This has happened to a couple people I know. It might have even happened to me. Have you ever tried to recall the name of a nerdy bespectacled character actor, where you can picture the person’s face, but can’t remember exactly where you have seen them before?
Scratch your head no longer! Here’s my attempt at being an online resource for people trying to separate the various nebbishy character actors who traditionally wear glasses in their movie and television roles.
If I have left someone out, please let me know. Some nebbishy character actors are more readily identifiable (Rick Moranis, for example) and thus have not been included here.
Stephen Tobolowsky
You may have seen him in:
Memento, Deadwood, Heroes, Groundhog Day
Austin Pendleton
You may have seen him in:
The Muppet Movie, Short Circuit, Oz
Max Wright
You may have seen him in:
ALF, Reds, All That Jazz
Eddie Deezen
You may have seen him in:
Grease, WarGames, Midnight Madness
David Cross
You may have seen him in:
Small Soldiers, Arrested Development, Scary Movie 2, Mr. Show
Robert Carradine
You may have seen him in:
Revenge of the Nerds, The Big Red One, Number One With A Bullet
Stephen Root
You may have seen him in:
Dodgeball, Office Space, NewsRadio
Bob Balaban
You may have seen him in:
Altered States, A Mighty Wind, 2010
George Wyner
You may have seen him in:
Spaceballs, Fletch
Charles Martin Smith
You may have seen him in:
American Graffiti, The Untouchables, Never Cry Wolf
David Paymer
You may have seen him in:
Get Shorty, Searching For Bobby Fischer, Ocean’s Thirteen
I might be stretching it a bit for Mr. Paymer, because in many roles he doesn’t wear glasses. But hey, it’s my guide, so what the heck.
Ron Rifkin
You may have seen him in:
Alias, Husbands and Wives, L.A. Confidential
Thank you for this! I would add the late great Wallace Shawn as well.
I don’t know if I should necessarily feel proud for knowing all of these already.
Just thought I’d add, Bob Balaban is also fairly well-known as playing the character of Russell Dalrymple, exec of NBC, on Seinfeld.
d, you had me worried! By your comment I thought Mr. Shawn was deceased! I had considered adding him, but he doesn’t normally wear glasses and I think he’s relatively well-known (in my head, at least)
beckeye, be proud!
tim, duly noted!
Man, these are some of the greatest character actors in the biz. Steven Root was great in News Radio (and is great in King of the Hill).
David Cross is very funny, be he’s a bit of an @$$ about what he does. There is a great Youtube clip out there where he’s dressed like some frat boy dancing on stage while Jim Belushi is trying to sing. Jim can’t take it and sics the bouncers on David. Jim is, of course, the most talented of the still living Belushi brothers.
I was tempted to suggest Ron Rifkin, who is often bespectacled and nebbish. However, I don’t know if he’s quite nerdy enough for this list. He’s usually more evil. (His pic.)
All Hail The Nobody Character Actor!
He’s like the bass player. 🙂
I can’t believe you called David Cross nebbishy.
jon, I love everything I have seen Mr. Root in — why no one adopts him is beyond me.
bsuwg, I think he’s certainly appropriate enough to be included here. I have added him to the guide.
ck, do you think I should add Adam Clayton here? He’s pretty nebbish for a bass player.
vikki, if Mr. Cross gets mad at me I’ll sick jon on him.
Ah, true, Splotch. But I thought he actually WAS dead–didn’t he die a few years ago?
John Hillerman – “Higgins” from Magnum PI
I don’t know if Hillierman really qualifies, p0nk. I don’t really see him as a nebbishy kinda guy, and I can’t recall him ever wearing glasses in a role.
Plus, he’s a guy whose identity one could easily figure out (“that old dude from Magnum PI”)
d, according to his Wiki entry, Shawn is alive. Dick Shawn, on the other hand, has passed on.
William Shawn, the legendary editor of the New Yorker died about 10-15 years ago. Maybe you’re thinking of him? I’m not sure about his need for glasses though.
I’d like to recommend Bronson Pinchot. He can’t milk those Serge and Balki roles forever. Saw him on Law and Order last night. Nebbish Nebbish, with glasses. Also a shout out to Roy Scheider.
R. Alan, I dunno about Mr. Pinchot. He’s had many memorable roles, but every one of them I can recall did not involve him wearing glasses — Risky Business, Perfect Strangers, After Hours, etc. — the closest I can remember him getting glasses was wearing shades in True Romance, and shades just ain’t nebbishy. To be added to the guide, the character actor has to play a nebbishy kinda guy in the majority of his roles.
Thanks for the shout-out to Mr. Scheider. Though I didn’t note his passing on this blog, I did recently watch his 1970’s movie Sorcerer.
When Stephen Root is nebbish , it’s somewhat against type. It almost doesn’t count. Like saying that Christopher Reeves was nebbish as Clark Kent.