Underappreciated Actors: Frank McRae
Filed Under (Movies) by admin on 30-04-2009
Tagged Under : Frank McRae, Sylvester Stallone, Underappreciated Actors
If Sven Thorsen was the go-to guy for Arnold Schwarzenegger when he needed to fill out his cast with another musclebound foreigner who could be a credible threat to kill him, then Frank McRae was the go-to guy for Sylvester Stallone when he needed a gentle giant who, though sensitive, would tower over himself and everyone else in the cast, quietly daring anybody to piss him off and see what happened.
Though his resume is filled with notable appearances in both films and television shows of the highest stature, it is in the supporting cast of Stallone films that Frank McRae has made some of his strongest impressions.
Particularly in the early Sly flicks of the late 1970s and early 1980s is where you will see the most of McRae, with appearances in Paradise Alley, Rocky II and F.I.S.T. But he had perhaps his most significant role in Lock Up, where as the gentle giant of the prison system, he served as Stallone’s quiet protector.
He also appeared across from Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero and added a pair of appearances in the popular 80s action films 48 Hrs. and Another 48 Hrs.
He was the first casualty of the not-so-Cold War when the Russians invaded in Red Dawn with its classic 80s cast that included Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Powers Boothe, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson, Harry Dean Stanton and “Superfly” Ron O’Neal.
McRae also became part of the James Bond saga with a role in Licence to Kill, across from fellow underappreciated actor Robert Davi.
He has also been a part of some of the most notable television series of the last several decades, among them E.R., Hill Street Blues, Magnum P.I. and The Rockford Files.
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