I had an elephant puppet I named Edward Everett Elephant because I didn’t want to name him Horton.
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I’ve always been a fan of David Battley…
He was also in the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
He was kind of the same guy in everything he did, but always a memorable performance. 
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The marvelous Mary Wickes worked with every one from Abbott & Costello
to Lucy
to Whoopi
And hey – they even wrote a book about her!
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Who Done It?, she was a kick in that (as she was in everything), my only complaint was that they should have used her more because the film got better whenever she was on screen.
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As a fan of westerns, there are quite a few. (and yes, they did more than westerns)
How about Jack Elam, he was even represented in a sketch.
Aside from the big names - Walter Brennan, Gabby Hayes, Slim Pickens, and folks like Strother Martin, and Eli Wallach, there was John McIntire
And Will Geer
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John McIntire’s son Tim was also a fine character actor and played Quai Chang Caine’s brother in Kung Fu.
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Dick Jones is worth the price of admission alone.
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LOVED him in Argo (2012).
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Is Alan Arkin a character actor? He’s done a pretty broad range of roles.
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You’ve gotta give it up for Peavey, cmon.
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I love The Rocketeer. I just don’t think he counts as a character actor.
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Sigh, fine. I’ll take Clancy Brown. We’ll be over here looking like we should be smoking.
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He’s played the gamut. Leading Man, Supporting Roles. The definition of Character Actor is “a supporting actor known for small parts who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.” Arkin exploded early on as a major actor in significant roles and as he aged into his later career he gravitated to smaller roles and won two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Argo (2012) winning an Oscar for Sunshine. As of 1990 and onward I’d go to bat for him as a character actor. As an older man, he is unique when he is onscreen, distinct and colorful, and is now more a supporter in films not the lead or main character. My opinion.
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By that definition, if you only go by recent roles now that they’ve aged, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are now character actors too. I just don’t know.
It DEPENDS on the part they play and how they are used in the film. Certain actors can pivot and vary the waters depending on their talent and their opportunities. Al Pacino for example is a character actor in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2019) and a co-lead in The Irishman (2019). The two works apply the same actor in differing ways dependent on the whims and desires of the director and their team. In my opinion, it is a category of a part any actor can play even if they are cast as a lead in something else before or after. It is an application or an appliance of a performer in a particular capacity this is separate from what they’ve done elsewhere. Each role has its own life and register regardless of associations or typecasting.
But the first part of the definition you provided was that they are known for small parts. I don’t think Arkin, Pacino or De Niro are known for small parts. They just have them lately. I don’t think character actor is a label that depends on the movie.
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Careers change. They evolve. They extend. They contract. People age out of certain casting and either adapt or retire. Hollywood has a short memory. They eventually forget you after 5 years or so unless you are a Brando type seared into memory or are the latest thing that defies fads and tastes. Arkin became a character actor by the early 90s. To fit the definition, Alan shifted to a supporting actor at that point who then featured in “unusual, interesting, or eccentric” turns in what parts he could get or were offered. Alan Arkin in the 60s and 70s was a top billed performer expected to carry a picture. Alan Arkin in the 2000s and beyond was a character actor in the minds of Ben Affleck or anyone else who gave him a job. As long as the person has the ability to cross that line, I believe based on many careers like Edward G. Robinson or Peter Lorre it is very possible to do so. And it has been done.
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I love seeing Dick Miller in anything, and most of the other Corman regulars. Robert Picardo turns up in a surprising amount of older stuff, and despite not liking Voyager, it’s fun seeing him before that. Michael J Pollard’s usually good for stealing a scene, especially as knock-off Q in Tango and Cash.
And does Anne Ramsey count?
Oh, and how about Brian Doyle-Murray?
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