Voice roles: Michael Jackson's Thriller (The Narrator), Tim Burton's Vincent (The Narrator), The Great Mouse Detective (Professor Ratigan), The Thief and the Cobbler (Zig-Zag)
Vincent Price! What can I say, other than that he was one of the most charismatic men to ever appear in a motion picture? He was a bridging gap between the horror actors of the Universal Era and the Hammer Age, and remained in the business for almost fifty years. He had a unique voice, and the way he pronounced words was just delicious (he spends most of The Great Mouse Detective baby-talking, but it never gets annoying).
Price never did have a really iconic role that even the most ignorant layman should know, which is probably why he's best known as Vincent Price, undefined by a single fictional character. He did, however, tend to get cast in certain kinds of roles, which are best summed up by Vincent, Tim Burton's excellent stop-motion tribute, narrated by the man himself. Price considered the short film "the most gratifying thing that ever happened".
In his free time, Price was a collector of art; in 1951 he donated ninety paintings from his own collection to a community college for teaching purposes, making them the first public school in the US to own a teaching art collection. He never let fame get into his head either: he considered appearing in The Muppet Show a tremondous honour.
Random facts: He and Christopher Lee (who were friends) were both born on the 27th of May. Price played both Abraham Lincoln and Oscar Wilde on stage. His final line of dialogue in a film was "this is the end".
Instead of presenting a quote of choice, I'll embed the song "Goodbye, So Soon" from The Great Mouse Detective.
Clancy Brown - Voice and film actor
Live-action roles: Highlander (The Kurgan), The Shawshank Redemption (Guard Captain Hadley), Starship Troopers (Drill Sergeant Zim)Voice roles: Gargoyles (Hakon, Wolf), The Spectacular Spider-Man (Rhino, Captain Stacy), Jackie Chan Adventures (Captain Black, Ratso), Sponge Bob Square Pants (Mr. Krabs), Crash Bandicoot (most of the games as Dr. Neo Cortex and Uka Uka), Lex Luthor in basically every DC cartoon to feature the character
"That dude with the smooth voice". Ironic, since his rise to fame was as The Kurgan, a role in which he growled all his dialogue. As far as fame goes, Brown may pale before Price, but unlike poor Vincent, Brown did appear in Shawshank, and thus has the license to add "I was in one of the best movies ever made" to his tombstone.
He's best known among geek circles for being the longest-standing single actor to ever play Superman's archnemesis Lex Luthor. He started in the role in Superman: The Animated Series in 1996, and he's reprised it as recently as 2009 in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, he actually stepped down on playing Luthor, only to play an alien counterpart called Rohtul (get it?). His other voice work tends to focus on the villain side, too, which is really a shame because his silky voice can work on a supporting good guy, and he makes a pretty good straight man for comedy scenes as witnessed in that Jackie Chan cartoon.
Also, is it just me or does he kind of look like Ron Perlman?
Quote of choice: "President? Do you know how much power I'd have to give to be president?"
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| Wright (sceptical), Frost (confused) and Pegg (aggressive) |
Movies: Shaun of the Dead (Wright directed, Wright and Pegg wrote, Pegg and Frost starred), Hot Fuzz (same credits as Shaun), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Wright directed, co-produced and co-wrote), Paul (Pegg and Frost starred and wrote), The Adventures of Tintin (Wright co-wrote, Pegg and Frost appeared as Dupont and Dupond)
It's quite simple: these three dudes make great movies. Now, honestly I think Shaun of the Dead is a tad overrated (a word I dislike using): it doesn't really hold up for more than one view and some of the acting is a bit shoddy. It's got a great script, though, and it lay the foundations for what I hope to be one of the best group of careers Hollywood will see during our lives.
Hot Fuzz is one of the most tightly-written films ever: no word is ever spoken, or an object shown on screen, which isn't later brought up for a gag or a plot point. It and Scott Pilgrim also cemented Edgar Wright's trademark directing method: absolutely everything is puntuated with rapid fire editing to create mock drama. Dramatic paperwork. Dramatic ice cream shopping. Dramatic shoe lace tying. I can't wait to see Wright return to the director's chair to see whether he can keep the gag fresh in the future too.
In general, reminding myself of Wright, Pegg and Frost is a good way for me to get excited. For all the great movie stars and makers of the past, it's wonderful to know that talented people exist today, and I'm going to get to see first-hand all the stuff they make here on out. If that isn't fanning, I don't know what is.
Quote of choice: "I dunno... pub?"
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