First, let me evangelize Kung Fu Hustle. Go see it now. Right now. I’ll wait.

Doo-de-doo-de-dooh….

See? Wasn’t I right?

45. Stellan Skarsgård

The hardest-to-spell working man in Hollywood. If you want a nerd with an edge, get this guy. From playing Darth Vader to Robin Williams’ Yoda in Good Will Hunting to playing white guy to Sam Jackson’s black guy in Deep Blue Sea, he proves that professorial types can be evil, too. Look for his cruel turn in Dogville as a lonely and (like everyone else in that town) ultimately reprehensible bastard and his take on angry young Russian Tupelov in The Hunt for Red October. And don’t even get me started on that awesome accent.

Check out: Dogville, Good Will Hunting, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin

44. Frank Whaley

Sure, everybody remembers Sam Jackson saying “Say ‘What?’ again!” But what about the guy who said “What?” That’s Frank Whaley, the punching bag for character actors who move on to better things. Just look at the way Kevin Spacey berates him in Swimming with Sharks (admittedly a lead for young Whaley). Then again, sometimes he gets the cute role, like the lovable lackey in Broken Arrow with the priceless line referencing the title – “I don’t know what’s scarier, losing a nuclear weapon or that it happens so often there’s actually a term for it.”

Check out: Pulp Fiction, JFK, Swimming with Sharks, Broken Arrow

43. Peter Stormare

If there is any justice in the world, any future biopic of Rasputin will star Peter Stormare. He is the Mad Russian of our generation. Or any Eastern European/Scandanavian ethnicity you wish to project upon him (he’s Swedish, if you’re keeping score). He pulls the wacky/filthy/homicidal foreigner bit in movies as diverse as Minority Report, Fargo, and Bad Boys II. He’s sort of like Stellan Skarsgård’s prodigal twin.

Check out: Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Minority Report, Chocolat

42. Dylan Baker

“We need somebody white.”
“How about Tom Cruise?”
“Whiter.”
“Robert Redford?”
“No, so white he makes white people feel black!”
“Get me Dylan Baker!”

From Chris Rock’s political handler in Head of State to Robert McNamara himself in Thirteen Days, Dylan Baker exudes all that is Whitey. But the beauty of his roles lies in the fact that underneath that uptight exterior, he’s always up to something. Be it the identity thief of Changing Lanes, the mob accountant in Road to Perdition, or the creepy-as-all-fuck pedophile in Happiness, never underestimate Baker. Also try not to confuse him with Philip Baker Hall (or Philip Seymour Hoffman, for that matter). Speaking of being up to no good, I can’t wait for him to go all Lizard on Spidey’s ass next year.

Check out: Road to Perdition, Happiness, Kinsey, Thirteen Days, Changing Lanes

41. William Atherton/Paul Gleason

Because, let’s face it, they’re the same guy. Back in the 80’s, when you needed an asshole, and I mean a real prick, not a villain, mind you, but a fucking prick (there’s a difference) you turned to one of these two. Atherton’s specialty was pretension. He’d thumb his nose at you as an EPA agent in Ghostbusters or as your corrupt professor in Real Genius. Gleason went for the less classy dick roles – high school instead of college in The Breakfast Club or skuzzy private eye instead of self-righteous environmentalist in Trading Places. Somehow, in an unparalleled moment of casting feng shui, one movie found room for their collective douchebaggery – none other than Die Hard. And still, they played to their strengths. Atherton, the know-it-all news reporter. Gleason, the inept police chief.

Check out Atherton: Real Genius, Ghostbusters
Check out Gleason: The Breakfast Club, Trading Places
Check out both: Die Hard

And by all time, I really mean the 90’s, a little 80’s, a little 00’s, a modicum of 40’s, and nothing else, because I’m not that exhaustive and most of the people who contributed grew up with those films.

This is also, I warn you, largely white male. And I encourage you to offer suggestions to bring some color and gender to this list.

I’d like to thank Kevin L., Justin, Amanda, Kevin S., Jeremy, Dr. Fiancée, and all the folks who commented on Kevin’s similar question a ways back. Your ideas have inspired me.

Finally, and I’ll address this in more detail later, there are certain fantastic character actors who have crossed over into the star or near-star status and I didn’t feel it was fair to include them (I’ll give them their own list later). And of course there’s a huge gray area. But generally speaking, the people on this list you’ve never heard of, but seen a lot, or if you have heard of them, it wasn’t in a starring role. Again, that rule will be broken from time to time, and there’s one major figure with but one starring role who didn’t make the list because he exists now in his own stratosphere. I will discuss him later.

But enough apologizing. On with the list!

50. Powers Boothe

Few actors match their name with their screen persona more than Powers Fucking Boothe. Okay, maybe if that was actually his middle name it would fit even better, but it’s still pretty accurate. Whether he’s playing a corrupt politician in Sin City or a corrupt politician in Nixon, you can damn well bet he’s not going to break a sweat when the chips are down. Actually his turn as Alexander Haig is kind of touching as he tries to keep it together while Anthony Hopkins falls apart. Also good if you need a possibly corrupt lawman.

Check out: Nixon, Sin City, Frailty, Southern Comfort

49. Tony Todd

“Okay, we need a scary black man for this role.”
“How about Isaiah Washington?”
“No, I mean really scary.”
“Oh, how about Dennis Rodman?”
“No, I mean this guy’s so scary, he scares BLACK PEOPLE!”
“Bring me Tony Todd!”

The deepest voice in Hollywood, ladies and gentleman. The Candyman himself. A man so bad-ass he actually shoots the crow in The Crow! Although he’ll probably always be remembered as the creepy coroner who gives the half-assed explanation for the deaths in Final Destination, I’ll always remembers his turns on X-Files and, yes, Smallville, that actually let him act a little.

Check out: The Crow, The Rock, Final Destination, Candyman

48. Michael Wincott

Speaking of The Crow, how about a guy who stabs a motherfucker (the wonderful John Polito) and growing impatient with his death gurgle says “Oh, just die already!” and shoots him a bunch of times? Or how about a guy who’s such a personification of evil that the only way to make him look small is to put him in a room with Alan Rickman? Or how about a guy who makes Along Came a Spider vaguely watchable? This gravely voiced mofo has the villain thing down. But watch for a completely different version (three, actually) of the actor in Talk Radio.

Check out: The Crow, Talk Radio, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

47. Vincent Schiavelli

Somewhere between creepy and schlubby lies the magic that is Vincent Schiavelli. From the zonked-out science teacher in Fast Times to the guide for Patrick Swayze’s dead ass in Ghost, he makes disheveled look, well, palatable if not downright entertaining. Even more fun, he kills Terri Hatcher in Tomorrow Never Dies, playing an assassin in a scene the filmmakers wish was written by Quentin Tarantino, but really, really wasn’t.

Check out: Baadasssss!, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Ghost

46. Tom “Tiny” Lister, Jr.

Big, black, built, cross-eyed motherfucker. If you’ve seen him once, you’ll remember him whenever you see him again. Perhaps his most pivotal role was as Deebo in Friday, but he also played the President of, well, the Galaxy in The Fifth Element. Usually, however, he’s just the muscle. And a lot of it.

Check out: The Fifth Element, Friday, Confidence

So I’m reading Premiere, and they’re doing this 50 Greatest Movie Stars of All Time thing, because apparently they’ve decided to become Entertainment Weekly, and it occurs to me that I’ve never seen a 50 Greatest Character Actors List.

I’m talking about the M. Emmet Walshes. The Stephen Tobolowskys. The Patricia Clarksons. The actors who’ve been in, like, a billion films and made them all better. The HITG‘s. They’re the tags of the film world.

Lemme throw a few names at you…

Danny Trejo
Tom “Tiny” Lister Jr.
J.T. Walsh
Clint Howard

Who else?

Kev asked a similar question not too long ago, but I want to codify it. Let’s make a canon, kiddies.

So put your suggestions in the comments and we’ll see if we can put together a list to make the very bowels of VH1 tremble in awe.

Yeah, you should probably forget that last image.