Maureen Teffy

Once upon a time Hollywood produced movies with unknown actors in leading roles. It was so nice back in the late 1960's, '70's and early '80's to go to the theater and watch actors instead of stars. It made the movies more honest, more real and more often then not...better. The freshness of the actors was one of the reasons the 1980 version of the film, Fame worked so well. And also why Maureen Teffy stood out in it.

Fame opened the door for her, but her next two major films, Grease 2 and Supergirl were box office and critical flops which sent Maureen Teffy into actors obscurity.

This is a real shame, for had the right projects come around I really believe that she could have had the career that Meg Ryan had. She had vulnerability, sweetness and a special charm to carry a romantic comedy. The only thing missing was the right material.

The history of motion pictures and the actors who become famous seem to rely upon a string of box office successes opposed to the talent that people can bring to a project. Maureen Teffy is one of the many that slipped through the greedy fingers of the Hollywood string pullers, as well as one of the actors the phrase, "what if" applies to.

Tim McIntire

Tim McIntire died of heart failure at the young age of forty-one brought on by years of alcohol and drug abuse. Maybe his wild past is the reason why he never received the recognition he deserved because he was about as underrated as they come.

Just watching him in his numerous roles, both leading and supporting, makes me wonder why his acting talents never lead him to Hollywood royalty.

From The Sterile Cuckoo  to The Choirboys, and The Gumball Rally  to Fast-Walking, Tim McIntire had a presence that was hard to ignore, often upstaging the bigger name actors he played along side. Even his voice-over work is memorable as is evident in the sci-fi cult classic, A Boy and His Dog, where he supplied the voice of the shrewd dog, Blood.

However, if you want to see this wonderful actor at his absolute best, look no further than American Hot Wax, where he played the infamous 1950's rock-n-roll disc jockey, Alan Freed, and you will see for yourself why Tim McIntire is Not Really Famous...but should be.

John P. Ryan

Although he could get a little melodramatic at times, John P. Ryan was a fun actor to watch. And once you noticed him in one movie, you couldn't help but discover him in others.

Mainly a supporting player, his villains were vicious and his good guys were tortured, but any role he played, he played to the fullest. And whether you liked him or not, it's a sure thing that when he was on the screen, it was hard to look away.

Fans of cult horror films will remember him as the father of the killer mutant baby in Larry Cohen's, It's Alive, and although that was a leading role, his biggest exposure was in a supporting part as Warden Ranken in the 1985 Jon Voight thriller, Runaway Train, where his over-the-top portrayal was an overload of excess vile.

John P. Ryan has since passed away, which now leaves motion pictures not quite as interesting as they used to be.

David Keith

David Keith, not to be confused with Keith David, who has also been profiled on this blog, has had leading roles in many Hollywood mainstream films, but that was a while ago, and although he's quite good in everything he's done, I doubt if the majority of the movie-going public recognizes his name.

He first caught my eye as a local thug in the little seen Robert Duvall gem, The Great Santini. I noticed him next in the lead role in Take This Job and Shove It, and was thrilled that he not only had a leading role, but was very good in it as well. 

However, it was David Keith's next film, An Officer and a Gentleman, playing Richard Gere's best friend, that propelled him into the spotlight. Other staring roles in mainstream films followed like The Lords of Discipline and Firestarter, but like so many actors before him, he quietly drifted off of the radar.

He currently resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he teaches acting. David Keith still shows up from time to time in supporting movie and television roles, and I wouldn't be surprised if some day he lands a role that puts him right back on top.

Carol Speed

Carol Speed was a working actor during the Blaxploitation period of the 1970's, and although she was memorable in the films she was in, her acting career never took off after that era ended.

Like so many talented performers of that time, Hollywood labeled actors by the color of their skin and even though the movie business did quite well off of the so-called "black" films, the stars of these movies had a difficult time finding work in "white" Hollywood after the Blaxploitation era came to a crashing halt.

Her most famous role was as the title character in the Exorcist inspired film, Abby, but her work stands out in almost all of her projects - most notably, The Mack, Black Samson, Dynamite Brothers and the Grindhouse classic, The Big Bird Cage.

Nearly forgotten today, Carol Speed had all the ingredients to stardom, but just never had the right breaks to land a bigger budget film. Fortunately, her films from the 1970's are still around for new generations to discover this wonderful talent.

Charles Lane

Baby Boomers and their parents might not know the name of Charles Lane, but his face is familiar to anyone who watched television in the 1950's, '60's and '70's, as well as to those who went to the movies long before those three decades.

He's probably most widely known as Homer Bedlow, the old curmudgeon that appeared on many episodes of Petticoat Junction. Actually, he's most known as playing any old curmudgeon, as he spent an entire career type-cast as the grumpy man of authority. And no one did this better than Charles Lane.

His movie roles were seldom large and he played the same type of character in most of his television appearances, but Charles Lane was so good at what he did it was impossible to not notice him. He appeared in such classics as Twentieth Century, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic and Old Lace and It's a Wonderful Life. On television he showed up in some of the most popular programs of the time like Topper, The Lucy Show, Get Smart and The Beverly Hillbillies, just to name a few.

After working for 8 decades in the business, Charles Lane died in 2007 at the age of 102. Most people will probably never know his name, but his face and characters will continue to be around for a long, long time..

Luke Askew

Luke Askew was a good actor who had leading man looks, but strangely enough, never made it to the star level. He certainly had the talent, which was used in supporting roles in many westerns, dramas and television shows throughout his forty-plus years in the business.

He's probably best known as the Stranger who takes Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper to the hippie commune in Easy Rider, but that performance is really just a small piece of a larger picture that made up his wonderful work as an actor.

Other stand-out roles, just to name a few, include Boss Paul  in the prison drama, Cool Hand Luke, Automatic Slim in the revenge picture, Rolling Thunder, and as the peaceful hippie in the biker film, Angel Unchained.

However, the real talent of Luke Askew lies in his whole body of work. From The Culpepper Cattle Company  to Frailty, through a slew of guest starring roles in television shows way too numerous to name, his characters were hard to forget. He may not have had star billing, but he was a huge star in the scenes he was a part of.

His work proves that he could have carried a mainstream picture, but for reasons unknown that never happened. Sadly, Luke Askew passed away on March 29, 2012 at the age of eighty. He was a wonderful actor whose talents added depth to any project he was involved in. He will be greatly missed.

Collin Wilcox

After her brilliant portrayal of Mayella Ewell, the woman who falsely accuses Tom Robinson of raping her, in To Kill a Mockingbird, one would have thought that Collin Wilcox was well on her way to becoming a star. However, since she's featured in this blog today, it's obvious that stardom never arrived.

Collin Wilcox ended up doing a lot of work in television as a guest star in a wide variety of shows that ranged from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour  to Columbo, but it was live theater that was her true passion. I never saw her on stage, but from what I've seen of her work in movies and television, she must have been incredible.

She did appear in other movies, most notably, The Baby Maker  with Barbara Hershey, but her work in To Kill a Mockingbird  proved to be her most powerful film role. As for television, fans of The Twilight Zone  may remember her from the classic episode, Number Twelve Looks Just Like You, where she played the young girl trying to hold on to her identity.

Collin Wilcox passed away in 2009 at the young age of 74, but her body of work lives on. If you take the time to discover her, you will find that the best actors are not always the famous ones.

Larenz Tate

This blog is full of talented, underrated actors who deserve recognition for their great contributions to movies and television. And Larenz Tate, the pick for today, just might be at the top of the list.

His emotional range and incredible ability to completely embody the characters he plays, adds truth and realism to every project he's associated with.

From Dead Presidents to Why Do Fools Fall in Love, the Oscar winning films Crash and Ray and the short lived but critically praised television show, South Central, Larenz Tate has proven time and time again that he's the real deal.

However, if you want to see him at his very best, check out the films, Menace II Society and Love Jones and you'll find yourself scratching your head as to why Larenz Tate is not Hollywood royalty.

Steve Railsback

Steve Railsback first caught the eye of the general public in 1976 when he played Charles Manson in the powerful television movie Helter Skelter.  Anyone who has seen that film knows how mesmerizing he is in that role. And anyone familiar with his career knows that he is mesmerizing in everything he does.

His honest and intense portrayals are rarely matched by other actors and watching his work is like watching a man who truly loves and understands his craft. And yet, it appears that Hollywood doesn't quite know what to do with him as most of his work goes unseen by the mainstream movie going public.

His performance in the little seen, The Stunt Man, is Oscar caliber and even though his co-star, Peter O'Toole was recognized with a nomination, it appeared to not help Steve Railsback get on the radar.

He still works and shows up occasionally on television or in low budget horror films, but is almost always better than the material he's given. It's never too late, though, and as long as Steve Railsback is around, there's still a chance of him landing that role that puts him on the map. His talents are certainly worthy of it.

Deborah Foreman

In 1983, two unknown actors, Deborah Foreman and Nicholas Cage, took the world by surprise in the comedy hit Valley Girl. Nicholas Cage would go on to movie stardom with several popular films, while his female co-star headlined in a handful of films that weren't so lucky.

This is a shame, for time has shown that Deborah Foreman is actually the better actor, but the fickle world of fame doesn't always make talent a prerequisite.

The romantic comedy, My Chauffeur followed, but it just never caught the eye of the movie going public, and like so many talented actors before her, she became a staple of low-budget films, with her performances being much better than the movies themselves.

If Hollywood awarded careers based on past performances and not box office success, then Deborah Foreman would have had a much different resume. Her work in April Fool's Day, Lunatics: A Love Story and the aforementioned Valley Girl and My Chauffeur are proof that she could have gone far, but instead she joins the ever growing list of Not Very Famous...but should be.

Joe Spinell

Joe Spinell was a character actor that appeared in a lot of well known movies, usually playing thugs or no-goods. His roles were rarely very big, but he had that tough guy look that was hard to miss.

From the first two Godfather movies to the first two Rocky films, and from Taxi Driver  to The Seven Ups, and many more too numerous to mention, Joe Spinell appeared in some of the most talked about movies of the Twentieth Century.

He gained some notoriety in 1980 when he had the starring role in the ultra-violent, Maniac, which then lead to another leading role in The Last Horror Film. It looks like he might had found his niche in horror films when he died in 1989 at the young age of 52, right before filming was to begin on Maniac 2.

The real legacy of Joe Spinell, though, lies with his brief work in so many wonderful films of the 1970's and 1980's. Once you spot him in one movie, you'll start noticing him more and more in others. And even though most of his roles were small, it's hard to watch one of his performances and not say to yourself, "what great casting."

Kenneth Mars

Kenneth Mars was an over-the-top character actor who gave wonderfully comic performances in television and movies for over forty years. His characters, often with thick accents, regularly stole scenes from some of the top comic actors of the day like Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.

He's probably best known for his two movies with Mel Brooks, The Producers, where he played the Nazi playwright, Franz Liebkind and as Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein.

From What's Up Doc to Fernwood Tonight, Kenneth Mars was equally memorable in almost every role he played. And although he rarely got the chance to do drama, he showed that he had the talent to be serious as well, as is evident in the 1971 drama, Desperate Characters with Shirley MacLaine.

They don't make actors like Kenneth Mars anymore. He brought such a goofy madness to his characters and still managed to deliver more than a one note performance, which can't be said for a lot of the comic talent of today. He is no longer with us and comedy just doesn't seem the same.