# Actors who played the same character in two different versions of the same movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2017, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252 "2017-01-15T19:21:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/21 "2017-01-16T14:15:40Z")
While people might say John Wayne in _Rio Bravo_ and _Rio Lobo_ count, a [better match](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Bravo_(film)#Remakes) is Wayne in _Rio Bravo_ and _El Dorado_. \ ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/22 "2017-01-16T15:38:59Z")
Edward Everett Horton played Nick Potter in [the 1930 version](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020985/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_14) of _Holiday_ as well as [the 1938 version](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030241/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_78). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/23 "2017-01-16T19:17:45Z")
Various horror movie stars in multiple versions of the same story. Peter Cushing was often Van Helsing. Christopher Lee was often Dracula. Peter Cushing also played Sherlock Holmes in a number of different productions. He was in two different versions of _The Hound of the Baskervilles_. One was a cinema movie, the other was a 2-part TV episode > **[The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052905/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_91)** > > The Hound of the Baskervilles: Directed by Terence Fisher. With Peter Cushing, André Morell, Christopher Lee, Marla Landi. When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to... > **["Sherlock Holmes" The Hound of the Baskervilles: Part One (TV Episode 1968) -...](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394887/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_541)** > > The Hound of the Baskervilles: Part One: Directed by Graham Evans. With Peter Cushing, Nigel Stock, Gary Raymond, Gabriella Licudi. Holmes asks Watson to protect the new Lord of Baskerville Manor whose life seems to be threatened by a legendary,... ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/24 "2017-01-17T01:07:33Z")
Donald Pleasence was a POW in _The Great Escape_ (1963) and one of the German officer’s in the 1988 television remake (which put more focus on hunting down the Nazi responsible for the murders of the escaping prisoners.) ---
**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:** [January 17, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/25 "2017-01-17T01:10:39Z")
> [@Julius\_Henry](#): > > Donald Pleasence was a POW in _The Great Escape_ (1963) and one of the German officer’s in the 1988 television remake (which put more focus on hunting down the Nazi responsible for the murders of the escaping prisoners.) How is that the same character? ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/26 "2017-01-17T01:14:31Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > How is that the same character? It’s the same character in the sense that I didn’t read the OP very well. Or hardly at all, it appears. Sorry. Please continue on without me. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mr.Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Bill)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/27 "2017-01-17T06:36:58Z")
Bela Lugosi apparently played Dracula at least 5 times, in 2 feature movies, 1 short movie and 2 TV episodes. He also played Ygor in 2 Frankenstein films. Son of Frankenstein in 1939 and Ghost of Frankenstein in 1942. Different directors and casts other than himself. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/28 "2017-01-17T08:24:43Z")
It’s a bit of a stretch, but Judi Dench played two separate "M"s in two different James Bond continuities. (Inasmuch as James Bond has continuity). ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/29 "2017-01-17T11:33:43Z")
In Young Holmes, young Sherlock Holmes is played by Nicholas Rowe. In Mr Holmes, old Sherlock Holmes is played by… Ian McKellen. But when he goes to see a film of one Dr Watson’s reports about his “real” adventures, the role of Holmes in that film is played by Nicholas Rowe. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/30 "2017-01-17T12:45:12Z")
**Christopher Lee** played Count Dracula in the Hammer film **Dracula** (called **Horror of Dracula** in the US). He also played him in Jess Franco’s 1970 **Count Dracula**. Lee played Dracula many times, but only these two films were nominally based on Stoker’s novel. **Clark Gable** played the same part in the movie **Red Dust** and its remake **Mogambo**. **Brigette Helm** played Antinea in three different versions of **l"Atlantide**. This was back when they made completely new productions for different languages, rather than simply dubbing in voices. A couple of other parts were played by the same actoprs in two of the three versions, but Helm was the lead. And, I think, the only one to be in all three versions. It’s not the same story, but **Peter O’Toole** notably played the same character – Henry IV of England – in _The Lion in Winter_ and in _Becket_. **Kevin McCarthy** arguably played the same character in the original _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_ and the 1978 remake. **Jimmy Stewart** played Elwood P. Dowd in the original movie _Harvey_ and again many, many years later on TV. For that matter, a lot of actors reprised their movie roles in radio adaptations of their films back in the 1940s and 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/31 "2017-01-17T13:27:53Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Takako Fuji played Kayako Saeki in the Ju-On series in the first four movies (as well as one of the two shorts that were developed into it), and the first two American Grudge movies - the first of which was mostly a remake of Ju-On: The Grudge (the third movie in the original franchise). Oh, hey, checking… The same actor (Yuyu Ozeki) played Toshio in Ju-On: The Grudge and JOTG 2 and The Grudge (a different actor played him in The Grudge 2, since the ghost of a little kid is harder to have consistent actors). The same actor (Takashi Matsuyama) played Kayako’s husband and Toshio’s father, Takeo, in every appearance before the Ju-On reboot (5 movies across the two continuities). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/32 "2017-01-17T14:14:13Z")
**Sean Connery** , of course, played James Bond in both the original _Thunderball_ and in _Never Say Never again_, its virtual remake. **Alastair Sim** played Ebenezer Scrooge in both the 1951 version of _A Christmas Carol_ and in the 1970 animated version for TV produced by Chuck Jones. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/33 "2017-01-17T14:27:02Z")
**Vincent Price** played what is essentially the character of Montresor from “The Cask of Amontillado” in both _an evening with Edgar Allan Poe_ and _Poe’s Tales of Terror_, both Roger Corman films. In the former Price is as much narrator as character (although this is the most faithful Poe adaptation Corman ever did, arguably), while in the latter, the story is combined with “The Black Cat”, and Price’s character is named “Luchresi”, which recalls “Luchesi” from Poe’s story “The Cask of Amontillado”. Price more often played different characters in different versions of Poe stories when he appeared in different versions (he played two different parts in two movie versions of _The House of Seven Gables_, for instance). It’s notable that both Price and Basil Rathbone both narrated Poe stories on audiobook and played the same characters in Roger Corman movies. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/34 "2017-01-17T14:30:28Z")
Speaking of which, it’s not two different movies, but **Leo McKern** played barrister Horace Rumpole in the same stories both on television and in distinctly different audio adaptations of the same stories (and for three different audiobook companies). Although at least two other voice actors performed Rumpole for audio, McKern did it more often, and was overall a much better interpretation of the role. Heck, author John Mortimer wrote them with McKern in mind. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/35 "2017-01-17T14:41:01Z")
_The Cat and the Canary_ is a stage play by John Willard, written in 1922–one of the earliest Spend-The-Night-In-The-Spooky-Old-House-To-Inherit-A-Fortune stories. It’s been adapted to film several times. **Elizabeth Patterson** played the role of Aunt Susan in the 1930 movie version, called _The Cat Creeps_. She played the same role in the 1939 movie version, called _The Cat and the Canary_, which starred Bob Hope. You remember Elizabeth Patterson, if you remember her at all, as Mrs. Trumball, the neighbor lady who frequently babysat for Little Ricky on _I Love Lucy_. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/36 "2017-01-17T14:57:57Z")
Lon Chaney played Echo in the silent version of _The Unholy Three_, and played the same role in the sound remake five years later. Harry Earles also appeared as the same character in both. Laurel and Hardy’s _A Fine Mess_ was a remake of their earlier silent film _Duck Soup_. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/37 "2017-01-17T15:56:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Jimmy Stewart** played Elwood P. Dowd in the original movie _Harvey_ and again many, many years later on TV. Jesse White (the original Maytag repairman) also played Mr. Wilson (the orderly at the sanitarium) in both the 1950 movie and the 1972 TV-movie. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/38 "2017-01-17T16:07:35Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > In Young Holmes, young Sherlock Holmes is played by Nicholas Rowe. > > In Mr Holmes, old Sherlock Holmes is played by… Ian McKellen. But when he goes to see a film of one Dr Watson’s reports about his “real” adventures, the role of Holmes in that film is played by Nicholas Rowe. Hey everybody wanna feel old? Young Sherlock Holmes is 50. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/39 "2017-01-17T16:11:36Z")
James Stewart played Elwood P. Dowd in at least two versions of **Harvey**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252/40 "2017-01-17T16:12:42Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > James Stewart played Elwood P. Dowd in at least two versions of **Harvey**. Look up two posts [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-the-same-character-in-two-different-versions-of-the-same-movie/777252.md?page=3)