![Peter Riegert | "The Good Wife" (2012) [a]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2018-05/Peter_Riegert-The_Good_Wife-%282009%29-David_M_Russell-%C2%A9_2012_CBS_Broadcasting.jpg?itok=xw4WWRG_ "Peter Riegert | \"The Good Wife\" (2012) [a]")
![Mindy Sterling | "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (1999) [a]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2018-06/Mindy_Sterling-Austin_Powers-The_Spy_Who_Shagged_Me-%281999%29-c-%2316.jpg?itok=aUvZJBnN "Mindy Sterling | \"Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me\" (1999) [a]")
![Chris Ellis | "Fairly Legal" (2011) [a]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2018-05/Chris_Ellis-Fairly_Legal-%282011%291-c_%20Alan_Zenuk-%C2%A9_USA_Network.jpg?itok=FUkmKJ1S "Chris Ellis | \"Fairly Legal\" (2011) [a]")
William Shakespeare (among others) said "There are no small parts*--". William Shatner may have said it too, but the longhair with the tights was first, or so the reports go. In this feature we will explore what it really means to be an actor working in Motion Pictures and Television.
Broad public acknowledgment may have eluded some who find their way to these pages, or perhaps they may have brushed against what is referred to as stardom by virtue of one or more remarkable performances. However for many, the rewards of plying their craft in a field which has allowed them to earn a living may exceed the burdens of public acclaim. Given the chance, some in this clan might prefer the longevity offered by anonymity over the potential for short lived fame.
These individuals, either by design or fate, have managed to sustain a career by crafting performances which rendered them a good casting choice. They are usually thought of as a face you recognize, but you just can't get the name past the tip of your tongue.
Most of these folks have spent countless hours on stage in theaters ranging from 20 seats to 2000, building characters from the works of Ibsen, to Eliot, to Williams, to yes even Shakespeare, and so many of the modern Playwrights. They have rounded their skills doing drama, comedy, & musicals. Their work is a serious venture.
These people have given us screen performances which quite often were the catalyst that brought an Oscar or Emmy to another and yet they continue to work as "Characters" or "Co-Stars" without the trophies and plaques adorning their mantle.
* Technically, it was Konstantin Stanislavski who coined the phrase "There are no small parts, only small actors", but we like the "William" references just for fun!
Where applicable, each article offers a link to 
where you may obtain additional materials on the subject.
Tom Bower was truly the essence of the working actor. His many varied screen performances rewarded him with a stable career in Hollywood. His tireless work with the Screen Actors Guild and in support of his fellow actor make him an example for all to follow.
Mindy Sterling remembers what happened when she told her father, comedian Dick Sterling, that she wanted to become a performer. 'At the age of 13 my dad decided to get me private acting lessons to do Shakespeare', the Florida-raised Sterling recalls. He said: 'If you learn Shakespeare, you'll be a great actor'. 'And I was hideous - when you're thirteen years old, Shakespeare is NOT how you want to spend your free time! Needless to say, to this day I hate doing Shakespeare.'
Pat Skipper is probably best known for his television work on Yellowstone, Bosch, Mad Men, Shameless, Boston Legal and The X-Files. On film, he appeared in Oppenheimer, Babylon, Den of Thieves Part 2, and in Rob Zombie’s Halloween as Mason Strode.
Although with consistency being the benchmark for stardom in Hollywood, Richard Roundtree proved to be a star in every sense of the word. As a leading actor and co-star of over forty-five years, he established himself as a constant force with his stellar work in both feature films and television. And yet this "Working Actor" still fit the bill as his roles had varied and his appetite for continued acting assignments never wavered!
John Aylward may be best known for his portrayal of the hard-nosed Dr. Anspaugh on NBC's "ER", however, he has spent decades on theatre stages throughout the U.S. and Canada and has performed everything from Shakespeare & Moliere to Shepard & Mamet. And while audiences of TV and film have generally seen him play serious men and downright curmudgeons, Aylward's comic prowess is legend. His versality and talent have made him one busy actor.
Bo Hopkins is uninhibited, colorful and disarmingly honest. He has carved a career in Hollywood with a talent and determination that has led him from parking cars to starring roles in television and films.
Bill Smitrovich began his professional career at the age of thirty-three, as a stage actor with Arthur Miller in the World Premiere of "American Clock" directed by Dan Sullivan, which went from The Spoleto Festival to Broadway.
Erin Connor, although not yet widely known in the U.S. truly fits the category of "Working Actor" to a "T". Born and bred near Byron Bay in Australia, Erin grew up on a tropical fruit farm with a menagerie of animals to look after. With a rural upbringing, Erin learnt early on the lessons earned by hard work and community.
Art Hindle, born Arthur Hindle on July 21, 1948, in Halifax to a Royal Canadian Navy father, Art's mother soon had him back in their home town of Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in the "Beaches" of Toronto a big fan of Elvis Presley and rock n' roll. Although shy as a child, he grew to be a rebellious and independent teenager.
Julie Dolan is a native San Fernando “Valley Girl” and began dance lessons at the age of 3 and acting and piano lessons at the age of 9. She attended California State University Northridge for a short time but her continued work in Television and Film kept her away from her studies.
I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.
Life ain't no dress rehearsal.
The faster I write the better my output. If I'm going slow I'm in trouble. It means I'm pushing the words instead of being pulled by them.
The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.
Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.
Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.
While attending a Production Meeting
This is no place to ask questions!!
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by favoring to attempt.
The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it.
To young actor. Eugene Roach on the subject of acting
Don't ever let 'em catch you at it.
From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it.
When asked what he thought of William Shakespeare
I'll moider da bum!
The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is outgrossing my films.
It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper.
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
Advise to a young Richard Roundtree
Whatever you do in this business, It's much easier than lifting heavy things.
All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.
The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense
Kiss and make up...
but too much makeup has ruined many a kiss.
From: "Tuesday's with Morrie"
We must learn to love one another or die.... We must!
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying.
Imitation is the sincerest form of television.
The movies are the only business where you can go out front and applaud yourself.
Women might be able to fake orgasms. But men can fake whole relationships.
No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer it has chosen.
I can't wait to one day shoot in Detroit and say 'Let's have this double for Toronto'.
Do, or do not. - There is no 'try'..
The difference between sex and love is that sex relieves tension and love causes it.
Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.
When you're down and out, something always turns up -- and it's usually the noses of your friends.
Why should people go out and pay to see bad films when they can stay at home and see bad television for nothing?
My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch.
I'll give you a definite maybe.
I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with 'Guess' on it.
I said, Thyroid problem?
No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft.
The problem with television is that the people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn’t time for it. Therefore, the showmen are…
Sage Advise to a Young Oregonian, Barbara Niven
If you want to make it in show business, get the hell out of Oregon!
Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?
The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter,
but, that all subject matter is presented as entertaining.…
Television enables you to be entertained in your home by people you wouldn't have in your home.
I must say that I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book.
You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you've got something to say.
What's this business of being a writer?
It's just putting one word after another.
I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.
It's kind of fun to do the impossible.
Seeing a murder on television, can help work off one's antagonisms.
And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some!
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them!
The remarkable thing about television is that it permits several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely.
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own.
