Scatman Crothers

Although his name at times appeared pretty far down on the credits, Scatman Crothers managed to give memorable performances in often very small roles. Maybe it was his name, or his energy or his interesting characters; whatever the reason this man was noticed when he was on the screen.

He started as a nightclub "scat" singer and he appeared to transition seamlessly into a career in movies and television. Some of his best work combined both acting and singing as is evident in the opening credits of Ralph Bakshi's Coonskin and as Fred Sanford's friend, Bow Legs, in a Sandford and Son episode entitled The Stand-In.

Scatman Crothers worked fairly steady throughout the 1960's and '70's and was seen and noticed in everything from The Shining  to Black Belt Jones. At the time, many people were familiar with his name and his talents, but today, with the exception of the baby boomers, he seems to be mostly forgotten.

Thanks to DVD's and sites like Netflix and Hulu, a lot of his work is out there for all to discover. And when you do, you'll understand why Scatman Crothers is Not Very Famous...but should be.

Johnny Crawford

Anyone who has ever watched the old television show, The Rifleman, knows why Johnny Crawford is listed here today. Chuck Connors may have been the star, but this talented actor was the heart of the program. And like so many other gifted child actors, he vanished from the lime light after the series ended.

He started as one of the original Mouseketeers in 1955, but was cut by Walt Disney after the first season. This firing was probably the best thing that ever happened to his career, for instead of being type cast as a Disney player, Johnny Crawford ended up guest starring in a slew of television programs that ranged from The Loretta Young Show  to the Lux Video Theatre and the Lone Ranger to Make Room For Daddy, just to name a few.

And while The Rifleman remains his most seen work, he managed to continue to act long after that series ended, with some nice performances in The Restless Ones, The Naked Ape and many television shows too numerous to mention.

Unless you happen to catch an old rerun of The Rifleman, or happen to hear one of his hit songs that he made as a teen idol in the early 1960's, Johnny Crawford has joined the Hollywood obscure, making him my pick of the day for Not Very Famous...but should be.

ADDENDUM

Johnny Crawford passed away on April 29, 2021, at the age of 75. However, The Rifleman is still around for everyone to either discover or revisit. His work on that show is impressive. Thank you Mr. Crawford. Your fans will never forget, and neither will new generations that will inevitably stumble upon your work.

Sondra Locke

Sondra Locke had a string of movie hits in the 1970's when she starred opposite her then boyfriend, Clint Eastwood in a number of films that ranged from the action adventure, The Gauntlet, to the silly, bare-knuckles fist fighting monkey movie, Every Which Way But Loose.

There are many critics out there that will say that her career ended when her relationship with Clint Eastwood did, but I'd like to go on the record as saying that I believe her career ended when she made her first film with the action star.

Nothing against Clint Eastwood or his movies, it's just that Sandra Locke was miscast in most of those roles. She was an actress that should have been doing more personal dramas and just looked out of place in action films and comedies that appealed to the mainstream movie goer.

She was nominated for an Oscar for her very first film, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter from 1968. That was the time period when movies not only broke rules, but took the time to develop their characters as well. Sondra Locke was the perfect fit for those gritty dramas that came out of that time period. Instead she ended up in Hollywood blockbusters that made her look awkward and out of place.

Blame it on luck, her  agent, herself, I don't know. Just don't blame it on Clint. Had she not worked with him, I'm sure I would still be writing about her in this blog, as only a handful of actresses from that time period are remembered today.  I just believe that Sondra Locke would have had better movies and performances to write about.

Brenda Strong

Even though Brenda Strong has had steady work as an actor for almost thirty years, her voice is probably more recognized than her name or face. In fact, it's her voice over work as the dead Mary Alice Young in the television show, Desperate Housewives that helped make that show so successful.

She might not have had as much screen time as the other Housewives, but her work is every bit as good as her co-stars. In fact, without her, the show just wouldn't be the same.

In fact, many popular shows wouldn't be the same without her presence for Brenda Strong has had major recurring roles on Sports Night, Seinfeld, Party of Five and 3rd Rock from the Sun, as well as appearing in movies such as Starship Troopers and its sequel (although as a different character)  and other guest starring roles in television shows that range from Ally McBeal  to Malcolm in the Middle.

She has proven time and time again that she has the talent to be more well known, but then again, who wants to be a star when you can be an actor? And Brenda Strong is one of the best actors working today, which makes her Not Very Famous...but should be.

Peter Mark Richman

Peter Mark Richman is mainly known as a television actor and has been seen in that medium ever since it began in the early 1950's. He is now well into his seventh decade in the entertainment business and even though he doesn't show up much in mainstream work anymore, he is still delivering quality performances in lower budget productions.

This is not more evident than in the independently made short film The Desperate, where he plays a Jewish doctor in a concentration camp that is forced to try to save the dying son of a Nazi general. I had always been a fan of Peter Mark Richman's television work, but when I saw this film at the Bare Bones Film Festival, I realized that this talented actor should have been more well known.

With over five hundred television credits, he worked on most of the popular shows of the time with Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive, Dynasty, Three's Company, Star Trek the Next Generation and the original Hawaii Five 0 being just a few.

And even though the name, Peter Mark Richman may not be on the lips of many, his face is widely recognized by anyone familiar with classic television. He is one of those actors that always finds work, but has never had the signature role to make people realize how very talented he really is, thus making him my pick of the day for Not Very Famous...but should be.

ADDENDUM

Peter Mark Richman passed away on January 14, 2021 at the age of 93. There aren't many left from the early days of television, but as long as their work is still viewed, the wonderful work of the past will remain just as fresh and exciting as the present.

Tom Savini

Known primarily as a make-up artist, Tom Savini has also had a fairly active career in front of the camera as well. However, unless you consider From Dusk to Dawn a mainstream movie, most of his work as an actor has been in the lower budget range.

Many fans of horror films are familiar with his talents, but the average movie goer is not, which is a loss for them as Tom Savini has the presence of a star and the talent to back it up. Often cast as the heavy, he manages to steal the focus of most scenes just by being in them.

His best work is that of Morgan, the villain in the little seen George Romero classic, Knightriders, which tells the tale of a group of modern day bikers who live by the code of King Arthur. Other notable performances can be seen in Grindhouse, Machete and The Ripper, in which he plays Jack the Ripper.

Mainstream fame looks bleak for Tom Savini, but true lovers of movies know that the best work often has to be sought out. And while he'll never make a list of popular A list actors, he could up-stage them if given the opportunity.

Ivan Dixon

When one thinks of working black actors from the 1960's, Sidney Poitier is usually the only name that comes to mind. However, Ivan Dixon found steady work during that time period as well. And his performances were equally good, if not better.

He's mostly known for his ensemble work in the popular sitcom, Hogan's Heroes. Ironically, it was that show which set his promising career off course. The public stereotyped him as the role of the POW radio technician that he played in that silly comedy, and never realized his strong dramatic skills that made him a working actor in the first place.

All one has to do is to see his work in the Twilight Zone episodes, The Big Tall Wish and I am the Night - Color Me Black to see the true talent that he possessed. And even then, those performances don't cut through the surface of this wonderful talent.

To really see Ivan Dixon at the top of his game, one needs to watch the sadly overlooked film, Nothing But A Man and the made-for- television movie, The Final War Of Olly Winter  to truly grasp the subtle power and emotion that he could bring to a role.

His best work dealt with social injustice and while the more famous Sidney Poitier also dabbled in those same themes, it was the lower budget, lesser known films of Ivan Dixon that pack the truly raw emotional punch.

Jeremy Davies

Jeremy Davies is one of those actors whose performances quietly sneak up on you and then hit you over the head. Physically, he doesn't look the type that could control ones attention, and that's what makes his presence even more powerful.

Often cast in ensemble projects, he usually stands out above the pack. This couldn't be more evident than in the Tom Hanks ensemble classic, Saving Private Ryan, where Jeremy Davies not only steals focus from Hanks, but from a slew of other Not Very Famous...but should be actors as well.

He did the same for television with stand out performances in Lost  and Justified. And even though his ensemble work is admirable, he's even better with leading roles like Ray Aibelli, the boy who carries on an incestuous relationship with his mother in Spanking the Monkey, and as Charles Manson in the made-for-television remake of Helter Skelter.

How much longer can Jeremy Davies fly under the radar? Probably forever, for if mainstream Hollywood hasn't knocked down his door by now, it's a good chance he'll continue to do award worthy work while staying Not Very Famous, which most likely suits him just fine.

Ron Silver

Ron Silver had the intensity of Al Pacino, but never the real break out role to make him a Hollywood star. He certainly had the talent and was well known and respected within the industry and he earned that respect by delivering solid performances in all types of movies and television shows for over three decades.

He was a working actor with a career full of memorable roles in less than memorable films like Blue Steel, Silent Rage, Timecop and Mr. Saturday Night, just to name a few.

However, it was his more serious "art" type work that brought out the best of Ron Silver. His roles in Garbo Talks, Enemies: A Love Story, Ali, Reversal of Fortune and TV's The West Wing, are prime examples of an actor that gives, takes and delivers time after time after time.

Sadly, he lost his battle with esophageal cancer in 2009, cutting short a wonderful career and robbing the world of thought provoking performances that could have been. His name may not live on, but his work will. And as long as his movies and television appearances are available to watch, then it's a given that someone, somewhere will sit through the credits and discover the talents of Ron Silver.

Mary Badham

Mary Badham only made four movies, and three of them most people have never heard of. And on top of that, her most famous television appearance was in the Twilight Zone episode called The Bewitchin' Pool, in which due to audio difficulties her voice was dubbed over by voice actress June Foray.

So that leaves one movie for which to really base her career on, and that one film is about as memorable as a movie can get. That of course being the classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, where her portrayal as the main character, Scout, manages to not only match Gregory Peck's Oscar winning performance, but often upstage him as well.

It's hard to find a person that doesn't love this movie and Mary Badham's natural characterization is one of the many reasons for the success of that film. She had the rare ability to make the audience forget they were watching an actor, which seems like a lost art form in the movies and television shows of today.

Mary Badham retired from acting as a teenager and one can't help but wonder that if she had stayed in the profession, what other opportunities would she have gotten. She would have seemed an obvious choice for the role of Mattie Ross in the John Wayne version of True Grit. And as she aged she would have fit in well in many of the films that helped make Sally Field a star, like Norma Rae and Places in the Heart.

Of course these are things we'll never know, and one of the many reasons why Mary Badham is Not Very Famous...but should be.

Richard Jenkins

Richard Jenkins is doing now what he has done his entire career. He is providing solid, memorable characters to movies and television shows, while quietly earning respect from his peers and completely avoiding fame and its disruptive aftermath.

Known mainly as Nathaniel Fisher, the dead father that pops in and out through all five seasons of Six Feet Under, he briefly caught the eye of the mainstream when he was nominated for an Oscar for The Visitor, which was ironically a non-mainstream movie.

He's a true actor for he fits so smoothly into whatever character he's portraying that audiences tend to take him for granted and forget that he's playing a role. From Me, Myself and Irene to Burn After Reading, and from Dear John to Cabin in the Woods, Richard Jenkins has proved movie after movie the importance of the supporting actor and what that role can mean to an ensemble.

Check out his leading role in The Visitor, then go back and watch any of his smaller roles in other films and you will see why Richard Jenkins is Not Very Famous...but should be.

John Drew Barrymore

He may not have been as well known as his legendary father or his famous daughter, but John Drew Barrymore was as talented as both of them. Primarily a television actor in the 1950's and '60's, watching his work today is like watching an actor way ahead of his time.

He had charisma, but he also had an edge which made his good guys human and his villains impulsive and unpredictable. On screen he was hard to ignore and could have easily played many of the roles that made Robert Redford or Dennis Hopper famous.

Unfortunately, John Drew Barrymore also had a history of drug and alcohol abuse and developed a difficult reputation which derailed his promising career. Many of his guest staring roles on Rawhide, Gunsmoke and other popular shows of the time are available on DVD collections and are well worth seeking out, not only for his wonderful performances, but also for a peak at the quality of the acting and writing that took place in the early days of television.

To stumble upon the work of John Drew Barrymore is like discovering a rare baseball card from and era long gone. And anyone familiar with his work will understand why he's the pick of the day for Not Very Famous...but should be.