Cool Actor of the Week: Henry Silva

In Cool Actor of the Week by Scott5 Comments

Nobody can argue with today’s pick for Cool Actor of the Week — Mr. Henry Silva.

Although Silva is instantly recognizable, to many folks he’s another of those “Ohmigod it’s THAT GUY!” character actors. Accepted to the prestigious Actors’ Studio in 1955, Silva had already appeared on television and in an uncredited role in Viva Zapata! (1952). Usually cast as a bad guy thanks to having a face that looks like it could kill you all on its own, Silva has never stopped working throughout his long career. He can always be counted on to deliver a terrific performance, no matter the genre — western, crime, action, even comedy.

Silva’s movie credits include The Tall T (1957), Cinderfella (1960), Ocean’s Eleven (both the 1960 and 2001 versions), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Sharky’s Machine (1981), Above the Law (1988), Mad Dog Time (1996), and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999). Silva appeared in numerous Italian actioners throughout the late 60s and 70s, as well. Some of his TV credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, Thriller, The Untouchables, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Wagon Train, Hawaii Five-0, and Night Gallery.

Now, this is just me talking as both a huge fan of Henry Silva and a gigantic Star Trek nerd, but I’d love to see J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof bring the 82-year-old Silva into the Trek fold as a particularly crabby old Klingon in the next Star Trek movie.

The clip below from Il Boss (a.k.a. Wipeout! – 1973) is in Italian without subtitles, but stick with it for some awesome Silva action:

Henry Silva at imdb.com

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