With a couple of exceptions, these seems like pretty major people for anybody who claims to be a film buff not to know, and a few (well, Margaret Hamilton and Pat O'Brien for chissakes) a lot of people should know. I didn't know Bedoya's name or the guy in Godfather clip, and I couldn't care less who voiced E.T. (not a movie I care for), but everybody else seemed pretty mainstream to me.
The current generation, like all generations, has problems. The Baby Boomers sure did, and do. But this one and the one or two before it have the sense of history of an eggplant.
I came here to say almost exactly what Max has said. It seems a shame that big names like Margaret Hamilton and Pat O'Brien are considered "forgotten."
Even for the amnesia-riddled generation who is usually in charge of lists like this (which never seem to venture back before 1980, so kudos on this at least), to not consider one of the most iconic movie villains of all time - the Wicked Witch of the West - as forgotten is absurd DVDs and constants airings on TBS and TCM make that improbable.
I'm wondering if the author meant this as being about the actors' names being forgotten? Beccause I can see the argument in that. From this list I'd count the actor playing the Bonasera the Undertaker (I just read it and can't remember!) and Joe Mantell even though their roles would always be memorable. (There have been times when I stumble trying to remember Colin Clive's name.) I can even remember the parody version of the Undertaker in a spoof novel, The Oddfather, although I think he was a shoemaker in that, just for a bit about him spitting nails when upset.
As for Pat Welsh, I don't remember ever reading about her in connection to ET's voice. I read in the past that it was a combination of Mercedes McCambridge and Debra Winger.
Otherwise I can understand if the vast majority of movie watchers don't pay attention to the credits and background articles, and so don't know the names of Brandon De Wilde and Estelle Reiner. Had DeWilde lived longer and beefed up his resume as he got older, things might have been different in his case.
I have wondered in the past why Alfonso Bedoya's name and even his character's "name" has always stuck with me since seeing the movie in high school film class......
Ditto to all the above. Hell, Alfonso Bedoya was immortalized in BLAZING SADDLES ferchrissakes!
Serendipitously enough, I'm just in the process of reviewing an old/obscure film where one of the featured players is a guy named Philip Ober. Now THERE's a name nobody remembers, but no one who has seen NORTH BY NORTHWEST will forget his brief role as Lester Townsend or his brief meeting with Carey Grant at the U.N.
Being a big fan of the old 'Perry Mason' series, I do remember Philip Ober easily enough. He must have been in five or six episodes of that. He certainly did fit a type. And with all of the classic TV channels I watch, he shows up enough in those old shows, sometimes in recurring roles, to keep his memory fresh for me. But I realize my obsession with TV makes me an exception with regards to Mr. Ober and a lot of supporting players in those old shows....
9 comments:
With a couple of exceptions, these seems like pretty major people for anybody who claims to be a film buff not to know, and a few (well, Margaret Hamilton and Pat O'Brien for chissakes) a lot of people should know. I didn't know Bedoya's name or the guy in Godfather clip, and I couldn't care less who voiced E.T. (not a movie I care for), but everybody else seemed pretty mainstream to me.
The current generation, like all generations, has problems. The Baby Boomers sure did, and do. But this one and the one or two before it have the sense of history of an eggplant.
I felt the same way. And I'm so old, I even knew Bedoya.
I came here to say almost exactly what Max has said. It seems a shame that big names like Margaret Hamilton and Pat O'Brien are considered "forgotten."
/Hailing the geezerette bus!
Even for the amnesia-riddled generation who is usually in charge of lists like this (which never seem to venture back before 1980, so kudos on this at least), to not consider one of the most iconic movie villains of all time - the Wicked Witch of the West - as forgotten is absurd DVDs and constants airings on TBS and TCM make that improbable.
I'm wondering if the author meant this as being about the actors' names being forgotten? Beccause I can see the argument in that. From this list I'd count the actor playing the Bonasera the Undertaker (I just read it and can't remember!) and Joe Mantell even though their roles would always be memorable. (There have been times when I stumble trying to remember Colin Clive's name.) I can even remember the parody version of the Undertaker in a spoof novel, The Oddfather, although I think he was a shoemaker in that, just for a bit about him spitting nails when upset.
As for Pat Welsh, I don't remember ever reading about her in connection to ET's voice. I read in the past that it was a combination of Mercedes McCambridge and Debra Winger.
Otherwise I can understand if the vast majority of movie watchers don't pay attention to the credits and background articles, and so don't know the names of Brandon De Wilde and Estelle Reiner. Had DeWilde lived longer and beefed up his resume as he got older, things might have been different in his case.
I have wondered in the past why Alfonso Bedoya's name and even his character's "name" has always stuck with me since seeing the movie in high school film class......
Okay, I hadn't thought about it, but it the writer means that the names are forgotten but the roles are remembered, I get the point.
Yeah, but even so...Margaret Hamilton? That's ludicrous.
Jeff
Ditto to all the above. Hell, Alfonso Bedoya was immortalized in BLAZING SADDLES ferchrissakes!
Serendipitously enough, I'm just in the process of reviewing an old/obscure film where one of the featured players is a guy named Philip Ober. Now THERE's a name nobody remembers, but no one who has seen NORTH BY NORTHWEST will forget his brief role as Lester Townsend or his brief meeting with Carey Grant at the U.N.
Being a big fan of the old 'Perry Mason' series, I do remember Philip Ober easily enough. He must have been in five or six episodes of that. He certainly did fit a type. And with all of the classic TV channels I watch, he shows up enough in those old shows, sometimes in recurring roles, to keep his memory fresh for me. But I realize my obsession with TV makes me an exception with regards to Mr. Ober and a lot of supporting players in those old shows....
What I realized is that while the whippersnappers don't know the oldies, I don't know half of the newbies.
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