Notable Roles:Osiris - "Batman"
Lou Brown - "Major League"
Lt. Schooner - "I Love You to Death"
Teddy Roosevelt - "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles"
Why He's Awesome:
Before writing this, all I knew him from were the "Major League" movies. Since his death, I've looked into his filmography, and the word that pops up the most is "uncredited." To a lesser man, this would seem career crushing, but he had a career spanning over 40 years and 100 roles. With a distinctive voice like that, you'd think he'd stick out. He knows enough about his craft to stay in the background when he belongs there. I'll bet you didn't know he was one of King Tut's henchmen in an episode of the old Adam West "Batman" series.
From one-off TV appearances to small supporting roles, he just worked and worked and worked. His name is attached to such classics as "Wild, Wild West," "Cool Hand Luke," "Gunsmoke," "Kung Fu," "The Streets of San Francisco," "The Waltons," "Charlie's Angels," "Lou Grant," "Urban Cowboy," Murder, She Wrote," "I Love You to Death," "The Apostle," and "The Iron Giant."
Nothing to me will beat his run in "Major League." He was the perfect manager to that ridiculous baseball team. My favorite moment was after his heart surgery in "Major League II" the doctor's won't let him watch the game for fear it'd agitate his weak heart. They make him watch British soap operas, but he has snuck in a radio with a tiny ear peace. As his Cleveland Indians win the penant, he tries to cover up his excitement by pretending he's really, really into the British soap. By the end, he's jumping up and down on the bed declaring, "I love this British shit. I think I might move to England!" Hilarious.
Still doubt? First off, fuck you. Secondly, he has played both Theodore Roosevelt and Ulysses Grant. That was bad ass.
You'd Be Surprised to Learn:
Has twice played Don Johnson's father ("Long, Hot Summer" and "Nash Bridges") despite being only a few years older.
Check out his imdb page.
You really dusted off an old nutshell with James Gammon. Now I want to watch "Major League" for the first time in 20 years. That movie had many great actors from a young Wesley Snipes to a slightly older Rene Russo in her big screen debut.
ReplyDelete20 years!?!?!?! The Major League movies are on TNT every other day.
ReplyDeleteOne question, though, is "dusted of an old nutshell" a real expression, or is it 3 or 4 expressions mashed into one?