Larry Hankin

Larry David's first pick for Kramer on Seinfeld didn't get the part. Michael Richards did. That near-miss is basically the Larry Hankin story in miniature: he keeps showing up in the right rooms and leaving with the second-best outcome. He started doing stand-up in Greenwich Village in his early 30s, landed representation from the same managers as Woody Allen, co-founded The Committee improv group in San Francisco, and directed a short film that earned an Oscar nomination in 1980. None of it made him famous. What did was showing up in bits of Home Alone and Escape from Alcatraz, building a resume out of parts most actors skip.

Mr. Heckles on Friends is probably his most recognized face, which is especially galling given what happened: the producers killed the character off one episode before he'd qualify for recurring-character pay. He reportedly confronted them on set in front of the cast and crew. The Friends reunion in 2021 brought him back, and he said he felt insulted by how he was handled there, too. Meanwhile, Old Joe the junkyard owner on Breaking Bad became a cult favorite despite appearing in only a handful of episodes. The lesson Hollywood keeps refusing to learn is that Hankin tends to be more memorable than the show deserves.

He appeared on Malcolm in the Middle alongside Bryan Cranston years before they reunited on Breaking Bad. The real throughline is that he came to all of this late: stand-up in his early 30s, improv troupes, film work in his 40s. He turned a career of near-misses and supporting slots into 190-plus screen credits. His website sells signed Mr. Heckles merchandise, which is either sad or extremely on-brand depending on your perspective.