# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/21 "2011-03-30T06:08:47Z")
Ralph Bellamy (who looked like Bruce Baldwin in “His Girl Friday”) played Franklin Roosevelt in “Sunrise at Campobello” and the miniseries “Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance”. Raymond Massey played Abraham Lincoln several times, leading to the joke that he would play him until he was shot. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/22 "2011-03-30T06:40:00Z")
Here’s an unusual one. Billy Redden was the banjo player in _Deliverence_ in 1972. He was also cast as the banjo player in _Blastfighter_ (1984), _Big Fish_ (2003), and _Outrage_ (2009). These are his only film credits. Typecasting really limited his career. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/23 "2011-03-30T09:53:45Z")
Maurice LaMarche has done the voice of Orson Welles on both **The Critic** and **The Simpsons** , and also dubbed Vincent d’Onofrio’s performance as Welles in **Ed Wood**. ---
**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 30, 2011, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/24 "2011-03-30T10:06:07Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Michael Sheen has played British PM Tony Blair 3 times: > > The Queen > The Deal (made for TV) > The Special Relationship (made for TV) Hardly unrelated seeing as all three films were done by the same writer and director. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/25 "2011-03-30T10:22:06Z")
Not a movie but Patrick McKnee played John Steed in the Avengers and in one episode of the old The Hardy Boys in the 70’s he played a mysterious British secret agent, I wonder what his true identity was supposed to be.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/26 "2011-03-30T12:01:02Z")
Tommy Lee Jones. In _every_ movie he will kneel down and sniff the crime scene expertly cause in _every_ movie he’s a tracker kind of guy. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/27 "2011-03-30T12:27:13Z")
Bruno Ganz played the angel Damiel in Wings of Desire and its sequel Far Away, So Close! He then had a small role (more a cameo really) as the same character in the unrelated Icelandic film Children of Nature. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/28 "2011-03-30T12:55:16Z")
Stephen Fry played Oscar Wilde in the 1997 movie by that name. He also took the role in one episode of [Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life & Times](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0658090/), in 1993. I was channel surfing & got sucked in by the vision of Oscar Himself, riding into a rough Western town. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/29 "2011-03-30T13:21:12Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Hardly unrelated seeing as all three films were done by the same writer and director. :rolleyes: So there’s a “Tony Blair” franchise going on? We’re going to see Tony Blair2: Electric Boogaloo next? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/30 "2011-03-30T13:26:03Z")
Carmen Argenziano played a USAF General in both _Broken Arrow_ and _Stargate: SG-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 30, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/31 "2011-03-30T13:35:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Carmen Argenziano played a USAF General in both Broken Arrow and Stargate: SG-1. Not the same one, though, right? There’s a lot of that sort of thing. Morris Ankrum was famous for playing generals in 1950s sci-fi movies, They even named a character “General Ankrum” in his honor in the movie-within-a-movie _Mant_ in the film _Matinee_. But it’s not really “the same role”. Just the same Type. > **[Morris Ankrum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Ankrum)** > > Morris Ankrum (August 28, 1897 – September 2, 1964) was an American radio, television, and film character actor. > Ankrum was born in Danville in Vermilion County in eastern Illinois, and pursued a career in law. After graduating from The University of Southern California, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he became involved in the drama department and eventually began teaching drama and directing at the Pasadena ... > **[Morris Ankrum | Actor, Director](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0030194/)** > > Known for: In a Lonely Place, The Giant Claw, Rocketship X-M ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/32 "2011-03-30T14:21:44Z")
Arnold Schwarzenegger George Clooney Catherine Zeta-Jones ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/33 "2011-03-30T14:58:11Z")
Robert Hardy has played Winston Churchill in three TV movies and two TV miniseries. He also played Franklin Roosevelt in one TV movie and one TV miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/34 "2011-03-30T15:02:02Z")
Do Patrick Stewart’s performances as Claudius in two different versions of _Hamlet_ (1980 and 2009) count? Obviously, they’re not strictly speaking _unrelated_, seeing as how it’s the same play, but they’re otherwise independent of each other. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/35 "2011-03-30T15:59:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > George Lazenby is another case – the one where They Can’t Use the Name Because of Copyright Restrictions. George Lazenby in what? ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/36 "2011-03-30T16:55:01Z")
Johnny Depp in _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_ and the yet to be released _Rum Diaries_ as Hunter S Thompson. Well technically he wasn’t Hunter in either, but Hunter’s stand-in. ---
**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 30, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/37 "2011-03-30T17:01:21Z")
> [@](#): > > George Lazenby in what? **Reality Chuck** referred to _The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E._, which I would have brought up if he hadn’t, since George was pretty clearly playing James Bond in All But Name (driving an equipped Aston-Martin, with “JB” plates) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/38 "2011-03-30T18:07:20Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Sean Connery also plays James Bond in **The Rock** > [@MadTheSwine](#): > > Huh? It’s a popular fan theory that Connery’s British secret agent in The Rock is actually James Bond, who’s been imprisoned since the early 1970s, right after Connery stopped playing Bond. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/39 "2011-03-30T18:16:49Z")
Here’s one: Colin Firth played Mr. Darcy in _Pride and Prejudice_ in 1995, as well as Mark Darcy in _Bridget Jones’s Diary_ in 2001 (as well as the 2004 sequel). Same character, two centuries apart. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375/40 "2011-03-30T19:35:38Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s a popular fan theory that Connery’s British secret agent in The Rock is actually James Bond, who’s been imprisoned since the early 1970s, right after Connery stopped playing Bond. Isn’t the character named, though? Yeah, yeah, it could be an assumed name, but since when has Bond. James Bond. ever used one of those? Besides, aside from both being intelligence agents, there’s really not much similarity between the characters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-played-the-same-role-in-unrelated-movies/576375.md?page=3)