# Actors you will always associate with one role **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146 "2013-02-02T21:00:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/121 "2013-02-07T04:42:12Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Funny, I always envision him wearing a frock, as in that _Priscilla_ movie. Or those Lord of the Rings movies… ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/122 "2013-02-07T07:51:33Z")
Edward Platt as the Chief. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/123 "2013-02-08T02:50:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Funny, I always envision him wearing a frock, as in that _Priscilla_ movie. > [@jayjay](#): > > Or those Lord of the Rings movies… He just likes to feel pretty. And speaking of wearing frocks, for the longest time after _The World According to Garp_, I could not look at John Lithgow and think of him as male. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/124 "2013-02-08T03:19:31Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Whenever I hear Jeremy Irons speak, I immediately think of his role as Claus von Bulow in _Reversal of Fortune_. It’s hard to watch him in anything else and not hear it for me. I was watching him in the _The Borgias_ and keep thinking my god the Pope is a German aristocrat who may or may not have killed his wife? > > 😃 Whenever I hear that amazing voice, I always think of his role as Charles Ryder, from _Brideshead Revisited_. It was the first thing I ever saw him in, and possibly the role that made him pretty famous, if not (yet) a major star. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/125 "2013-02-08T06:58:39Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > I can’t believe no one has mentioned Peter O’Toole yet. What an unlucky break for an actor, to have his very first starring role be the defining one of his career. But no matter what else he’s done, people always think of him playing Lawrence of Arabia, and there’s no changing that. Unless you never saw Lawrence of Arabia, I have not, then it’s My Favorite Year for me. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/126 "2013-02-08T12:01:33Z")
Roger Moore as James Bond. Oh sorry, I misread the title - I thought it read Actors associated with one facial expression. So, Roger Moore as James Bond regardless of his fine uni-expressive work on The Saint. ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/127 "2013-02-08T12:30:26Z")
I was watching the movie Gandhi and who should I see? Cliff Claven, didn’t have the Post Office uniform on though. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/128 "2013-02-08T12:53:28Z")
Tim Curry will always be a sweet transvestite. From Transexual. Transylvania. Huh huh. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/129 "2013-02-08T18:08:54Z")
> [@greekfreak](#): > > ricardo montalban = mr. Roarke _ **Khaaaaaaaaaaan!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/130 "2013-02-08T18:47:58Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Arnold Schwarzenegger - the Terminator No way… Arnold’s always Conan the Barbarian to me. Keanu Reeves = Ted “Theodore” Logan Tom Selleck = Thomas Magnum John Belushi = Jake Blues (although Bluto Blutarsky is a close second) Dan Ackroyd = Beldar Conehead (for some strange reason) Ricardo Montalban = Khan Noonian Singh Hugo Weaving = Elrond Half-Elven (sorry… Agent Smith just isn’t it) Orlando Bloom = Legolas Sean Connery = James Bond Burt Reynolds = Bandit Jim Nabors = Gomer Pyle (in the Marines, not Mayberry) John Ritter = Jack Tripper Bruce McGill = D-Day Tim Matheson = Eric “Otter” Stratton ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/131 "2013-02-08T18:54:22Z")
And a few more: Mel Gibson = Martin Riggs Tim DeKay = Jonesy (from Carnivale) And some I suspect will be the case in the future: Jim Parsons = Dr. Sheldon Cooper Kaley Cuoco = Penny ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/132 "2013-02-08T18:58:23Z")
> [@bump](#): > > And some I suspect will be the case in the future: > > Jim Parsons = Dr. Sheldon Cooper > Kaley Cuoco = Penny These are already “right now” for me. I was shocked when someone told me Cuoco was the older daughter on “8 Rules”, a show I didn’t watch. And seeing clips of her on YouTube of the later seasons of Charmed was weird. And the only other thing I’ve ever seen Parsons in was the new Muppet movie (in his mirror cameo) and I was delighted but felt weird…“so the muppet’s human side is Sheldon?” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/133 "2013-02-08T19:04:47Z")
I think some of these examples don’t really count. Keanu isn’t Ted Theodore Logan in every movie, he’s Keanu in every movie. Same with John Wayne and Arnold and Mel Gibson and so on. They always play the same character. You don’t associate them with one role. They’re movie stars, not actors. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Otto_Sweet_Heart)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/134 "2013-02-08T21:03:12Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Kaley Cuoco = Penny I always think of her as Bridget from the 8 Simple Rules show with John Ritter, may he rest in peace. God bless you and Kaley always!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Holly ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/135 "2013-02-08T21:12:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Michael J. Fox has spent his entire career playing Alex Keaton: Alex Keaton travels through time, Alex Keaton goes to Vietnam, Alex Keaton moves to New York and does lots of cocaine, etc. This. Plus Alan Alda will forever be Hawkeye. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146/136 "2013-02-10T03:17:37Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Roger Moore as James Bond. > > Oh sorry, I misread the title - I thought it read Actors associated with one facial expression. That club would include Harrison Ford. (Who will always be Han Solo to me.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-will-always-associate-with-one-role/649146.md?page=6)