Happy Birthday, Maybe, Ray Walston

[filkertom]

On this date in 1914. Or on November 2. Or February 12. Sources differ. (Thanks for noticing the discrepancy, skunktaur.)

Who are some of your favorite supporting actors? The people who lift a film to the next level -- people who certainly can star, and sometimes do, but more often have the roles that actually make the film interesting. (My purest example is the animated movie, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, which was chugging along pretty well until, halfway through, the Joker [voiced by Mark Hamill] showed up, and the movie just rocketed into the stratosphere.) I love Walston, Burgess Meredith, Patrick Warburton, Peter Jurasik, Maggie Smith, Minnie Driver, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, Kathy Bates, Lily Tomlin....

ETA: Just when is Ray Walston's birthday, anyhow...?

Comments

[bald-ruminant.livejournal.com]

Slim Pickens and Jack Elam.

[phillip2637.livejournal.com]

Ya...I was planning on adding Jack Elam's name if it wasn't here already.

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

Kathryn Joosten

[skunktaur.livejournal.com]

I don't want to nag, but either you or the Wiki are a month off...

And the people I'd name have already been added. Lithgow, Lloyd...

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Much obliged. I hadn't noticed, and it actually got worse when I went to confirm one date or another....

[alfiechat.livejournal.com]

Andre Braugher. No question. He is both a leading and a supporting actor, but if I am on the fence about a picture, and find he is in it, I go see it.

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

Andre is going to be on a new TNT series starting next Monday at 10PM Eastern called "Men of a Certain Age". Also in the cast are Ray Romano and Scott Bakula.

[alfiechat.livejournal.com]

It's already programmed in my dvr! Thanks for the reminder, though!!

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

I'm more excited about Scott being back on weekly TV, myself. I hope this show lasts longer than his last one!

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

Judi Dench, Jim Backus, Edward Everett Horton, Michael Dunn, Ned Beatty, Victor Buono, Leo G. Carroll, Leo McKern, Selma Diamond, Bill Irwin, Terry-Thomas, Hermione Gingold, Jack Gilford, Linda Hunt, Yaphet Kotto, Herbert Lom, Alan Rickman, Saul Rubinek, and Peter Ustinov.

And, of course, Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet.

(Yes, I cheated and looked at a list. :) )

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I actually had Rickman on the first draft of my short list, and took him off only because he's a "money" actor at this point. I feel the same way about Lorre. And I should add Simon Pegg.

Agreement with the rest of your list.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Second Bill Irwin, Linda Hunt, and Jack Gilford. Got to meet Gilford the first time I was in London. Almost went to see the revival of Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway last week solely because it stars Bill Irwin in the Paul Lynde role.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

I second Maggie Smith and add Cillian Murphy, Alan Alda (when he's not in Hawkeye Pierce mode), Ian McKellan, Jason Issacs, and Steve Buscemi.

But to me, Gene Hackman's the King of the Character Actors.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Many of my favorites are dead: Julius Cary III, Phil Leeds. Others have become better known than they once were: John C. Reilly, Peter Falk, Helen Mirren.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

I'd second quite a lot of these. And add Michael Ironside and Ron Harper (who still turns up in the oddest places), and Mark Strong (who seems to have been in everything I've seen in the cinema this year.

[briansiano.livejournal.com]

Caught _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_ recently, so... Whit Bissell, Kevin McCarthy, William Schallert, Richard Deacon, Charles Lane...

[jmthane.livejournal.com]

In addition to many of the fine names listed above...

W. Morgan Sheppard

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

All of the ones already mentioned.
For the US I will also include Jean Reno. Anywhere else, he's a star.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

Here are some classic ones I have to mention. Terry-Thomas was often the only cheery element in the many films where he appeared. Ernest Borgnine was a leading star in only two productions, McHale's Navy and Marty, but he improved nearly all of the films where he appeared. (I'm thinking The Black Hole and The Devil's Rain.) And Stephen Furst in Animal House and Babylon 5 always brought a smile to my face; wish he worked more.

Discrepancy

[gavroche42.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia says Dec 2, 1914

They cite SSDI entry, which actually says Nov 2, 1914. SSDI is pretty accurate for death dates. They are less accurate with birthdates since they relied on whatever they were told in 1936 when SS was established. It wasn't until even later that everyone was given a social security number at birth. Can't recall the exact date right now, but post WWII.

Not sure when Louisiana or Mississippi (unclear where he was born, too) first required birth registration, but it could have been after 1914, so a truly reliable source might not exist.

FilmReference bio which Wikipedia also cites for other information says Nov 2, 1918 or Nov 2, 1924.

http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=walston&firstname=herman

http://www.filmreference.com/film/28/Ray-Walston.html

Wikipedia doesn't cite a source for the December 2nd variation.

[voiceofkiki.livejournal.com]

My two favorite actors (at least of the ones currently living) are both B-movie/character actors: Ted Raimi and Jeffrey Combs.

I will (and have) watch the most horrifically shameful films/shows if either of them appears for a single second. Hell, Ted is the only reason I saw Spiderman 2 and 3 in theaters.

They once did a film together called "The Attic Expeditions." It also had Seth Green and Alice Cooper. It's a strange little mindfuck of a film. I have it on DVD, but you can now watch the entire film for free (officially, too) on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW88MxuK_dQ