Cast and Characters (The Sting) The Sting
Principal Cast
Johnny Hooker — Robert Redford
A young, reckless street grifter from Joliet who knows how to run short cons but has never attempted anything on the scale Gondorff proposes. Redford plays Hooker as impulsive and emotionally raw — a man driven by grief and loyalty more than by greed. His vulnerability is what makes the con work: Lonnegan sees a kid he can use, not a threat.
"Redford 'works superbly' and 'really turns to' the role." — A.D. Murphy, Variety (1973)
Hooker's arc moves from recklessness to discipline. He begins the film losing his entire take at a gambling table; he ends it declining his share of the score. The money was never the point — Luther's murder was.
Henry Gondorff — Paul Newman
A master con artist hiding out in a Chicago brothel, drinking heavily and dodging the FBI. Newman plays Gondorff as a man whose apparent dissolution masks a precise, calculating mind. The hangover recovery scene — Newman improvised elements of it drawing on personal experience — establishes the gap between surface and substance that defines both the character and the film.
"Newman's role offered 'another facet of his career' in a somewhat older role than usual." — A.D. Murphy, Variety (1973)
The poker scene on the 20th Century Limited is Gondorff's masterpiece within the film: he plays drunk, plays boorish, plays stupid — and beats a professional cheater at his own game. Every detail of the performance is calculated to enrage Lonnegan into acting against his own interests.
Doyle Lonnegan — Robert Shaw
A New York Irish racketeer who runs his criminal empire from a private railcar and cheats at poker as a reflex. Shaw's Lonnegan is menacing through restraint — narrowed eyes, a clenched jaw, the repeated catchphrase "D'ya follow?" that functions as both a question and a threat. His limp was real: Shaw injured his leg playing handball two days before filming began, and director George Roy Hill encouraged him to incorporate it into the character rather than delay production. (wikipedia)
"Shaw is a major coup; his taciturn menace commands attention even when he is simply part of a master shot." — A.D. Murphy, Variety (1973)
Lonnegan is dangerous precisely because he is not stupid. He suspects something is wrong at multiple points during the con. What defeats him is not gullibility but greed — and the con men's understanding that his need to win, to dominate, to never be the mark, is the vulnerability they can exploit.
Lt. William Snyder — Charles Durning
A corrupt Joliet police lieutenant who shakes down Hooker for a cut of his takes. Durning plays Snyder as a heavy, lumbering presence — physically imposing but always a step behind the grifters. His pursuit of Hooker through Chicago provides the film's slapstick-inflected chase sequences.
Kid Twist — Harold Gould
Gondorff's lieutenant and the man who poses as "Les Harmon," the Western Union insider feeding Lonnegan race results. Gould plays Kid Twist as the con artist's aspirational ideal — worldly, debonair, effortlessly convincing.
"Harold Gould's Kid Twist represents the con artist's aspirational future — worldly and debonair and sublimely easy in studied surfaces." — Roderick Heath, Film Freedonia (2021)
J.J. Singleton — Ray Walston
One of the veteran grifters Gondorff recruits for the big con. Walston brings a wiry, understated energy to the role, part of the ensemble of character actors who give the crew its texture.
Billie — Eileen Brennan
The madam who runs the brothel where Gondorff hides out. Brennan plays Billie as tough, knowing, and loyal — one of the few women in the film with any real presence, though even she exists primarily in relation to the male con artists.
Supporting Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Robert Earl Jones | Luther Coleman |
| Dana Elcar | FBI Agent Polk / Hickey |
| Jack Kehoe | Erie Kid |
| Dimitra Arliss | Loretta |
| John Heffernan | Eddie Niles |
| James J. Sloyan | Mottola |
| Charles Dierkop | Floyd |
| Sally Kirkland | Crystal |
| Avon Long | Benny Garfield |
| Paulene Myers | Alva Coleman |