So That's Dabbs Greer!

I received a suggestion (Thanks, Michael!) to write about Dabbs Greer (1917 - 2007), and it was one I couldn't pass up. One look at Dabbs' face, and I knew him instantly, although I doubt I ever looked up his name before. He was a guest star on many television shows, and a regular on a few.

Dabbs has over 300 titles listed on IMDb. His career spans 54 years, starting in 1949. His first five or so years in the movies was spent mostly as an extra and uncredited. Look for him as a cab driver in Father's Little Dividend (1951), as well as many other great films like Monkey Business and Million Dollar Mermaid, both in 1952.

By the mid 1950s he was starting to get on-screen credit. He was in the John Wayne, Donna Reed film Trouble Along the Way in 1953, and the same year in House of Wax, the Vincent Price classic. In 1955 he is a tutor in The Seven Little Foys starring Bob Hope.

Other small parts in the 1950s include Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Hot Rod Girl (1956), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), My Man Godfrey (1957), Baby Face Nelson (1957), I Want to Live! (1957), and Cash McCall (1960). You can see the variety of films there, and some big stars were involved, but none of them had Dabbs Greer as the star.

The 1960s didn't see many films for Dabbs, but he is in Roustabout (1964) with Elvis Presley, and then two films with James Stewart, Shenandoah (1965) and The Cheyenne Social Club (1970). For the next decade or two, he mostly does television. His movies include White Lightning (1973) and Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981).

What Greer is best known for today are all the wonderful television shows he either guest starred on, or where he became a regular cast member. He was a regular on "Fireside Theatre," "Cavalcade of America," "You Are There," "Frontier," "Science Fiction Theatre," "TV Reader's Digest," and many other teleplays. According to someone on IMDb, Dabbs was the very first victim saved by George Reeves (1914 - 1959) as "Superman" on that series' first show in 1952. He would appear in Metropolis several more times.

During the era of family sitcoms and TV westerns, Dabbs was right at home as a friendly but grouchy neighbor, or a store clerk or reverend in town. But his face and demeanor worked well for sci-fi shows, too. You can find him on "Twilight Zone," "Kraft Suspense Theatre" and "The Outer Limits." (All the teleplays ended in 'Theatre' for some reason.)

Other spots on TV included "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Perry Mason," "The Fugitive," "Bonanza," and "The F.B.I." He was a regular on "Gunsmoke," and "Little House on the Prairie" became his home as Reverend Alden for it's entire run. In the 1990s he was a regular on "Picket Fences" and ten years later on "Maybe It's Me."

Dabbs' last two movies were both big budget. Con Air (1997) and The Green Mile (1999) would make up for some of the stinker films like Evil Town (1987) and Two Moon Junction (1988). But let's not forget, he was making income from his career all the while.

Dabbs Greer once said, "Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead." I couldn't have said it better!

Roscoe Karns

Now there's a name. Roscoe Karns (1891 - 1970) was a character actor (Bit Actor on this blog) who was most popular in the 1930s. The name Roscoe means Deer Forest, and the word roscoe is slang for handgun. Who would have thought! You don't hear that name much anymore. Maybe some classic film fans can start to bring it back into use.

Roscoe's first four films were made in 1915 at the Lubin Manufacturing Company studio, most likely in Arizona. Lubin went out of business in 1916 after a fire destroyed most of his films and business turned sour, so Karns moved over to the Christie Film Company in Hollywood. In 1919 he was in an early King Vidor (1894 - 1982) feature film called Poor Relations with Zasu Pitts (1894 - 1963). Karns would make three films with Vidor and four with Pitts.

In 1920 he made his only film, Life of the Party, with another famous Roscoe...Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (1887 - 1933). Look for Roscoe as a boy in the rain (even though he was 32 at the time) in Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent release of The Ten Commandments.

The reason I include some of these obscure silent films in a Bit Actors background is because I think the early days of an actor's career help to form him or her into the acting style they adopt for the rest of their lives. They have experiences and talk with others in those movies. Who knows, Roscoe may have palled around with Eugene Pallette (1889 - 1954) and Charles Farrell (1900 - 1990) who were both extras in The Ten Commandments early in their careers. Perhaps Vidor or DeMille gave him a small piece of direction that stuck with him.

His first, really big movie was also the very first Best Picture winner Wings in 1927. The next year you could look for him in The Jazz Singer, the first successful talkie with dialog. Through the transition from silent to sound, Roscoe would continue to make both. It would be well into 1929 before we can finally say goodbye to most silent films. (Except for Charlie Chaplin, of course!)

In the decade of the 1930s Karns would make 64 movies with stars galore. He was in seven with Gary Cooper, six with George Raft, five with Neil Hamilton, four with Loretta Young and also William Powell. He was in a couple with Bette Davis, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Jack Holt and many others.

Perhaps his finest film was It Happened One Night (1934) the winner of five Oscars. In 1937 he gets the title role in Clarence, along with top billing. In the late 1930s we will see him in a few starring roles, but none of them were big movies.

It seems by 1940 the roles are smaller for Roscoe. He is in His Girl Friday (1940) with Cary Grant, and They Drive By Night (1940) starring Humphrey Bogart and George Raft. Through the rest of that decade Roscoe would make mysteries, comedies, musicals, war movies, whatever came along. By then he was that versatile.

In 1950 he delves into television. Right off he stars in his own series, "Rocky King, Detective" which (according to IMDb) only made nine episodes that aired over four years from 1951 to 1954. But he also had a recurring role in "Hennesey" starring Jackie Cooper in the early 1960s.

Roscoe's last two films were Onionhead (1958) starring Andy Griffith (1926 - 2012), and Man's Favorite Sport starring Rock Hudson (1925 - 1985) and Paula Prentiss (b. 1938).

You have to admit, that is quite a full career, from 1915 silent films to working with Paula Prentiss. Roscoe Karns was a good Bit Actor for sure.

Colorful Brian Cox

This is curious. I was looking through the filmography of Brian Cox (b. 1946) and he seems to be drawn to movies (and TV shows) with colorful names. Here are a few -

"Redcap" (1966)
"Shades of Greene" (episode called "The Blue Film" 1975)
In "King Lear" (1983) he played Burgundy
"Red Fox" (1991)
"Red Dwarf" (1997)
"Blue/Orange" (2005)
Red Eye (2005)
Red (2008) in a starring role.
"The Color of Magic" (2008)
The voice of the Green Dragon in "Scooby Doo and the Samurai Sword" (2009)
Wide Blue Yonder (2010)
Red (2010) This one with Bruce Willis.

I may have missed a few TV shows, but that will give you the idea. And this is not the Dr. Brian Cox (b. 1968) who is a physicist and astronomer with his own TV show, "Wonders of the Universe."

I first saw Brian in Iron Will (1994) a Disney movie about a dog sled race in the early days of World War I, but his acting career on television goes back to 1965. Iron Will starred Mackenzie Astin (b. 1973) son of Patty Duke and John Astin.

Most of Brian's early work, other than theater, was on television. His first movie was Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). Then, in 1986, he was the first actor to play Hannibal Lecktor, in a movie called Manhunter. In 1990 he co-starred with Frances McDormand (b. 1957) in Hidden Agenda.

I think the roles that solidify him as a great Bit Actor, or maybe a little higher on the acting chain, were his parts in Iron Will, Rob Roy (1995), Braveheart (1995), Chain Reaction (1996) and Kiss the Girls (1997). He didn't star in these movies, but his roles were important to the action. You may be tempted to call him a great supporting actor.

There are some not-so-great movies in this time frame as well. Not everything can be a big hit. The Glimmer Man (1996) starring Steven (need I say more?) Seagal (b. 1952), Desperate Measures (1998) with Michael Keaton (b. 1951) trying to be a bad guy, Merchants of Venus (1998) that's Venus not Venice, and The Corruptor (1999) starring Yun-Fat Chow (b. 1955). I'll pass on those.

In 1999 he has a much better role in a much better film, For Love of the Game starring Kevin Costner. I always said the Costner was at his best in sports films, even though this is really a romance film for guys. He also played an important part in the first two Bourne films, The Bourne Identity (2002) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004), as the bad guy Ward Abbott.

Keeping to the better movies, look for Cox in Troy (2004) starring Brad Pitt (b. 1963) and Eric Bana (b. 1968), and in the Woody Allen film, Match Point (2005) starring Scarlett Johansson (b. 1984).

If you look through Brian's list of titles you will find many films that come from his Scottish heritage. Look for The Flying Scotsman (2006) and The Water Horse (2007) plus others. There is quite a bit of work done in the UK, in film and on television.

Cox made two films called Red. One in 2008 which had no big names but did star Brian Cox, and the one I just watched on FiOS from 2010 starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich, not to mention Ernest Borgnine in a fine Bit Actor role. It was a fun film, filled with violence, comedy, and Mirren as a hit man. Helen Mirren is every bit as talented at Meryl Streep in my book.

Just last year Brian was in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I'll pass on that one, too. You could write an entire blog about all the Ape films!

Brian Cox continues to work on both side of the Atlantic. He has a number of films currently in production. His roles tend to be very serious, government types, with an occasional comedy thrown in. That makes him one colorful Bit Actor.

Hedda Hopper

Have you ever thought of Hedda Hopper (1885 - 1966) as a Bit Actress? She was, at the beginning of her career in Hollywood.

Most people remember Hedda as a gossip columnist and Hollywood reporter. She didn't begin her column, "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" until 1938. Her first appearance on film was in a 1916 movie called The Battle of Hearts.

In 1917 she was in Seven Keys to Baldpate starring George M. Cohan (1878 - 1942). It would be a shame to feature Cohan, one of America's greatest song writers and performers in a silent film, but he made three of them. And only two talkies. I guess that was the technology at the time, and I am too young to remember vaudeville.

Hedda Hopper in the 1920s

In the silent era, she worked with Mae Marsh, Norma Talmadge, and Billie Burke. In 1922 she was in Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore as Holmes and Roland Young as Watson.

I love a good silent film as much as most of you do, but when you look through the list of silents that Hopper was in, you realize that there were many, many silent films that are probably best as lost films. She made three films with Conrad Nagel (1897 - 1970), and four with John Gilbert (1887 - 1936) including three of his talkies. But the vast majority of her early films were with stars that will never be featured in film festivals.

And then, in 1927, Hedda has a small part in Wings, the very first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Production. She was uncredited. By the way, that was the only silent film to win that Oscar, until The Artist in 2011.

Hopper's first talkie was The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) starring Norma Shearer (1902 - 1983) and Basil Rathbone (1892 - 1967). She would make four films with Shearer, plus a cinematic fundraiser short called The Stolen Jools (1931), which also featured Laurel and Hardy and many other stars.

Now that we have put silent films behind us, a look at Hopper's talkie career isn't much better. Highlights include working with Bette Davis in The Man Who Played God (1932); with Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams (1935); and she was in Topper (1937) again with Roland Young and Billie Burke, not to mention Cary Grant.

Hedda Hopper in the 1950s

Another very good film was The Women (1939) with an all female cast including Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. She also made two films with Jackie Cooper (1922 - 2011), What a Life (1939) and Life With Henry (1941).

By this time she was well into writing her column, and she was being recognized as a writer rather than an actress. It was time to start drawing on her popularity, so she started portraying herself in films. She made a series of Hedda Hopper's Hollywood documentaries in the 1940s, but also look for her as herself in -
The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Pepe (1960)
The Patsy (1964)
The Oscar (1966), which was her final appearance in film.

Of course Hedda Hopper also appeared on many television shows, and that is where I remember her. She was always outspoken, and her feuds with Louella Parsons (1881 - 1972), Spencer Tracy and Joseph Cotten are well documented. But let's not forget her start as a Bit Actor.

Crimson Tide

The recent passing of director Tony Scott (1944 - 2012) brought to mind several of his great films. Where would Tom Cruise (b. 1962) be without Top Gun (1986) and Days of Thunder (1990)? I think my favorite Scott directed film is Crimson Tide (1995). It is a tense submarine drama involving two clashing warriors, Gene Hackman (b. 1930) as the old school sub captain, and Denzel Washington (b. 1954), the educated first officer who uses intellect and reason rather than blindly following protocol.

Enough about the stars. Let's get to the important Bit Actors who made this film great. People like George Dzundza (b. 1945) who played Chief of the Boat.

Dzundza started working on the small screen in 1974. His first movie was an Italian sex comedy called Fischia il sesso (1974), which translates to 'Whistle sex.' Fittingly, his next film was The Happy Hooker (1975) starring Lynn Redgrave (1943 - 2010). George can be found near the bottom of that cast list.

After a few hit or miss TV appearances on some hit or miss TV shows, his next film was The Deer Hunter (1978) with his name much higher in the cast. It was a great opportunity to work with Robert De Niro (b. 1943) and Meryl Streep (b. 1949).

Dzundza gets his own TV series in 1981 called "Open All Night." It only lasted one season and I never saw it. In 1987 he works with Gene Hackman for the first time in No Way Out, also starring Kevin Costner (b. 1955). Of course, we all remember George as Gus in Basic Instinct (1992) and that scene with Sharon Stone (b. 1958). Dzundza appears in more films and has some regular spots on television. Let's hope we see more of him.

Here are a few interesting Bit Actors from Crimson Tide. Lillo Brancato (b. 1976) played the radio man, in his third film after A Bronx Tale (1993) and Renaissance Man (1984). It sounds like a good start to an acting career, but after a few dozen acting jobs, including a stint on "The Sopranos," Lillo gets involved in a burglary. He is currently serving ten years in a New York prison.

Remember Ricky Schroder (b. 1970)? His big part was in "Silver Spoons" in the 1980s. He has had a quite a few acting jobs since then, including his part as a lieutenant in Crimson. Keep on going, Ricky.

Steve Zahn (b. 1967) went on the play a teenage guitar player in That Thing You Do (1996) and a book seller who worked for Meg Ryan (b. 1961) in You've Got Mail (1998). Other parts are played well by Matt Craven, Jaime Gomez, Rocky Carroll, Michael Milhoan, Scott Burkholder and several more. You can find them everywhere, but they tend to blend in to the parts, as good Bit Actors always do.

It is interesting that most of the cast members are not famous, but they do have long filmographies that show a wide variety of parts in multiple media. They do comedies, dramas, voice over work, and TV shows. Of course, since Crimson Tide takes place almost exclusively on a submarine, almost every male part in the film is an officer or enlisted man in the Navy.

Lastly, at the board of inquiry that ended the film, we see famous Bit Actor Jason Robards (1922 - 2000) who actually starred in countless movies, and also on the board was Skip Beard who was the technical adviser for the film, since he was the real captain of the USS Alabama.

Great film with a great cast.

Walter Long

First, my apologies to any regular readers for me absence. I was wrapped up in a home improvement project that was completed successfully. Now I will try to contribute more frequently.

This week, Turner Classic Films (the best channel on cable) showed Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages (1916), one of the most famous silent films ever made. If you have never seen it, please go out and buy The Birth of a Nation (1915), watch it first, and then get Intolerance. Historically they go together in that order.

Lillian Gish (1893 - 1993), who has a career spanning 75 years, is in both films, as is Mae Marsh (1894 - 1968), the silent star and later Bit Actress, who I wrote about back in April 2011. But they are stars and not for my column today.

I looked down the full cast list. There I saw Walter Long (1879 - 1952), a name I knew. An actor with over 200 films spanning 60 years starting in 1910. One of his early films, The Life of General Villa (1914) also included Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa (1878 - 1923) himself in the cast. Villa made four films as himself from 1912 to 1916, but it is not clear if he acted in them or they just used other footage he was in.

Walter made about 19 films under D. W. Griffith (1875 - 1948), including Birth and Intolerance. In The Birth of a Nation he played a slave in black face. He made ten films with Mae Marsh and eight with Lillian Gish. Also in the silent era, Walter worked with Douglas Fairbanks (1883 - 1939) and Mary Pickford (1892 - 1979) in two pictures with each. They, of course, went on to marry and found United Artists.

Big silent star Rudolph Valentino (1895 - 1926) worked with Long in three pictures, including The Sheik (1921) and Blood and Sand (1922), two of his best. He also made nine films with William Boyd (1885 - 1972), six of them before Hopalong Cassidy came along in 1935.

His silent films came to an end in 1928 (along with most other silent films) when his first talkie, Gang War, was released. There isn't much info about that one so it is probably lost. Long quickly adapts to sound films and his career continued.

In the decade of the 1930s, he also appeared in several Laurel and Hardy films, including Pardon Us (1931), Any Old Port (1932), Going Bye-Bye (1934) and The Live Ghost (1934). These are some of the better L&H films and Walter has important parts in each.

He appears in Moby Dick (1930) starring John Barrymore, and in 1931 he plays Miles Archer in the Ricardo Cortez (1900 - 1977) version of The Maltese Falcon. In 1932 he also has a small part in I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, starring Paul Muni. I have not seen that film, but after reading some reviews, it sounds like one to look for.

Here is one of my favorites. You can catch Long in Six of a Kind (1934) starring Charles Ruggles (1886 - 1970), George Burns (1896 - 1996), Gracie Allen (1895 - 1964) and W. C. Fields (1880 - 1946). That was a fun movie featuring Fields' famous pool cue routine.

I may never get to 1950 at this rate! Here is a list of Walter Long's notable movies -
The Thin Man (1934)
Operator 13 (1934)
Three Little Pigskins (1934 with the Three Stooges)
Annie Oakley (1935)
Union Pacific (1939)
Dark Command (1940, plus three other John Wayne movies)
Dillinger (1945)

Walter finally got to work on television on "The Ed Winn Show" and "Fireside Theatre" in those early days of TV. I have mentioned quite a few movies above. Spend some time watching them and try to look for Long's gruff face.

Although Walter Long was never a big star, his body of work was extensive, and his appearance as a tough guy helped many films, dramatic and comedic, to tell their stories. This is what a great Bit Actors does, and Walter was one of the best.

Hank Worden

Here is an actor, or should I say a Bit Actor, who has added a lot to the enjoyment of many over a career that spans 1935 to 1991. Hank Worden (1901 - 1992) has 212 titles listed on IMDb. Have you heard of him?

I recently was channel surfing and bumped in The Searchers (1956) already in progress. John Wayne had just arrived at the cabin and the Rev. Captain Clayton, played by Ward Bond (1903 - 1960), was signing up recruits for the coming Indian battle. Among his group was a fellow who appeared to be just a bit 'touched.' It was Hank, playing Mose Harper. Now do you remember him?

Hank was a real cowboy, raised on a ranch in Montana. He worked in the rodeo with Tex Ritter (1905 - 1974) and handled all sorts of odd jobs before his acting began. He was everything from a taxi driver to a trail hand, with some acting on the side.

In the early part of his career he played in many B westerns, including a dozen with Tex. He was basically an extra, playing henchman, barfly, deputy, or ranch hand.

1939 would be his most important year. Stagecoach would bring Hank a job as a cavalryman in the movie, but it would also be the start of a friendship with John Wayne and director John Ford.

Hank worked with Gene Autry in several 1940 films, but up until the early 1940s, his roles were almost all uncredited. Of course, in the era before actor's rights, most of the smaller parts did not receive screen credit.

All of his work wasn't in westerns. As the 1940s progressed, he got parts in So Proudly We Hail (1943), Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945), The Bullfighters (1945 with Laurel and Hardy) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947). But that was just work.

During the same period, he shows up in A Lady Takes a Chance (1943), Angel and the Badman (1947), 3 Godfathers (1948), Fort Apache (1948), Red River (1948) and The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) all with John Wayne.

After The Searchers in 1956, look for Hank in a much more important role as the town simpleton in The Quiet Gun (1957) starring Forrest Tucker (1919 - 1986) and Lee Van Cleef (1925 - 1989). This is the kind of film to watch for in Encore Westerns.

The 1950s also brought television and all those wonderful TV western series'. Hank took advantage of them, appearing first in "The Lone Ranger" and then in many other shows. He was seen an a few Walt Disney productions on TV and also in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

Worden plays the parson in The Alamo (1960) again with The Duke, the doc in One-Eyed Jacks (1961) with Marlon Brando, and an undertaker in The Music Man (1962). He does more work with Wayne in McLintock! (1963), True Grit (1969), Rio Lobo and Chisum in 1970, Big Jake (1971), and Cahill U.S. Marshal (1972). In all, he made 17 films with Wayne and eight with John Ford.

John Wayne only made four more films after Cahill. Hank had appeared in a couple episodes of "Rawhide" so he must have hooked up with Clint Eastwood (b. 1930) that way. Worden was in Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and Bronco Billy (1980) with Eastwood.

For a change of pace, try Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978). Hank was one of the Old band members. Some of Hank's final movies are not worth talking about. Please Don't Eat the Babies (1983) and Space Rage (1985) lead the list of Worden films to avoid.

Hank finishes his acting on television in "Cop Rock" and "Twin Peaks" in 1990 - 1991. He had won no awards during his long career, but remember him for his westerns. I am sure he would have wanted it that way.

Denis Lawson - Star Wars and Other Stuff

Do you remember Denis Lawson (b. 1947)? He is a Scot who appeared in the first three releases of the original Star Wars trilogy, episodes IV, V and VI, where his name was misspelled as Dennis in the first two.

Acting must run in his family. His sister is producer Carol McGregor, who is the mother of Ewan McGregor (b. 1971) who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first three episodes of the Star Wars story.

Lawson does not have many movies in his filmography, which is a shame. He is talented and handsome, and would do well in America if he had more exposure. But, perhaps that is not what he is after. He is very well known in Great Britain, as a stage and television actor, and a comedian.

Of course, I first saw him as Wedge Antilles in Star Wars, Episode IV (1977). He was the leader of the Red Squadron that helped destroy the Death Star. He would play the same part in the next three S.W. releases, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Later, in 2001, he voiced Wedge for a video game.

His first film, Providence, was released the same year as Star Wars and starred Sir John Gielgud (1904 - 2000). It also included Ellen Burstyn (b. 1931), Dirk Bogarde (1921 - 1999) and David Warner (b. 1941).

I first noticed Denis in Local Hero (1983), which starred Burt Lancaster (1913 - 1994) and Peter Riegert (b. 1947). That was an interesting film, made in Scotland about a rich oil man, Lancaster, who wants to buy an entire town. Riegert is sent to Scotland to handle the negotiations. Lawson plays the hotel/pub owner who acts as the spokesperson for the town and authors a good deal for everyone. The magic happens as Riegert is taken in by the quaint location and the quirky nature of everyone he meets.

The Star Wars Trilogy was by far the biggest thing Lawson was a part of, but his part was so small, he was difficult to notice. There was just too much going on. You become aware of these details after viewing the films three or more times, unless you are specifically looking for someone and know where to look.

Most of Denis' work has been on British television and in films made specifically for British or European audiences. If you have access to BBC America on cable or FiOS, you can probably catch him in some of the series' such as "Robin Hood" or "Bleak House." It seems that BBC America isn't showing much other than "Top Gear" these days, but they throw other things in from time to time.

In 2011, Denis got to work with nephew Ewan McGregor in a British movie called Perfect Sense. I haven't seen it, but from all the movies listed on Denis Lawson's filmography, this one seems to be most interesting. In fact, every movie Lawson was in has received very good ratings on IMDb. That's a tribute to his skill, not only in acting, but in choosing quality projects.

Perfect Sense also stars Eva Green (b. 1980) who has only 13 titles listed, but one of them was a prime role in Casino Royale (2006).

Denis Lawson may only be a Bit Actor in Hollywood, but he is one more reason to wish I were British!

Rance and Clint Howard

Here is a father and son team of Bit Actors with a huge combined filmography. Rance Howard (b. 1928) has 247 titles on IMDb, and son Clint Howard (b. 1959) has 215. Of course they worked together many times. Let's take a look.

Rance's first movie was Frontier Woman (1956) about Polly Crockett, daughter of Davy Crockett. Not a movie to rush out and buy. He makes a few appearances on television and then has an uncredited role in The Music Man (1962). More television work followed, including a few appearances on "The Andy Griffith Show" which is good for any career. Then he makes a truly terrible movie, Village of the Giants (1965) starring Tommy Kirk (b. 1941) and Johnny Crawford (b. 1946). 


1967 was a good year for Rance. He appeared in Cool Hand Luke (uncredited), but he also had a role in Gentle Giant starring Dennis Weaver and Clint Howard. It was the story of a huge bear and a little boy, which would be the inspiration for "Gentle Ben" on TV. That series starred Weaver and Clint, and Rance had a recurring role. 

Rance has a few roles on "Rod Serling's Night Gallery," "Bonanza," "Kung Fu," "Gunsmoke," and the like, and a small role in Chinatown (1974) with Jack Nicholson. In that same period he appears a few times on "The Waltons" as Dr. McIvers. In 1976 and 1977 he makes a brace of car movies, Eat My Dust and Grand Theft Auto.

Rance's career is mixed with television and movies. Some hits and some misses, but usually working. He shows up in Splash (1984), Cocoon (1985), The 'Burbs and Parenthood both in 1989. Some of his better films, though not big parts, were Apollo 13 (1995), Independence Day (1996) and A Beautiful Mind (2001). He continues to work now, well into his 80s.

Clint started as a child actor at age 4 on television. He also appeared in a few "The Andy Griffith Show" episodes, and quickly found a regular gig on "The Baileys of Balboa" with a quirky cast including John Dehner (1915 - 1992), Paul Ford (1901 - 1976) and Sterling Holloway (1905 - 1992).

Many "Star Trek" fans will recognize him as Balok from a 1966 (1st year) episode called "The Corbomite Maneuver." He was 7 at the time and had his voice dubbed. After Gentle Giant and "Gentle Ben" he continued on many TV shows until his next series, "The Cowboys" based on the 1972 John Wayne film by the same name.

Clint appeared with dad in Eat My Dust and Grand Theft Auto. As he got older, he gravitated toward parts in horror films. Well, somebody has to make them.

After appearing in Gung Ho (1986) with Michael Keaton, he gets a spot in "Gung Ho" on TV for it's only season of nine episodes. Small roles follow in Tango & Cash (1989), The Rocketeer (1991) and Far and Away (1992).

In 1995 he stars in a comedy/horror film Ice Cream Man, and has roles in a rom/com Forget Paris with Billy Crystal and Debra Winger, a gangster film Dillinger and Capone with Martin Sheen, a Tom Hanks drama Apollo 13, and a thriller called Twisted Love that nobody remembers. In 1998 he has a small role in the Paul Newman film Twilight, and in 2002 he plays Whobris in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Quite a varied career.

There is quite a bit more work to see from Clint and Rance. Clint has only won a single award so far, for Lifetime Achievement at the MTV Movie Awards. Rance also won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asheville Film Festival in 2004, and was nominated for one Emmy Award in 1982. And that's it.

Oh, and one more fact about this family. Super celebrity director/actor Ron Howard (b. 1954) is Rance's other son and Clint's older brother. That would make an acting career with what amounts to very little recognition, a little easier to handle. Don't they all look alike?

B4 They Were Stars - Leonard Nimoy

I am hoping I haven't bitten off more than I can chew today. I have chosen to write about the early career of one of the most well known actors in Trekdom. Leonard Nimoy (b. 1931) was, at one time, a Bit Actor.

Nimoy started acting in children's theater in Boston. His first screen appearance, according to the all-knowing IMDb, was in Queen for a Day (1951). Queen was a movie based on a radio program called "Queen for Today" and would eventually become television's "Queen for a Day" that ran from 1956 to 1964, hosted by Jack Bailey (1907 - 1980). I know I was a weird kid, but I used to watch it. They would pick a woman (usually an older woman) out of the audience and honor her with wonderful gifts like a new washer and dryer. She got to sit on a throne with a cape, tiara and a bunch of roses...tears of happiness flowing! What fun!

Also in 1951, you can find Nimoy in Rhubarb, a movie about a cat that inherits a baseball team. I haven't seen Rhubarb, but with Ray Milland, Gene Lockhart and William Frawley in it, it can't be too bad. The next year we see Nimoy in the title role of Kid Monk Baroni, another movie I haven't seen. This one includes Bruce Cabot (1904 - 1972), veteran Bit Actor and star of King Kong (1933).

No one could argue that 1965 wasn't THE golden year for Leonard Nimoy (when he became Mr. Spock in the pilot for "Star Trek"), but 1952 was a good one as well. After he played Kid Monk, he was cast in the serial, Zombies of the Stratosphere. What a cool title. And it was 12 chapters, ample time to hone your career as a space traveler/actor.

Next look for Nimoy in the third installment with the famous talking mule called Francis Goes to West Point (1952) with Donald O'Connor. In Old Overland Trail (1953), Nimoy plays a Native American chief, and a bad guy. This was a Rex Allen (1920 - 1999) film and the first time we see Nimoy in the red man's makeup.

Let's stick with his movies before we talk about television. Nimoy plays a military man in Them! (1954). I don't remember what happens to him, but I hope the ants didn't kill him. From zombies to giant ants, and in his next film he gets to work with parasites from the center of the Earth. The Brain Eaters (1958) was not as good as Them! 


Leonard only made two more films before reaching the stars in 1966. The artsy Shelley Winters, Peter Falk film, The Balcony (1963), and the forgettable Deathwatch (1966). Both were adaptations from Jean Genet (1910 - 1986) plays, so I suspect it was Nimoy's intellect that caused him to take the parts. Or perhaps he was connected to the author in some way. I don't really know. These films are a far cry from zombies, ants and brain eaters.

In the early 1950s, Leonard started working on the small screen in a big way, first appearing in teleplays like "Four Star Playhouse" and "Fireside Theatre." You can find him in many of the early series' such as "Navy Log," "Broken Arrow," "West Point," " and "Highway Patrol." He worked in many westerns as well, "Cimarron City," "The Rough Riders," "Colt .45," and "Tombstone Territory," sometimes as a Native American.

I wonder if he knew Lloyd Bridges well. He appeared at least eight times on "Sea Hunt" but not in a regular role or as the same character. He also shows up multiple times on "Wagon Train" as Hispanic and Native American characters. Could it be the ears?

He has a single appearance on "The Twilight Zone" and shows up on "The Untouchables," "Perry Mason," "Dr. Kildare," and two episodes of "The Outer Limits." Multiple appearances on "Kraft Suspense Theatre," "The Virginian," "Combat," and "Gunsmoke" made him ready to take on the galaxy in "Star Trek."

I suspect that his television work did more than his movie experience to help prepare him for the variety of situations he had to portray as Mr. Spock. When you throw alien worlds into your everyday life, almost anything can happen.

Leonard is now 81 years old, and he is still working to some extent. He does some voice work, and I am sure he would still take the right part for TV or a movie if it came along. I was 16 years old when "Star Trek" debuted, and Mr. Spock affected me as he did so many others at that time. I have been a lifelong Trekker, mostly because of Leonard Nimoy rather than William Shatner. So Mr. Spock...live long and prosper.