Character actor and Fort Worth resident Patrick Cranshaw died in December 2005 at the age of 86. He worked constantly until the end playing small but memorable film and TV roles with names like Uncle Earl, Grandpa, Pappy, and – my favorite – The Old Man. 2003’s “Old School” is often cited as featuring his most famous performance, but most of us were aware of his work long before that — even if we didn’t know he was a Fort dweller.
Only recently did I realize that Cranshaw co-starred in one of my favorite scenes from the past decade of movie comedies. (No, nothing from “Old School”). It’s hard to match the formidable improv skills of the great Jennifer Coolidge, but Cranshaw comes close here. I nominate this bit from 2000’s “Best in Show” as the fall-down funniest scene of the Aughts. Even after a million viewings, it never fails to make me happy.
