# Any Professions NOT Used In Films/TV Shows For Lead Characters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442 "2011-08-20T17:18:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![stephen59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@stephen59](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stephen59)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/141 "2011-08-22T05:25:07Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Slave trader (not someone who happened to own slaves - someone who made a living selling them.) [Nope!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091530/) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/142 "2011-08-22T05:56:34Z")
Mohel ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/143 "2011-08-22T06:51:25Z")
Petrol pump attendant Travel agent Parking meter inspector Restaurant Inspector Food Critic (The Trip doesn’t count) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/144 "2011-08-22T07:23:17Z")
> [@II\_Gyan\_II](#): > > Petrol pump attendant Johnson, Navin R. (_The Jerk_) > [@](#): > > Travel agent My Big Fat Greek Wedding (not her job at the start, but later on) More engineers - _Primer_ (they appear to be electrical engineers), _Flash of Genius_ (the story of Robert Kearns). ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/145 "2011-08-22T07:29:28Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Panhandler _Hobo With a Shotgun_ I thought that in Cliffhanger Stallone was working as a forest ranger after the incident opening scene, but maybe he wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/146 "2011-08-22T07:32:29Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Being a Notary Public really isn’t a “job” or a profession in any sense, it’s simply a certification that you are authorized to notarize documents. Most legal and real estate broker admin asst and secretaries are often also “notary publics”. In my location, and with very few exceptions (such as judges and Members of Parliament), only lawyers can be notaries public. This may not accord with the experience of our friends in the US; but I would suggest that as lawyers were mentioned in the OP, and notaries can be lawyers, then notaries are represented by the many lawyer shows. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/147 "2011-08-22T07:44:01Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > In my location, and with very few exceptions (such as judges and Members of Parliament), only lawyers can be notaries public. > > This may not accord with the experience of our friends in the US; but I would suggest that as lawyers were mentioned in the OP, and notaries can be lawyers, then notaries are represented by the many lawyer shows. [Interesting - Wiki lays it out](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notary_public) Being a “Notary Public” is very different animal from country to country > [@](#): > > A notary public (or notary or public notary) in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business. A notary’s main functions are to administer oaths and affirmations, take affidavits and statutory declarations, witness and authenticate the execution of certain classes of documents, take acknowledgments of deeds and other conveyances, protest notes and bills of exchange, provide notice of foreign drafts, prepare marine or ship’s protests in cases of damage, provide exemplifications and notarial copies, and perform certain other official acts depending on the jurisdiction.[1] Any such act is known as a notarization. The term notary public only refers to common-law notaries and should not be confused with civil-law notaries. > > With the exceptions of Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Quebec, whose private law is based on civil law, and British Columbia, whose notarial tradition stems from scrivener notary practice, a notary public in the rest of the United States and most of Canada has powers that are far more limited than those of civil-law or other common-law notaries, both of whom are qualified lawyers admitted to the bar: such notaries may be referred to as notaries-at-law or lawyer notaries. Therefore, at common law, notarial service is distinct from the practice of law, and giving legal advice and preparing legal instruments is forbidden to lay notaries such as those appointed throughout most of the United States of America. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/148 "2011-08-22T07:46:28Z")
> [@II\_Gyan\_II](#): > > Petrol pump attendant Goober and Gomer Pyle - Andy Griffith SHow ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/149 "2011-08-22T08:02:15Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Game warden > Forest ranger > Professional hunter (or poacher) > Fishing guide > Mobile food vendor > Ticket scalper > Panhandler > Slave trader (not someone who happened to own slaves - someone who made a living selling them.) > > All of these are off the top of my head. I will think of more… Forest ranger - [Dennis weaver - Father - Gentle Ben](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentle_Ben) Professional hunter (or poacher) / Fishing guide - These are hugely represented in Outdoor TV shows Re TV shows [Daniel Boone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Boone_(TV_series))was a professional hunter and guide ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/150 "2011-08-22T08:08:41Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Sgt Bilko Bilko was in the motor pool ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/151 "2011-08-22T08:20:50Z")
Torturer? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/152 "2011-08-22T08:42:03Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I can’t recall ever seeing my profession in a lead role in either TV or film: stagehand. > [@hajario](#): > > The Dresser. How about [Roadie?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081433/) ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/153 "2011-08-22T09:16:34Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The Social Network. Mark Zuckerberg was not a UX designer and Facebook’s first UX designer, Aaron Sittig, was not present in the film. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/154 "2011-08-22T10:42:59Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Forest ranger Yogi Bear. > [@](#): > > Professional hunter (or poacher) Jeremiah Johnson. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/155 "2011-08-22T10:55:18Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Cycle repairer? [Bicycle Repair Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxfzm9dfqBw). ---
**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:** [August 22, 2011, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/156 "2011-08-22T11:04:08Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Torturer? Nah, I think this one is actually pretty common. For example, _Closet Land_ and _Sunshine_ are both set in police states and the lead actors (Alan Rickman and Ralph Fiennes, respectively) play interrogators whose job it is to extract information by torture. There are probably also a lot of gangster movies where one or more of the lead characters are thugs who torture people on orders of their bosses. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/157 "2011-08-22T11:06:04Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > [Bicycle Repair Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxfzm9dfqBw). Funny sketch, but I don’t think one sketch counts as a lead character in a TV show. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/158 "2011-08-22T11:12:24Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Funny sketch, but I don’t think one sketch counts as a lead character in a TV show. Fine, then—I submit for your consideration [_The Wright Brothers_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0956268/). (Or even [_The Wright Brothers_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120535/), another biopic of the same name.) ---
**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:** [August 22, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/159 "2011-08-22T11:21:43Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Torturer? 1. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442/160 "2011-08-22T11:37:25Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Being a Notary Public really isn’t a “job” or a profession in any sense, it’s simply a certification that you are authorized to notarize documents. Most legal and real estate broker admin asst and secretaries are often also “notary publics”. Having said that, both Dwight and Angela on The Office are Notary Publics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professions-not-used-in-films-tv-shows-for-lead-characters/593442.md?page=9)