# Actors who played many nationalities **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080 "2014-01-29T23:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/1 "2014-01-29T23:21:56Z")
The guy that played the most had to be Anthony Quinn. Off the top of my head I can name about eight that the Mexican/American actor portrayed. Arab – Lawrence of Arabia Mexican - Viva Zapata Greek - Zorba the Greek Italian - The Salamander Native American - They Died with Their Boots on Spanish - Seven Cities of Gold North African - Road to Morocco Filippino - Back to Bataan French - Lust for Life American - The Happening (the first one) (Yes, I know he doubled or tripled with many of these) I also remember him playing at least two Asians, a Polynesian and I think a couple of South Americans but I am not sure. I imagine there were a number of other actors who qualify with at least five, but who are they? ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/2 "2014-01-30T00:13:13Z")
My first thought was Jürgen Prochnow, who has played good guys and bad guys of every nationality. Let’s see… German – Das Boot Hungarian – The Fall Russian – The Fourth War Kazakhstani – Air Force One Calladan – Dune Scottish – Macbeth American – In the Mouth of Madness British – Robin Hood French – The Da Vinci Code That’s all I can come up with for now. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/3 "2014-01-30T00:17:13Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > The guy that played the most had to be Anthony Quinn. > > Off the top of my head I can name about eight that the Mexican/American actor portrayed. > > Arab – Lawrence of Arabia > Mexican - Viva Zapata > Greek - Zorba the Greek > Italian - The Salamander > Native American - They Died with Their Boots on > Spanish - Seven Cities of Gold > North African - Road to Morocco > Filippino - Back to Bataan > French - Lust for Life > American - The Happening (the first one) > (Yes, I know he doubled or tripled with many of these) > > I also remember him playing at least two Asians, a Polynesian and I think a couple of South Americans but I am not sure. > > I imagine there were a number of other actors who qualify with at least five, but who are they? And he played _Barabbas_ ---
**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:** [January 30, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/4 "2014-01-30T00:19:18Z")
Peter Stormare has played German, French, Italian, Russian, Swedish, and I’m sure plenty of other assorted European nationalities. I don’t have the time to document them all. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/5 "2014-01-30T00:20:54Z")
My first thought was Erick Avari. Not sure what he’s played in most of his movies; I imagine they’re mostly “various middle-eastern” (it’s a lot harder to figure out now that he’s playing characters with names, rather than “Libyan Ambassador”), but: Greek: Daredevil Indian: Heroes Alien: Stargate Alien: Star Trek: Enterprise Ape: Planet of the Apes Pakistan: The West Wing Egyptian: The Mummy Bajoran: Star Trek: DS9 Libya: Seaquest Alien: Star Trek: Next Generation French: Nothing Lasts Forever ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/6 "2014-01-30T00:22:06Z")
Cliff Curtis, an ethnically Maori New Zealander has portrayed: [ol] [li]Arabs - Three Kings, Crossing Over[/li][li]Latinos - Training Day, Blow[/li][li]East Indians - A Thousand Words[/li][li]Other Polynesians - Rapa Nui[/li][li] Central Asians -Traffic[/li][/ol] Reference > **[Cliff Curtis - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193295/)** > > Cliff Curtis. Actor: Risen. Cliff Curtis was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, on July 27, 1968. > > He is of New Zealand Maori descent (with Ngati Hauiti and Te Arawa tribal affiliations). He enrolled at the New Zealand Drama School, and then the Teatro... ---
**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:** [January 30, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/7 "2014-01-30T00:25:18Z")
To quote me in another thread: in between famously playing Khan Singh on the small screen and the big screen, Ricardo Montalban got an Emmy for playing the _other_ kind of Indian in **How The West Was Won** after passing himself off as Japanese in the Oscar-winning **Sayonara** and, apparently, getting nominated for a Tony playing a black dude in **Jamaica**. He’d play an Arab. He’d play a Frenchman. Greek? Check. Mexican? Of course. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/8 "2014-01-30T00:35:30Z")
Ben Kingsley has to win some award. Khan was supposed to be a mutt, and weren’t the Stargate guys essentially human, except for the parasites? Avari is of course one of the few Parsi semi-famous people. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/9 "2014-01-30T00:46:13Z")
Cliff Curtis, an ethnically Maori New Zealander has portrayed: [ol] [li]Arabs - Three Kings, Crossing Over[/li][li]Latinos - Training Day, Blow[/li][li]East Indians - A Thousand Words[/li][li]Other Polynesians - Rapa Nui[/li][li] Central Asians -Traffic[/li][/ol] 6- Maori in Whalerider and Genesis 7-Generic American in the TV series Missing 8-Something Slavic as Reuben Palchuk in the TV series Trauma 9-Nonspecific cave man in 10,000 BC ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/10 "2014-01-30T00:47:17Z")
Gary Oldman: English American Transylvanian Danish (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead) Russian Female is probably Meryl Streep ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/11 "2014-01-30T01:05:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Ben Kingsley has to win some award. > > Khan was supposed to be a mutt, and weren’t the Stargate guys essentially human, except for the parasites? Avari is of course one of the few Parsi semi-famous people. Looking at IMDB I can see for Kingsley: English French Italian Polish Greek German Austrian Indian Persian Israeli I’m probably missing some there. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/12 "2014-01-30T01:08:48Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Khan was supposed to be a mutt Cite? On the show, Lieutenant McGivers takes one look at the guy and figures him for the Northern India area – _probably a Sikh,_ she adds. I don’t recall her offering any other comments on the matter; she just paints a turban-wearing Khan Singh while nobody else comments on the guy’s ethnicity. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/13 "2014-01-30T01:16:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Cliff Curtis, an ethnically Maori New Zealander has portrayed: > > [ol] > [li]Arabs - Three Kings, Crossing Over[/li][li]Latinos - Training Day, Blow[/li][li]East Indians - A Thousand Words[/li][li]Other Polynesians - Rapa Nui[/li][li] Central Asians -Traffic[/li][/ol] > > 6- Maori in Whalerider and Genesis > 7-Generic American in the TV series Missing > 8-Something Slavic as Reuben Palchuk in the TV series Trauma > 9-Nonspecific cave man in 10,000 BC I stated that he IS \*\*ethnically Maori \*\*so he really isn’t portraying something that he already is when he is portraying a Maori. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/14 "2014-01-30T01:32:33Z")
Yul Brynner: American white guy (Magnificent Seven) Italian (Death Rage) Robot (Futureworld, Westworld) Russian (The Serpent) Thai (The King and I) Mexican (Adios Sabata) French (The Madwoman of Chaillot) Polish (Romance of a Horsethief) Argentinian (The Light at the Edge of the World) Bosnian (The Battle of Neretva) Indian (The Long Duel) German (Triple Cross) Israeli (Cast a Giant Shadow) Japanese (Flight from Ashiya) Native American (Kings of the Sun) Ukrainian (Taras Bulba) Arab (Escape from Zahrain) Nubian (Solomon and Sheba) Egyptian (The Ten Commandments) ---
**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:** [January 30, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/15 "2014-01-30T01:36:13Z")
Tony Shalhoub played Lebanese-American Frank Haddad in **The Siege** after playing an Italian immigrant on **Wings** and a Russian immigrant in **Paulie** before getting his big break as Adrian Monk, who wiki sez is of Welsh ancestry; just make sure to factor in all the times he played someone named “Jorge” or “Sanz,” and then add a bonus point for playing Kwan playing Chen on **GalaxyQuest**. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/16 "2014-01-30T02:10:15Z")
I’m guessing Eli Wallach might make the list, but I don’t know his career well enough to provide details. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/17 "2014-01-30T03:01:37Z")
I first saw Carlo Rota playing a Lebanese(?) Muslim guy on _Little Mosque on the Prairie_ and then saw him on _24_ as a guy named O’Brian. I see in his credit he’s also been a Russian, but I haven’t seen too many of his other works to be able to give a full list. [Anyone?](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0744690/?ref_=tt_cl_t8) ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/18 "2014-01-30T03:36:47Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > The guy that played the most had to be Anthony Quinn. > > Off the top of my head I can name about eight that the Mexican/American actor portrayed. > > Arab – Lawrence of Arabia > Mexican - Viva Zapata > Greek - Zorba the Greek > Italian - The Salamander > Native American - They Died with Their Boots on > Spanish - Seven Cities of Gold > North African - Road to Morocco > Filippino - Back to Bataan > French - Lust for Life > American - The Happening (the first one) > (Yes, I know he doubled or tripled with many of these) > > I also remember him playing at least two Asians, a Polynesian and I think a couple of South Americans but I am not sure. > > I imagine there were a number of other actors who qualify with at least five, but who are they? And I’ll add one more. He played an Eskimo in [The Savage Innocents.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053244/?ref_=nv_sr_1) ---
**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:** [January 30, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/19 "2014-01-30T03:53:39Z")
Take a look at Leonard Nimoy’s non-Spock credits some time: Chief Black Hawk, Karlo Rozwadowski, Nino Baselicce, Indio Ramirez, and on through from Mippipopolous to Mermelstein: he’s a Van Gogh, he’s a Kennedy; he’s Werner, he’s Vladeck; he’s playing a Turkish role as Achmet, or he’s billed simply as _“evil Moroccan magician”_. (And that’s not even counting his work on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, where there’s no episode unless he’s believable as a Japanese kabuki performer or whatever.) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/20 "2014-01-30T04:15:47Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Cite? > > On the show, Lieutenant McGivers takes one look at the guy and figures him for the Northern India area – _probably a Sikh,_ she adds. I don’t recall her offering any other comments on the matter; she just paints a turban-wearing Khan Singh while nobody else comments on the guy’s ethnicity. No? I don’t speak Trek. I got the impression that some selective breeding or gene combination occurred, and I doubt they’d go out of their way to only pick one ethnicity. But I’ll note that maybe they messed with embryos, and that WoK/other sources weren’t as explicit. It also goes with the multiracial future (Japanese and Filipino(?) named Sulu). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080.md?page=2)