Ed O'Ross

Ed O'Ross can make a supporting character sound dangerous before the script has supplied much evidence. His deep, gravelly voice and imposing presence are useful tools, and directors have repeatedly called on them for officers, cynical cops and villains. Mendez in Lethal Weapon (1987) and Viktor Rostavili, the Georgian mobster in Walter Hill's Red Heat (1988), belong to the run of action parts that established him. We value that immediate sense of threat, though the repeated demand for it can make the parts blur together.

In Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), O'Ross plays Lt. Touchdown, but the film's chief acting force is elsewhere. We found the training camp horribly entertaining, and were disturbed by how readily R. Lee Ermey made military cruelty watchable. The move to Vietnam loosens the film's grip, though it remains a powerful war drama. O'Ross is worth noticing within it, but anyone approaching the film chiefly to see him should know how completely Ermey dominates its first section.

With Hill's Another 48 Hrs. (1990), in which he plays Frank Cruise, the film itself is harder to recommend. Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte still work well together, but a hurried crime plot and too much violence crowd out their comedy. O'Ross's presence is no reason to excuse that, and we would not send anyone through a poor sequel merely to complete a list of his credits. His supporting work has to be judged separately from the quality of the action films that kept employing him.

Television offers a more useful change of setting, especially Six Feet Under (2001–2005), in which he plays the recurring Russian florist Nikolai. The Russian background is familiar casting for O'Ross, but a lusty florist is a welcome change from another mobster or officer. Start with Full Metal Jacket for the film, then seek out Nikolai to see him working beyond the usual action-film duties.