Bill Bixby had many successful characters. These three ran the longest on tv.
Tim O’Hara (My Favorite Martian) a comedy
Tom Corbett (courtship Eddies Father) drama
Dr. David Banner (Incredible Hulk) action drama
Good one. Don’t forget The Ladykillers (1955, directed by Alexander Mackendrick). That is one hell of a film.
I had to read over this a few times to make sure you didn’t mention it but by far, Gus McCrae in Lonesome Dove has to be one of his most iconic roles, even if its TV/Miniseries.
Lon Chaney, jr.:
Frankenstein’s monster
Dracula
Kharis, the mummy
The Wolfman
Lennie - Of Mice and Men
You are absolutely right. I had intended to include it, but when I was typing, I got in a hurry and forgot.
Also Boris Karloff
When I opened this thread I was thinking “no way anyone matches Ford” for Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff are such obvious examples.
I guess, though, one could argue that a character like Dracula isn’t necessarily associated with a specific actor - Gary Oldman played a terrific Dracula. But Han Solo, Indiana Jones, that’s Harrison Ford.
I think that many posters are missing this point.
Yes, thank you.
If we are including Mel Blanc for his voice acting then we would have to include Frank Oz for his puppeteering/voice acting:
Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam the Eagle on The Muppet Show
Cookie Monster, Bert, and Grover on Sesame Street
and of course Yoda in the Star Wars films
I’m surprised Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn’t been mentioned.
He was Conan and The Terminator.
And Trench in 3 Expendables movies.
Vin Diesel
- Groot
- Dom in Fast and Furious
- Xander Cage in XXX
- Riddick
Yeah, but was he good in them?
Missing, or ignoring? “more than one film” is part of your definition of “iconic”; mine is outstanding character in a movie that becomes a cultural touchstone. I’m more than agreeable that Indy and Han fit that definition, and would have fit it even if no sequels had been made.
Not just good, but iconic.
(Seriously? Who but Arnold could have played Conan? And he was perfect as the Terminator).
I wouldn’t have been able to name a single one of those. I would only have been able to name him as Bacon, Turkish, and Monk (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and Mean Machine, respectively).
ETA: I mean to say, I didn’t even know those characters actually HAD names; I liked The Transporter, but really, it was just “Jason Statham is: The Transporter” in my head, not that he even played a named character… just an observation that struck me when I read your post!
I think Harrison Ford is a better actor than perhaps he is given credit for. I can certainly see (admittedly fairly nuanced) differences in the performances of some of his best-known characters. And I mean consistent ones, as in his Indy is recognisably Indy in the various films, same goes for Han, Deckard etc.
Surprised no one has mentioned Leonardo di Caprio yet. Not part of any film series (that I can think of offhand) but some fantastic characters.
Out of everyone mentioned so far, I think he gets my vote.
His resume is not as impressive as some mentioned already, but Jeff Goldblum deserves to be mentioned. He was in two Independence Day movies, several Jurassic Park movies, and he has played the Grandmaster in two MCU films (though only a cameo in one of them). Also, he is slated to appear as the wizard in the two-part film adaptation of Wicked. Ian “Life Finds a Way” Malcolm from Jurassic Park was a pretty iconic character, the rest maybe not so much.
When your 48 year old son in law & his 19 & 17 year old sons (my grands) couldn’t wait to see a movie where the leading man is 10 years older than I am, I gotta admit Harrison ford must definitely have “it” for acting.