The All-Time Greats

'What do you mean, 'I'm not in it?' 

The top ten greatest British character actors of all time?


A purely personal choice.

I've chosen to leave out some of my all-time favourite actors from this list on the basis that they are bona fide 'film stars'. Otherwise I would definitely have had to find room for 'top billing' names like Alastair Sim, Terry-Thomas, Margaret Rutherford, Peter Sellers, Sid James and others of the golden era. 

I've also excluded living actors who are already saluted elsewhere in this 'Familiar Unknown' blog, which cuts out the likes of Dudley Sutton and Aubrey Morris.

So here are ten actors who brighten any film when they unexpectedly appear in supporting roles, rather like bumping into an old friend in a strange town, or finding a tenner in your coat pocket.   

1. James Robertson Justice

2. Richard Wattis

3. Athene Seyler

4. Hattie Jacques

5. Sam Kydd

6. Wilfrid Hyde White

7. Eric Barker

8. Arthur Lowe

9. Esma Cannon

10. Michael Ripper

On another day I might have picked a different ten. Where are Irene Handl, Thorley Walters, George Cole, Herbert Lom and Harry H Corbett? What about Roy Kinnear, Denholm Elliot and Ronald Lacey? Perhaps a top 100 is called for.

Whom would you have chosen?
Feel free to submit your own top ten in the comments box below.

Eric Sykes

Eric Sykes: 

† May 4 1923 – July 4 2012

A legendary writer and performer, respected and adored by industry and public, the last of the British post-war comedy greats. He has worked with everybody from Peter Sellers to David Bowie, Tony Hancock to Terry-Thomas, and Frankie Howerd to Vincent Price. His TV show 'Sykes', with the much missed Hattie Jacques, Deryk Guyler and Richard Wattis, was a comforting presence in British homes of the '70s, and his filmography is full of minor gems: 'The Plank' (1967), of course, plus 'Theatre Of Blood' (1973), 'Monte Carlo Or Bust (1969), 'Those Magnificent Men...' (1965), 'The Bargee' (1965), 'Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Whatever' (2005), and 'Son Of Rambow' (2007).  Royalty.

With Tommy Cooper in 'The Plank' (1967)

Eric Sykes - imdb profile