Ed Lauter was the first character actor I ever interviewed. And he was pretty far into a long and hit-packed career, even then. In the years since that chat, I always smile when I see him on the screen, turning up as a hood, a prison warden, a studio chief (“The Artist”) a good ol’ boy, or what have you.

So I was sad to hear of his passing in LA. He was 74.

I can’t remember which film he was in at the time of our conversation (“Fat Man and Little Boy” maybe). But I do remember what he wanted to talk about, his memorable work in a film set in the mountains of Tennessee, a moonshiner’s melodrama, “Lolly Madonna XXX.” I was working in Knoxville at the time.

It’s the sort of eccentric film, very regional, that you never see these days. But he was good in scores of movies and TV series over the years — tall, balding, menacing, most often. A fine resume he left us with.