# What actors have been in the most non-related films together? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640 "2011-01-06T19:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/1 "2011-01-06T19:01:01Z")
A post on another topic reminded me that I’ve seen Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star opposite each other in 3 films: Joe vs. the Volcano, You’ve Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle. As far as I know, they don’t have anything to do with each other, unless there was some kind of volcano fetish theme running in the background of all 3 films. What other famous actors have been cast in movies together where the plot is unrelated? I know Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are friends, so they’ve been in a few movies together. Probably ditto for married couples. Has there been multiple movies where 3 or more of the same famous actors had significant roles? ---
**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:** [January 6, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/2 "2011-01-06T19:16:48Z")
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau: The Fortune Cookie The Odd Couple (and its sequel) Grumpy Old Men (and its sequel) Buddy Buddy The Front Page The Grass Harp JFK Out to Sea They’ve been in 10 movies together, although two of them are sequels to others on the list. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/3 "2011-01-06T19:17:04Z")
Just a wild guess, but Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder starred in a several movies together (I don’t know how many) that were stand-alone films, not part of a series or franchise. Apparently they became friends to some degree, but Gene Wilder always kept at arm’s length from Richard Pryor because of the excessive drug abuse… ---
**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:** [January 6, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/4 "2011-01-06T19:24:28Z")
Lemmon also directed **Kotch** , which starred Matthau. He has a cameo in the film (unspeaking), so I’m not sure if it counts as a film they were both in. IIRC, they don’t interact in JFK, but they both have speaking parts. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/5 "2011-01-06T19:30:58Z")
There’s gotta be something with The Brat Pack and also the people who star in Jud Apatow movies. Would we consider those “related”? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/6 "2011-01-06T19:52:04Z")
Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise have to be in the running, or Adam Sandler/Steve Buscemi or Groucho Marx/Margaret Dumont. Of these, I guess only Sandler and Buscemi can both count as “major.” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/7 "2011-01-06T20:06:16Z")
Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson: -Meet the Parents (& sequels) -Night at the Museum (& sequel) -Starsky & Hutch -The Royal Tetenbaums -Zoolander -The Cable Guy -Permanent Midnight ---
**Author:** ![Southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southpaw)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/8 "2011-01-06T20:10:03Z")
William Powell and Myrna Loy were in 13 movies together, but 6 of them were Thin Man movies. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy costarred in IIRC 9 movies, none sequels Kate also starred in 4 movies with Cary Grant Do duos like Laurel & Hardy or Abbott and Costello count? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/9 "2011-01-06T20:11:59Z")
The Coen brothers have a stable of actors who often work with them; Buscemi & Turturro, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/10 "2011-01-06T20:19:19Z")
Old school: John Wayne and Bruce Cabot appeared in 11 films together. [Bruce Cabot - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0127677/) John Wayne and Ward Bond ( [Ward Bond - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000955/) ) also appeared in many (13, I think) films together. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/11 "2011-01-06T20:22:06Z")
I immediately thought of John Wayne and his “posse.” **mlees** beat me to it, with cites. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/12 "2011-01-06T20:35:07Z")
Stockard Channing and Sam Waterston Sweet Revenge Le Divorce The Room Upstairs David’s Mother The Matthew Shephard Story Woody Allen also casts many of the same actors in unrelated films. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/13 "2011-01-06T20:43:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I immediately thought of John Wayne and his “posse.” **mlees** beat me to it, with cites. I am not really a film nerd. I was wondering if, during the age of the all powerful studio (the 40’s and 50’s), since actors were less free to hop studio’s (contractually), that the same herd of actors and actresses end up in the same films more often than they do now. These days, it seems that actors are much more free agents than they used to be. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/14 "2011-01-06T20:46:19Z")
Directors back then had actors they relied on. Look at the works of Howard Hawks or John Ford. Lots of overlap, especially in character parts. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/15 "2011-01-06T20:52:04Z")
Astaire and Rogers (9): **Flying Down to Rio The Gay Divorcee Roberta Top Hat Follow the Fleet Swing Time Shall We Dance The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle The Barkleys of Broadway** Nelson Eddy & Jeanette Macdonald (8) **Rose Marie (1936) Naughty Marietta (1935) New Moon (1940) I Married an Angel (1942) Girl of the Golden West (1938) Bitter Sweet (1940) Sweethearts (1938) Maytime (1937)** **The Marx Brothers** (15, if you count **The Story of Mankind** ) **Edna Purviance and Charlie Chaplin** – over 30 films together. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/16 "2011-01-06T22:41:45Z")
Wow, looks like Edna and Charlie win the thread. Follow up: Was there some special reason they appeared together so much? Chemistry? Marriage (or secret affair)? ---
**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:** [January 6, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/17 "2011-01-06T23:44:22Z")
They supposedly were romantically involved at the time, but Charlie did pick her out to be his leading lady before that. Since they made short subjects, it was easy to crank our 33 of them in the years they were together. ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/18 "2011-01-08T11:22:51Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Old school: > > John Wayne and Bruce Cabot appeared in 11 films together. [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0127677/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0127677/) > > John Wayne and Ward Bond ( [Ward Bond - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000955/) ) also appeared in many (13, I think) films together. The Duke also appeared in at least a dozen films with Paul Fix. Dick Powell appeared in several films with Pat O’Brien (as did Jimmy Cagney). For some reason Humphrey Bogart appeared in several films with the then relative unknown newcomer Frank (Herbert T. Gillis) Faylen, best remembered as Ernie the cab driver in It’s a Wonderful Life. Bogart also appeared in at least a half-dozen films with Barton MacLane over a twelve years period. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/19 "2011-01-08T14:43:13Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Astaire and Rogers (9): > **Flying Down to Rio > The Gay Divorcee > Roberta > Top Hat > Follow the Fleet > Swing Time > Shall We Dance > The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle > The Barkleys of Broadway** 10: + _Carefree_ ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640/20 "2011-01-08T14:49:24Z")
Rob Schneider makes at least a cameo appearance in almost all of Adam Sandler’s movies, by my count [15](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Sandler#Happy_Madison_Productions) (2nd paragraph). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-been-in-the-most-non-related-films-together/566640.md?page=2)