Thomas Gomez

After beginning his career as a stage actor, Thomas Gomez went on to appear in an impressive number of features and television series during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. His first film role was as Meade, the leader of a band of Nazi spies who infiltrate Great Britain during the '40s in "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror." This part set the tone for much of Gomez's big-screen legacy. Indeed, while his stage work included the lead in "A Man for All Seasons" on Broadway, when it came to movies he got cast mostly as bad guys, supporting characters, or both. During the '40s, he seemed a natural fit for the film noir genre, appearing in "Force of Evil" as a small-town numbers runner who stands in the way of a gangster boss's takeover of New York's rackets.

He also landed a supporting role in John Huston's legendary "Key Largo," and played a carnival owner who helps a blackmailer out in the '47 "Ride the Pink Horse," which netted him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The next few decades brought guest-star appearances in various television series and two of his more notable film roles; the commercial hit "Trapeze," in which he played an eminently-practical circus owner; and the John Wayne epic "The Conqueror."