# What iconic characters are linked to a specific portrayal by a specific actor in your mind? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530 "2020-10-21T19:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/21 "2020-10-22T00:19:14Z")
James Garner is the only Rockford. There was talk of a remake but it was shelved…I like to believe one reason is that they realized no one could fill his shoes. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/22 "2020-10-22T00:22:50Z")
No Joker who came along later could hold a candle to Cesar Romero. The same is true for Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin, and Julie Newmar as the Catwoman. Like _ **Star Trek** _, the standard for _ **Batman** _ was set in 1966. In 1963’s _ **Cleopatra** _, Carroll O’Connor had a brief role as a Roman senator. A few years later, audiences were going “Hey, that’s Archie Bunker!” Everybody knows “the old woman who spoke Jive” (as my daughter calls her) in 1980’s _ **Airplane!** _ is really Beaver Cleaver’s mom. When I first saw the movie 40 years ago, she got one of the biggest laughs from everybody old enough to remember June Cleaver. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/23 "2020-10-22T00:46:07Z")
Tarzan: Johnny Weissmuller. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/24 "2020-10-22T00:56:35Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lechter is very iconic. > > But Brian Cox did it better. Hell yeah! BTW, “Hopkins said. ‘It was my idea to give him dark, slicked-back hair.’” [![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QYxW_YWFZ8k/VdwSNCql1zI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/VuiuBqg-5y8/s1600/47116L.jpg) ](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QYxW_YWFZ8k/VdwSNCql1zI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/VuiuBqg-5y8/s1600/47116L.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/25 "2020-10-22T00:59:32Z")
Michael Caine IS Charlie Croker from the Italian Job. Markey-Mark’s later take on the role is an aberration. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/26 "2020-10-22T01:31:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > No Joker who came along later could hold a candle to Cesar Romero. THAT’S what everyone thought, and why Jack Nicholson was such a shocker, to be able to excel with his own take on the Clown Prince of Crime. And then Heath Ledger did it again! Heck, we could have a “Juicy Roles That Many Have Thrived In” discussion… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/27 "2020-10-22T01:35:44Z")
I typed “Columbo”, and it autocorrected to “Peter Falk”. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/28 "2020-10-22T01:40:23Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > It would be weird to see Peter Dinklage or Emma Watson as James Bond. Or as Batman, for that matter. Not only is that thinking backward, but it’s absolutely wrong. Both of those actors would give those characters a run! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/29 "2020-10-22T01:47:22Z")
> [@digs](#): > > THAT’S what everyone thought, and why Jack Nicholson was such a shocker, to be able to excel with his own take on the Clown Prince of Crime. And then Heath Ledger did it again! I agree. That’s the reverse case from that described in the OP. Three different actors with three different takes on the character, but each of them are iconic in their own way. Even after many decades, I don’t think any actor is more identified with a role as Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster, Bela Lugosi as Dracula, or Charles Laughton as the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Basil Rathbone remains the definitive Sherlock Holmes. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/30 "2020-10-22T01:56:43Z")
Other actors may be very good and have their own takes on certain characters, but there’s always one against whom they are all measured. Like Raymond Burr as Perry Mason or Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett. Or Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/31 "2020-10-22T02:12:43Z")
I’m with **Colibri** on the Joker, and I’d add Mark Hamill, as mentioned upthread. I associate each of those four about equally with the role. Similarly for Batman, I immediately think of Kevin Conroy’s voicework, but I also associate the role with Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and yes, even Ben Affleck. I think Robert Downey, Jr. was fantastic, but, honestly, I’m not sure he was fantastic as _Tony Stark_ as much as he was a movie star with fantastic screen presence and timing who happened to be called Tony Stark. I think Adrian Pasdar’s voicework as Iron Man was good, and I could easily see him playing the role in live action (or could have, if he were the same age as RDJ when he first took the role). I don’t think he would have the star power of RDJ, but I think he might actually have been a better _Tony Stark_. I think Basil Rathbone is, and always will be, the most definitive Shelock Holmes, but I also associate the role with Jeremy Brett and Benedict Cumberbatch. There are plenty of roles, like Adrian Monk, that I think are and could only be a specific actor, but they’re all roles specifically created for or by that actor. I’m really having a hard time thinking of an iconic role that could be and has been played by a number of actors, such as a comic book or literary character, that I think of as linked to a specific portrayal by a specific actor. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/32 "2020-10-22T02:14:35Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman? Or Chris Hemsworth as Thor? Tom Hiddleston as Loki? I think that those three, plus Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, were perfectly cast, and it’d be very difficult to imagine anyone else playing those characters now. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/33 "2020-10-22T02:32:23Z")
Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. Jim Carrey had a great performance in _Batman Forever_, but Gorshin is the one I’ll always associate with the role. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/34 "2020-10-22T02:33:08Z")
No one but Peter Sellars could play Inspector Clouseau convincingly, although that may fall into the class of the actor who created the role. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/35 "2020-10-22T03:23:33Z")
George Burns will always be the default personification of God. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2020, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/36 "2020-10-22T03:37:01Z")
No, Ralph Richardson in _ **Time Bandits** _. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/37 "2020-10-22T07:10:44Z")
We’ll just have to agree to disagree, but that’s fine too. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/38 "2020-10-22T08:08:49Z")
Alec Guiness as George Smiley. There have been four others on TV / film, plus voice actors. Gary Oldman’s version was perfectly cromulent, but it just wasn’t ‘our lovely George’ (as his two-timing skank wife called him). ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/39 "2020-10-22T08:38:58Z")
Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, although Michael Rooker gave it a hell of a try. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530/40 "2020-10-22T11:16:03Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > George Burns will always be the default personification of God. I agree [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-iconic-characters-are-linked-to-a-specific-portrayal-by-a-specific-actor-in-your-mind/923530.md?page=3)