# Actors who have successfully played TWO characters on television **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2001, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867 "2001-10-02T00:17:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/101 "2001-10-05T03:00:23Z")
Majel is the only person (actress, voice) who is in each episode of every Star Trek series. In addition, she also works on _Earth: Final Conflict_, another of Rodenberry’s stories, but certainly not based on the Trrek universe. William Shatner also had a role in the self-penned _Tek War_ saga, which actually had a very good concept. ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/102 "2001-10-05T03:36:56Z")
The first person I thought of, and I don’t even see him mentioned by page three: Robert Young starred in _Father Knows Best_ and _Marcus Welby, M.D._ I guess I’m dating myself again. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/103 "2001-10-05T03:51:16Z")
Sorry if these were mentioned but I skimmed through pretty fast. Bob Newhart? (does that count? Kinda the same person, and one of them was just a dream) Andy Griffith (Matlock and The Andy Griffith Show) Tony Danza (Taxi and Who’s the Boss?) “Hold me closer Tony Danza” Ted McGinley… just joking. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/104 "2001-10-05T12:03:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Originally posted by Telemark \* > \*\*What shows shared universes but weren’t really spin-offs? \*\* _Early Edition_ and _Chicago Hope_ shared a universe. I know they had at least one crossover episode. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/105 "2001-10-05T14:29:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by capacitor \* > **Majel is the only person (actress, voice) who is in each episode of every Star Trek series** I very much doubt this. Though I can’t provide you with any episode titles of the top of my head, I’m fairly sure there have been episodes of TNG, DS9, or Voyager where the crew never interacted with the Federation computer (and thus heard Majel’s voice). And I’m almost completely certain that I didn’t hear her voice on the new Enterprise series. She’s not listed in the credits, in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/106 "2001-10-05T18:55:39Z")
> [@](#): > > I guess I’m dating myself again. [dogbert]It’s not like anyone else would.[/dogbert] Forgive me, I’m weak. > [@](#): > > Friends and Mad About You and Seinfield, Kramer is subletting Paul’s old appartment. If I remember correctly, it’s also set in the same universe as the Dick Van Dyke show, since Dick’s boss (Alan Brady?) was on the show once. Is that the record for chronological distance? ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/107 "2001-10-05T19:05:38Z")
Yeah, that was pretty weak. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/108 "2001-10-05T22:05:55Z")
Shared universe – Guns of Paradise (I believe it was originally called Paradise): I believe there was an episode featuring The Rifleman, Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp (Connors, Barry and O’Brien reprising their old TV roles). Furthermore, didn’t David Caradine’s Caine from Kung Fu: The Legend Continues go back in time and interact with Clint Walker’s Cheyenne Brody? Then there was that Kenny Rogers Gambler movie that had every Western TV star in the history of television pop in to say a line then shove off. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Lionors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c37758/32.png) [@Lionors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionors)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/109 "2001-10-06T01:16:36Z")
One to add to the list of Bill Bixby series – The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. Marilu Henner - Taxi and Evening Shade. Judd Hirsch of Taxi has also been in several different shows, but my CRS disease is keeping from remembering which ones. Also, wasn’t Linda Evans in both The Big Valley and Dynasty? ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/110 "2001-10-06T05:40:58Z")
Wait, before we forget–Bob Denver. He played (pffft) Gilligan on Gilligan’s Island. But he had a much better role as Maynard G. Krebs in “The Many Loves of Dobie Gills”. That’s right, Daddy-O. Did anybody mention Tony Randall? As Felix in “The Odd Couple” and Sidney in “Sidney” Don Johnson, “Miami Vice” and “Nash Bridges” Bret Hart: As “The Hitman” on “WWF Raw” and As Luther Root on “Lonesome Dove” ---
**Author:** ![Angelnside](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Angelnside](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angelnside)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/111 "2001-10-06T17:08:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > **Gerald McRaney was a Simon on “Simon & Simon” and was Major Dad on "Major Dad."** I was just going to finish you off here with the fact that Gerald McRaney also played Russell Greene on “Promised Land”. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Maxwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jack\_Maxwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Maxwell)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/112 "2001-10-06T20:10:34Z")
Ernest Borgnine for “McHale’s Navy” and “The Single Guy” ---
**Author:** ![freewill39](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d2c977/32.png) [@freewill39](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freewill39)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/113 "2001-10-06T23:20:17Z")
How’s this one for the books: George Clooney achieved fame and notoriety as Dr. Doug Ross in the dramatic series, E/R…right? Well, what most people don’t know is that 10 yrs or so before, George got his start on a little known sit com called… …E/R! That’s right. The same actor was in two TV shows with the same name at two different points in time. Somewhere in there, he also had a stint of “The Facts of Life”. (-: ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_O.Pinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/839c29/32.png) [@Frank\_O.Pinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_O.Pinion)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/114 "2001-10-07T01:47:20Z")
Somebody mentioned the Drew Carey Show actors would have a hard time going onto other roles or shows. Watch Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Drew and Ryan Stiles are both on that show. Ryan Stiles has been on there since 1990! Drew Carey has been on since 1998. Wayne Brady, from the same show, now has the Wayne Brady Show. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/115 "2002-10-21T04:48:47Z")
Bill Cosby in “Eye Spy” with Robert Culp. Later, the Cosby Show, and then some other Cosby show after that. Plus Fat Albert. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/116 "2002-10-21T07:48:04Z")
…and nobody came up with Timmy’s mom? And Will Robonson’s mom? June Lockhart, the quintessential actress, was both Ruth Martin (_Lassie_), and Maureen Robinson (_Lost in Space_). The imdb tells me that she spent several years in a recurring tole on _General Hospital_ as well, but those weren’t the shows that made me associate her face and figure with Campbell’s Tomato Soup… And let us not forget Sally “Gidget” Fields, who transmogrified herself into Sister Bertrille, the Flying Nun (She also played _The Girl with Something Extra_, but that was kind of an embarrassment, to watch , so I think I’ll leave it alone). Dennis Weaver, the original sidekick to Marshall Dillon, spent nine seasons as Chester (_Gunsmoke_), then played a veterinarian _in Kentucky Jones_, a dad in _Gentle Ben_, and then the Marshall from Taos, NM, in _McCloud_. Barbara Eden played, not only Jeannie in _I Dream of Jeannie_, but also the wild-livin Mama in _Harper Valley PTA_ (although I don’t personally recall that being a successful show). Rod Serling was successful as a host/set-up man in both _The Twilight Zone_ and _Rod Serling’s Night Gallery_. Walter Brennan as Grampa McCoy (_Thr Real McCpys_), and Will Sonnet the Elder in _The Guns of Will Sonnet_. All in all, it’s not that difficult to find actors who have succeeded in more than one TV series. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/117 "2002-10-21T07:49:57Z")
I can either start previewin’ or I can go to bed. G’night. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/118 "2002-10-21T12:38:35Z")
Nobody has mentioned \*\* Phil Hartman \*\* for Saturday Night Live, News Radio, and The Simpsons? How soon they forget. \*\* Steve Landesberg \*\* played a con artist minister in an episode of Barney Miller, than later returned as Lt. Dietrich. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/119 "2002-10-21T20:15:19Z")
Kirstie Alley on _Cheers_ and _Veronica’s Closet_. Lisa Kudrow on _Mad About You_ and _Friends_. Courtney Cox played Michael J. Fox’s girlfriend on _Family Ties_ and is now also on _Friends_. Scott Baio on _Happy Days_ and _Charles in Charge_. The older daughter on _Charles in Charge_ was also on _Baywatch_. Alfonso (Ribiera(?) was on _Silver Spoons_ and _Fresh Prince_. The dad on _Fresh Prince_ was on something else too, can’t think of it now. And wasn’t John Lithgow on another series besides _Third Rock_? ---
**Author:** ![knarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@knarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knarf)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/120 "2002-10-21T22:15:15Z")
Someone I didn’t see mentioned: Brian Keith in both _Hardcastle and McCormick_ and _Family Affair_, among others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867.md?page=7)