# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**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 15, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/61 "2023-07-15T01:16:53Z")
Or Danny Thomas as Danny Williams. ---
**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 15, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/62 "2023-07-15T01:53:23Z")
Lyle Talbot had a bit part in _Green Acres_ where he played Senator Lyle Talbot. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/63 "2023-07-15T18:18:44Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > When he was an innkeeper in Vermont, his character was named “Dick Loudon.” Watch the last episode again and then tell us whether he ever played a character named Bob in _Newhart_. Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum in _Magnum P.I._ Amy Brenneman as Amy Gray in _Judging Amy_ James Garner as Jim Rockford in _The Rockford Files_ James Garner (again) as Jim Egan in _8 Simple Rules_ John Ritter as Jack Tripper in _Three’s Company_ Paul Reiser as Paul Buchman in _Mad about You_ Jerry Paris as Jerry Helper in _The Dick Van Dyke Show_ Fran Drescher as Fran Fine in _The Nanny_ Ellen DeGeneres as Ellen Morgan in _Ellen_ Close but not exact: Katey Sagal as Cate Hennessey in _8 Simple Rules_ Georgia Engel as Georgette Franklin Baxter in _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/64 "2023-07-15T20:54:55Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > _30 Rock_: > Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan > John Lutz as John Lutz (but it’s not a cameo - similar to how Will Smith plays a character named Will Smith on _The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air_, but the character is not also the rapper The Fresh Prince) _30 Rock_ had a bunch of these: Elizabeth Stamatina “Tina” Fey as Liz Lemon, Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, John Lutz as Lutz, Grizz Chapman as Grizz, John Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy… (okay, not that last one.) ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/65 "2023-07-20T11:31:46Z")
And for a list… (I waited until after people stopped posting for a few days) > **[Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword...](https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=actor-shares-first-name-with-character)** > > IMDb's advanced search allows you to run extremely powerful queries over all people and titles in the database. Find exactly what you're looking for! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/66 "2023-08-04T01:47:02Z")
Season 2 of _Good Omens_: Maggie and Nina are played by Maggie and Nina. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/67 "2023-08-04T12:44:14Z")
Our discussion of _Play it Again, Sam_ in another thread made me realize that Woody Allen played Allan Felix in that. And please note that it’s not a first name/last name thing, because Woody’s birth name is Allan Stewart Konigsberg (he changed it to Heywood Allen legally when he was 17). I don’t kniow why he changed the “a” to an “e”. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/68 "2023-08-04T12:56:28Z")
Steve Buscemi’s character in Desperado is Buscemi. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/69 "2023-08-04T13:11:11Z")
Jackie Chan played various characters named “Jackie” in several movies, although some of those (I think) only had him as “Jackie” in the subtitles. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2025, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/70 "2025-10-14T02:06:59Z")
Bumping an old thread because I just noticed that in the recent _Saturday Night_ movie, Lamorne Morris was cast to play Garrett Morris. (And if we’re counting first names, Paul Rust was cast to play Paul Shaffer.) ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/71 "2025-10-14T10:57:41Z")
Yesterday I posted something about the Sarah Silverman show. I think all of the main cast had the same first name as their characters. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/72 "2025-10-14T16:07:47Z")
In _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_ there’s Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly, and if stage names count there’s also Rob Mac as Mac. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/73 "2025-10-14T16:43:31Z")
During the 80s standup boom they tried to give every comic with a decent 30 minutes a sitcom. More often than not the character would keep all or some of their real name to tie into their standup routine. We remember the times it worked like with Jerry Seinfeld and Tim Allen. A bunch of times it didn’t work. Tom Rhodes played Tom Rhodes in _Mr Rhodes._ Paul Rodriguez played Paul Rivera in _AKA Pablo._ I’m sure there are a bunch of failures that I forgot. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/74 "2025-10-14T17:25:52Z")
In the TV show _The Pretender,_ Andrea Parker played Miss Parker. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954/75 "2025-12-04T17:26:10Z")
Not an exact match but surprisingly close. In the upcoming movie _Ella McCay_, the title character is played by Emma Mackey. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-movies-in-which-the-actor-s-name-matches-the-character-s/986954.md?page=3)