# Shows or movies in which the actor’s name matches the character’s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [July 12, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954 "2023-07-12T19:43:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/21 "2023-07-12T21:46:01Z")
In the movie _A Fish Called Wanda_, the ringleader of the gang of thieves, who spends most of the movie in jail after being betrayed by Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis, is named George Thomason. The actor who plays him is [Thomas Georgeson.](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0313702/) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/22 "2023-07-12T21:56:27Z")
The sitcom **Workaholics** had a large number of similarly named characters, including: - Blake Anderson as Blake Henderson - Adam Devine as Adam DeMamp - Anders Holm as Anders Holmvik - Jillian Bell as Jillian Belk - Waymond Lee as Waymond - Kyle Newacheck as Karl Hevacheck ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/23 "2023-07-12T22:02:22Z")
Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards Ted Knight as Ted Baxter ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/24 "2023-07-12T22:04:41Z")
_The Maltese Falcon_: Elisha Cook, Jr. as Wilmer Cook. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/25 "2023-07-12T22:20:31Z")
Ivan Dixon as Ivan Kinchloe in _ **Hogan’s Heroes** _, though he was also referred to as “James” in one episode. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/26 "2023-07-12T22:24:46Z")
Well, Bob Newhart was never a psychologist, an innkeeper, or a cartoonist, so I think all three of his shows count ,per the OP’s criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/27 "2023-07-12T22:25:11Z")
**Broad City** had Abbi Jacobson as Abbi Abrams and Ilana Glazer as Ilana Wexler. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/28 "2023-07-12T22:25:44Z")
Harry Anderson as Harry Stone ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/29 "2023-07-12T22:26:49Z")
Starting in 1994, actress Sharon Case played Sharon Newman (nee Collins) on “The Young and the Restless”. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/30 "2023-07-12T22:27:45Z")
Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/31 "2023-07-12T22:44:49Z")
Bill Paxton as Bill Henrickson on **Big Love**. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/32 "2023-07-12T23:40:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Yep! And “Woody” is short for… Woodrow. Woodrow Tiberius Boyd. I’ve read that the character was already named when Harrelson auditioned for the role. I wonder if they weren’t paying an _homage_ to Captain Kirk when they chose that middle name. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/33 "2023-07-13T00:24:06Z")
Not quite, but close: the cast of Robert Altman’s _Imagee_ have character names that match other cast members Susannah York as Cathryn René Auberjonoi as Hugh Marcel Bozzuffi as Rene Hugh Millais as Marcel Cathryn Harrison as Susanna Must have caused a lot of confusion on the set. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/34 "2023-07-13T10:43:20Z")
Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/35 "2023-07-13T11:43:45Z")
**Curb Your Enthusiasm** had Cheryl Hines as Cheryl David, Jeff Garlin as Jeff Greene, and Susie Essman as Susie Greene. (And Larry David as Larry David, but he wouldn’t count per the OP.) ---
**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:** [July 13, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/36 "2023-07-13T13:03:58Z")
Bud (William) Abbott and Lou Costello did this in a couple of movies. In **Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion** (1950) they’re Bud Jones and Lou Hotchkiss. In **Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man** (1951) they’re Bud Alexander and Lou Francis In **Dance with me Henry** (Their last flick together, 1956) they’re Bud Flick and Lou Henry and in **Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy** (1955) they’re Abbott and Costello. They also did this in the first movie they appeared in, **One Night in the Tropics** (1940) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/37 "2023-07-13T13:06:23Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Tony Danza played characters named Tony in both _Taxi_ and _Who’s the Boss_. > [@TriPolar](#): > > They said that’s what they had to do on Taxi because they couldn’t get him to answer to his character’s name. And is the reason behind the name of this trope: > **[The Danza - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDanza)** > > A character whose name is clearly taken from the performer portraying them. This shows up on TV a lot in shows designed as a vehicle for an actor's fame. By lending their name to the fictional character, there's some familiarity created already. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2023, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/38 "2023-07-13T13:07:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wong, in Dr. Strange, was played by Benedict Wong. I’ve always felt this is the best example because the character had been named Wong long before the actor was cast to play him. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/39 "2023-07-13T13:08:41Z")
In the _Bowery Boys_ movies, several of the gang used their real first names for their recurring characters. Bobby Jordan was “Bobby” Gabriel Dell was “Gabe Moreno” Danny Welton was “Danny” and when Stanley Clements replaced Leo Gorcey as the leader, he played Stanislas “Duke” Covaleskie. “Stanislas” is Polish for “Stanley”, and Clements was Polish. His real name was Stanislaw Klimowicz. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/40 "2023-07-13T13:11:39Z")
On the American version of The Office, Angela Kinsey plays Angela Martin, Oscar Nunez plays Oscar Martinez, Phyllis Smith plays Phyllis Vance and Creed Bratton plays Creed Bratton. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954.md?page=3)