# Ever confuse one actor for another? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757 "2026-07-18T01:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/181 "2026-08-28T20:01:12Z")
Herbie Faye and Ned Glass. Both European Jewish immigrants who played a zillion bit parts in movies and TV. Faye played the bartender in the _Twilight Zone_ episode, “A Kind of Stopwatch”. Glass was in several Three Stooges episodes, and played the railroad ticket agent who sees through Cary Grant’s sunglasses disguise in “North by Northwest”. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/182 "2026-08-28T20:04:27Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Helen Hunt always reminded me of Jodie Foster. Me too. At one point, I also had a bit of trouble telling Glenn Close and Meryl Streep apart, but only until I realized how much more angular Streep’s features are. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/183 "2026-08-28T20:39:02Z")
Not one actor for another, but an athlete for an actor: Uta Abe, 5-time world judo champion and Olympic champion, is a dead ringer for Yukino Kishii. Kinda obscure unless you’re a fan of Japanese morning soap operas, though. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/184 "2026-08-28T23:44:19Z")
As a kid, I had trouble keeping Cliff Robertson and Rod Taylor separated. They were in some similar movies and were interchangeable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/185 "2026-08-31T18:43:32Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > Me too. At one point, I also had a bit of trouble telling Glenn Close and Meryl Streep apart, but only until I realized how much more angular Streep’s features are. For me I don’t confuse them physically–I confuse their careers…like so many movie roles I can easily slot the other one in and it still feels right even if they’d play them differently. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/186 "2026-08-31T22:34:16Z")
I’ve always had trouble keeping Anne Baxter and Patricia Neal straight. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/187 "2026-09-01T01:18:33Z")
Let me take you back to the early 1990s: **Did anyone else confuse Ethan Hawke and Sean Astin?** This all changed as they got older; both are very distinct and Astin had Samwise Gamgee as an absolutely iconic role. But in the early 1990s or late 1980s, I mixed those two up. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/188 "2026-09-04T19:06:30Z")
I’ve conflating William Sadler and William Sanderson my whole life. It was only this year that I realized it. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/189 "2026-09-04T19:12:16Z")
Anton Lesser and Jonathan Pryce. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/190 "2026-09-05T07:52:07Z")
James Rebhorn and James Cromwell and some other James whose name I can’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/191 "2026-09-05T20:21:06Z")
James Remar, maybe? [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001664/?\_ssoLoop=1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001664/?_ssoLoop=1) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/192 "2026-09-05T20:44:38Z")
And Glass was Uncle Moe in ‘Bridget Loves Birney.’ Herbie Faye was in an ep of ‘The New Dick van Dyke’ showni n which at the end he decides to open a shop with one of the local Natives, calling it ‘The Sioux and the Jioux.’ Jane Wyatt and Jane Wyman. I always have yo think about which is which. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/193 "2026-09-05T21:01:23Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > James Remar, maybe? Ha! Yes, I think that is who I was thinking of. When I hear any of the names I can’t place which actor it is. Though Remar at least looks a a little more different. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/194 "2026-09-06T04:00:15Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Jane Wyatt and Jane Wyman. I always have yo think about which is which. Ditto! I used to know it, but nowadays all I know is one was on Fathers Knows Best and one was married to Ronald Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/195 "2026-09-06T12:27:04Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Ditto! I used to know it, but nowadays all I know is one was on Fathers Knows Best and one was married to Ronald Reagan. And the other was married to Sarek. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/196 "2026-09-06T14:07:51Z")
I don’t which movies were Chris Sarandon and which were Michael Nouri. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/197 "2026-09-06T22:18:55Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > Though Remar at least looks a a little more different. True, though all of them have in common that their most recognizable roles have come in their later years–middle-aged, at least. I can’t think of any ‘young college guy’ roles for any of the three. (Could be my own ignorance.) ---
**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:** [September 6, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/198 "2026-09-06T22:43:00Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I can’t think of any ‘young college guy’ roles for any of the three. (Could be my own ignorance.) Remar was one of the Warriors in _The Warriors_ (the one who got arrested halfway through the film). Young, albeit not quite collegiate. ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/199 "2026-09-06T22:56:42Z")
I thought Russell Crowe and John Goodman were converging untill the latter’s recent weight loss. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/200 "2026-09-06T23:20:07Z")
> [@Quondam\_Mechanic](#): > > I thought Russell Crowe and John Goodman were converging untill the latter’s recent weight loss Both. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZh_gl0p_1obBOdX2GacpznYMAlwLEYQZugYcxYihO41W2saJQTfCQQYE&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZh_gl0p_1obBOdX2GacpznYMAlwLEYQZugYcxYihO41W2saJQTfCQQYE&s=10) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757.md?page=11)