Actor identification - 80s supporting actor

odyssey06 · 12-02-2021 9:43am #1

I was watching a documentary and a filmed scene from a book was included.
If I can track down the actor I think I can find out more about what was filmed.
It was a South Bank Show special about John Updike, and the scene was from the Rabbit books but according to wiki the book hasn't been adapted i.e. Rabbit is Rich.

The actor is in late middle age, kinda guy that plays generals, businessmen, police captains, conservative father of the lead. The actor would never be the lead.

He is not any of these guys or on the below list - but he acts in similar roles.
james cromwell, joe don baker, philip baker hall, m emmet walsh, bob gunton, jt walsh, hal holbrook, fred thompson, jk simmons, powers boothe, robert loggia, jack weston, anthony zerbe, michael moriarty
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls050426470/

Feel free to throw out some names...

Sky.com users can view the documentary here
https://www.sky.com/watch/title/series/8028ef33-9b8f-495f-9a7b-c7c35c6b9e82/the-south-bank-show-originals/episodes/season-6/episode-6

Scribbler100 · 12-02-2021 10:11am

odyssey06 wrote: »

I was watching a documentary and a filmed scene from a book was included.
If I can track down the actor I think I can find out more about what was filmed.
It was a South Bank Show special about John Updike, and the scene was from the Rabbit books but according to wiki the book hasn't been adapted i.e. Rabbit is Rich.

The actor is in late middle age, kinda guy that plays generals, businessmen, police captains, conservative father of the lead. The actor would never be the lead.

He is not any of these guys or on the below list - but he acts in similar roles.
james cromwell, joe don baker, philip baker hall, m emmet walsh, bob gunton, jt walsh, hal holbrook, fred thompson, jk simmons, powers boothe
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls050426470/

Feel free to throw out some names...

James Caan? Found a version of "Rabbit, Run" filmed in 1970?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066274/

odyssey06 · 12-02-2021 10:23am

Scribbler100 wrote: »

James Caan? Found a version of "Rabbit, Run" filmed in 1970?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066274/

That was my first thought, and that seems to be the only hit I could find for adaptations of the Rabbit series.

But the scene was definitely from Rabbit is Rich or Rabbit Redux as Rabbit is now a businessman running a car dealership.
The later books in the series weren't written until after 1970 so it wasn't that the "Rabbit Run" film pulled in material from later books.

So I don't know where those scenes came from, maybe it was just vignettes from the books filmed purely for the documentary.

Now also the name of the actor is bugging me, hence this thread!

Random shout outs of 80s american character actors accepted.

Dades · 12-02-2021 6:01pm

Brian Dennehy?

He was always a go-to 80s guy.

odyssey06 · 12-02-2021 6:06pm

Dades wrote: »

Brian Dennehy?

He was always a go-to 80s guy.

Good shout, but this guy is more obscure than that

I'll try to attach a camera shot from my phone.

odyssey06 · 12-02-2021 6:14pm

Trying to attach pic...

odyssey06 · 12-02-2021 6:21pm

Pic 2

GreeBo · 12-02-2021 6:24pm

Wilfred Brimley? Actor_Wilford_Brimley_Dies_In_Utah_1-5f2708e6717231042a0aaaa7_1_Aug_02_2020_19_24_04_poster.jpg

fryup · 12-02-2021 6:30pm

@ odyssey06

are you sure they're both the same actor in the two pics??

re: the second pic, isn't that the actor who played the angry yank in that Fawlty Towers episode > waldorf salad ?

odyssey06 · 12-02-2021 6:30pm

GreeBo wrote: »

Wilfred Brimley?

Nope, this guy has more business \ lawyer \ military presence.

odyssey06 · 12-02-2021 6:34pm

fryup wrote: »

@ odyssey06

are you sure they're both the same actor in the two pics??

re: the second pic, isn't that the actor who played the angry yank in that Fawlty Towers episode > waldorf salad ?

Yep, you nailed it. Bruce Boa

That's where I knew him from and also...
Andrew Bruce Boa was a Canadian actor, who found success playing the token American in British films and television, usually playing military types. Boa's most recognizable film role is in The Empire Strikes Back as General Rieekan.

* It's the same actor just he always seemed to be filmed with a prop in the scenes... eating in a diner and wearing baseball hat (in his blue collar youth in the 70s) or sunglasses and driving a 'sedan' in his later years as a car dealership owner living the good life.

Dades · 12-02-2021 7:15pm

Mystery solved :cool:

Never heard of that fella despite being in Star Wars and Bond!

odyssey06 · 12-02-2021 7:23pm

Dades wrote: »

Mystery solved :cool:
Never heard of that fella despite being in Star Wars and Bond!

I thought he might have been in a Bond... checked Licence to Kill cast list.
But it was Octopussy and he played an un-named US General.

It was an interesting puzzle, but in terms of the Rabbit adaptations \ John Updike it looks like the South Bank Show just filmed a couple of scenes with the actor from each of the Rabbit novels, and included them in the documentary.

Actor identification - 80s supporting actor

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