used in different shows or films. I'm pretty sure the voice-over woman in the '70s scare film about the kid who wouldn't take care of things is the same one in the '80s commercial for Little Maids of the Thirteen Colonies.

[KeithE4Phx]

I've recognized the voices of some voice-over people used in different shows or films. I'm pretty sure the voice-over woman in the '70s scare film about the kid who wouldn't take care of things is the same one in the '80s commercial for Little Maids of the Thirteen Colonies.

Voice actors are a whole 'nother field.  They go back to the heyday of radio and cartoons, and could become stars without most people even knowing what they looked like.  Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Bea Benadaret, and Paul Frees became famous for their voices before anyone saw their faces on TV or in movies. 

The best example of a voice actor becoming a star is Bea Benadaret.  She finally found stardom at age 53 as the lead actor on Petticoat Junction, after many years of cartoon, radio, and TV supporting-role work, notably on Warner Brothers cartoons and The Flintstones, and on the Burns and Allen Show on TV. Unfortunately, she died 5 years into the show.

[Scott5114]

I've recognized the voices of some voice-over people used in different shows or films. I'm pretty sure the voice-over woman in the '70s scare film about the kid who wouldn't take care of things is the same one in the '80s commercial for Little Maids of the Thirteen Colonies.

Voice actors are a whole 'nother field.  They go back to the heyday of radio and cartoons, and could become stars without most people even knowing what they looked like.  Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, June Foray, Bea Benadaret, and Paul Frees became famous for their voices before anyone saw their faces on TV or in movies. 

You saw this a lot with game show announcers, who were often on several shows at once. Johnny Olson, for instance, was doing The Price is Right, Match Game, Now You See It, Concentration, and Double Dare throughout the 1970s.

And of course the "In a world..." guy, Don LaFontaine. Pretty much every big movie had him doing a voice-over on their trailer.

[bandit957]

I don't remember where I heard this, but someone told me a long time ago that Emilio Delgado, who played Luis on 'Sesame Street', also did the voice-over for the disclaimer at the beginning of 'Beavis & Butthead'.

[wanderer2575]

Jay Overholts had minor roles in eight episodes of the original Twilight Zone.

If you count non-acting, non-speaking "roles" as a crowd extra and the like, a guy named Robert McCord appeared in anywhere between 30 and 70 episodes of that show (depending on who says so).

[bandit957]

There was also an actor who played a disheveled, toothless old man in humorous scenes around 1990. I think he was mostly in music videos. He must have been pretty old then, so I can't imagine he's still living now.

I figured out that this actor was Vance Colvig.

[KeithE4Phx]

There was also an actor who played a disheveled, toothless old man in humorous scenes around 1990. I think he was mostly in music videos. He must have been pretty old then, so I can't imagine he's still living now.

I figured out that this actor was Vance Colvig.

That would have been Vance Colvig Jr. (1918-1991), the son of Pinto Colvig (1892-1967).  The elder Colvig was the original voice of Goofy in the Walt Disney cartoons and Bozo the Clown on records and TV in the 1940s. 

Vance Jr. was Bozo on TV in Los Angeles in the late 1950s and early '60s, and voiced Chopper in the Yakky Doodle cartoons from Hanna-Barbera.  He played character roles in music videos and TV shows almost until he died.

[bugo]

My friend's cousin is a Hollywood character actor. He often plays cops or detectives. He has had some prominent supporting roles in some pretty famous movies. He was in Days of Thunder, My Cousin Vinny, Apollo 13, That Thing You Do, Con Air, Bean, Wag the Dog, Godzilla, Armageddon, Transformers and many other films. He's also been in a lot of television shows such as Melrose Place, NYPD Blue, The X Files, Chicago Hope, Arliss, Roswell, Diagnosis Murder, Six Feet Under, The Practice, Alias, NCIS, CSI, Criminal Minds, The West Wing, Ghost Whisperer, The Unit, Cold Case, Terminator, The Office, Law and Order, Mad Men and Young Sheldon. He isn't a household name, but if you watch a lot of movies, you would recognize him.

[golden eagle]

Would Clint Howard count?

[cwf1701]

And then there is Burt Mustin. He appeared on dozens of tv shows between the 1950s and the 1970s. He didn't start acting until his 60s. On the Jack Webb shows (Dragnet, Adam-12, Emergency!), he was often the go-to guy for senior citizens roles.

[michravera]

Would Clint Howard count?

I would hope so! He is the first of whom I thought!

[zachary_amaryllis]

Would Stephen King count? He usually has some one-liner role in most of his movies..