# What actors own their roles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666 "2003-02-21T23:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/21 "2003-02-22T05:40:56Z")
Peter O’Toole as Lawrence of Arabia Kate Hepburn as Queen Eleanor in Lion in Winter Denero as Jake Lamotta Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/22 "2003-02-22T06:27:19Z")
Tom Baker as Doctor Who. He wasn’t the first, but he made the role his own. ---
**Author:** ![jesseboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90ced4/32.png) [@jesseboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesseboy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/23 "2003-02-22T06:49:11Z")
Charles Laughton as Capt. Bligh Burt Lancaster as Elmer Gantry Hoffman as Tootsie and Ratso Rizzo Paul Newman as Hud Sidney Poitier in Guess Who’s… ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/24 "2003-02-22T07:03:13Z")
Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in **Goodfellas** Rodney Dangerfield as obnoxious developer in **Caddyshack** Brad Pitt as Pikey in **Snatch** John Belushi as Bluto in **Animal House** Robert DeNiro as Max Cady in **Cape Fear** John Cleese as Basil Fawlty in **Fawlty Towers** (TV) Nicholas Cage as H.I. McDunnah in **Raising Arizona** Dustin Hoffman as Jack Crabb in **Little Big Man** ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/25 "2003-02-22T07:29:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SolGrundy \* > **I’ve got to disagree about Ian McKellan as Gandalf. He’s about perfect in the part, but when I think of Gandalf I think of John Huston.** Heh. When I first read this I thought of Gandalf in the Mines of Moria doing a little dance, right out of _The Treasure of Sierra Madre_. Then I remembered that that was _Walter_ Huston. :o ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/26 "2003-02-22T07:58:24Z")
For me, Richard Harris _is_ King Arthur. Not that I haven’t enjoyed seeing other actors play him (particularly Graham Chapman), but those are _actors_ playing a role. When I picture the “real” Arthur, it’s Richard Harris. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/27 "2003-02-22T07:59:45Z")
Or rather, he _was_ Arthur. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/28 "2003-02-22T08:25:05Z")
Errol Flynn as Robin Hood Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth the First Cagney in anything, ditto Bogart. Lauren Bacall as Marie in “To Have and Have Not” Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s Monster Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster in “Arsenic and Old Lace” Katherine Hepburn as Tracy in “The Philadelphia Story” Leslie Howard as the poet/tramp in “The Petrified Forest” They stopped making movies around 1945, didn’t they? No? Could have fooled me! ---
**Author:** ![Mothchunks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@Mothchunks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mothchunks)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/29 "2003-02-22T12:53:00Z")
Yul Brynner as the King Hugh Jackman as Wolverine Alan Rickman as Snape ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/30 "2003-02-22T14:01:34Z")
Peter O’Toole as Henry II in both **Becket** and **The Lion in Winter**. Hell, the entire cast of **The Lion in Winter** especially, as **eenerms** already mentioned, Katherine Hepburn. Peter Firth as Alan Strang in **Equus** Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Saleri in **Amadeus**. Gary Oldman as Ludwig van Beethoven in **Immortal Beloved** ---
**Author:** ![ion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f1d935/32.png) [@ion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ion)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/31 "2003-02-22T14:19:02Z")
Nicole Kidman as Isabelle Archer in **The Portrait of a Lady**. ---
**Author:** ![FairyDust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@FairyDust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyDust)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/32 "2003-02-22T16:34:10Z")
Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster in ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’. Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder, Tony Robinson as Baldrick, Hugh Laurie as George and Stephen Fry as Melchett. Those four gentlemen were born to play those respective roles. I cannot imagine anyone else doing justice playing those characters. ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/33 "2003-02-22T20:05:23Z")
I realize he’s already got one in this thread, but I think Connery owns a second one besides Bond: Retired LAPD Special Services Officer John Connor in _Rising Sun_. Of course, it could be because of the fact that when Michael Chrichton wrote the novel, he specifically had Connery in mind as the character. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/34 "2003-02-22T20:16:45Z")
[geek] I think Patrick Stewart could have played Gandalf. “You must return the ring. Make it so.” * * * Also, I think a bloated William Shatner would have been great in tights as Superman. “… fasterthan … aspeedingbullet … ableto … leaptallbuildings… ina … singlebound” [/geek] ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/35 "2003-02-22T20:19:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Murcielago \* > **Sean Connery as James Bond. No one else is even close.** Sean Connery _is_ James Bond. The others are actors playing James Bond. ---
**Author:** ![dahempfaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@dahempfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dahempfaerie)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/36 "2003-02-22T22:16:17Z")
I agree with **brianmelendez** , but also want to add **Michael Richards** for his role as **Kramer** on **Seinfeld**. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/37 "2003-02-22T22:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Murcielago \* > \*\*Chris Guest as Nigel Tufnel (_Spinal Tap_). \*\* I vote for all of Spinal Tap. In fact, every Christopher Guest film is perfectly cast, though it helps that _Waiting for Guffman_ and _Best in Show_ have largely the same cast. Other than Guest, Michael McKean, Parker Posey, Bob Balaban, Eugene Levy, and Catherine O’Hara in particular own their roles. Then again, Bob Balaban owns his roles even when he does commercials. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/38 "2003-02-22T23:18:59Z")
Caroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump ---
**Author:** ![FairyDust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@FairyDust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyDust)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/39 "2003-02-22T23:38:43Z")
Cleavon Little as Bart, the Sheriff of Rock Ridge in Blazing Saddles. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666/40 "2003-02-22T23:57:06Z")
I’ve thought about it & decided, for me, that Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and Viggo Mortensen definitely own their roles as Frodo, Sam, and Aragorn. (The LOTR movies are extremely well cast. Casting can make or break a movie, can’t it.) Older movie role no one’s noted yet: Rosalind Russell as Auntie Mame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-own-their-roles/156666.md?page=3)