It occurred to me recently that Julie Andrews, despite having (I’m sure) a very long and distinguished career, has precisely two roles that stick WAY out in terms of lasting success and familiarity, namely Mary Poppins and Maria Von Trapp. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to name anything other role of hers. Well, she was in The Princess Diaries…
What other artists/performers have, not necessarily only two successes, but two roles/works that are far better known/more successful than any of their others?
Harrison Ford kind of fits. His two best known roles are obvious, with the third (Jack Ryan? The president from Air Force One? The guy from The Fugitive?) being an order of magnitude more forgettable.
When I think of Vivien Leigh, the roles that immediately come to mind are Scarlett O’Hara and Blanche DuBois. I have to think rather hard to come up with anything else (although her Cleopatra was delightful in Caesar and Cleopatra, the performance is not widely known).
Dunno about that. Here are some hits in which HF appeared:
American Graffiti
Star Wars
Apocalypse Now
What about Victor/Victoria?
(Sorry - hit “Submit” too soon.)
The Empire Strikes Back
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Blade Runner
Return of the Jedi
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Witness
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Patriot Games
The Fugitive
Not all were mega-hits, and not all his roles were equally memorable. But I don’t think he’s a good candidate for “Two-hit wonder”.
Brooke Shields: Pretty Baby and Blue Lagoon
I disagree with that: Victor/Victoria is also highly identified with JA
And Harrison Ford was in a Little film called Star Wars as Han Solo; Plus he made a series of movies that spawned a Television show based around his character:
Indiana Jones – so, I think he’s really more of a 4 hit wonder, while JA gets 3 in my book.
I do however think this is an interesting idea.
Perhaps Gene Wilder:
Leo Bloom
Victor VonFrankenstein
(though he may have other signature roles–sidekicked with Richard Pryor that could knock him out)
I’d think Rick Moranis, but I think the Mackenzie brothers and Seymore Krebs are spoiled by the Father role in Honey I shrunk the kids, and the Key role in Ghostbusters.
Peter Boyle has done lots of good work, but I think most people are going to remember him as Raymond’s Dad on “Everybody Loves Raymond” and the monster in “Young Frankenstein”
Matthew Broderick may be in this category, but apart from Ferris Bueller and Leo Bloom – oh, wait, Election, which is great stuff and that exhausts my knowledge about his work. I don’t even know if he was in “The Producers” movie.
Ted Danson: Sam the Bartender and Becker
Mark Hamill: Luke Skywalker and The Joker
That’s all for now.
And My Fair Lady?
I agree; though I find it strange that you listed all of the Indiana Jones Trilogy and the Star Wars Trilogy separately, considering that he’s playing the same role in each three.
Yes. And Thoroughly Modern Millie, too.
Not to mention the originator of the Eliza Doolittle role.
Essentially, the problem with the thread title is that “Two-Hit wonder” implies that the output outside of the two hits in question is negligible at best. Although they have some roles more famous than others, such a designation doesn’t apply to Andrews or Ford (or even Shields, who did have a hit TV show for years).
Blazing Saddles
Bit part at best. How much screen time did he have, 45 seconds?
Ooops, I mean Pygmalion. (The movie with Audrey Hepburn was called My Fair Lady.)
Switching from movie artists to musical ones, Fastball pretty much just had “The Wau,” and “Out of my Head.”
Yeah, but that can be summed up as Han Solo and Indiana Jones.
Even though he stared in other films his characters names aren’t as memorable; Decker, Jack, the fugitive guy, the guy from witness…
For many folks I know, Arnold Schwarzenegger is known only as the Terminator and Conan.
Nowhere nearly as famous as those who have been mentioned thus far, but Savage Garden had two hits in the US with “Truly, Madly, Deeply” and uhh… some song about Chicka Cherry Cola.
Willy Wonka?
Sarah Holcomb. The Irish girlfriend in Caddyshack, and the mayor’s daughter in Animal House.
True Lies? Predator?
Anyhow, Victor/Victoria may be a perfectly fine movie, but I bet the percentage of the US population who has seen it is less than a fifth of the percentage which has seen Mary Poppins, and ditto for The Sound of Music. Which says more about the enduring popularity of those two films than it does about Victor/Victoria.