# Same Actor/Actress In Same TV Show, But Now A Different Character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2009, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751 "2009-11-16T07:26:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/61 "2009-11-16T22:34:51Z")
Speaking of which, there’s an actor [Robert Leight McCord II](http://catwomanfan.com/tz/actors/mccord.php), who appeared in dozens of “Twilight Zone” eps as an extra (usually). There’s some irony in that in the eps in which he is most visible, he’s hardly recognizable, but credited; in the eps in which he’s just an uncredited extra, he’s much more visible. Now, as to why he was credited sometimes as “Robert L. McCord III” (which was his son’s name, a former sound-guy-turned-restaurateur, who died last year) is another mystery. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/62 "2009-11-16T22:41:41Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > **bup** , I am not sure about George Takei not being Sulu in \*Where No Man Has Gone Before, \*I think it was still Sulu just in a different department at the time. Wow. When I read your post, I was certain that was fan wanking, but I can’t find anything to support my contention. Was he really named Sulu in that episode? I thought he played something like ‘unnamed math dweeb.’ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/63 "2009-11-16T23:44:56Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Carolyn Seymour played three different characters in _Next Generation_. Heck, Jeffrey Coombs has played so many different Trek characters, he qualifies under California law as a recycling program. There was a long-ago pre-NextGen trivia question about which actor had played characters of three different races (Mark Lenard). Since then, the record has been shattered repeatedly, I think first by Marc Alaimo with four different races (human, Romulan, Cardassian and Antican). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/64 "2009-11-16T23:48:55Z")
[Kwan Hi Lim](http://magnum-mania.com/images/5_9_g_full.jpg) played a different (usually shady) character each time on no fewer than two dozen Hawaii Five-O episodes (counting the three-parter “V for Vashon” as one episode). ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/65 "2009-11-17T00:40:17Z")
I came in to mention Colin Baker in _Doctor Who_. Since I was beaten to it, I’ll mention _The X-Files_’ Nicholas Lea, who narrowly escaped being murdered in “Genderbender” in season one, then was cast as Alex Krychek in season two and became the face that launched a thousand slash fanfics. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/66 "2009-11-17T01:14:00Z")
[Wayne Alexander](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0018795/) had about five different roles on _Babylon 5_, most prominently as Lorien. Most of them were in heavy alien make-up, though, so it wasn’t very noticeable. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/67 "2009-11-17T01:44:29Z")
Nichole Sullivan (MAD TV) had a one episode bit part on “King Of Queens” as a sales clerk a year or so before joining the cast full time as Holly the slutty, booze-loving dog walker… King Of Queens also used the same few extras in bit roles over and over again, always playing completely different characters. I wonder if these were real life friends of Kevin James, and he was giving them a bit of work whenever he had the chance to do so. (I say this because apparently Kevin James is a guy who is still close friends with several of the group that he went to high school with, and is known in Hollywood as a genuinely decent person.) ---
**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:** [November 17, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/68 "2009-11-17T02:10:00Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > There was a long-ago pre-NextGen trivia question about which actor had played characters of three different races (Mark Lenard). I heard it as “what actor has played a human, a romulan, a klingon, and a gorilla?” ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/69 "2009-11-17T02:10:00Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Wow. When I read your post, I was certain that was fan wanking, but I can’t find anything to support my contention. Was he really named Sulu in that episode? I thought he played something like ‘unnamed math dweeb.’ Apparently in the script he was Sulu and was a science dept person. According to [Memory Alpha](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Hikaru_Sulu), who know far more on this than you or I, > [@](#): > > He served as the physicist and [helmsman](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Helmsman) aboard the [USS _Enterprise_](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701%29) during its historic five-year mission > … > In [2265](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/2265), [Lieutenant](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Lieutenant) Sulu was assigned to the starship _Enterprise_, serving as the head of the [astrosciences](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Astrosciences) department. ([TOS](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series): “[Where No Man Has Gone Before](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Where_No_Man_Has_Gone_Before_%28episode%29)”) By [2266](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/2266), Sulu had transferred to the [operations division](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Operations_division) and was assigned to the [helmsman](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Helmsman) station with responsibilities as shift [tactical officer](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Tactical_officer). ([TOS](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series): “[The Corbomite Maneuver](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/The_Corbomite_Maneuver_%28episode%29)”) ---
**Author:** ![p4poetic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@p4poetic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/p4poetic)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/70 "2009-11-17T02:11:41Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Often times in TV shows you will have an actor come one a play a one time part then go away only to later appear on the same TV show but as a totally different character. > > I have heard this happens all the time in Soap Operas. > > Most of the time I really don’t notice but every once in awhile it will really bug me a lot > > For instance, Richard Schaal played Howard Arnell, who Mary didn’t like, and his brother Paul Arnel, who Mary liked and also played Chuckle’s the clown etc etc (Of course at the time he was married to Valarie Harper so that may have got him the part). > > My question is are there any times this happens on TV shows where one actor/actress plays a character and comes back later on as a totally different character and you just can’t accept the old actor/actress in the new role of a different character? It doesn’t really bug me unless the actor isn’t capable of playing two different characters properly. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/71 "2009-11-17T02:19:21Z")
[quote=“Sampiro, post:9, topic:517751”] I didn’t watch enough of STAR TREK TNS to know personally, but didn’t Denise Crosby play Tasha Yar and then later (after the character was killed) return as Yar’s same age daughter somehow? (I think a time warp was involved.) Yes, although she was the daughter of Tasha Yar from an alternate timeline, as depicted in the episode [[Yesterday's Enterprise - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesterday%27s_Enterprise)"Yesterday’s Enterprise.“]([Yesterday's Enterprise - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesterday%27s_Enterprise)"Yesterday’s Enterprise.”) The timeline is affected by the Enterprise-C coming through a rift in space. The presumed disapperance of NCC-1701C from the past causes a time anomaly in which the Federation and Klingon Empire are at war. Picard and crew manage to send the Enterprise-C back to the past and repair the timeline. Yar, who was still alive in the alternate timeline, finds out she died in the original timeline and volunteers to go back with the Enterprise-C, where she will still have a chance to be alive. Yar’s half-Romulan daughter, Sela, is later revealed in the two-part episode [“Redemption,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemption_%28Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation%29) where she attempts to foment civil war in the Klingon Empire by supporting Toral, son of Duras, against Gowron as Klingon chancellor. > [@bup](#): > > Wow. When I read your post, I was certain that was fan wanking, but I can’t find anything to support my contention. Was he really named Sulu in that episode? I thought he played something like ‘unnamed math dweeb.’ No, I just watched the episode at [CBS.com](http://CBS.com) and he was credited at the end as Sulu. This was the second pilot episode for Star Trek (the first being “The Cage”) and was aired as the third episode of the first season by NBC. Sulu was the head of the astrosciences department before being transferred to the helm for the series’ regular run. I believe he also did a stint in the ship’s Botany department, as well. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/72 "2009-11-17T02:30:01Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > King Of Queens also used the same few extras in bit roles over and over again, always playing completely different characters. I wonder if these were real life friends of Kevin James, and he was giving them a bit of work whenever he had the chance to do so. (I say this because apparently Kevin James is a guy who is still close friends with several of the group that he went to high school with, and is known in Hollywood as a genuinely decent person.) Speaking of Kevin James, he played two different characters in “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He first played Kevin, a Mets’ broadcastor and friend of Raymond’s, then after “The King of Queens” went on the air, he played Doug Heffernan in a few crossover episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/73 "2009-11-17T02:35:20Z")
Giovanni Ribisi played a character who accidentally dropped a condom instead of coins in Phoebe’s busker case on Friends, then went on to play her half-brother. I guess they could have been the same character, though. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/74 "2009-11-17T03:19:25Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Giovanni Ribisi played a character who accidentally dropped a condom instead of coins in Phoebe’s busker case on Friends, then went on to play her half-brother. > > I guess they could have been the same character, though. It IS possible, since neither one knew the other existed at the time. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/75 "2009-11-17T03:25:14Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Whenever a series needed a male Asian character in the '70s, the role was typically filled by one of a handful of Asian actors. Most notalble of these was [Soon-Tek Oh](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0644902/filmoseries#tt0062568). Also [Tad Horino](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0394707/filmoseries#tt0068093) and [Richard Lee-Sung](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498519/filmoseries#tt0068098); in the '60s it was [Mako](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0538683/filmoseries#tt0055689). This is what I was going to say. They all appeared on _M_A_S_H\* multiple times, as different characters. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/76 "2009-11-17T03:30:18Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Speaking of Kevin James, he played two different characters in “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He first played Kevin, a Mets’ broadcastor and friend of Raymond’s, then after “The King of Queens” went on the air, he played Doug Heffernan in a few crossover episodes. While I never saw “Everybody Loves Raymond” (in fact I only started watching King Of Queens a year or so back, when they started showing re-runs here on a local station) I did see the KOQ episode where (E.L.)Raymond becomes friends with Doug (Kevin James) when they meet taking a drivers licence test. And also, in the first several episodes of King Of Queens, there is a recurring character named Richie, who was played by Ray Romano’s real life brother. Then Richie suddenly vanishes (I dont think that an explanation was ever given) and voila, now there is a new character, Cousin Danny, played by Kevin James’ real life brother. All a bit odd, but I have to say that I have grown to like King Of Queens quite well, (at least for a by-the-numbers sitcom) and I have heard that Kevin James is a genuinely nice guy, which makes me like the show even that much more… ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/77 "2009-11-17T03:50:57Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > And also, in the first several episodes of King Of Queens, there is a recurring character named Richie, who was played by Ray Romano’s real life brother. IMDB says [Larry Romano](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0738913/bio)is not related to Ray Romano, but he is the cousin Carmine Giovinazzo, of _CSI: New York_. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/78 "2009-11-17T04:10:23Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > IMDB says [Larry Romano](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0738913/bio)is not related to Ray Romano, but he is the cousin Carmine Giovinazzo, of _CSI: New York_. I read somewhere (probably here) that Ray and Larry Romano were brothers, and there is quite a physical resemblance between them, but I may be way off in left field on this one… Thanks for the correction; one reason I love SDMB so much is because of how much I am always learning around here!!! ---
**Author:** ![Kylede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kylede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kylede)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/79 "2009-11-17T07:18:04Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Good comment re:\* L&O\*. If you look up just about any currently working actor on IMDb, you’ll see several _L&O_ credits to their name. Christopher Sieber, a noted NYC actor ([Christopher Sieber - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0796758/filmotype) , [http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=69949](http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=69949)) makes sure that whenever his bio is in _Playbill_, it mentions that he resides in NYC and has never been in _L&O_ ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751/80 "2009-11-17T09:01:43Z")
I just found [Where No Man Has Gone Before](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-eLmuSr33o&feature=related)on youtube. George Takei is definitely credited as Sulu. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-actress-in-same-tv-show-but-now-a-different-character/517751.md?page=5)