# Least likely ethnic characterization **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412 "2014-08-13T03:09:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/41 "2014-08-13T18:12:47Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Kathrine Hepburn as a Chinese peasant in [Dragon Seed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Seed_%28film%29) And as a Russian fighter pilot opposite Bob Hope in [The Iron Petticoat.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Petticoat) Her accent was horrible, too. Janet Leigh in [Jet Pilot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Pilot_(film)) made a \*much \*more convincing Russian fighter pilot. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Raj’s dad on Big Bang Theory is Jewish. And his mother is English. Hedy Lamarr as the “half-Egyptian, half-Arab” temptress (all black in the book, but the producers had to deal with the Code) in [White Cargo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Cargo). She looked like an Austrian Jewish girl who’d had a bucket of black makeup dumped on her, which is about what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/42 "2014-08-13T18:21:28Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > There was an episode of _Bosom Buddies_ (I could be wrong), in which the “girls” are at a party hosted by a lovely young Asian-American girl with a very well done but hilarious deep Southern accent. There was a TV movie made once, called “The Girl Who Spelled Freedom” It was about a young woman came to the US when she was eight, with her mother and little brother, from Cambodia. The movie was about her winning a spelling bee. She’d learned English the way a baby does, total immersion, The little family settled in North Carolina. I saw the real girl(not the actress) on TV when she was interviewed after the movie came out, and she had a Southern accent you could cut with a knife. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/43 "2014-08-13T18:23:13Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonian Singh, the only Sikh ever to speak with a Mexican accent: > > [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K\_CBU6yw1rk/TudowQ6KPmI/AAAAAAAAA04/yg822kyNPwA/s1600/Ricardo+Montalban.jpg](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K_CBU6yw1rk/TudowQ6KPmI/AAAAAAAAA04/yg822kyNPwA/s1600/Ricardo+Montalban.jpg) I don’t think he was supposed to be Sikh, he wasn’t wearing a turban. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/44 "2014-08-13T18:28:18Z")
I get a lot of eMails from so called orphan girls in Nigeria who are always white, and usually blonde. Their daddy died leaving them 2 and a half million dollars and want to share it with me. Don’t the writers of this type of stuff know that Nigerian girls aren’t blonde with blue eyes? I have never been there but really!!! ---
**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:** [August 13, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/45 "2014-08-13T18:29:10Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I don’t think he was supposed to be Sikh, he wasn’t wearing a turban. Marla McGivers tentatively identified him as Sikh while on board the _Botany Bay_. > **[Khan Noonien Singh](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Khan_Noonien_Singh)** > > Khan Noonien Singh is the most dangerous adversary the Enterprise ever faced. He is brilliant, ruthless, and he will not hesitate to kill every single one of you.Spock Khan Noonien Singh (or simply Khan) was an extremely intelligent and dangerous... I see I misspelled his name slightly, to my eternal shame. He will no doubt stab at me from Hell’s heart! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/46 "2014-08-13T18:32:56Z")
[Myrna Loy](http://www.filmbrain.com/filmbrain/2006/01/the_orientaliza.html) as every kind of Asian. Oh, and AFAIK, the movie _ **The Good Earth** _ was entirely cast with European descent actors, including [Paul Muni](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Muni) and [Luise Rainer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luise_Rainer) in the leads. [Patrick Adiarte](https://www.google.com/search?q=Patrick+Adiarte&client=firefox-a&hs=I7e&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=rcs&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=6K7rU7fyD8eyyAT_z4GYAQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=697) is at least not caucasian, but otherwise looks about as Korean as Queen Elizabeth. He played Ho Jon in the first season of _MAS_H\*\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/47 "2014-08-13T19:49:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Stanley Adams, aka “Cyrano Jones,” as King Kaliwani on _ **Gilligan’s Island** _: > > [http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/\_\_cb20080617080750/startrek/images/f/f4/Cyrano\_Jones.jpg](http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080617080750/startrek/images/f/f4/Cyrano_Jones.jpg) > > [http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/762/sa5.jpg](http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/762/sa5.jpg) Damn, that’s pretty funny. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/48 "2014-08-13T20:18:35Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > I get a lot of eMails from so called orphan girls in Nigeria who are always white, and usually blonde. Their daddy died leaving them 2 and a half million dollars and want to share it with me. Don’t the writers of this type of stuff know that Nigerian girls aren’t blonde with blue eyes? I have never been there but really!!! The ones I hear from were all born in the United States but travel a lot to Africa. I don’t mind their dishonesty half as much as I do their thinking I’m stupid enough to believe them! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/49 "2014-08-13T20:33:39Z")
Burt Reynolds as [Navajo Joe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Joe#mediaviewer/File:Navajo_Joe_%281966%29.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/50 "2014-08-13T20:50:58Z")
C. Thomas Walker as a black guy in “Soul Man”. I know, I know. He wasn’t really black in that movie. But he still managed to convince everyone that he was, obvious wig and all. I saw the movie as a kid. It was a total WTF experience for me. “The Neverending Story” seemed like a documentary compared to that movie. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/51 "2014-08-13T21:37:19Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I think Michael Ansara has played every ethnicity except his own (Syrian) - various Mexican and Hispanic, Native American, Egyptian, Sikh, Chinese, Babylonian, Hawaiian, Samoan, Albanian, Italian, generic Arabian, plus generic Caucasian. And, of course, Klingon (boney and non-boney). Cliff Curtis hasn’t been quite as diverse, but he’s [getting there.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/05/20/cliff_curtis_supercut_actor_plays_every_ethnicity_hollywood_throws_his_way.html) ---
**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:** [August 13, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/52 "2014-08-13T21:38:34Z")
Ernest Bornigne as a Russian spy in “Ice Station Zebra” (apparently from Paris). ---
**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:** [August 13, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/53 "2014-08-13T22:34:07Z")
Joey Bishop as Kronk the Indian in _ **Texas across the River** _: [![](https://www.unclebarky.com/back_files/page12_blog_entry14_4.jpg) ](https://www.unclebarky.com/back_files/page12_blog_entry14_4.jpg) Shirley Maclaine as Princess Aouda in _ **Around the World in 80 Days** _: [![](https://www.unclebarky.com/back_files/page12_blog_entry14_4.jpg) ](https://www.unclebarky.com/back_files/page12_blog_entry14_4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/54 "2014-08-13T22:48:52Z")
[Donna Reed as Sacajawea](http://www.themakeupgallery.info/images/racial/amerind/horizons4.jpg) in [The Far Horizons](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048056/). ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/55 "2014-08-14T02:25:47Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Burt Reynolds as [Navajo Joe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Joe#mediaviewer/File:Navajo_Joe_%281966%29.jpg). Isn’t Burt part Indian? ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/56 "2014-08-14T03:19:05Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > [John Wayne as Genghis Khan](https://img.4plebs.org/boards/pol/image/1392/14/1392143281107.jpg) in _The Conqueror._ > > 1956 version of _The Ten Commandments_ is loaded with laughable ethnic casting, but [Anne Baxter as Nefertiti](https://www.google.com/search?q=anne+baxter+nefertiti&rlz=1CAACAG_enUS570US570&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=n_vqU6O7H5WAygTv_oEQ&ved=0CCEQsAQ&biw=1103&bih=610#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=C5zuDkuEy6RksM%253A%3BL9IZSMBSIVPWmM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F2.bp.blogspot.com%252F-11_0JV7jUJE%252FTgUX1hlPUSI%252FAAAAAAAABU4%252F_6QD86rlf_A%252Fs1600%252Fannebaxter.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.peplumtv.com%252F2011%252F06%252Fphoto-of-day_24.html%3B715%3B473) and [Edward G. Robinson as Dothan](https://www.google.com/search?q=edward+g+robinson+ten+commandments&rlz=1CAACAG_enUS570US570&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=4_vqU76INs2dyAS91IGYBg&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg&biw=1103&bih=610&dpr=1#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=ZF_OYSomoyoiMM%253A%3B5bj1e1ab1qqR8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmedia.theiapolis.com%252Fd4%252FhIJ%252Fi1RG3%252Fk4%252Fl1RW2%252FwZJ%252Fedward-g-robinson-as-dathan-in-the-ten-commandments.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcinema.theiapolis.com%252Fmovie-20AU%252Fthe-ten-commandments%252Fgallery%252Fedward-g-robinson-as-dathan-in-the-ten-commandments-1081985.html%3B1279%3B667) are especially ridiculous. Why go all the way back to '56 when ‘Exodus’ is [right here with us](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZPMU9riKl4). ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/57 "2014-08-14T04:46:08Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Burt Reynolds as [Navajo Joe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Joe#mediaviewer/File:Navajo_Joe_%281966%29.jpg). > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Isn’t Burt part Indian? According to Wikipedia, his father had Irish and Cherokee ancestry. > **[Burt Reynolds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Reynolds)** > > Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. Reynolds first became known well as a result of featuring in television series, such as Gunsmoke (1962–1965), Hawk (1966), and Dan August (1970–1971). He had leading roles in films, such as Navajo Joe (1966) and 100 Rifles (1969), and his breakthrough role was as Lewis Medlock in Deliverance (1972). > Reynolds played leading roles in a number of subsequent financial suc... ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/58 "2014-08-14T05:22:40Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > There was an episode of _Bosom Buddies_ (I could be wrong), in which the “girls” are at a party hosted by a lovely young Asian-American girl with a very well done but hilarious deep Southern accent. Korean-American comedian Henry Cho has a thick Southern accent, although I think he puts it on for his shows. He was in an episode of “Designing Women” where they were flying from Atlanta to Japan (I think), and they thought he was probably Japanese, till he broke out his Southern accent. When I was working for the US Air Force, I met a US Air Force officer with a multi-syllabic Thai name who had a thick Southern accent. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/59 "2014-08-14T05:33:51Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Raj’s dad on Big Bang Theory is Jewish. > > Did I miss anyone mentioning Sean Connery as Japanese? Or Egyptian? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412/60 "2014-08-14T06:00:33Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonian Singh, the only Sikh ever to speak with a Mexican accent: > > [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K\_CBU6yw1rk/TudowQ6KPmI/AAAAAAAAA04/yg822kyNPwA/s1600/Ricardo+Montalban.jpg](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K_CBU6yw1rk/TudowQ6KPmI/AAAAAAAAA04/yg822kyNPwA/s1600/Ricardo+Montalban.jpg) Don’t forget Sean Connery as the only Russian who ever had a Welsh accent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-likely-ethnic-characterization/695412.md?page=4)