# Actors and characters that share first names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926 "2011-09-28T20:59:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/1 "2011-09-28T20:59:17Z")
On _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_, Ted Knight played Ted Baxter. What other regular cast members on TV have shared first names with their characters? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/2 "2011-09-28T21:01:45Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > On _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_, Ted Knight played Ted Baxter. > > What other regular cast members on TV have shared first names with their characters? On the _ **Mary** _ Tyler Moore show? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/3 "2011-09-28T21:06:20Z")
I’ve read somewhere on the Internet (so it must be true) that Tony Danza wouldn’t respond to any other name except Tony, so his characters are always Tony. Looking at his IMDB entry, he did play characters with different first names, but he was Tony in Taxi, Who’s the Boss, the Tony Danza show, and Hudson Street. > **[Tony Danza | Actor, Producer, Director](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001103/)** > > Known for: Don Jon, Who's the Boss?, Taxi ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/4 "2011-09-28T21:06:43Z")
Woody Harrelson played Woody Boyd on _Cheers_. I remember reading somewhere that this was entirely a coincidence, as the character was written before Harrelson even auditioned, but I have nothing to back that up. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/5 "2011-09-28T21:09:58Z")
Tons. Most sitcoms that are ‘vehicles’ for comedians do this. Andy Griffith / Andy Taylor. Lucille Ball / Lucy Ricardo. Bob Newhart / Bob Hartley. Jerry Seinfeld / Jerry Seinfeld. Danny Thomas / Danny Williams. Are you just yanking our chains, **Bricker**? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/6 "2011-09-28T21:49:54Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Are you just yanking our chains, **Bricker**? No, and it kind of floors me to realize that even in my example I completely skipped over Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards to focus on Ted Knight / Baxter. I guess I was subconsciously thinking of actors others than the ones with shows named after them, so Andy Griffith and Jerry Seinfeld would not count, but Tony Danza does. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/7 "2011-09-28T21:55:47Z")
Here’s an odd one. In the Shadow radio dramas, Margot Lane is the Shadow’s companion. She was named after Margot Stevenson. The first person to play her was Agnes Moorehead. The second was Margot Stevenson. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/8 "2011-09-28T21:57:09Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Tony Danza does. [Does he ever!](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDanza) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/9 "2011-09-28T22:04:57Z")
**Emeril** **The Bob Newhart Show** and **Bob** Not quite what you’re asking for, but the actors and roles in Robert Altman’s **Images** were: Susannah York : Cathryn Rene Auberjonois: Hugh Marcel Bozzuffi: Rene Hugh Millais: Marcel Cathryn Harrison: Susannah ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/10 "2011-09-28T22:05:11Z")
On _The Games_ (an Australian comedy about the organizing of the Sydney Olympics[sup]\*[/sup]) pretty much all the characters had the same names, full names even, as the actors who played them. John Clarke, Bryan Dawe, and Gina Riley played John Clarke, Bryan Dawe, and Gina Riley, respectively. The names of fictional characters don’t really have any significance, why not just use their real names? Sam Neill was in one episode, but I don’t know if the full name of his character was ever mentioned. - That description doesn’t do it justice. It was the sort of comedy in the face of bureaucracy that only the British and Australians know how to do. If you’ve seen the “front fell off” video, that’s Clarke and Dawe. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/11 "2011-09-28T22:17:25Z")
In My Big Fat Greek Life, which was the TV show spun from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the main character’s name was changed from Toula to Mia in an attempt to get some name recognition going with Nia Vardalos. > **[My Big Fat Greek Life (TV Series 2003) ⭐ 4.7 | Comedy](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340256/)** > > 30m | TV-PG ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/12 "2011-09-28T22:46:40Z")
There’s Harry Anderson playing Harry Stone on Night Court. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/13 "2011-09-28T23:18:18Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > There’s Harry Anderson playing Harry Stone on Night Court. Perfect. Let’s formally eliminate actors on shows named for themselves. So Roseanne and Bob Newhart are out; Tony’s still in for _Who’s the Boss?_, and this one fits perfectly as wel;. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/14 "2011-09-28T23:27:14Z")
Vivian Vance in _The Lucy Show_ (but not in _I Love Lucy_). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/15 "2011-09-28T23:40:21Z")
Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper in _Two and a Half Men_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/16 "2011-09-28T23:41:42Z")
I guess my link in post #8 was too subtle? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/17 "2011-09-28T23:45:04Z")
Not quite the same thing, but I just saw a late season episode of _Hawaii Five-0_ where character actor Kwan Hi Lim, who appeared dozens of times over the course of the show as a different character each time, played a judge. In the credits he was listed simply as “Judge,” but the placard on his bench read “Judge Kwan Hi Lim.” ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/18 "2011-09-28T23:50:36Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > There’s Harry Anderson playing Harry Stone on Night Court. He also played a con-man character named “Harry the Hat” on Cheers before that. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/19 "2011-09-28T23:53:47Z")
Tim Allen played Tim Taylor on Home Improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926/20 "2011-09-29T00:05:14Z")
Several of the supporting characters on _The Office_ (US) are named after the actors: Phyllis, Angela, Oscar, and Creed are all played by actors with those same first names. For Creed both the character and the actor have the same full name: Creed Bratton. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-characters-that-share-first-names/597926.md?page=2)