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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!
William Dainels, A versatile character actor of stage, film and, most successfully, TV, is often cast in arrogant, authoritative or WASPish roles, once served the Industry in the tireless roll of President of the Screen Actors Guild.
Chris Ellis always wanted to be an actor because of television. He grew up in the 50's in the deep south in a "world of privation and violence", but saw on television people who seemed to have lives of ease and priviliege.
"I was raised in the Mississippi delta, and my salient memories from early childhood are of children who were beaten and abused by adults or by other children." But, that's is not why he left.
For many years everyone wondered who that handsome sexy man is in the Listerine campaign – "Death to Germs". It was Madison Mason.
Charlie Brill is what is known as a 'Natural Entertainer', in fact some believe that it's tough to say how much Charlie Brill is in show business and how much show business is in Charlie Brill. At just 11 years old, Brooklyn-born Brill bagged a day at grammar school, boarded a subway train, and bounded to Broadway to audition for "Peter Pan". He got the role of John - all before his 13th birthday. And like a fine wine, as he got older, he got better.
Born on July 23, 1951 in Kansas City, Missouri, Edie McClurg began her performing career at age five with the oxymoronic Kansas City Rhythm Kids. She retired when the dance teacher was arrested on a morals charge for "dating" the tall and lissome, yet underage, star dancer in the troupe. That girl's big number culminated with a back-bend where Edie drank a soda upside down (of course).
A general utilitarian player on TV and film, Ross Elliott provided clean-cut, reliable support for over four decades. Born Elliott Blum on June 18, 1917 in New York City, Ross grew up in the Bronx and began appearing in plays while a teenage at both summer camps and in high school. He attended New York's City College upon graduation pursing both law and appearing in the college's dramatic productions. Acting won out in the long run after he received his degree in 1937.
Amy Aquino (Ak wee' no) represents the essence of what this feature is all about, as she may hold the record for most recurring characters being played concurrently at any one time. Although her stock has certainly risen since this profile was first introduced, her career has maintained a steady pace.
Danny Chambers is a former Child Psychologist from Portland Oregon. He has been earning his living as an actor the since moving to Los Angeles from Portland's renowned repertory theater community.
William Lucking graduated from U.C.L.A. and the Pasadena Playhouse with degrees in both literature and theater. He continued his professional training as a journeyman actor under under Gordon Davidson at the Mark Taper Forum, during which time he worked on both main stage and Monday Night Theater Productions, While at the Taper he also studied with well known acting coach Jeff Corey....
Pat Harrington Jr (1929-2016), was a character actor who entertained us with his wonderful craft for close to a half century.
From the urbane and discerning Guido Panzini of THE JACK PAAR SHOW in the mid fifties, to the avuncular Dwayne F. Schneider of ONE DAY AT A TIME in the seventies and eighties, to the irrepressible Cap'n Andy of Show Boat in the nineties, he demonstrated an extraordinary range.
Life ain't no dress rehearsal.
No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer it has chosen.
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by favoring to attempt.
My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch.
Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.
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.
From: "Tuesday's with Morrie"
We must learn to love one another or die.... We must!
The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense
Kiss and make up...
but too much makeup has ruined many a kiss.
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!
It's kind of fun to do the impossible.
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.
To young actor. Eugene Roach on the subject of acting
Don't ever let 'em catch you at it.
Sage Advise to a Young Oregonian, Barbara Niven
If you want to make it in show business, get the hell out of Oregon!
Do, or do not. - There is no 'try'..
The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter,
but, that all subject matter is presented as entertaining.…
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
While attending a Production Meeting
This is no place to ask questions!!
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…
I can't wait to one day shoot in Detroit and say 'Let's have this double for Toronto'.
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying.
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
The movies are the only business where you can go out front and applaud yourself.
Advise to a young Richard Roundtree
Whatever you do in this business, It's much easier than lifting heavy things.
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.
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.
No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft.
Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.
Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?
Why should people go out and pay to see bad films when they can stay at home and see bad television for nothing?
Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.
Television enables you to be entertained in your home by people you wouldn't have in your home.
I'll give you a definite maybe.
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.
All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.
The difference between sex and love is that sex relieves tension and love causes it.
Women might be able to fake orgasms. But men can fake whole relationships.
Imitation is the sincerest form of television.
I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with 'Guess' on it.
I said, Thyroid problem?
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!
You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you've got something to say.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic
I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.
I must say that I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book.
The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own.
The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is outgrossing my films.
When you're down and out, something always turns up -- and it's usually the noses of your friends.
The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it.
