of those older actors that most casual movie watchers have probably never heard of. Others would be
George C Scott
Lee Van Cleef
Alec Guiness(wouldn’t know him by name)
Robert Mitchum
Richard Harris
Oliver Reed
Warren Oates
Harvey Keitel and Dennis Hopper to a lesser extent
I love them all.
If casual movie watchers have never heard of these great men, they're frickin idiots.
Here here, agreed ! All these men should be well known to any serious film viewer. I also threw in Jason Robards. Hopper, Van Cleef and Oates pop up in all kinds of Westerns. I saw Van Cleef with hair once, and Oates plays all kinds of dummies, haha.
shareJason Robards is one of my all-time favourite actors.
shareI ran across a movie I'd never seen before, A Thousand Clowns. I don't know what the title refers to but it's a sweet story of a non-conformist who needs to straighten up in order to be guardian to a young nephew (?). The movie appeared in 1965, and that seems an unusual topic for that time, but probably not. This isn't all that long before Simon and Garfunkel and The Graduate and a certain New York sensibility that people are a bit too buttoned down.
So glad you brought up LJ Cobb and his photo in Trending. He had a great turn in 12 Angry Men. I know he was in a lot of other things but they aren't coming to mind. A lot of these guys had great voices, like GC Scott and Jason Robards.
shareI don't know, Robert Mitchum, George C Scott and Oliver Reed are pretty well known names.
shareAs far as having big movies that they’re remembered for by everybody, George C Scott has Patton, Oliver Reed and Mitchum don’t have one imo.
shareHas Oliver Reed ever been referenced or satirized anywhere? I think that's kinda how you can measure someone's popularity.
sharesome good actors there
shareI would add Whit Bissell to that list. Not a STAR star, he was definitely a presence in a LOT of classic films.
shareI'm sure a lot of younger folks here in 2019 haven't seen or heard of many of these actors, who were in their heyday over 50 years ago. When I grew in in the 70's I barely knew who Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, or Joseph Cotton were. I guess I did know who Jimmy Stewart was lol. However, I did know most of the big comedians from the 30's-50's like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Fatty Arbuckle, Little Rascals, Bowery Boys, Jerry Lewis, Jackie Gleason, Phil Silvers etc.
I guess good comedy is so rare it will last for many decades but good character acting is more of a short lived and very personal taste. A lot of these guys might have been over-rated or simply may have been in only a few standout roles. George C. Scott in Patton is a great example. How many earth shaking movies did he have after that?
You'd have to only watch movies from the '80's and onward not to know who Lee J. Cobb was. And you've just given a list of some of film's greats. George C. Flippin' Scott, and people don't know who he IS???? Alec Freakin' Guinness???? I suppose there are some so culturally backward that they'd think of him only as Obi Wan Kenobi. 🤦🏼♀️
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