10th Annual WHAT A CHARACTER! Blogathon: Morning Edition

In the blogging world it is my favorite time of year when we spotlight some of our favorite character actors. You may have seen the announcement post and our spiffy banner highlighting the fact that this is the tenth iteration of the What a Character! Blogathon and you are in for a treat.

The tenth What a Character! Blogathon brings you an eclectic group of supporting players all of whom bring a special something to each movie they appear in. I can say the same about the bloggers who do the work of honoring these actors. The entries will be presented in three installments throughout the day. This is the first with co-hosts Kellee and Paula following in the afternoon and evening. Be sure to visit for an enjoyable trip down movie memory lane:

The Afternoon Edition at Outspoken & Freckled at 3pm ET

The Evening Edition at Paula’s Cinema Club at 9pm ET

As you may have seen in the announcement post, this tenth anniversary of What a Character! comes with give-a-ways from Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and The University Press of Kentucky, both of which are contributing books to ten lucky participants. We will gather entries and pick winners at random toward the end of the weekend. Winners will be notified on social media or by email.

Now…I hope you’re excited. I hope you’re turning off the negative news from around the world and putting holiday preparations aside to make way for the roll call of character actors, their unique talents and memorable careers. Here we go with the Morning Edition…

The tenth What a Character! Blogathon kicks off with a double feature, a heartfelt entry by Jo at The Last Drive In focusing on Mildred Dunnock and Patricia Collinge. Depth, longevity, and heart are the orders of the day for these two dedicated actors and the entry honoring them.

Rich at By Rich Watson discusses the career of TV legend William Frawley and It Happened in Flatbush (1942). Frawley leaves his familiar curmudgeon character aside in this one.

Kimberly focuses on the undeniable timing and extraordinary talents of Wally Cox at Ticklish Business. I love that she mentions that character actors are treasures. That’s why we’re all here.

I have seen her numerous times, but not until I read this dedication to Doro Merande at Obscure Cinema did I put her work story together. This is a terrific spotlight on an angular, stiff-framed actor adept at eccentric characters.

Karen at Shadows and Satin discusses the life and career of versatile, classic heavy, Barton MacLane who preferred to play fine fellows. MacLane is another familiar face who appeared in all manner of film and TV shows and Karen’s entry gives him proper due.

I close the morning edition with this entry by co-host Kellee at Outspoken & Freckled on the career of the über-talented Cloris Leachman, “She really could do it all- from every genre to every medium. Drama, comedy, film noir, horror, westerns, sitcoms, holiday films, television, play productions, Broadway, film. Heck, she was even in an “After-School Special.” 

There you have the morning entries, but do not forget the Morning Edition is only the beginning. Stay tuned for the Afternoon and Evening editions of the 10th annual What a Character! Blogathon later today. There’s lots more character actor fun in store.

As always, I thank co-hosts Kellee and Paula for sticking by me in this endeavor. To TCM and the University Press of Kentucky, thank you for your support. To all who visit and take part in this celebration from wherever you are, you are appreciated. To the bloggers who take the time to write such meaningful entries honoring our beloved character actors, we could not do this without you. And to all the character actors whose names go unnoticed, but who have been adding depth to the screen stories we love with your specialties, eccentricities, and unusual flair for over a hundred years, this is for you!