Character Actor

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Related to Character Actor: Method Actor

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Character Actor

an actor depicting a character that is distinctive in terms of social class, outward appearance, and world view. The concept of the character actor has been rejected by the realistic theater; in the modern theater it is used only to emphasize a dominant characteristic of an actor’s individuality.

References in periodicals archive ?

BEIRUT: A Syrian character actor famous for playing muscle-bound bodyguards has died under mysterious circumstances, media reports said Friday.

Syrian actor mysteriously dies in Damascus

While it would be presumptuous to designate any one individual as cinema's greatest character actor, a solid case can be made for Thomas Mitchell (1892-1962) having the most significant supporting player career year.

What a character

I don't want to big myself up and call myself a great character actor and at the same time I don't want to call myself a leading man.

Tough Guy

Be all that as it may, it is probably safe to say that the label 'character actor' usually refers to players other than those in starring roles.

Filling out the frame: character actors in recent Australian films: one of the unfailing pleasures of going to the pictures in the studio heyday--say, the 1930s to the 1960s--was the way the edges of the films would be populated by faces whose names weren't always familiar but who brought a whiff of the real to the often-glossy goings-on

Yan secretly reports on Triad activities to his good father, Superintendent Wong (the marvelous Hong Kong character actor. Anthony Wong) but spends all his time with his bad father, the ruthless Triad boss Sam (roly-poly high-energy charmer Eric Tsang).

Eastern exposure: Amy Taubin on recent Asian cinema

Yate's noir thriller Seven Times Lucky, starring New Waterford Girl's Liane Balaban as an Artful Dodger named Fiona who teams with an older grifter, played by American character actor Kevin Pollak.

Sundance Film Festival

The book includes a marvelous and in its own way moving retrospective on the film career of the character actor J.T.

Two Men Who Would Be King

Fans of the American Movie Channel will recognize the great character actor Peter Lorre.

Do you have the information?

Character actor Jose 'Nonong' de Andres, 72, known in Philippine television and movies as 'Bangkay' or 'Bangky' due to his corpse-like appearance, was found dead at a resort in Plaridel town, Quezon province, early on Tuesday, police said.

Bangkay found dead in Quezon resort

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Mickey Jones, a veteran character actor who played Rodney "Hot Rod" Dunham on "Justified" and construction worker Pete on the 1990s sitcom "Home Improvement," has died.

'Justified,' 'Home Improvement' actor Mickey Jones dies

Fvwg FRANK Vincent, a veteran character actor who often played tough guys, including mob boss Phil Leotardo on The Sopranos, has died aged 80.

Tributes to actor Frank Vincent, 80; WORLD BULLETINS

The acclaimed character actor went on to play political figures Winston Churchill and Franklin D.