The 2nd Annual Carney Awards | The Character Actor Hall of Fame

2nd Annual Carney Award Highlights

The Second Annual Carney Awards, returning to Beverly Hills, faced the inevitable challenge of how to follow the wildly successful inaugural Carney Awards the previous year. A superb line-up of honorees ensured the show had great promise: Gary Cole, Stephen Tobolowsky, Dan Hedaya, Conchata Ferrell, Steve Buscemi and Jonathan Banks. The personable Fred Willard returned as host, and presenters Ed Asner, Joe Mantegna and Julie Hagerty made for a great evening of stories, laughter, and recognition of careers that simply have no equal. The annual event was now clearly established as both an industry favorite and an audience choice for great entertainment and character actor recognition.

The Honorees: The Best of The Best

Ed Asner presented the Carney to Dan Hedaya

Stephen Tobolowsky shared his career dreams

See the Carney Honorees’ remarkable roles

2nd Annual Carney Award Honorees

Gary Cole

Gary Cole has had many starring roles in TV series such as Midnight Caller, American Gothic, Crusade, The Good Wife, and most recently, Chicago Fire. He had a recurring role on The West Wing as Vice President Bob Russell, and has made notable guest appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Arrested Development. He appeared in, and later joined the regular cast of, HBO’s Entourage. In 2014, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work in the third season of Veep. On the big screen, Gary’s appeared in numerous films, and in 1999 starred as the office boss in Office Space. He’s also done voice work on Family Guy and several other animated series such as Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and Archer.

Jonathan Banks

Jonathan Banks began his acting career on the stage, and later gained recognition for his roles in Airplane!, 48 Hrs., and Beverly Hills Cop. He became a series regular on Breaking Bad for the third, fourth and fifth seasons. Jonathan reprised his role as Mike Ehrmantraut as a regular in the Breaking Bad spinoff series Better Call Saul, for which he earned his third Emmy nomination in season 1. Earlier he earned rave reviews as Frank McPike in Wiseguy. He has received six Primetime Emmy® Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Other film roles include appearances in Armed and Dangerous, Buckaroo Banzai, Freejack, Flipper, Airplane!, Gremlins, Murder Me, Murder You, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and Identity Thief.

Stephen Tobolowsky

Stephen’s career began in live theater, including writing and directing the plays Two Idiots in Hollywood and True Stories. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for the revival of Morning’s at Seven. Stephen’s film career accelerated in the 1980s with roles in The Philadelphia Experiment, Nobody’s Fool, Spaceballs and Mississippi Burning. He’s appeared in more than 200 popular movies, including Bird on a Wire, Basic Instinct, Groundhog Day, Radioland Murders, Murder in the First, Mr. Magoo, The Insider, Memento, Freaky Friday, Garfield and Wild Hogs. His many TV appearances include Seinfeld, Mad About You, Chicago Hope, The Practice and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and recurring roles on CSI: Miami, Deadwood, Californication and Glee.

Dan Hedaya

Known for roles as sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters, Dan played Julian Marty, a cuckolded husband who plots his wife’s murder in the first Coen Brothers film, Blood Simple. He’s had major supporting roles in films like True Confessions, Tightrope, Commando, Joe Versus the Volcano, Rookie of the Year, Clueless, The First Wives Club, Daylight, Marvin’s Room, Alien Resurrection, A Civil Action, A Night at the Roxbury, The Hurricane, Dick, Shaft, The Crew, Swimfan, Robots and Strangers with Candy. Dan’s work includes considerable stage peformances on Broadway, and he has appeared in multiple TV series, including his comedically sharp role as Carla Tortelli’s ex-husband Nick on the sitcom Cheers. He also appeared in Miami Vice, Family Ties, Monk and ER.

Conchata Ferrell

Known for her work as a regular cast member on five TV sitcom series, Conchata is best known for her lengthy tenure playing in all 12 seasons (212 episodes) of Two and a Half Men, earning her two Primetime Emmy® Award nominations (in 2005 cand 2007). She starred in the 1979 feature film Heartland and appeared as the tough-talking owner of Mystic Pizza. Ferrell’s supporting roles in films include performances in Deadly Hero, Network, Edward Scissorhands, Erin Brockovich, Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, Mr. Deeds and K-PAX, as well as True Romance. Her other television credits include ER, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hot L Baltimore, Teen Angel, Matlock, B. J. and the Bear, Good Times, Hearts Afire, Townies, Night Court, The Love Boat and Push, Nevada. She has three Emmy nominations in total, having previously been recognized in 1992 for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for L.A. Law.

Steve Buscemi

Steve has starred and supported in numerous successful Hollywood and independent films, including Parting Glances, New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs, Desperado, Con Air, Armageddon, The Grey Zone, Ghost World, Big Fish, and The Death of Stalin. He is known for his appearances in the Coen brothers films Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo and The Big Lebowski. Steve provides the voice of Randall Boggs in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. In 2004 Steve joined the cast of The Sopranos, on which he earned an Emmy® Award nomination. Buscemi starred in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (based on Enoch L. Johnson), a corrupt Atlantic City politician who rules the town during the Prohibition era, which earned him two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe, and two nominations for an Emmy® Award.