# Which actors have played more than one GREAT villain. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592 "2005-08-04T17:39:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/41 "2005-08-04T22:09:05Z")
Geoffrey Rush as Cassanova Frankenstein in **Mystery Men** and Captain Barbossa in **Pirates of the Caribbean** although those were pretty much the same character ---
**Author:** ![lhovis73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecd19e/32.png) [@lhovis73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lhovis73)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/42 "2005-08-04T22:14:58Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Like that movie where he was a jewel thief? John Malkovitch also plays effective rat bastards in Ripley’s Game and Mary Reilly… The jewel thief movie is The Object of Beauty, probably. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/43 "2005-08-04T22:24:14Z")
Mike Myers played two great villains in ONE FREAKIN’ MOVIE! ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/44 "2005-08-04T22:53:59Z")
Ronnie Cox was a great slime in both _Robocop_ and _Total Recall_. In Robocop, as Dick Jones: "I had a guaranteed military sale with ED209! Renovation program! Spare parts for 25 years! Who cares if it worked or not! " in Total Recall, as Cohaagen: “I have the greatest job in the solar system. As long as the Trebinium keeps flowing, I can do anything I want. ANYTHING.” ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/45 "2005-08-04T23:12:52Z")
Robert Mitchum in _Night of the Hunter_ and _Cape Fear_. He scared the crap out of me in both. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/46 "2005-08-04T23:16:13Z")
Although he’s been trying to get away from such roles since he won the Best Actor Oscar, Kevin Spacey has played (or, in one case, voiced) a number of memorable villains on TV (Mel Proffit on “Wiseguy”) and in the movies **Seven, A Bug’s Life, Swimming with Sharks,** and **The Usual Suspects (since you didn’t find out until the end).** ---
**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:** [August 4, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/47 "2005-08-04T23:27:07Z")
Another John Lithgow villain was Burke, the ultimate political dirty trickster in 1981’s [Blow Out](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082085/). ---
**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:** [August 4, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/48 "2005-08-04T23:27:34Z")
Quite a few actors who later became better known as leads actually started out as memorable villains: Ernest Borgnine – **From Here to Eternity, Bad Day at Black Rock, Johnny Guitar** Broderick Crawford – **All the King’s Men, Born Yesterday** Lee Marvin – **The Big Heat, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance** Jack Palance – **Panic in the Streets, Shane** Richard Widmark – **Kiss of Death, Street with No Name, No Way Out** Elisha Cook, Jr. – always memorable, though he usually played the same sort of character. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/49 "2005-08-04T23:35:12Z")
Sigh. > [@](#): > > Rutger Hauer also played the villian opposite Rambo and Lando Calrissian in Nighthawks. Post #34… > [@](#): > > Ronnie Cox was a great slime in both Robocop and Total Recall. Post #19… Jeez, have I been wearing an [invisibility](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6367707&postcount=54) [cloak](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6433068&postcount=69) recently? ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/50 "2005-08-04T23:40:33Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > A few actors come to mind that were great villains repeatedly. > [Alan Rickman](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000614/) as Hans Gruber in Die Hard was the best part of the movie and he did this again as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). > He is perfect as Snape in the HP movies. Before the movies were made, my wife and I decided the character was written with Mr. Rickman in mind. > \ And what of _Quigley Down Under_ with Tom Selleck. He was the rancher hunting aboriginies with a delusion of cowboy-ism ---
**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:** [August 4, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/51 "2005-08-04T23:43:17Z")
Oh, and another Christopher Lee baddie: Wendell Wonka, D.D.S. ---
**Author:** ![WilhelmGefallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@WilhelmGefallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilhelmGefallen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/52 "2005-08-04T23:44:51Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > I’d like to add [Michael Wincott](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000699/) to the list - particularly for his turn at Guy of Gisborne in _Prince of Theves_ and as Rochefort (“Isn’t that a smelly kind of cheese?”) in _Three Musketeers_. He also played Top Dollar in The Crow. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/53 "2005-08-04T23:46:51Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > He was also quite good in the otherwise forgettable **Along Came A Spider**. Two posts about Michael Wincott and no meantion of Top Dollar from _The Crow_? Then there’s this guy called [Al Pacino](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000199/) : The Recruit-Walter Burke The Devil’s Advocate-John Milton/Lucifer Heat-Lt. Vincent Hanna…well that’s just me Scarface-Tony Montana Dog Day Afternoon-Sonny Wortzik And the surprisingly eerie [Robin Williams](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/) : Insomnia-Walter Finch One Hour Photo-Sy Parrish ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/54 "2005-08-04T23:52:30Z")
> [@Nic2004](#): > > And what of _Quigley Down Under_ with Tom Selleck. He was the rancher hunting aboriginies with a delusion of cowboy-ism If you say he was good in it, I will believe, but I couldn’t sit through this movie. I don’t remember him in it. ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/55 "2005-08-05T00:30:38Z")
I kick myself for not immediately mentioning Bruce Dern. He’s been made a career out of being a badass psycho in movies like **The Cowboys, Tatoo, Hang 'em high, Black Sunday**. The list is endless. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/56 "2005-08-05T01:22:58Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Twice. > > [\*The Dark Eyes of London \* a.k.a. _The Human Monster_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031208/) > “You are blind, Lou, and you cannot speak. But you can hear…and that will never do!” Oh come on- his Ygor in the Frankenstein films (SON OF and GHOST OF) was great, and even tho it was for Ed Wood, his heart really was into the mad scientist in BRIDE OF THE ATOM/MONSTER - “Home? I heff no home…” RE Chris Lee- Wendell Wonka wasn’t a villian- just very overprotective. However- the Frankenstein Monster (no sympathetic creature here- HE MURDERS THE OLD BLIND MAN!) the Mummy and Lord Summerisle in THE WICKER MAN! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/57 "2005-08-05T01:26:13Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > :eek: I do hope you’re kidding. Given that elsewhere on the board, people were actually positing Mother Teresa as the most evil woman of the 20th century, perhaps not! 😉 Anthony Hopkins- Hannibal Lecter Hitler and to some Dopers, St. Paul! again 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lhovis73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecd19e/32.png) [@lhovis73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lhovis73)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/58 "2005-08-05T02:10:16Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Dog Day Afternoon-Sonny Wortzik Point of order…Pacino’s not a villain in Dog Day Afternoon…he’s a criminal, but he’s the most likable character in the movie: he’s more of an “anti-hero.” (Whether he’s an anti-hero in Scarface would take some debating.) Same goes, by the way, for the earlier votes for Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces and The Public Enemy. And is Alex in A Clockwork Orange really a villain? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/59 "2005-08-05T02:23:09Z")
> [@lhovis73](#): > > Point of order…Pacino’s not a villain in Dog Day Afternoon…he’s a criminal, but he’s the most likable character in the movie: he’s more of an “anti-hero.” (Whether he’s an anti-hero in Scarface would take some debating.) > > Same goes, by the way, for the earlier votes for Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces and The Public Enemy. And is Alex in A Clockwork Orange really a villain? I agree except Alex was a villain as was everyone in Clockwork Orange. Same was true of book. Everybody was out for themselves, everyone was villainous. Some of these posts are questionable to me as great villains. I know Michael Caine has played villains but were they great? I also wouldn’t call Lithgow’s villains great or even scary. But I’ve seen lots of great examples so far. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592/60 "2005-08-05T03:24:39Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Sigh. > Post #34… > Post #19… > Jeez, have I been wearing an [invisibility](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6367707&postcount=54) [cloak](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6433068&postcount=69) recently? The Dark Side clouds everything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-have-played-more-than-one-great-villain/315592.md?page=4)