Scariest Character Actors
by choward125 | created - 16 Mar 2011 | updated - 16 Mar 2011 | PublicThese well known faces but not well known names are some of the scariest thugs, killers and psychos in the movies.
1. Neville Brand
Actor | Stalag 17
Neville Brand joined the Illinois National Guard in 1939, bent on a career in the military. His National Guard unit was activated into federal service shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. It was while he was in the army that he made his acting debut, in Army training films, ...
The Untouchables, Kansas City Confidental, DOA
2. Bruce Dern
Actor | Nebraska
Two-time Oscar nominee Bruce Dern's tremendous career is made up of playing both modern day heroes and legendary villains. Through decades of lauded performances, Dern has acquired the reputation of being one of the most talented and prolific actors of his generation.
Dern currently appears opposite...
War Wagon, The Cowboys, Lots of TV Shows
3. Anthony James
Actor | Unforgiven
Character actor Anthony James was born on July 22, 1942 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Unusually tall (6' 6½) and lanky, with a rough, pockmarked face, a lean, stringy build, and an extremely intense screen presence, James was often cast in Westerns as scary, sleazy villains. He was especially ...
Outstanding artist, but one of the worst henchmen in movies. In the Heat of the Night.
4. Lee Van Cleef
Actor | Escape from New York
One of the great movie villains, Clarence Leroy Van Cleef, Jr. was born in Somerville, New Jersey, to Marion Lavinia (Van Fleet) and Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef, Sr. His parents were of Dutch ancestry. Van Cleef started out as an accountant. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard minesweepers and sub ...
High Noon, Big Combo, Italian Westerns
5. Anthony Zerbe
Actor | The Omega Man
Hailing from Long Beach, California, talented character actor Anthony Zerbe has kept busy in Hollywood and on stage since the late 1960s, often playing villainous or untrustworthy characters, with his narrow gaze and unsettling smirk. Zerbe was born May 20, 1936 in Long Beach, and served a stint in...
Cool Hand Luke, a thousand TV shows
6. Leo Gordon
Actor | Maverick
Big, burly character actor, one of the toughest of screen heavies. New York-born Leo Gordon's combination of a powerful physique, deep, menacing voice and icy, withering glare was guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of even the bravest screen hero. Director Don Siegel, who used Gordon in his ...
Countless Westerns, Man in the Shadows
7. Jack Elam
Actor | C'era una volta il West
Colorful American character actor equally adept at vicious killers or grizzled sidekicks. As a child he worked in the cotton fields. He attended Santa Monica Junior College in California and subsequently became an accountant and, at one time, manager of the Bel Air Hotel. Elam got his first movie ...
Lots of Westerns, Once upon a Time in the West, Firecreek
8. John Davis Chandler
Actor | Adventures in Babysitting
Character actor John Davis Chandler was born on January 28, 1935, in Hinton, West Virginia. He was raised in Charleston, West Virginia. Tall and thin, with fair hair, piercing blue eyes, a pale complexion and a nasal, whiny voice, Chandler specialized in portraying mean, neurotic and dangerous ...
Played small psychos and killers; Mad Dog Coll, Ride the High Country, The Outlaw Josy Wales
9. Marc Lawrence
Actor | The Man with the Golden Gun
American character actor who specialized in underworld types, despite a far greater range. A native of the Bronx, he participated in plays in school, then attended City College of New York. In 1930, he was accepted into Eva Le Gallienne's company, where he became friendly with another young actor, ...
Played the Mob boss many times: Asphalt Jungle, Oxbow Incident, Diamonds are Forever
10. Jay Robinson
Actor | The Robe
Character actor Jay Robinson owned a pair of the narrowest, cruelest-looking eyes in 1950s Hollywood. To complement them was an evil-looking sneer, crisp and biting diction and a nefarious-sounding cackle. These were all draped upon a lean, bony physique that could slither about menacingly like a ...
Giggling Psychos: The Robe, Dracula,
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