# Name the actor by surnames of roles played **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 2, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005 "2009-03-02T13:48:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/61 "2009-03-03T13:58:55Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > One more, Puzzle #18: > > Russell > Boswell > McCarthy > Smith > Love Clive Owen ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/62 "2009-03-03T13:59:18Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > James Gandolfini Bravo! Nice work! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/63 "2009-03-03T14:06:27Z")
Just a note and perhaps a challenge. As I was trying to find what wound up being Sam Neill, I ran across several actors who appeared to have few if any roles that had surnames. I found one with fewer than the five we need to use in this Game Room exercise. If you happen to run across somebody with NO surnames, it might be worth the trouble to mention that actor or actress. Next most notable would be the performer whose ONLY surname role is the title role he or she is best known for. Gandolfini is so Tony Soprano that it’s hard to pull back from that connection and think of other roles that weren’t so obviously Italian-American, which would be too much of a giveaway. There ought to be many others with that cross to bear. Maybe you can think of one for a nice puzzle here. ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/64 "2009-03-03T14:46:29Z")
as for the full name of the character who has been portrayed by the most actors? Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad Dracul, aka Dracula? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/65 "2009-03-03T14:50:15Z")
> [@critter42](#): > > as for the full name of the character who has been portrayed by the most actors? > > Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad Dracul, aka Dracula? No big surprise there. Is there a page or section of IMDB or the like where such statistics are available? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/66 "2009-03-03T14:55:20Z")
Sam Neill and Clive Owen are both correct. And if we can count real people, I’d say Hitler would be a good candidate for being played by the most actors. I mean, they’re still cranking out WW2 movies, and he’s portrayed in a fair amount of them. ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/67 "2009-03-03T15:04:03Z")
I didn’t really look beyond specifically looking up Dracula on an IMDB character search and verifying that like I thought, there were a VERY large number of appearances of the character and submitting that as my guess for the question ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/68 "2009-03-03T15:18:18Z")
Thanks for the clarification, **critter42**. Puzzle # 19 Rooney Manning Blake Ross Sullivan Groves Galvin ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/69 "2009-03-03T15:21:38Z")
Puzzle # 20 Potts Dean Perkins Sherwood Taylor Bell Hunt ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/70 "2009-03-03T15:30:40Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Puzzle # 20 > > Potts > Dean > Perkins > Sherwood > Taylor > Bell > Hunt Gwynneth Paltrow? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/71 "2009-03-03T15:31:29Z")
> [@critter42](#): > > Gwynneth Paltrow? Bravo! And fast! ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/72 "2009-03-03T15:38:07Z")
I’m a comic geek - only character I could think of with Potts was “Pepper Potts” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/73 "2009-03-03T15:48:11Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Thanks for the clarification, **critter42**. > > Puzzle # 19 > > Rooney > Manning > Blake > Ross > Sullivan > Groves > Galvin Paul Newman (I just watched The Verdict last week so Galvin was still in my head, otherwise would have been spinning my wheels on this one 🙂 ) Still miss him ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/74 "2009-03-03T15:49:54Z")
> [@critter42](#): > > I’m a comic geek - only character I could think of with Potts was “Pepper Potts” 🙂 It may not be true for everybody, but there are some more or less common names that I will associate with just a few (maybe just one) actors, like you did with Potts, and if I go to that person’s IMDB page and spot the other names in the puzzle, I’m home free. One with too few names to make the list requirements would be Stark Rink Trask (anagram of Stark) Looking up less-well-known character names (mostly from TV) would fill out the minimum five, but I’d wager that anybody over 30 ought to get it with just those three. I won’t even bore you with the star-maker names like Corleone (how many individual characters from that family?) Soprano (ditto) Spade Bond Lebowski Ocean but those names would need at least two others in the list to separate the main actor from the also rans. Maybe Lebowski would be a one-off? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/75 "2009-03-03T15:49:55Z")
#21 Allnut Blaine Dobbs Larrabee Marlowe McCloud ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/76 "2009-03-03T15:50:57Z")
> [@critter42](#): > > Paul Newman > > (I just watched The Verdict last week so Galvin was still in my head, otherwise would have been spinning my wheels on this one 🙂 ) > > Still miss him Bravo! 10-4 on the missing. I thought he would live forever. Should have. ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/77 "2009-03-03T15:53:09Z")
OK, I’m trying #22 Devine Noakes Swigert Ross Caine McCormack ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/78 "2009-03-03T15:53:48Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > #21 > > Allnut > Blaine > Dobbs > Larrabee > Marlowe > McCloud Bogie? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/79 "2009-03-03T15:56:24Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > #21 > > Allnut > Blaine > Dobbs > Larrabee > Marlowe > McCloud That’s Humphrey Bogart: Charlie Allnut – The African Queen Rick Blaine – Casablanca ?? older brother Larrabee from Sabrina Det. Marlowe – The Big Sleep ?? Will produce my list of names in a minute… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/80 "2009-03-03T16:05:52Z")
#23 [I think]: Anderson Parker Pendrake de Winter Hale Christensen Mars Crawford Joy I deleted the one standout name that likely would’ve given it away to the most people (and for extra credit, name that role); otherwise, it would be too easy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005.md?page=5)