An ambassador in Star Trek’s “The Trouble with Tribbles,” the technocrat who ran The Time Tunnel, a conniving U.S. senator in the tense political movie, “7 Days in May” – all these screen roles highlighted the tightly wired officiousness yet lilting voice that were hallmarks of the man who played them.
Whit Bissell was one of the most prolific character actors, those performers you recognize, yet don’t. Bissell preferred the term “supporting player,” to “character actor,” but either way, he excelled at projecting his own mellow and soothing qualities into a scene, then practicing that courtesy of a character actor by bowing out to let the big stars, or younger hot-shots do the iconic parts that made their names household words.
But then if you were born Whitner Nutting Bissell, vocal and facial gifts, rather than your name, likely would be your performing strengths.
An awkward moniker and intense administrator roles belie Whit Bissell’s real-life relaxed, charming and well-read nature. Still, friend Bernie Shine wrote on Leonard Maltin’s entertainment web site that it took some tenacity by Bissell, the son of a New York City physician, to break into the business.
"He told me that when he was starting out he found himself on the opposite side of the desk of a famous Hollywood mogul who bluntly told him that he didn’t have what it takes to be a leading man, stating, ‘I don’t see any women burning with desire when they see you,’ “ Shine wrote. “Whit responded, ‘Perhaps not, but I do think I could make them feel other emotions, such as laughing, crying, or caring.’ ”
Indeed, character actors may be told early in their careers they don’t have the sizzle or the physical stature to be heartthrobs or heroes. But after years of frequent, often brief appearances, the masterful facial skills and appealing voices of the most successful make them recognized, or even craved.
A character actor’s constant moving from one production to another to play unrelated roles makes casting and filming for TV and movies less costly, and it makes the actor something of a rolling stone.
But they can gather the moss of recognition if they achieve long professional life. Many character actors, or supporting players, have sub-cultures of close followers and appreciation of their skills has grown due to the Internet.
2 scenes of Whit in charge of "The Time Tunnel," 1966:
A certain studious air helped land the bespectacled Bissell parts as scientists in many of the best sci-fi movies of the 1950s through the early ‘70s, including “I was a Teenage Frankenstein,” “Soylent Green,” “I was a Teenage Werewolf,” and “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” He also had roles in “The Magnificent Seven” and “Pete ‘n’ Tillie,” and appeared in such stalwart TV series as McCloud, Land of the Giants, Here’s Lucy, Gomer Pyle: USMC, Kojak, Cannon, Marcus Welby, M.D. and Ben Casey, generally playing trusted figures like doctors, chaplains and professors.
On the witness stand in The Cain Mutiny, 1954:
Of Whit Bissell, a post on Silverscreenoasis.com said:
“I've often thought of Whit as something of a second-tier Hume Cronyn. I've always liked his speaking voice, which I think very rich, mellow, and distinctive.”
Another on that site summed up the value of the supporting player genre to which Whit Bissell devoted his life:
“ ‘Character actor' isn't a good enough term to describe Whit’s talents, so, for many years now, I have referred to any reliable character actor that happens to pop up as a ‘Whit.’ It’s an honorific term, meant to notice and celebrate his and other actors' contributions as support in countless films…. One of the pleasures of watching TV with friends in the 70s was to do ‘Whit-spotting’ and point him out to others. 'Oh yeah! I've seen that guy before!' was the usual response.”
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I have to admit even his face is only vaguely familiar to me – perhaps true to his modus operandi of playing the “supporting actor”.
ReplyDeleteIn return for not getting the credit or money the big names get, the Supporting Player, or character actor gets a footloose mobility. They can be in sometimes three movies a year, one or two scenes per movie. They feel less bogged down.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a pretty good way to achieve a work/life balance.
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