Sterling Holloway

Here is another name that is well known to most generations.  Sterling Holloway (1905 - 1992) had a long career, starting in silent films.  He progressed through many stages in his acting.  Some great movies, quite a bit of TV work, and of course, as a popular voice actor for animated features.

In the late silent era, many comedies were two-reelers that ran about 20 minutes.  Features would usually be 60 to 90 minutes.  There were also epic movies such as Napoleon, the 1927 release written by Abel Gance (1889 - 1981), which ran 222 minutes.  Holloway's first feature was Casey at the Bat (1927) starring Wallace Beery (1885 - 1949) and another favorite, Zazu Pitts (1894 - 1963).

Sterling is best known as a comic actor, but he was no stranger to dramas.  In 1933 he appears in Hell Below with Robert Montgomery (1904 - 1981) and Walter Huston (1884 - 1950).

I remember picking him out in Gold Diggers of 1933 in an uncredited part.  He was in two movies with Will Rogers (1879 - 1935), and started working for Walt Disney (1901 - 1966) in Dumbo (1941) and then Bambi (1942), plus many others.  

Another good dramatic role was in the war movie Walk in the Sun in 1945, starring Dana Andrews (1909 - 1992).  He also worked on four Frank Capra (1897 0 1991) films, including two education movies, Our Mr. Sun (1956) and Hemo the Magnificent (1957).

Holloway's earliest TV work was in 1949, before many people had TVs, but he became a regular on "The Adventures of Superman" and "The Life of Riley" in the 1950s.  He can be seen on most of the golden age of TV series'.

In 1963 he scores a part as the fire chief in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, with a cast that has to be the greatest gathering of comedic talent ever attempted.  His last role was on the 1980s hit TV series "Moonlighting" starring Cybill Sheperd (b. 1950) and Bruce Willis (b. 1955).

I think of all his work, his most famous role is as the voice of Winnie the Pooh, which should keep him endeared in the minds of children for years to come.  He was named a Disney Legend in 1991.

Questions Without Answers

The experience of writing about bit actors, or actors, or movies in general, brings some questions to mind.  Who is your favorite bit part actor or actress?  You might as well ask a car nut what is your favorite car, or a movie buff what is your favorite movie.  Too many choices are blowin' in the wind.

I suppose it depends a lot on the mood you are in.  Sometimes I just want to see a great western.  It may be easy to pick a great western bit part actor, like Yakima Canutt, but wait...what about the era?  Let's say you are in the mood for Dances with Wolves.  Yakima was gone by then, but you may like Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who played Smiles A Lot in that movie.  A young Native American, just starting out in acting.  I thought his part in Dances added a lot to our sympathy for the natives who were ultimately going to be forced out of their homeland.  It could be a good subject for a blog, just talking about Native American actors.

It is more difficult to find a favorite bit actor in the context of silent films.  The reality is, other than the few real standout stars, most of the people involved in front of the camera in silent films were bit actors.  They moved from set to set making several movies every week.  I may say they are all my favorites!

War films fall into the same category as westerns.  A good detective movie from the 1930's or 1940's, they would be ripe with candidates for a great bit actor.  Think of The Maltese Falcon and all the small parts populated with actors like William Hopper (134 acting credits), Charles Drake (137 roles), Creighton Hale (284!), and even Walter Huston had a bit part that was uncredited.

The pickings may be smaller in romantic films because they tend to focus on the lead characters.  Comedies may be tough, especially the big ones with Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis.  It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World had almost every bit comic actor that was alive at the time.  Stan Laurel was alive but not in the film, although he was asked.  After Ollie died, he said he wouldn't work with anyone else.

Then there are the big musicals.  Warner Brothers and Busby Berkeley hired hundreds for each film.  MGM made The Wizard of Oz with hundreds of short people.  I met Meinhardt Raabe once.  He played the coroner in Wizard.  A nice fellow and very appreciative of his fame from such a small part with no screen credit.  According to IMDB, Wizard was his only screen credit.  He worked for Oscar Mayer for 30 years, though.  He just passed away in April.

That should get you thinking.  Watch something good tonight and see who makes an impression on you.  Try to stay away from old black and white TV shows.  Too much bit part fodder to think about!