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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 19, 2018 4:20:17 GMT
...among so many of the classic era's equally indispensable ones: Harry Shannon.  Need a cop? Shannon probably played more of them than he did any other type of role, from fedora-sporting urbanites or uniformed beat cops to rural sheriffs, and from by-the-book straight arrows to corrupt rubber-hose-wielders. Mixed in with these were smaller assortments of judges, doctors, wardens and military authority figures. When called upon, he was equally adept with patient and understanding roles of the avuncular or paternal type, and lent a droll touch to lighter ones. A standout was New-England-accented well-digger Mr. Tesander in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (seated at center):  Here, he explains to Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas and Cary Grant how it is that he drilled 227 feet to hit water when the workers digging the basement nearby struck it at only 6 feet: "Well, the way it appears to me, Mr. Blandings... over there the water is down around six feet. And over here it's down around 227 feet. Yep."
Shannon left his mark in three well-regarded Orson Welles films: as young Charlie Kane's brutal father in Citizen Kane (pictured with George Coulouris and Agnes Moorehead)...  ...in Touch Of Evil (here with Welles and Ray Collins):  ...and The Lady From Shanghai. In over 200 appearances in features and TV, and in bona-fide classics such as This Gun For Hire or High Noon and B-level programmers, Harry Shannon was a professional soldier in the army of reliable and versatile character players upon whom films of the classic era so much depended: always delivering whatever the job required; always just right in that "never too little/never too much" way that leaves so many of those troops unsung, but deserving of attention and note, however retrospectively. Anyone caring to submit similar tributes to such players may deposit them below with my blessing and encouragement. |
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Post by mattgarth on Mar 19, 2018 9:26:31 GMT
Harry not only fathered Orson in KANE but also Oscar winner Loretta Young in THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER.
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spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 19, 2018 14:46:26 GMT
One of the stellar character actors. Especially loved him in Citizen Kane, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, so many tv shows, and as Grandpa in Gypsy. Indeed, Hollywood could have not survived without talents like Shannon. And here's my pick, probably a little more well known, but I want to pay tribute to him: Norman Lloyd, who turned 103 last year. He began his career with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in the 1930s, made his feature film debut in Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) and is still working today. Saboteur (1942)
Spellbound (1945)  Limelight (1953)  the tv series, St. Elsewhere (1982-88)  Dead Poet's Society (1985)  with Scorsese on the set of The Age of Innocence (1993)  with Peggy, his wife of 75 years  a life well-lived  |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 19, 2018 15:22:23 GMT
One of the stellar character actors. Especially loved him in Citizen Kane, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, so many tv shows, and as Grandpa in Gypsy. Indeed, Hollywood could have not survived without talents like Shannon. And here's my pick, probably a little more well known, but I want to pay tribute to him: Norman Lloyd, who turned 103 last year. He began his career with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in the 1930s, made his feature film debut in Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) and is still working today. Excellent submission, and notable not only for his onscreen work, but for that on the other side of the cameras as well, as both producer and director (including for Hitchcock), successfully dividing his time between the two for many years. And, I'd say, qualifying as both institution and living legend at this point. |
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spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 19, 2018 15:35:42 GMT
Yes, he was a multi-tasking titan for sure. I meant to get to that, but I'm glad you've highlighted it here. Most of his work in the 50s was as a producer/director/actor, especially for Hitchcock. I worked with him briefly in the 1980s, when he was in his 70s, a time when many actors would choose to call it a day. But not Norman. What an actor, what a man. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 19, 2018 15:52:17 GMT
I worked with him briefly in the 1980s, when he was in his 70s, a time when many actors would choose to call it a day. But not Norman. What an actor, what a man. Knowing you value your privacy, I'm always delighted when we're favored with details of your professional life and associations; given the context, this one is especially worthy of mention. Many thanks for that. |
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spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 19, 2018 18:04:20 GMT
Here's one, this time an actress (I hope you didn't mean for it to be men only) whom I loved. I thought she always upstaged everyone she ever worked with - from Bette Davis to Lucille Ball to Meryl Streep: the incomparably funny and smart Mary Wickes. Her career spanned sixty years, from 1935 to 1995, the year before she passed away. Hats off to Mary. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)  June Bride (1948)  I Love Lucy (TV 1952)  White Christmas (1954)  M*A*S*H (TV 1975)  Sister Act (1992)  |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 20, 2018 13:41:31 GMT
Here's one, this time an actress (I hope you didn't mean for it to be men only) whom I loved. I thought she always upstaged everyone she ever worked with - from Bette Davis to Lucille Ball to Meryl Streep: the incomparably funny and smart Mary Wickes. Her career spanned sixty years, from 1935 to 1995, the year before she passed away. Hats off to Mary. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) June Bride (1948) I Love Lucy (TV 1952) White Christmas (1954) M*A*S*H (TV 1975) Sister Act (1992) Thanks so much, spiderwort, and by all means, everyone is welcome. I was happy you singled out June Bride, one of only a handful of Davis comedies, in which Wickes is among the film's brightest spots. The Man Who Came To Dinner reminds me of her other great "nurse" role, Dora, the patient but no-nonsense caregiver to Gladys Cooper's Mrs. Vale in Now Voyager.
  "Dora, I suspect you're a treasure."
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Post by mattgarth on Mar 20, 2018 14:54:35 GMT
Mary Wickes re-created her stage role of 'Nurse Preen' in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER for the film version.
It was said that at every performance on Broadway that her exit speech to Sheridan Whiteside about quitting the nursing profession literally stopped the show for nearly two minutes because of continuous audience applause.
Another favorite film performance was as the nosey innkeeper in WHITE CHRISTMAS. When Rosemary Clooney asks how she knows what's inside the mail, suggesting she holds it up to the light -- Mary responds: 'That's for amateurs, I use steam!'
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 20, 2018 15:46:07 GMT
Mary Wickes re-created her stage role of 'Nurse Preen' in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER for the film version. And she did it again for a 1972 Hallmark Hall Of Fame production with Orson Welles, Lee Remick, Joan Collins, Marty Feldman and Edward Andrews. |
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Post by koskiewicz on Mar 20, 2018 16:37:29 GMT
...a favorite of mine for comic relief was Franklin Pangborn...
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Post by fangirl1975 on Mar 20, 2018 21:25:37 GMT
Let's not forget S.Z "Cuddles" Szakal in such films as Casablanca and Christmas In Connecticut.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 20, 2018 23:17:18 GMT
...a favorite of mine for comic relief was Franklin Pangborn... A sampling of names given to characters played by Pangborn (when they had names, rather than "clerk" or "manager"): "Dilly" Dillingsworth Horace Lovelace Mr. Thurtle Duncan Farll Mr. Pinkney Perry Tweedale J. Pinkerton Snoopington Wiedlemeyer Mr. Pingboom Adolf Pumpfel Mr. Stenchfield Hamilton Montmarcy Ogilvie O. Oglethorpe Mr. Phoecian-Wylie Who but Franklin Pangborn could have played characters with these names...or was it the other way around? They seem tailor-made for him, don't they? Sure, there were other actors who could play fussy, officious types, but none quite like Mr. P., truly making him an "indispensable," without whom films of the era would simply not have been as gem-like as they are. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 20, 2018 23:43:52 GMT
Let's not forget S.Z "Cuddles" Szakal in such films as Casablanca and Christmas In Connecticut. Along with koskiewicz's submission of Franklin Pangborn, yours of Mr. Sakall invokes a characteristic of indispensability that's in direct counterpoint to the flexibility of players like Harry Shannon, but every bit as valid an aspect thereof: uniqueness. "Cuddles" offered something to which no other actor could come close, and for which he was beloved whether as the kind-hearted Carl of Casablanca or the belligerent, quick-tempered Mr. Oberkugen of In the Good Old Summertime (who, of course, was revealed by the end to be sensitively tender-hearted in his own way). As an exasperated deli proprietor ( Wonder Man), a hidebound radio sponsor ( My Dream Is Yours) or whatever it might be, he was always endearingly colorful and, in only 14 years on the American screen, made himself indelible and irreplaceable. |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 21, 2018 0:10:06 GMT
 Cuddles as Schwab in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY His wife's money was as good as the other guy's wife's money (if I 'member correctly) |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 21, 2018 0:32:57 GMT
Michael PateHe appeared in over 50 feature films, guest-starred in over 300 TV shows.  Biggest surprise after watching him for decades, was learning that he was an Australian ! Hope this one's not too recent or too tv-y for the thread, Doghouse6.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 21, 2018 0:50:03 GMT
BATouttaheck , is that Sudan, the last white rhino as your new avatar? His passing is simply heartbreaking!! Such a lonely life. When will we ever learn? Sorry for the diversion, Doghouse6 . Couldn't help it. Of diversions, digressions, detours, derailments, distractions, disruptions, Doghouse doesn't disapprove,* especially when it comes to what was once referred to as "the animal kingdom." *But beware of alliteration; I hate that! (Now my turn to be sorry for my own "couldn't help it.")
Back to your diversion (from BBC):
"His death leaves only two females - his daughter and granddaughter - of the subspecies alive in the world.
Hope for preserving the northern white rhino now lies in developing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) techniques.
'We must take advantage of the unique situation in which cellular technologies are utilised for conservation of critically endangered species. It may sound unbelievable, but thanks to the newly developed techniques even Sudan could still have an offspring.' - Jan Stejskal, an official at Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic, where Sudan had lived until 2009."
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 21, 2018 0:52:48 GMT
Michael PateHe appeared in over 50 feature films, guest-starred in over 300 TV shows. Biggest surprise after watching him for decades, was learning that he was an Australian ! Hope this one's not too recent or too tv-y for the thread, Doghouse6 . You know me: come one, come all. He's one of those "I know that face" guys; I now have to check his credits to remind myself where I've seen him. |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 21, 2018 0:59:23 GMT
I first noticed Pate as Vittorio in HONDO  the rest is history  |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 21, 2018 1:27:16 GMT
I first noticed Pate as Vittorio in HONDO the rest is history Looking through his credits, it seems I know him mostly from '60s-vintage shows: Perry Mason, Burke's Law, Get Smart, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Honey West, Mission: Impossible, The Virginian, etc . As as "indispensable," he's also what I'd call an "adaptable:" Native American here; Middle-Eastern there; Hispanic and so on. Sort of a latter-day J. Carrol Naish (only taller and handsomer)? The kind of thing that made an actor eminently "hire-able" in series TV. |
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