What a character.

• Position: Cinematic Arts

DO YOU HAVE a favorite character actor? He or she is that performer who is an indispensable satellite figure to the story or lead character. One does not always remember the individual's name, but the face and mannerisms immediately signify a bonus to the picture you are watching. An excellent modern cinema (post-1965) example would be Hector Elizondo, the fatherly hotel manager of Gary Marshall's "Pretty Woman" (1990). Elizondo's character assists in the Pygmalion-like transformation of Julia Roberts' Hollywood hooker into being comfortable in the Fortune 500 world of Richard Gere's business tycoon. Marshall treats Elizondo like a talisman, and attempts to cast him as often as possible, such as the actor's involvement in another Marshall makeover movie, "The Princess Diaries" (2001). As Julie Andrew's driver/friend, Elizondo helps mold Anne Hathaway's oddball youngster with the bushy eyebrows into a princess.

Elizondo describes his relationship with Marshall: "Working with him you're not afraid to fall, and that's the important thing. As an actor, you're [willing] to take a chance. He has that kind of confidence in you and himself." That comfort zone works both ways, and many successful directors know the repetitive security of reusing a dependable supporting player.

While it would be presumptuous to designate any one individual as cinema's greatest character actor, a solid case can be made for Thomas Mitchell (1892-1962) having the most significant supporting player career year. Although he is best known as Uncle Billy from "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), when the Hollywood dream factory was at its apogee--the miracle year of 1939--Mitchell managed to have prominent parts in five bona fide classics, here listed in the order of their releases: "Stagecoach," "Only Angels Have Wings," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" "Gone with the Wind," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

The best of these Mitchell parts is his whiskey-soaked Doc Boone in John Ford's "Stagecoach," with Doc acting as the conscience of a Western road picture of passengers composed of outsiders and hypocrites. Like all good picaresque tales, tolerance rules by the journey's conclusion. Fittingly, Mitchell won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for the part. Given the significance of the year, he won against strong competition: Claude Rains and Harry Carey from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," Brian Donlevy in "Beau Geste," and Brian Aheme in "Juarez."

Interestingly enough...