These guys were in EVERYTHING

[tomhenry]

Great ones already mentioned. A few of my favorites:

Stefan Gierasch (The Hustler, Jeremiah Johnson..)
Myron McCormick (The Hustler, No Time For Sargeants..)
Murray Hamilton (Anatomy of a Murder, No Time For Sargeants) Jaws..)

 

[sceva]

Walter Brennan was the quintisential character actor. He literally was in everything and won three Oscars as Best Supporting Actor. .

Walter Brennan could play serious roles too. He was one of the leads in the 1943 WWII thriller "Hangman Also Die"

Hangmen Also Die! (1943) - IMDb

 

[lkabug]

We must add the Rodeo World Champion, Ben Johnson. Perhaps the greatest horseman Hollywood has ever seen.

 

[GaryS]

He was in far more serious roles than comedic during his time in the movies.

Iki Clanton in "My Darling Clementine" with Henry Fonda
Judge Roy Bean in "The Westerner" with Gary Cooper
The Minister in "Sergeant York" also with Gary Cooper
Jimmy Stewart's side kick in "The Far Country."
Groot with John Wayne in "Red River."

Walter Brennan could play serious roles too. He was one of the leads in the 1943 WWII thriller "Hangman Also Die"

Hangmen Also Die! (1943) - IMDb

 

[GaryS]

Ward Bond was in a lot of movies and sadly died while playing Maj. Seth Adams on "Wagon Train." Ironically he was replaced by John McIntire who was in a lot of movies.

Ward was John Wayne's roommate in college and they both played football.

Ward was a favorite of John Ford and was in a lot of Ford movies.

Hundreds of “name” character actors, but I would put Jack Palance close to the top, along with Ward Bond.

 

[tomhenry]

We must add the Rodeo World Champion, Ben Johnson. Perhaps the greatest horseman Hollywood has ever seen.

Absolutely. The best.

 

[mtgianni]

I wonder how some of them got their start.
Scott Klace, the guy that played Sargent Mankiewicz, in the Bosch series was the neighbor of the book and script writer, Michael Connelly.

 

[tomhenry]

We must add the Rodeo World Champion, Ben Johnson. Perhaps the greatest horseman Hollywood has ever seen.

Here's a vid clip of Ben and Harry Carey in Rio Grande.

Google Search

 

[mtgianni]

Slim Pickens is another favorite of mine. An old rodeo rider he was always in awe that he would get paid to fall off a horse. His comments were he used to get paid a lot less to try and stay on.

 

[JohnHL]

The earliest appearance of Walter Brennan that I recall seeing was when he played the train conductor on the very first Three Stooges short, "Woman Haters" in 1934.

John

 

[DWalt]

Ward Bond was in a lot of movies and sadly died while playing Maj. Seth Adams on "Wagon Train." Ironically he was replaced by John McIntire who was in a lot of movies.

Ward was John Wayne's roommate in college and they both played football.

Ward was a favorite of John Ford and was in a lot of Ford movies.

Ford had his family of about 20 favored actors that he used in nearly all his movies (not all in the same movie).

 

[smithra_66]

Ward Bond. He has to be the ultimate character actor. He has the distinction of being in the most AFI 100 movies of anyone in history, and he had his own TV series, and he appeared in 23 John Wayne movies, yet no one knows his name!

 

[Piwo]

George Kennedy was in every movie made, I think, lol.

 

[Piwo]

And Ernest Borgnine

 

[bigmtnman]

My second round of "They were in everything" ......

John Litel
Otto Kruger
Beulah Bondi
Dabbs Greer
John Qualen

"Dabbs" was the first person whose life Superman (George Reeves) saves in the TV series (1951). He also played the "old" Tom Hanks character in "The Green Mile" (1999) giving what I consider to be an absolutely heart wrenching Oscar worthy performance.

 

[rockquarry]

Ward Bond. He has to be the ultimate character actor. He has the distinction of being in the most AFI 100 movies of anyone in history, and he had his own TV series, and he appeared in 23 John Wayne movies, yet no one knows his name!

He died at the Townhouse Motel on Harry Hines Blvd. in Dallas in 1961. Heart attack, I think.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

No think Leo Gordon has been mentioned.
He was shot by every B Western Cowboy!

 

[rockquarry]

My second round of "They were in everything" ......

John Litel
Otto Kruger
Beulah Bondi
Dabbs Greer
John Qualen

"Dabbs" was the first person whose life Superman (George Reeves) saves in the TV series (1951). He also played the "old" Tom Hanks character in "The Green Mile" (1999) giving what I consider to be an Oscar worthy performance.

Of the five listed, I would guess Dabbs Greer had more roles than all the others. Many will remember him in the semi-regular part of the dry goods storekeeper on Gunsmoke.

 

[Gamecock]

Albert Popwell.

This is the Smith & Wesson Forum, isn't it?

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

No think Leo Gordon has been mentioned.
He was shot by every B Western Cowboy!

Leo Gordon was an ex-felon who served time for armed robbery in Folsom Prison and was called "the scariest man I ever met" by director Don Siegel. In one movie he acted in was partially filmed at San Quentin where some of the guards remembered him and he was not popular with them.

Actor Ed Faulkner who was in a number of movies with John Wayne said that when filming McClintock...John Wayne asked him if ever met Leo Gordon before. When he replied no...Duke told him to give Gordon "a wide berth".