# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/121 "2002-10-21T22:34:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Tars Tarkas > Armin Shimmerman was Quark on DS9, and also guest spotted in one episode of TNG and the pilot for Voyager, as well as appearing in deleted sceens in Star Trek:Insurrection. He also had a recurring role as Principal Snyder on BTVS S1-S3. (He was eaten at the end of S3) Snyder: Kids today need discipline. That’s an unpopular word these days, ‘discipline’. I know Principal Flutie would have said, ‘Kids need understanding. Kids are human beings.’ That’s the kind of woolly-headed, liberal thinking that leads to being eaten. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/122 "2002-10-21T23:21:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grace \* > \*\* > > I thought Susan Saint James playing the wife? She was also in Kate and Allie. \*\* And the part of Peggy Maxwell on “Name of the Game”. “Name of the Game” was interesting in that it had 3 rotating shows, loosely tied together. And all three of the major stars were on other series, Gene Barry on “Burke’s Law”, Tony Franciosa as “Matt Helm”, and Robert Stack as host of “Unsolved Mysteries” (he previously played Eliot Ness in “The Untouchables”). ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/123 "2002-10-22T06:48:16Z")
This is an obscure one. I remember seeing [Pete Duel](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Duel,+Pete) playing the brother-in-law in reruns of “Gidget”, and then he went on to play in “Alias Smith and Jones”. (But he screwed that show up by killing himself right in the middle of its popularity, dammit.) ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/124 "2002-10-22T08:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\* > He also had a recurring role as Principal Snyder on BTVS S1-S3. (He was eaten at the end of S3) > Snyder: Kids today need discipline. That’s an unpopular word these > days, ‘discipline’. I know Principal Flutie would have said, ‘Kids need > understanding. Kids are human beings.’ That’s the kind of woolly-headed, > liberal thinking that leads to being eaten. \*\* And he had a recurring role on **LA Law** for a while. But then TNG and LA Law seemed to have a reciprocal agreement on appearances for a while there. ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/125 "2002-10-22T09:27:28Z")
I might have missed these already being mentioned, but here’s my contribution. Scott Baio - his “Chachi” roles, and “Charles in Charge” among others Melissa Joan Hart - “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” and “Clarissa Explains It All” ---
**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 22, 2002, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/126 "2002-10-22T12:54:39Z")
David Hyde Pierce: “Powers That Be” and “Fraiser.” Lisa Kudrow: “Mad About You” and “Friends.” Best portrayal of twins on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/127 "2002-10-22T12:58:51Z")
Scott Bakula was in Quantum Leap and is now Captain Archer in Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/128 "2002-10-22T21:08:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lady Ice \* > \*\*Rue McClanahan: Maude, Mama’s Family, and Golden Girls. \*\* Speaking of which: Betty White: Sue Ann Nivens on MTM, and Rose Nylund on Golden Girls. and with all the trek talk, I can’t believe we missed Walter Koenig as Chekov, and Babylon 5’s Bester. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tlw \* > \*\*On that note, how about actors who play the same character on multiple shows? I think the hands down winner on that score would be Richard Belzer, who has portrayed Det. John Munch on Homicide, Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. \*\* Well, that’s a tie with John DeLancie as Q: TNG, DS9, and Voyager. (Spinoffs, yes, but so are L&O and L&O SVU) Does Carrol O’Connor as Archie Bunker count there? All in the Family and Archie’s Place at least, and he must have appeared in some of the immesureable spinoffs… ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/129 "2002-10-22T22:58:00Z")
Doris Roberts on REMINGTON STEELE and EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND Bill Bixby, in addition to the other shows mentioned, starred in a wondrful 70s show called THE MAGICIAN. Totally forgotten now, it was a hvorite of mine at the time. Meredith Baxter Birney was on two very popular shows, BRIDGET LOVES BERNIE (Cancelled after one season in spite of excellent ratings) and FAMILY TIES. Dennis Farina on MIAMI VICE and CRIME STORY. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867/130 "2002-10-23T08:04:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gonzoron \* > **Well, that’s a tie with John DeLancie as Q: TNG, DS9, and Voyager. (Spinoffs, yes, but so are L&O and L&O SVU)** Actually, Belzer still wins. He has also appeared as Munch in **X-Files** and a short lived cop show that I can’t remember the name of right now. They were just guest appearances, but he was playing the same character. Lok [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-successfully-played-two-characters-on-television/84867.md?page=6)