# Best-and-or-worst depictions of actual people in film and plays **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508 "2004-01-29T02:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/1 "2004-01-29T02:55:31Z")
I just finished watching [1776](http://imdb.com/title/tt0068156/) for the 1,776th time, again thinking about how definitive the performances were. While William Daniels doesn’t bear a striking resemblance to John Adams (who was so plump that he was nicknamed “his Rotundity” during the Continental Congress), he captures the essence of the man so completely that it hardly matters (though unfortunately he captures the same essence of John Adams in every role he plays, it’s just that this particular time it was relevant). Howard da Silva is to Benjamin Franklin what Hal Holbrook is to Mark Twain. So I started thinking about great and not-great historical portrayals. (Of course, those who portray living or recent historical figures have an extra hard time since video and audio exist and are often imprinted on the minds and memories of viewers and it’s hard not to just give a Rich Little stock imitation, but still some rise above or fall flat.) My votes (just a few to get started): **Best** [Kelsey Grammer](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001288/) as [George Washington](http://imdb.com/title/tt0321416/) : many critics claim he just played Frasier Crane in a ponytail, but I disagree. IMO, he caught Washington’s arrogance, passion and political brilliance better than any other performer I’ve seen. Glenda Jackson as [Elizabeth R](http://imdb.com/title/tt0066652/): Cate Blanchett was lovelier, but Jackson convincingly played _the Virgin Queen_ from 14 to 70 in a tour-de-force that both let her evolve and remain steadfast in her dignity and resolve. [Jane Alexander](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000737/) & [Edward Herrman](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001346/) as [Franklin & Eleanor](http://imdb.com/title/tt0074464/) [Roosevelt](http://imdb.com/title/tt0075981/) - the definitive screen portrayals of the duo to date, imo. [Peter O’Toole](http://imdb.com/title/tt0063227/) as [Henry II](http://imdb.com/title/tt0063227/) - I believed him as both a sinned against and sinning man who was above all a vibrant and brilliant ruler. (I loved Katharine Hepburn in the same movie, but I didn’t include her as she was essentially playing Katharine Hepburn.) [Stephen Fry](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000410/) [Wilde](http://imdb.com/title/tt0120514/) - one of those performances when you completely forget you’re watching an actor. Anthony Hopkins as [Richard Nixon](http://imdb.com/title/tt0113987/)- the movie sucked, but he **became** Tricky Dick without ever doing a cheap imitation. [Holland Taylor](http://imdb.com/name/nm0852466/) as [Nancy Reagan](http://imdb.com/title/tt0271454/) : she bears only a marginal resemblance (they’re both thin and regal), but she conveyed Nancy as I perceive her beautifully. [Ben Kingsley](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001426/) as [Gandhi](http://imdb.com/title/tt0083987/) - what can you say? He won an Oscar and deserved it. (The latest DVD has the restored footage of his years as a gas station manager in St. Louis.) [Gary Sinise](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000641/), [Mare Winningham](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001858/) and [Angelina Jolie](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001401/) in [George Wallace](http://imdb.com/title/tt0119189/) - I grew up knowing the Wallace family and they were all three spectacular in their portrayals of the Dixie MacBeth and his first two queens, the “just plain folk” painted Lurleen (who happened to be brilliant and was **nobody’s rubberstamp** as governor regardless of what this or biographies may imply) and the beautiful and devoted but crazy Cornelia. [Sterling Hayden](http://imdb.com/title/tt0083387/) as [John Brown](http://imdb.com/title/tt0083387/) - though essentially a cameo, I believed him as the man who felt he was on a mission from God but was less Moses than Berkowitz. Two Lincolns without links: I’ve seen two truly great portrayals of Lincoln on stage, both of which were by actors hopelessly typecast by sitcoms and both of which made you forget you were watching an actor. The first was by Fred Gwynne in a performance ca. 1980 in Virginia (I forget the play), and the second was by [Richard Moll](http://imdb.com/name/nm0596986/) (yep, Bull from Night Court) in a production of _The Lincoln-Douglas Debates_ in Philadelphia, and he was perfect. (Who knew he could act?) **Worst** [Sean Connery](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000125/) as [Richard the Lionheart](http://imdb.com/title/tt0102798/) - possibly unfair since it’s a cameo, but he was way too old for the part and didn’t even try to be anything other than Sean Connery [Tommy Lee Jones](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000169/) as [Clay Shaw](http://imdb.com/title/tt0102138/) - I’ll admit to a prejudice: Tommy Lee Jones is, imho, one of the most overrated actors ever to receive an 8 figure paycheck (does anybody else think he gives the same performance in every movie?), but I particularly loathed this one. The tapes of the real Shaw show nobody that nellie or flip and essentially it’s just a more mincing than usual Tommy Lee. [Ted Neeley](http://imdb.com/name/nm0624189/) as URL=http://imdb.com/title/tt0070239/]Jesus- I wouldn’t pick up a cross and follow this uncharismatic loser with a voice that would get him bitchslapped even by Paula Abdul to the store to buy gum. [Barry Bostwick](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000960/) as [George Washington](http://imdb.com/title/tt0086720/) - the fault may be the writing- it’s more hagiography than biography- but he portrayed the dynamic and brilliant (if deeply flawed) Washington as the Father of Snores. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/2 "2004-01-29T04:43:41Z")
Some of the best: Gary Busey as Buddy Holly Anthony Hopkins as Nixon Anthony Hopkins as Hitler Denzel as Malcolm X The worst would be a tie between Sebastian Bach as Jesus and Keanu Reeves as Buddha. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/3 "2004-01-29T04:59:07Z")
If you liked _1776_ (it’s one of my favorite movies), find a copy of _Topsy-Turvey_, which must rank as one of the most accurate historical dramas ever made. It’s about Gilbert and Sullivan and the time during which their collaboration seemed to be stagnating – until Gilbert comes up with the idea for _The Mikado_. What is particularly astonishing about this movie is the almost frightening degree to which the actors resemble the people they are portraying. Jim Broadbent, who later won the Oscar for _Iris_, received the best actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his spot-on portrayal of W.S. Gilbert. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/4 "2004-01-29T05:58:13Z")
I don’t know if it’s neccesarily accurate, but Johnny Depp as Ed Wood has to be one of the Greatest Performances Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/5 "2004-01-29T05:59:23Z")
Speaking of Depp, him playing Hunter S. Thompson in _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_…he NAILED that one, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/6 "2004-01-29T06:23:41Z")
**Val Kilmer** as **Jim Morrison**. **Jim Carrey** as **Andy Kaufman**. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/7 "2004-01-29T13:02:42Z")
> [@GMRyujin](#): > > Speaking of Depp, him playing Hunter S. Thompson in _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_…he NAILED that one, as far as I can tell. Hunter S Thompson had a cameo and was around for plenty of the filming (and true to form, e trashed a lot of stuff and had to be removed from the set a few times). For fun, he would call his friends but put Johnny Depp on the phone. Depp could imitate him so well that Thompson’ buddies didn’t know that it wasn’t the real Thompson until they were let in on the gag. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/8 "2004-01-29T14:28:32Z")
Powers Booth as Rev. Jim Jones in the TV movie. That was scarey. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/9 "2004-01-29T14:35:10Z")
Carroll Baker and Carol Lynley as Jean Harlow Kim Novak as Jeanne Eagels James Cagney as Lon Chaney Donald O’Connor (!) as Buster Keaton Rudolph Nureyev as Rudolph Valentino James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh as Gable and Lombard Betty Grable and June Haver as The Dolly Sisters Katharine Hepburn as Mary Queen of Scots (“Rally, rally, I am!”) Claudette Colbert (much as I love her) and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra . . . just off the top of my head. Thinking of “bests” is a lot harder . . . ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/10 "2004-01-29T14:47:30Z")
Barry Dennen (JC SUPERSTAR), Gary Oldman (JESUS the CBS miniseries), David Bowie (LAST TEMPTATION)- Pontius Pilate Jeremy Sisto (JESUS- the CBS miniseries) and Max Von Sydow (GREATEST STORY)- Jesus Edward Woodward (KING DAVID- the only good thing about that film) and Jonathan Pryce (TNT’s DAVID)- King Saul Leonard Nimoy (TNT’s DAVID)- The Prophet Samuel Ben Kingsley (TNT’s MOSES)- Moses Edward Herrimann- FDR (about a dozen movies) and Fred Gwynn (his Herman Munster in a Fox TV movie a few years ago practically channelled Gwynn). In what did Kelsey Grammar portray Washington? I concur about Anthony Hopkins as Hitler, he also was a great Apostle Paul. John Hurt as John Merrick. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/11 "2004-01-29T14:49:38Z")
Steve Railsback as Charles Manson in the movie [Helter Skelter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074621/). His performance was so good you thought he really WAS Manson. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/12 "2004-01-29T15:13:13Z")
Well, I just watched _Raging Bull_ again last night and I think Deniro’s performance was beyond incredible. But I really don’t know a thing about **Jake La Motta**. Does anyone one who is familar with La Motta have an opinion on Deniro’s accuracy? ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/13 "2004-01-29T19:18:17Z")
My contribution isn’t nearly as high-minded. I saw Erin Brockovich in person a couple of years ago. Julia Roberts nailed her character, dead on. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/14 "2004-01-29T21:56:08Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > Steve Railsback as Charles Manson in the movie [Helter Skelter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074621/). His performance was so good you thought he really WAS Manson. :eek: He was so good that I think it hurt his career- next to Christ, that’d have to be one of the hardest roles to live down. Also a major ditto to Powers Booth as Jim Jones- I slept with the light on for two weeks after seeing that movie as a kid, and I had only just started to sleep with it off two years after HELTER SKELTER. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/15 "2004-01-31T01:37:23Z")
The absolute worst: Mike Farrell as JFK in a one-man show on PBS. Awful fake Boston accent. A complete disaster. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/16 "2004-01-31T02:19:01Z")
Absolute worst I ever saw was William Bendix as Babe Ruth. Best: Kenneth Welch as Harry Truman in Hiroshima (actually, _everybody_ was superb in that film). ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/17 "2004-01-31T14:47:13Z")
Martin Sheen as Kennedy Kilmer as Morrison (Hell he even got the singing voice down pat.) Eddie Murphy as Stevie Wonder. Worst The Kangaroo reincarnation of Kerouac in Tank Girl - I know, I know it’s a kangaroo, but whoever wrote the role had obviously never read, seen or heard Kerouac in their life. Liev Schreiber as Orson Welles (Not the smae ball park, not the same league, not even the same game.) Jennifer Love Hewitt is Audrey Hepburn. Thomas Ian Griffith as Rock Hudson And, of course, John Wayne is Genghis Khan. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/18 "2004-01-31T16:55:02Z")
> [@Leechboy](#): > > Liev Schreiber as Orson Welles (Not the smae ball park, not the same league, not even the same game.) This reminds me - someone mentioned Johnny Depp as Ed Wood already, but I think a nod should go to Vincent D’Onofrio as Orson Welles in the same movie. It was a small moment in the film, but a very cool one. About Steve Railsback as Manson - I read an interview with him many years ago in which he said that he was so strongly identified with the role that he did find it virtually impossible to get other roles later. My vote for worst: Brian Dennehy (whom I absolutely adore otherwise) as serial killer John Wayne Gacy. However, I kind of have a bias here because I knew the creep personally and I thought Dennehy’s portrayal missed something crucial. He played Gacy as just oozing evil, and in reality Gacy was a simpering, self-aggrandizing glad-hander. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/19 "2004-01-31T17:34:44Z")
> [@](#): > > The Kangaroo reincarnation of Kerouac in Tank Girl - I know, I know it’s a kangaroo, but whoever wrote the role had obviously never read, seen or heard Kerouac in their life. To be fair, Tank Girl was not exactly based on hard fact. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508/20 "2004-01-31T18:26:13Z")
Best Kevin Spacey as Jim Williams in [Mindnight in the Garden of Good and Evil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119668/) Meryl Streep in just about anything ([Sophie’s Choice](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084707/), [Silkwood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086312/), [Out of Africa](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089755/), [A Cry in the Dark](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094924/), [Music of the Heart](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166943/) as some examples) – yeah, I’m one of her biggest fans Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer Vincent D’Onofrio as Abbie Hoffman in [Steal This Movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0161216/) John Hurt as John Merrick in [The Elephant Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080678/) Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock Worst Anthony Hopkins as Nixon Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo Just off the top of my head. I apparently have the opposite problem as **Eve** in that I must purge more of the bad performances from my memory than the good. And hell, I even like JLo as Selena. Others too, deserve props but they aren’t the best of the best, ya know? And perhaps all those choices aren’t conventional and are prejudiced by my dislikes, but I did resist adding Russel Crowe. ::: shudder ::: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-worst-depictions-of-actual-people-in-film-and-plays/226508.md?page=2)