# People who played the same role in unrelated movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375 "2011-03-29T12:50:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [March 29, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/1 "2011-03-29T12:50:50Z")
Peter O’Toole as Henry II in **The Lion in Winter** and **Becket** Charles Gray as Mycroft Holmes in **The Seven Per Cent Solution** and the Grenada/WGBH **Sherlock Holmes** Frank Finlay as Inspector Lestrade in **A Study in Terror** and **Murder by Decree** (both about Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper!) William Daniels as John Adams in **1776** and **The Rebels** Herbert Lom as Napoleon Bonaparte in **Young Mr. Pitt** and **War and Peace** Christopher Lee as Count Dracula in **Terror of Dracula** and a host of other Hammer films, and in Jess Franco’s unrelated **Count Dracula** I’m sure there are plenty of others. I know of others. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/2 "2011-03-29T13:13:12Z")
Angela Bassett as Betty Shabazz in both _Malcolm X_ and _Panther_. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/3 "2011-03-29T13:31:48Z")
Judi Dench as M in the Brosnan Bonds and in the Craig Bonds. Think about it. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/4 "2011-03-29T13:37:49Z")
Ian Holm has played Napoleon at least 3 times, in a miniseries called “Napoleon and Love”, “Time Bandits” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/5 "2011-03-29T13:38:14Z")
Michael Keaton as Agent Ray Nicolette in \*Jackie Brown \*and _Out of Sight_ ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/6 "2011-03-29T13:52:35Z")
Timothy Bottoms, who has the distinction of playing George W. Bush as a buffoon in the Comedy Central Parker/Stone spoof “That’s My Bush,” again playing him for comedic effect in “Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course” and then playing him seriously in the made-for-TV flick “DC 9/11.” ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/7 "2011-03-29T13:55:44Z")
Henry Fonda played the President of the United States in \*Fail Safe \*and _Meteor_. Probably not exactly the same guy, but perhaps close enough for jazz. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/8 "2011-03-29T14:00:26Z")
Brian Dunleavy and Akrim Tamiroff as McGinty and Boss in both **The Great McGinty** and **The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek**. Bobby Watson played Hitler in at least nine different movies. James Cagney played George M. Cohan in both **Yankee Doodle Dandy** and **The Seven Little Foys**. Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy played the Duke brothers in **Trading Places** and **Coming to America** (the latter a joke cameo). George Lazenby played James Bond in **On Her Majesty’s Secret Service** and in the TV movie **The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.** (the latter credited as “JB”) Margaret Rutherford played Miss Jane Marple in a series of films and also appeared as a character cameo in **The Alphabet Murders**. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/9 "2011-03-29T14:40:43Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Timothy Bottoms, who has the distinction of playing George W. Bush as a buffoon in the Comedy Central Parker/Stone spoof “That’s My Bush,” again playing him for comedic effect in “Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course” and then playing him seriously in the made-for-TV flick “DC 9/11.” The actor ([John Roarke](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730128/)) who played George Bush in _[The Naked Gun 2½](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_gun_2)_ also played him straight in the courtroom drama [_Courage Under Fire_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courage_Under_Fire) starring Meg Ryan and Denzel Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/10 "2011-03-29T14:47:22Z")
NM ---
**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:** [March 29, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/11 "2011-03-29T14:50:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Judi Dench as M in the Brosnan Bonds and in the Craig Bonds. Think about it. It’s the same franchise (although a reboot), so I wouldn’t consider it “fair game” under the “unrelated” part. Just like I wouldn’t consider Bela Lugosi’s playing Dracula in both **Dracula** and **Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein** – they’re both Universal franchise movies. But John Carradine gets considered because he played Drac in both **House of FRankenstein** and in **Billy the Kid meets Dracula**. Or Sean Connery playing James Bond in the Eon Bond films and in **Never Say Never Again**. George Lazenby is another case – the one where They Can’t Use the Name Because of Copyright Restrictions. Otherwise Lugosi would get more notices for Dracula – but they couldn’t, so he used a different nsame in **Mark of the Vampire** and **Return of the Vampire**. Roger Moore, by the way, looked as if he was supposed to be James Bond in the _Cannonball Run_ series, and Timothy Dalton was supposed to be him in **Looney Tunes: Back in Action**. But theyt didn’t/couldn’t use the name. Others: George C. Scott as George S. Patton in **Patton** and **The Last Days of Patton** Alastair Sim as Scrooge in two different versions (by different companies) of **A Christmas Carol** , ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/12 "2011-03-29T14:55:51Z")
Michael Parks played the character Earl McGraw in Planet Terror,Deathproof,Kill Bill Vol.1 and From Dusk til Dawn(He is the Cop in the convenience store in the beginning of the movie) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/13 "2011-03-29T14:56:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s the same franchise (although a reboot), so I wouldn’t consider it “fair game” under the “unrelated” part. Just like I wouldn’t consider Bela Lugosi’s playing Dracula in both **Dracula** and **Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein** – they’re both Universal franchise movies. > > \*\*, IMHO, the fact that they’re in different continuities is enough to make them unrelated series. If Jim Carrey showed up in Nolan’s next Batman film as the Riddler, would you have accepted him? ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/14 "2011-03-29T14:57:30Z")
Charlton Heston played Andrew Jackson (fantastically, by the by – it was perfect casting) in both **The Buccaneer** and **The President’s Lady**. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/15 "2011-03-29T15:10:53Z")
Michael Sheen has played British PM Tony Blair 3 times: The Queen The Deal (made for TV) The Special Relationship (made for TV) ---
**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:** [March 29, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/16 "2011-03-29T15:33:58Z")
> [@](#): > > IMHO, the fact that they’re in different continuities is enough to make them unrelated series. If Jim Carrey showed up in Nolan’s next Batman film as the Riddler, would you have accepted him? No – same franchise. But I proposed the thread, so they’re my rules. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/17 "2011-03-29T15:43:18Z")
Edward Herrmann played Franklin Roosevelt in Eleanor and Franklin (and its sequel) and then in Annie. You can’t get much more unrelated than that. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/18 "2011-03-29T19:32:03Z")
**Ian Hart** (Professor Quirrell in the first Harry Potter film) played\*\* John Lennon\*\* in \*\*BackBeat \*\* and **The Hours and Times**. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/19 "2011-03-29T19:39:32Z")
Sean Connery also plays James Bond in **The Rock** ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/20 "2011-03-29T19:45:50Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Sean Connery also plays James Bond in **The Rock** Huh? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375.md?page=2)