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My wife and I are classic movie devotees. For us the classic era covers the 1930's through the 1950's. The stars are wonderful of course, and we have our favorites, but what really makes those classic pictures so special are the character actors. Sometimes a wonderful character actor, such as Walter Brennan, can make a mediocre picture something truly special.
In those classic years Hollywood employed every type of character actor, lovable cuddly types, tough villains, snooty waiters, drunkards, talky cab drivers, stupid cops, nasty businessmen, effeminate floorwalkers, you name it. And then there were the creepy character actors, the guys that could burn a nightmare image into your brain forever. Four come to mind instantly, beginning with creep extraordinaire, Percy Helton.
Helton was that strange little hunchback guy with the high pitched breathless voice. He did plenty of film and television work throughout the 1950's and 60's. Once you saw him it was nearly impossible to forget him. A character you never ever wanted to meet in real life, his presence on screen instantly creeped you out.
He played the first Santa Claus who was replaced for being drunk on a float at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by Edmund Gwen in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). "A man's got to do something to keep warm." Other pictures included the films noir Criss Cross (1949), The Crooked Way (1949), The Set-Up (1949), Wicked Woman (1953), and Kiss Me Deadly (1955), and the comic Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
Then we have the chubby, soft, ethereal, creepy persona of Grady Sutton. Sutton began his career during the silent film era and made the transition to sound films and on to countless character roles, where, aided by his Tennessee accent, he usually played dimwitted country boys.
His best-known roles were as Katharine Hepburn's dancing partner, in Alice Adams(1935) and as a dopey stooge to W.C. Fields in four films, The Pharmacist (1933), Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935), You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), and The Bank Dick(1940). With popping eyes that seemed to suggest that he didn't have a clue, he brought his own brand of creep to any part he played.
Moving right along to what arguably would be filmdom's scariest psychos, is Timothy Carey. Typically cast as manic or violent characters who are driven to extremes you get the impression that this guy might not be acting. Spitting out his dialogue through clenched teeth, he simply looks nuts and really dangerous. You know if he threatened you, you wouldn't be able to talk him out of killing you. Not only would he kill you, he would take joy in killing you.
Carey is known for his collaborations with Stanley Kubrick in the films The Killing (1956) and Paths of Glory (1957), and for appearing in the two John Cassavetes directed films Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976). Other notable film credits include Crime Wave (1954), East of Eden (1955), One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), Head(1968) and The Outfit (1973).
Last but certainly not least is my wife's number one movie creep, Elisha Cook, Jr. Although appearing in just about every movie genre, Cook made his name for his work in films noir. He appeared in a total of 21 films noir, more than any other actor or actress. Most notably he was cast as the bug-eyed baby-faced psychopathic killer Wilmer in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon.
From then on, he went on to play deceptively mild-mannered weaklings, bug-eyed looking hoods, and sadistic losers in an acting career that spanned more than 60 years. The Big Sleep, Shane, The Killing, House on Haunted Hill, and Rosemary's Baby were just a few of the pictures where his creepiness came through.
There are many other creepy character actors in classic movies of course, but these four guys, in my opinion, are at the top. As spooky as they were, they brought a level of heightened enjoyment to the parts they played. They knew their business.
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