Joe Mantell, R. I. P.

R.I.P., Joe Mantell (1915-2010) | The Movie Cricket | The Salt Lake Tribune: "Joe Mantell was always there, the guy next to the guy - which is what a good character actor is supposed to be.

Mantell, who chalked up more than 70 roles in his career including memorable turns in 'Marty,' 'The Birds' and 'Chinatown,' died Wednesday at a hospital in Tarzana, Calif. He was 94.

Mantell delivered iconic lines in several of his roles.
In 'Marty,' Mantell played Angie, the best friend of Ernest Borgnine's lonely title character. The running argument between the two friends about what they planned to -- in which Angie repeatedly asked 'Well, what do you feel like doin' tonight?' -- became one of the movie's best-loved scenes.

In 'The Birds,' Mantell played a traveling salesman who urged 'Kill 'em all' to counter an ornithologist who recommended studying the birds attacking a California town.

But most memorably, Mantell played the partner of detective J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) in Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown.' It was Mantell who uttered the movie's classic closing line: 'Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.'"

Hat tip to Fred Zackel.