TV's Underrated stars of 2009: Zap2it's Year in Review

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Tom Aldredge, 'Damages'

You know him as: Uncle Pete, Patty's (Glenn Close) protector-turned-fixer

Why we like him: Because the 80-year-old Aldredge managed to make Pete both a ruthless operator -- doing all kinds of dirty work at his niece's behest -- and a figure of sympathy, a man who cares deeply for his wife and took in a young Patty when her home life became too unstable. He deserved a more dignified death than he got.

Where else you've seen him: "The Sopranos," "Ryan's Hope" and the Coen brothers' "Intolerable Cruelty"

-- Rick Porter, Zap2it

Related:

'Damages' recaps