 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
71.141.244.21
Always effective, always great.
RIP.
“ Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination. ” -Michael McClure
with the wonderful Kay Medford on the Dean Martin Show. They were a couple of old pros giving a clinic on the art of being funny and believable. Dean, who was an easy laugher, must have had a helluva time delivering his lines with those two playing off each other.Lou was one of the GREAT character actors. You knew that he would give it his all and that he would entertain and enlighten you and leave you wanting more. His parts were often brief but always memorable and believable.
He had a long life and left quite a legacy. May he rest in peace.
Edits: 10/26/09
Such as Lou and hundreds of others. Every year when they bid farwell at the Academy Awards I go slack-jawed at all the faces I "knew" so well.
Edits: 10/26/09
"Character" acting has fallen on very hard times.
"We must beware of those who burn with zeal but are not endowed with much sense." - Angelo Roncalli
fds
Agree. Hollywood is not primarily interested in bringing good acting to the screen, nor do they seek out good scripts and stories, at least not what many of us here are interested in. And yes, there certainly are stars who are paid way more than they're worth as actors. To be fair, there are exceptions, like Anthony Hopkins, Sean Penn, Phillip Seymour Hoffman. They aren't young anymore, but they have earned the freedom to be very choosy about what films they accept. And there are super-independent films with actors like Damian Lewis (Check out "Keane") who is great in that film, shot in 30 days for less than $1 million. I would think that there is a lot more good acting to be seen in the theater, but films are a different animal. It's still a freaky business. I'm not seeing any great acting among the 'young generation' in movies.
__
Probability is probably the key to life.
I'm with you on this one. There are some good lead actors out there but there are more whose billing and salaries are larger than their talent can justify. One could say the same about directors.
This forum seems to get more than it's share of 'they don't make 'em like they used to' moaning and wailing, but to say that "Character acting has fallen on very hard times" is complete insanity. What does that say to the likes of Steve Buscemi, David Morse, Crispin Glover, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root, the unbelievably talented Brad Dourif, etc, etc, and etc. I'm sure even you can name some favorites that post date the 95(!) year old Lou Jacobi. The ghost of movie making past does not have a monopoly on dependable, talented actors whose faces the audience recognizes, though they may not remember their names. This is how movie roles are filled!
And before you say it, yes, Glover is a character in more ways than one. But still a good actor.
"dammit"
The character actors didn't adapt to their role, they adapted the role to their stylized persona and gave secondary characters mass without overpowering the upper tiers. Henry Jones was my idea of a true character actor of the sort not seen much any more.
The character actors of the earlier generations were like comfort food in films. The actors you name are excellent supporting actors; far better skilled at role playing than than those I call character actors. David Morse a character actor? Dourif and Buscemi, yes, to an extent; though not very flexible.
"We must beware of those who burn with zeal but are not endowed with much sense." - Angelo Roncalli
There are lots of good character actors out there and working. All of the ones you've mentioned are good examples. I'd say there are more good character actors (male and female) than there are "lead" actors. Ofttimes it's the character actors - those in secondary and tertiary roles - who make the film worth watching. Can anybody say "Joan Cusak" or "John Vernon"? Names like those mean more to my enjoyment than, say, Keanu Reeves, Nick Cage, or Julia Roberts.
Edits: 10/28/09
Hardly ever! Character roles are spread out to keeps the costs down. Look at how many Tier 1 and 2 celebs have television shows now so they can eat.
Make the films and the actors will come.
the films are being made, the second-tier roles are being filled. By 'character actors'.
"dammit"
fsd
Post a Followup:
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
