# Actor (currently living) that has played the same role in a movie the most times **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261 "2015-04-09T20:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/1 "2015-04-09T20:50:46Z")
So who is it? I know that Mickey Rooney played the Andy Hardy character numerous times. I think that there a couple of dozen Dagwood and Blondie movies from the 1930’s with the same actors. The cast from the Harry Potter movies played the same roles 8 times. The Fast and Furious actors are up to 7. Robert Downey Jr. has played Tony Stark probably close to that. Samuel Jackson has played Nick Fury numerous times. As well as Hugh Jackman played the Wolverine numerous times. So who in the modern era has the current record? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/2 "2015-04-09T21:03:02Z")
Kevin Smith’s “View Askewniverse” movies have some recurring characters, including Smith as Silent Bob and Jason Mewes as Jay. They are about to make _Mallrats 2_ and _Clerks III_, which will bring the total to 8 movies, I think. Connery and Moore each played Bond seven times. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/3 "2015-04-09T21:06:04Z")
Judi Dench played M seven times. ---
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/4 "2015-04-09T21:11:44Z")
Leonard Nimoy played Spock in 8 films ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/5 "2015-04-09T21:12:08Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > The Fast and Furious actors are up to 7. Only Vin Diesel appears in all 7 > [@](#): > > Robert Downey Jr. has played Tony Stark probably close to that. Samuel Jackson has played Nick Fury numerous times. As well as Hugh Jackman played the Wolverine numerous times. _A:AoU_ will make #6 for Downey as Stark and #7 for Jackson as Fury. Jackman is up to 7 for Wolverine, too. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/6 "2015-04-09T21:12:37Z")
I guess they’re technically TV movies, but Tom Selleck is now on his ninth Jesse Stone movie. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/7 "2015-04-09T21:14:23Z")
Christopher Lee has played Dracula 10 times in movies. ---
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/8 "2015-04-09T21:18:36Z")
Robert Englund - 8 times as Freddy Krueger. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/9 "2015-04-09T21:23:33Z")
[Morten Grunwald](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0344655/) played Benny Frandsen in 14 [Olsen Gang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olsen_Gang) movies, from 1968 to 1998. He’s currently 80 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/10 "2015-04-09T21:23:45Z")
> [@Nauplius](#): > > Leonard Nimoy played Spock in 8 films And now I see the title is asking for currently living so Nimoy wouldn’t count. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/11 "2015-04-09T21:24:36Z")
Toshiyuki Nishida has played the same character in the Tsuribaka Nishi movie series, through 21 movies. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/12 "2015-04-09T21:33:31Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Only Vin Diesel appears in all 7 I’ve never seen any, but I thought Paul Walker returned for the second one, while Vin Diesel went on to make Chronicles of Riddick. Am I wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/13 "2015-04-09T21:37:23Z")
Tom Cruise has been in how many of those movies, the franchise whose name is escaping me but I don’t care to look it up? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/14 "2015-04-09T21:51:57Z")
Sean Connery and Roger Moore both played James Bond in at least seven movies I can think of. Poor Desmond Llewellyn died several years ago in a car crash, but he played Q in a BUNCH of James Bond movies! Is Lois (Moneypenny) Maxwell still alive? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/15 "2015-04-09T21:56:34Z")
Well now, Jimmy Lydon is still alive at age 92. How many times did he play Henry (“Coming, Mother!”) Aldrich in movies, back in the 1940s? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/16 "2015-04-09T21:56:49Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Is Lois (Moneypenny) Maxwell still alive? Nope. (She died in 2007.) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/17 "2015-04-09T22:02:43Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’ve never seen any, but I thought Paul Walker returned for the second one, while Vin Diesel went on to make Chronicles of Riddick. > > Am I wrong? Diesel appeared in all 7, with only a cameo appearance in Tokyo Drift. Walker was in 6 but not in Tokyo Drift. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/18 "2015-04-09T22:03:12Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’ve never seen any, but I thought Paul Walker returned for the second one, while Vin Diesel went on to make Chronicles of Riddick. > > Am I wrong? It was _xXx_ Diesel was making but you’re correct - he wasn’t in the second movie. And he only had a brief cameo in the third movie, _Tokyo Drift_. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/19 "2015-04-09T22:03:45Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > Tom Cruise has been in how many of those movies, the franchise whose name is escaping me but I don’t care to look it up? Mission Impossible? Think there have only been 4 with a 5th coming, with his role as Ethan Hunt. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261/20 "2015-04-09T22:06:43Z")
Tom Cruise has played the same character in most of his movies from what I have seen. Same for Jack Nicholson but such a better character. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-currently-living-that-has-played-the-same-role-in-a-movie-the-most-times/717261.md?page=2)