I was in a discussion about the movie, Commando, and commented that Bill Duke, all by himself, made that movie watchable. Bill Duke has never been a major star, but I often find myself appreciating the performances of the character actors far more than the headliners. Even the late, great Roger Ebert used to have a rule that no movie could be entirely bad if it had Harry Dean Stanton or M Emmett Walsh. (He later retracted that rule after both were in some horrible stinkers.)

Here's my list of actors, un-ranked because I refuse to pick a favorite, of actors that were never "stars" (arguably) but who immediately make any film better or at least watchable. So while you might love Samuel Jackson (and who the hell doesn't?!!), he's far too big of a movie star to include on a list like this.

My Top Ten, in no specific order:

• Harry Dean Stanton
• Bill Duke
• Joan Cusack
• Lance Henriksen (a)
• Stephen Tobolowsky
• Bill Fichtner (b)
• James Cromwell
• Keith (f*cking) David!
• Ron Perlman
• Linda Hunt (c)

Okay, who are yours?

(a) Oh BOY do you have to sift through a lot of crap movies to love him, though. Woof! (b) Except in the sitcom he's in right now. Seriously, Bill, WTF? (c) Only Keith David beats Linda Hunt on the coolness scale