# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/121 "2026-07-21T23:32:41Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > To me they look nothing alike and have very different acting styles. I dunno. They all mostly had similar hair styles and lines, similar facial features IMHO (I don’t know if I can call it bone structure, but their skulls seemed similar), and yes, were the biggest stars of their era. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/122 "2026-07-22T14:17:08Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > the look of Clark Kent is a perfect recreation of David Huxley. Ah, I’d forgotten that one, We started watching _Bringing Up Baby_ because of its reputation, and got so annoyed we turned it off after about 15 minutes. There’s “screwball comedy”, and then there’s…that. I think it turned us off all Katherine Hepburn movies, too. ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/123 "2026-07-22T14:44:43Z")
I liked _Bringing Up Baby_ the recent time I saw it, but was underwhelmed by _His Girl Friday_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/124 "2026-07-22T14:56:17Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > I once misremembered the _nationality_ of an actor. I thought Colin Farrel was Australian and was surprised to learn that he was Irish. For a long time, I thought Jim Fowler of _ **Wild Kingdom** _ fame was Australian too. I must have been confusing him with outdoorsman Steve Irwin, **DUH!** 😖 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/125 "2026-07-22T15:11:47Z")
> [@De\_La\_Rue](#): > > I liked _Bringing Up Baby_ the recent time I saw it, but was underwhelmed by _His Girl Friday_. I saw the former at a special showing in Toronto. The constant flood of snappy dialogue created a sensory overload that wrung me out. I like the latter more, even though pretty much the same could be said about it. (It was actually a remake of 1931’s _ **The Front Page** _, if you didn’t know.) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/126 "2026-07-22T16:41:26Z")
For a long time I was certain that the actress who played Mozart’s wife in Amadeus was the same person who played Otto’s girlfriend in Repo Man. Nope, it was Olivia Barash in Repo Man and Elizabeth Berridge in Amadeus. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/127 "2026-07-22T17:14:36Z")
Oh I have another one. _Brazil_. I thought Jill was played by [Lindsay Crouse](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001080/) for awhile, but nope, [Kim Greist](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002114/?_ssoLoop=1). The short hair fooled me since the former almost always sports a pixie cut. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2026, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/128 "2026-07-22T17:36:26Z")
[quote=“terentii, post:117, topic:1031757”] Gregory Peck was in _ **Spellbound** _. [/quote]Aw, now. . . no love for “On the Beach”? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/129 "2026-07-22T18:29:54Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > “On the Beach” Wasn’t that Burt Lancaster? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/130 "2026-07-22T19:48:22Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Wasn’t that Burt Lancaster? I thought it was Frankie Avalon? ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/131 "2026-07-22T19:50:11Z")
Co-starring Deborah Kerr. Or was it Annette Funicello? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/132 "2026-07-23T00:25:31Z")
I always confuse Spencer Tracy and James Whitmore. The biggest clue (besides **imdb** ) is Whitmore started in the 1950’s. Tracy started in the 1930’s. They do overlap towards the end of Tracy’s life. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2026, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/133 "2026-07-23T01:03:02Z")
James Gregory (the inspector on _Barney Miller_) and Stacy Harris (frequent guest star on _Dragnet_). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/134 "2026-07-23T01:08:30Z")
James Gregory and Alan Hewitt (Det Brennan on My Favorite Martian.) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/135 "2026-07-23T03:08:33Z")
I do this all the time. It’s a running joke in my house that I think all actors are Raul Julia. Did it tonight, as a matter of fact. I was sure the clerk in _In the Heat of the Night_ was Andy Devine. Nope! ---
**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:** [July 23, 2026, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/136 "2026-07-23T03:28:26Z")
[The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_other_waldo_pepper)Don’t Worry, We’ll Think of a Title wrote: [Jul 21](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/118 "Post date") > Well, the former is Clark Kent, and the latter is Bruce Wayne. Come to think of it, you never saw those two together in the same room… ---
**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:** [July 23, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/137 "2026-07-23T03:57:47Z")
Not (really) actors, but I see a resemblance between James Hoffa (Teamsters Union Boss/King/whatever) and 1920s boxing champion Jack Dempsey. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/138 "2026-07-23T16:10:43Z")
I’ve been known to confuse [Larry Pine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Pine) with [Larry Cedar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Cedar). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/139 "2026-07-23T16:28:15Z")
You _wood_. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/140 "2026-07-23T16:38:28Z")
Not that these are names that show up much anymore, but Didi Conn and Kiki Dee. Didi Conn appeared in and “sang” the title song in “You Light Up My Life” (1977), and Kiki Dee sang and appeared in the video with Elton John in the (ironic in retrospect) song “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757.md?page=8)