That Guy Actor of the Week: Mike Starr
I cannot believe that after all these years I didn’t know Mike Starr’s name. I mean this guy first stepped on the scene on the original Hawaii Five-O. Starr is no spring chicken. He’s got nearly 180 titles to his name so it’s tough to pick what movies I like him best in.
However, if I had to choose I would pick his appearance as the “Gas Man” contract killer in Dumb and Dumber as well as Frenchie in Goodfellas. Starr is great at playing the toughguy man roles if you know what I mean.
Very masculine, big, usually with a Brooklyn type of an accent. It just fits well with his personality not to mention he’s from Queens so yeah, stereotypical roles fit well.
A Clip of Starr
One of the best comedy scenes ever.
Gas man? How the hell do they know I got gas?
I always do that imdb scavenger hunt with character actors like this. It’s kinda fun to see them get tossed around the cop dramas, you’ll see Mike as a corrupt FBI agent on NCIS one week, then as a corrupt ambulance driver on Law and Order SVU the next.
L&O Criminal Intent had the best, though; They had both Larry and Balki (from Perfect Strangers) on separate episodes, even giving Larry’s character a sympathetic slant (for a mass murderer). (Also props for having Stephen Colbert play a murderer in a different episode)
Mike Starr: Rock in The Last Dragon – 1985. What more do you need?
Is that Duff the “VJ” in that b&w shot?
Yum.
I grew up with Mike. Hes not only a terrific actor hes an all around great guy.