Under-Appreciated Actors
I don't know why this topic came to me as I was on the treadmill over lunch, but I'm rolling with it. Under-rated actors. As rated by me. A totally random list. Mostly the old, some of the new.
#5: Kristin Wiig
Maybe there's more buzz about Wiig than I'm aware of living in Flyover Land, but as someone who's seen SNL in every incarnation since the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, I think she's got something. Everything I've seen her do... she has that Will Farrell quality of selling it completely.
#4: Delroy Lindo
Based on what little I've seen (Spike Lee's "Clockers" and "Cider House Rules"), Lindo is my favorite still-largely-unknown movie actor. Intensity. He can do it all with his face. I don't know why he's never been nominated for an Oscar.
#3: Max Gail
Remember Sergeant Wojohowitz ("Wojo") from "Barney Miller"? In a great cast on a first-rate show, he's the one that sticks out. He showed a combination of repression and vulnerability I don't think I've seen since.
#2: Shelley Long
Maybe it's inappropriate to nominate a lead actor from one of the most successful TV shows in history, but have you watched a "Cheers" rerun lately? The show holds up pretty well, but the early ones with Sam and Diane... no one else could have played that character.
#1: Edward Winter
At one time, I remember being able to watch M*A*S*H three times a day in syndication between South Bend and Chicago stations. Getting a Col. Flagg episode was like finding an Easter egg. On a show filled with great writing and good acting, he stole it every time. In my book, with the possible exception of Ricky Gervais' David Brent on the original British version of "The Office," Col. Flagg is the greatest character ever invented for TV (although, come to think of it, he was probably based on Sterling Hayden's Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove").
#5: Kristin WiigMaybe there's more buzz about Wiig than I'm aware of living in Flyover Land, but as someone who's seen SNL in every incarnation since the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, I think she's got something. Everything I've seen her do... she has that Will Farrell quality of selling it completely.
#4: Delroy LindoBased on what little I've seen (Spike Lee's "Clockers" and "Cider House Rules"), Lindo is my favorite still-largely-unknown movie actor. Intensity. He can do it all with his face. I don't know why he's never been nominated for an Oscar.
#3: Max GailRemember Sergeant Wojohowitz ("Wojo") from "Barney Miller"? In a great cast on a first-rate show, he's the one that sticks out. He showed a combination of repression and vulnerability I don't think I've seen since.
#2: Shelley LongMaybe it's inappropriate to nominate a lead actor from one of the most successful TV shows in history, but have you watched a "Cheers" rerun lately? The show holds up pretty well, but the early ones with Sam and Diane... no one else could have played that character.
#1: Edward WinterAt one time, I remember being able to watch M*A*S*H three times a day in syndication between South Bend and Chicago stations. Getting a Col. Flagg episode was like finding an Easter egg. On a show filled with great writing and good acting, he stole it every time. In my book, with the possible exception of Ricky Gervais' David Brent on the original British version of "The Office," Col. Flagg is the greatest character ever invented for TV (although, come to think of it, he was probably based on Sterling Hayden's Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove").
Comments
(I caught "Detective Story" (1951) with Kirk Douglas on TCM a few months back -- it's a gritty, more tragi- than comic forerunner to Barney Miller: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043465/)
Taxi and Barney Miller were the first sitcoms I got hooked on, and they were probably the best I've ever seen, come to think of it -- though M*A*S*H certainly would round out the trinity, at least until the later, David Ogden Stiers years...
great to see these names and faces once again, Bellamy.
I would like to nominate another underrated "actor" - Ralphie Wiggams from the Simpsons. How could you not love: "Me fail English, that's unpossible!" and
"Lisa's dancing makes my feet sad."
Whitner Nutting Bissell
He was in EVERYTHING during the 50s, 60s, and 70s. (he died in 1996)
He was Lurry in the original Star Trek "Trouble With Tribbles" episode.
Just saw him in "The Creature From The Black Lagoon."
This guy worked his ass off: Whit Bissell. That's underappreciated.