# Minor figures who've been portrayed multiple times in film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [March 2, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605 "2023-03-02T17:42:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/21 "2023-03-02T21:13:55Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Do spouses count? Yeah, I was just thinking that. Minor but essential people associated with huge figures - Eva Braun, say. That’s probably too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/22 "2023-03-02T21:14:13Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I believe Mafia rat Henry Hill has been portrayed in films other than _ **Goodfellas** _, usually in documentaries about _la Cosa Nostra_. My Blue Heaven is a sort of retelling of the same story as Goodfellas, so Henry Hill was sort of played by Steve Martin. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/23 "2023-03-02T21:16:03Z")
If groups count, there has been more than one movie about the commandos who raided the heavy water plant in Norway during WWII. Ditto for the Desert Rats of North Africa. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/24 "2023-03-02T21:20:30Z")
The story of Billy the Kid has been filmed multiple times. The films are often highly fictionalized, but many of them include peripheral players in the Lincoln County War. Lawrence Murphy, John Tunstall, Alexander McSween, Dick Brewer, and Charlie Bowdre have appeared in several films. (Each of them has a Wikipedia page, if you want to look them up.) ---
**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:** [March 2, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/25 "2023-03-02T21:31:01Z")
There have been several movies about the _Titanic_, so I’m willing to bet other members of the crew have been portrayed as well, especially Captain Edward Smith, Signals Operator Harold Bride (played by young David McAllum in _ **A Night to Remember** _), and First Officer William Murdoch (reputed to have blown his brains out as the ship was sinking). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/26 "2023-03-02T21:33:12Z")
Günter Wendt. He’s the guy who escorted the astronauts to the capsule and closed the hatch on every manned NASA mission from from Freedom 7 in 1961 until Apollo-Soyuz in 1975. He’s depicted in almost every film or TV show about the Space Race. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/27 "2023-03-02T21:36:54Z")
**The Laramie Project** and **The Matthew Shepard Story** portrayed several of the same real-life characters, including Matthew Shepard’s parents. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/28 "2023-03-02T21:39:00Z")
Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect and Minister of Armaments, has been portrayed in several films. Despite the power he wielded, he was always a second-tier Nazi after the likes of Goering, Goebbels, and Himmler. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/29 "2023-03-02T22:28:16Z")
Mrs Hudson (Sherlock Holmes’ landlady.) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/30 "2023-03-02T22:54:46Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Mrs Hudson (Sherlock Holmes’ landlady.) She’s not a real life character. Though its does remind me that one of my ancestors may qualify. sort of? [Alfred Wilkes Drayson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Wilks_Drayson) is my great-great-great-great-uncle (I think 4x great?) and he was the absolute nutjob who got Arthur Conan Doyle into spiritualism (as well having have batshit ideas about astronomy). The character of Colonel Moran in Sherlock Holmes is thought to be based on him, who has been portrayed many times in the various movies. Professor Moriaty could be based on his academic nemesis (who called him out on the fact his crazy astronomical theories were in fact crazy and made no sense, not to mention calling bullshit on all the spirtualism) [Professor Simon Newcomb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Newcomb). ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/31 "2023-03-03T02:33:41Z")
Clyde Barrow was a 2 bit thug that stole cars and robbed grocery stores and gas stations. His success at banks was limited. He would have been lost in history without his girlfriend Bonnie who accompanied him. I think Clyde was a psychopath. He was extremely unstable. Movies kept the myth of Bonnie & Clyde alive. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/32 "2023-03-03T02:50:56Z")
Johnny Dale Sylvester was a sick kid that Babe Ruth sent well wishes to during the 1926 World Series. The story goes that Ruth promised Johnny to hit a home run, which he then did. > [@](#): > > In 1926, Sylvester was suffering from a serious infection of the forehead caused by a kick from a horse when he told his father, ″I wish I could see Babe Ruth wallop a homer before I die.″ > > The family sent telegrams to the New York Yankees while they were playing in St. Louis. Back came an airmail package containing two baseballs, one autographed by the St. Louis Cardinals, the other signed by several Yankees, including Ruth, who wrote, ″I’ll knock a homer for you on Wednesday.″ > > Ruth hit three that day. In a follow-up note the day of Game 6, Ruth said he would ″try to knock you another homer, maybe two today,″ but went homerless. He hit one in Game 7 but it was not enough to prevent the Yankees from losing the Series. In fact, Ruth was caught stealing for the final out. > > Ruth visited the Essex Fells, N.J., boy at his bedside after the Series, a meeting at which Sylvester remarked, ″I’m sorry the Yanks lost.″ [https://apnews.com/article/84c2bd0913e71c8dc5add2fbda04c914](https://apnews.com/article/84c2bd0913e71c8dc5add2fbda04c914) Johnny’s story has usually morphed into a legend that Ruth visited him in the hospital, and personally promised to hit a homer. This tale has made it into several movies: The Babe Ruth Story, Pride of the Yankees, and The Babe. There’s apparently even a documentary. > **[I'll Knock a Homer for You: Story of Johnny Sylvester and Babe Ruth](https://loosegravelfilms.com/projects-of-past/)** > > Johnny Sylvester Andrew Lilley I'll Knock a Homer for You Babe Ruth baseball legendary timeless documentary film ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/33 "2023-03-03T03:09:39Z")
Don’t forget the SCTV version: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qG0oTxmXsH0/maxresdefault.jpg "The Babe Ruth Story John Candy SCTV Second City TV Television") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG0oTxmXsH0) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/34 "2023-03-03T03:35:12Z")
I looked for but couldn’t find the sketch where the Babe (John Belushi) promised a homer to a sick black kid – and failed to deliver. “But little Henry Aaron _pulled through_ and broke Ruth’s lifetime home run record.” ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/35 "2023-03-03T03:48:52Z")
I don’t know… _Band of Brothers_ wasn’t published until 1992, and that’s the first I’d heard of Easy Company, etc… As for the OP, I suspect Davy Crockett has been portrayed a LOT in film, both as the most famous person to fight and die at the Alamo, but as a famous frontiersman and congressman. [Category:Cultural depictions of Davy Crockett - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cultural_depictions_of_Davy_Crockett) ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/36 "2023-03-03T03:56:10Z")
Damn! Beat me to it! 😠 ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/37 "2023-03-03T04:00:23Z")
> [@bump](#): > > _Band of Brothers_ wasn’t published until 1992, and that’s the first I’d heard of Easy Company, etc… Yeah but the actions they carried out (such as the assault on the guns Brecourt Manor and defense of Bastogne) were pretty well known and depicted in earlier films, so even if they weren’t explicitly called out as “Easy Company” they would have been portrayed, I think? > [@bump](#): > > As for the OP, I suspect Davy Crockett has been portrayed a LOT in film, both as the most famous person to fight and die at the Alamo, but as a famous frontiersman and congressman. I’d definitely wouldn’t consider him a “minor figure”, he’s definitely a famous historical figure and not an obscure one. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/38 "2023-03-03T05:41:38Z")
In the “in my own head rules” for this thread, if I recognize the name, it’s not a minor historical figure. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/39 "2023-03-03T05:44:54Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Albert Speer He’s not as infamous as the other senior Nazis (they are uniquely infamous among historical figures, you don’t even need to say their names, pushing 100 years after their rise to power they are still visually recognisable). But he’d still count as a major historical figures IMO ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605/40 "2023-03-03T05:59:26Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I think Clyde was a psychopath. He was extremely unstable. Clyde was a product of the Texas penal system. While at Eastham Prison Farm, Barrow was repeatedly raped by another inmate known as Big Earl. Eastham was a dorm style prison, kind of like what you saw in Cool Hand Luke, and the other prisoners and even the guards knew what was going on, some of them even teased him about it saying he must like it. This is where Barrow committed his first murder, luring Earl to the showers and bashing his head in with a pipe. Barrow wasn’t exactly an angel before his sentence, but the man who came out of Eastham wasn’t the same one that went in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-figures-whove-been-portrayed-multiple-times-in-film/980605.md?page=3)