# 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:** 6
**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, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/101 "2009-03-03T20:36:55Z")
#29 Benedict Fries Kimble Matrix Quaid Tasker ---
**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, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/102 "2009-03-03T20:38:32Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Blake > Cranston > Doolittle > Ryan > Swaggart > Trippe Alec Baldwin. My favorite movie of his is [Thick as Thieves (1998)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147599/) where even though his name is Mackin he’s always referred to as The Thief. Andre Braugher makes the movie, though. And the dog. ---
**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, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/103 "2009-03-03T20:41:11Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > #29 > > Benedict > Fries > Kimble > Matrix > Quaid > Tasker The Governator himself. Mr. Barbarian. ---
**Author:** ![Seeker\_of\_Truth\_and\_Beauty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Seeker\_of\_Truth\_and\_Beauty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seeker_of_Truth_and_Beauty)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/104 "2009-03-03T20:42:48Z")
Never mind. ---
**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, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/105 "2009-03-03T20:44:27Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Puzzle # 25 > > Wilcox > Hayden > Stevens > Lewis > Ludlow > Morse > Powell Repeating for the new page. Still to be guessed. ---
**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, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/106 "2009-03-03T20:55:51Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Alec Baldwin. My favorite movie of his is [Thick as Thieves (1998)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147599/) where even though his name is Mackin he’s always referred to as The Thief. Andre Braugher makes the movie, though. And the dog. I never even heard anyone say the name “Blake” in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” but practically everyone can spout off Blake’s lines! Very rarely does such a small role dominate a movie. The entire cast was great, but Baldwin’s is the most memorable character by far. ---
**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, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/107 "2009-03-03T20:56:55Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > The Governator himself. Mr. Barbarian. Yep. ---
**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, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/108 "2009-03-03T20:57:30Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I never even heard anyone say the name “Blake” in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” but practically everyone can spout off Blake’s lines! > > Very rarely does such a small role dominate a movie. The entire cast was great, but Baldwin’s is the most memorable character by far. Agreed! That’s a great movie. Mamet’s stuff usually is. ---
**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, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/109 "2009-03-03T21:04:04Z")
#30 Chipping Cross Gurney James Lawrence Swann ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/110 "2009-03-03T21:04:22Z")
#31 Jones Lucas Falfa Kimble O’Meara Ryan Fox Deckard ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/111 "2009-03-03T21:07:38Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > #30 > > Chipping > Cross > Gurney > James > Lawrence > Swann Peter O’Toole ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/112 "2009-03-03T21:08:40Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > #31 > > Jones > Lucas > Falfa > Kimble > O’Meara > Ryan > Fox > Deckard Harrison Ford ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/113 "2009-03-03T21:19:36Z")
#32 Gillis Sefton Shears Bishop Duncan Schumacher I probably made that one too easy. #33 Sargeant Muldoon Burns Henderson Zell Harris ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/114 "2009-03-03T21:51:47Z")
> [@Seeker\_of\_Truth\_and\_Beauty](#): > > No, I think [Holly Golightly]'s unique. [You think incorrectly.](http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Golightly&x=7&y=2) From the linked page: > [@](#): > > 1. Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Audrey Hepburn) > 2. Repeat Golightly (“Jake and the Kid” (1995), Fred Keating) > 3. Reverend Golightly (The Christian (1923), Robert Bolder) > 4. Reverend Golightly (“Doctor Who” (2005), Tom Goodman-Hill) My Aunt Karen knew a man named Fred Golightly – to hear her tell it, he was the epitome of the “Southern-fried gentleman”, greeting her with a “Howdy-do, Miss Karen!” Here’s Puzzle #34: Carter Sharp Green Woods Walker Williams ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/115 "2009-03-04T02:26:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > #32 > > Gillis > Sefton > Shears > Bishop > Duncan > Schumacher > > I probably made that one too easy. William Holden? Oh, and Zeldar is right about Julia Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/116 "2009-03-04T02:37:49Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > William Holden? Yep. I could have found obscure roles he played, but those were _Sunset Blvd._, _Stalag 17_, _The Bridge on the River Kwai_, _The Wild Bunch_, _The Towering Inferno_, and _Network_. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/117 "2009-03-04T15:07:45Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > #32 > > #33 > > Sargeant > Muldoon > Burns > Henderson > Zell > Harris John Lithgow? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/118 "2009-03-04T15:20:03Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > John Lithgow? Yes. What gave it away? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/119 "2009-03-04T15:30:05Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Yes. What gave it away? Some intense searching through the Character Search function at IMDB! 😃 It took Zell, I think, (I tried each name and ran into some hits with over a page of actors – most of whom I had never heard of) or maybe Muldoon. No clear hits on my memory from any of them, which is the mark of a good set of clues. Right now, **Sternvogel** ’s #34 has me totally buffaloed. Some too common names with no immediate triggers at all. Oddly enough I have found two and one case three names on an actor’s page only to run into a wall. But I’ll keep looking until somebody else beats me to it. My #25 must be working in a similar fashion – if it wasn’t just overlooked TWICE. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005/120 "2009-03-04T15:55:39Z")
I’ve been trying not to solve them through sheer, technological brute force. #8 included “Coyle”, which made me think of _The Friends of Eddie Coyle_, which led me to Robert Mitchum. And scrolling through his IMDb entry I found a “Kane” as well, but that was as far as I got. There was a “Gillis” earlier on, too, which led me to _Sunset Blvd._ (and it was just on one of the classics channels a few days ago); not right, but I came back to it later. In the early 90’s, the revival theater in Seattle used to include a game in their upcoming schedules. I still remember one of them was to name as many movies as possible with months in the title. (_March or Die_ would count, _When Willie Comes Marching Home_ wouldn’t.) Then the IMDb came along and they don’t play that game anymore. Or maybe I’m just old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-actor-by-surnames-of-roles-played/488005.md?page=7)