# HIstorical figures best known for their use in modern media **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570 "2007-10-22T15:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/41 "2007-10-22T23:20:37Z")
Elliot Ness ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/42 "2007-10-22T23:24:03Z")
[Moderating] **Otto** and **Chez Guevara** , both of you knock it off now. We don’t need that here. As for everyone else, there’s no need to takes sides on the issue. Let’s drop it and get back to the topic in the OP. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/43 "2007-10-22T23:30:47Z")
Dracula Erzsbeth Bathory Jack the Ripper (I know, nobody knows who he was, but most people are familiar with his portrayal in fiction) [Nicolas Flamel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Flamel) (thanks to Hary Potter) ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/44 "2007-10-23T02:58:19Z")
[King Mongkut (Rama IV) of Siam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongkut), known to westerners mainly from “The King and I” and “Anna and the King”. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/45 "2007-10-23T02:59:21Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Do you honestly believe that Adolph Hitler is “best known” for being portrayed in The Producers? Do you truly think that anyone on the face of the Earth who knows who Hitler is thinks of him first and foremost as a Producers character? [/QUOTE] Well, are we talking about gay Hitler or regular Hitler? 'Cause if it’s regular Hitler, then I think of that Twilight Zone episode where the guy turns into Hitler and freaks out. “Save me, Eva Braun!” ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/46 "2007-10-23T03:01:49Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] Well, are we talking about gay Hitler or regular Hitler? [/QUOTE] Or hippie Hitler? ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/47 "2007-10-23T04:37:10Z")
Somewhat back on track - the Sheriff of Nottingham. There probably was a ‘true’ historic person at some stage [QUOTE=Wikipeida] There is no record of an official with the specific duty of enforcing the law and keeping the peace in Anglo-Saxon England (although there undoubtedly was one). [/QUOTE] And the character was possibly based on Phillip Mark a ‘real’ person, ( [The Sheriff of Nottingham by Richard Kluger](http://www.boldoutlaw.com/robspot/0700.html) ) Or perhaps some unfortunate nameless tax collector (sorry, no cite - just a dim memory of past research) But what we know are the various fictional characters from the Robin Hood incarnations. Robin Hood himself, is apparently (from what I remember) far less likely to be an actual person. And Prince John, too, more noted for these stories than his own reign. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/48 "2007-10-23T04:41:34Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] [King Mongkut (Rama IV) of Siam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongkut), known to westerners mainly from “The King and I” and “Anna and the King”. [/QUOTE] Speaking of that, and of Nazis, how about Maria von Trapp, and the von Trapp family in general? The real Maria von Trapp said of The Sound of Music that it was a beauitful story, but not hers. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/49 "2007-10-23T04:48:06Z")
[QUOTE=maggenpye] Robin Hood himself, is apparently (from what I remember) far less likely to be an actual person. [/QUOTE] But, he’s got a grave and everything! He’s got to be real! 😉 ---
**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:** [October 23, 2007, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/50 "2007-10-23T05:34:17Z")
Tom Mix, to the extent that he’s remembered at all these days. ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/51 "2007-10-23T05:49:18Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] I suppose lots of outlaws and gunslingers would fall into this category, from Rob Roy right on down through Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Jesse James, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Bonnie and Clyde. [/QUOTE] I would say this is especially true with Butch and Sundance. I suspect they weren’t even known to many people before the big movie. Is this true? Wyatt Earp, on the other hand, was a living legend before he even moved to Arizona, I think, but he is probably remembered today as a movie character. ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/52 "2007-10-23T05:51:23Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] Tom Mix, to the extent that he’s remembered at all these days. [/QUOTE] What do you mean, exactly? Was he famously portrayed in later movies? Or that people just remember him as the guy with a huge hat? ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/53 "2007-10-23T06:48:46Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] But, he’s got a grave and everything! He’s got to be real! 😉 [/QUOTE] I know! And a well, and several trees, even! You just don’t know who to trust sometimes! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/54 "2007-10-23T10:06:02Z")
[The Man in the Iron Mask](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Iron_Mask). [The Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Merrick). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/55 "2007-10-23T13:19:28Z")
I probablt wouldn’t have heard of The Man in the Iron Mask (actually a cloth mask, I understand) if not for the Dumas novel and its adaptations, but I read about The Elephant Man in several places and knew his story years before Bernard Pomerance’s play or David Lynch’s movie (or the more recent incarnations, like the graphic novel and movie From Hell) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/56 "2007-10-23T13:34:43Z")
Johnny Appleseed. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570/57 "2007-10-23T16:45:14Z")
[Charles Babbage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbage), I think, would be another one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-best-known-for-their-use-in-modern-media/423570.md?page=2)