Favorite Old Hollywood Character Actors
One of my favorites is Esther Howard, she usually played blowsy old dames, which she did really well, though she didn't often get much screen time. She had a notable role in "Born To Kill" with Laurence Tierney, Claire Trevor, Elisha Cook, Jr., and Walter Slezak. She also had a good part in Dick Powell's "Murder, My Sweet" (a version of Raymond Chandler's 'Farewell, My Lovely'), where she played the widow Jessie Florian. She also is the old lady who yells at Barbara Stanwyck in the beginning of "No Man of Her Own". She also worked in a lot of short films, including those of the Three Stooges.
Here she is in a scene with Elisha Cook, Jr.
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | April 2, 2020 11:54 PM
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Bumping as I just saw this from the least favorite thread?
They have to be OLD Hollywood? Otherwise I have a bunch I could list/discuss.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | April 1, 2020 5:06 AM
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The trio from Top Hat -- Edward Everette Horton, Eric Blore and Erik Rhodes - the are all wonderful.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | April 1, 2020 5:13 AM
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I love your choices, R3.
I always liked Percy Helton for his scratchy, slightly high-pitched voice. He could be funny and menacing at the same time. He started acting as a kid and was never out if work.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | April 1, 2020 5:40 AM
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Gladys George. There’s something that’s very authoritative and REAL about her, while at the same time she’s quite theatrical.
I don’t know why she wasn’t in demand for more movies.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | April 1, 2020 5:56 AM
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R8, I was trying to get signed photos of all three women in The Maltese Falcon, I got Gladys George and Lee Patrick but I have yet to get Mary Astor, mostly because of the expense.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | April 1, 2020 6:11 AM
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Allen Jenkins, one of Warners most reliable dese-n-dose Brooklyn mugs of the '30s. Especially funny with Glenda Farrell and Joan Blondell, here he tosses Joan Crawford i around in a wild jitterbug in "They all Kissed the Bride"
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | April 1, 2020 10:25 PM
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Jackie Gleason in "Smokey and the Bandit."
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | April 1, 2020 10:37 PM
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George Kennedy. Remember when he showed up in that bad breath infomercial, surrounded by young people wanting to know his secret to fresh breath?
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | April 1, 2020 10:39 PM
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Thelma Ritter--stole scenes from the best of them; basically your no-nonsense aunt from Brooklyn but she could play cold or funny or pull your heart strings.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | April 1, 2020 10:54 PM
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The classic scene with "everything but the bloodhounds"
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | April 1, 2020 10:59 PM
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Good one, R16. Here's Thelma, eating toast on "Rear Window."
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | April 1, 2020 11:09 PM
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R6 Thanks for highlighting Percy Helton - I remember him vividly although I didn't know his name. He certainly is memorable in any movie in which he appears.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | April 1, 2020 11:14 PM
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Edna Mae Oliver was dependably fun, and well-known and liked enough to appear in quite a few cartoons.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | April 1, 2020 11:23 PM
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R16 and when we had Thelma and Connie Gilchrist together--"A Letter to Three Wives"--all was well in the world.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | April 1, 2020 11:27 PM
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The great and incomparable Frank Nelson
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | April 2, 2020 11:35 PM
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