# Who owns a character, the actor or the studio? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811 "2010-05-26T13:22:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/21 "2010-05-26T18:03:19Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > Yes, the studio owns the character, but it is the actor that makes that character his own. By doing so, it is, in the case of possible sequels, a form of job security, in that no one else would dare play the role because of possible comparisons, something not wanted by either the actor or the studio. > > Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau? Sorry, doesn’t work for me and I’m staying far away. Net result: no franchise created, unlike when Peter Sellers played the same role. You’re contradicting yourself. The history of dramatic portrayal is a history of roles being filled by many different actors. Sometimes an earlier actor is well-remembered, sometimes not. The role of Hannibal Lecter was originated on the screen by … Brian Cox. Barry Nelson and Bob Holness played James Bond before Sean Connery did. (Frankly, the current Bond is my favorite.) Kristy Swanson played Buffy the Vampire Slayer before Sarah Michelle Gellar. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/22 "2010-05-26T18:05:43Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > That must get really interesting when the character’s voice is very close (or identical to) the “natural” speaking voice of the actor. So Prof. Farnsworth couldn’t endorse something, but Fry and Leela could. (As in the voices, not saying “Hi, this is Fry from Futurama”) I know! It creeps me right the hell out having [Popeye Doyle](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/) shilling for Lowe’s. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/23 "2010-05-26T18:11:24Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I know! It creeps me right the hell out having [Popeye Doyle](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/) shilling for Lowe’s. Ha! I always think of Little Bill and his leaky roof. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/24 "2010-05-26T18:13:04Z")
Another data point: When the BBC declined to produce a series featuring K-9 (a talking robot dog that appeared on Doctor Who in the '70s), one of the writers who created the character shopped around to other production companies. The [result](http://k9official.com/) is an Australian-based children’s show featuring a talking robot dog named K-9, **voiced by the original actor** with much the same personality. But the robot has a radically different appearance (the original design is owned by the BBC), and no direct reference is made to the BBC parent series. Writer Terry Nation (and later his estate) retained ownership of Doctor Who’s most iconic monsters, the Daleks, and there have been non-DW-related Dalek appearances in spin-off appearances. There was at one time some doubt as to whether the revived series would be able to use Daleks. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/25 "2010-05-26T18:27:05Z")
I just read a short bio of Adriana Caselotti who was the voice of Snow White in the original Disney film. Interesting \ here: > [@](#): > > In the mid-1930s (after a brief stint as a chorus girl at MGM), Caselotti was hired by Walt Disney in 1936 as the voice of his heroine Snow White. She was blacklisted by Disney after the film, as he did not want her to appear in any other films following Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Jack Benny specifically mentioned that he had asked Walt Disney for permission to use her on his radio show and was told, “I’m sorry, but that voice can’t be used anywhere. I don’t want to spoil the illusion of Snow White.” Don’t know if a VOICE can be applied to the OP, though. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/26 "2010-05-26T18:42:18Z")
An actor owns his or her own voice, image, likeness, identity, and persona. That kind of blacklisting wouldn’t hold up today. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/27 "2010-05-26T18:46:44Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I’d amend your last sentence to “the actor has a right to how he looked and acted when he portrayed the character.” If they had used an actor who looked nothing like Glover, he wouldn’t have had a case. From your cite: Glover was asked about the lawsuit in an interview later that year [3], and explained that, “What was not legal to do-- and what the lawsuit arose from – was to put another actor into prosthetics in order to look like myself, and then inter-splice footage from the original film, in order to fool people into believing it was me.” It worked because until just this moment, I had no idea it was NOT KGlover! > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The Simpsons actors do not own their characters’ voices. So they can’t do product endorsements or even plug a radio station without Groening’s permission. Yeardley Smith must get sued just for answering the phone!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/28 "2010-05-26T18:49:16Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > Yeardley Smith must get sued just for answering the phone!😃 She does raise the pitch of her voice just a bit to do Lisa. But it’s not a problem if she’s not using it to sell something. I’ve read that Billy West sometimes went on Howard Stern’s show in 2008 (he was a regular years earlier) and did a John McCain impersonation using his Professor Farnsworth voice. It didn’t cause any problems as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/29 "2010-05-26T19:02:23Z")
I’m more curious about actors such as Harry Shearer or Dan Castellanata, who have done dozens of voices on a series. Could they be barred from doing similar characters on another show? That would seem to seriously limit their employment opportunities. (Not that they should ever _need_ to work on another series, but still…) “Sorry, I can’t do a frail old man voice; It might sound too much like Jasper or Mr. Burns. Indian shopkeeper? Not on your life.” ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/30 "2010-05-26T19:05:49Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > That case is a little more complicated. BTTF 2 used footage (from BTTF 1) of Crispin Glover as the young George McFly in a few backgrounds, and they didn’t pay him anything for it. Glover did not have any cause of action for simply having the character recast. I don’t think that’s correct. Jeffrey Weissman’s IMDB page said _he_ was used in new footage created (and you can see a photo of him made up quite convincingly with prosthetics to look a helluva lot like Glover). On Weissman’s IMDB page it also says he thought he was being used as a “photo double” so they could incorporate footage from the original. ETA: Wow, I read a thingy that said it took three to four hours for the prosthetic make-up. [This site](http://manlymenmen.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/560/) includes an interview with the guy and a creepy photo of him as Faux Glover. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/31 "2010-05-26T19:37:17Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > Actors however control their image. The classic example I know of is Gilligan’s Island – for the cartoon series and pinball game, Ginger became a blonde, in order to avoid any legal entanglements with red-headed Tina Louise over using her image. Kinda loses the reason why she’s named “Ginger”, donit? > [@Marley23](#): > > You’re correct (Nancy Cartwright got into trouble recently for using Bart’s voice in something Scientology-related). But that’s not so surprising because the animated part of the character was created independently and isn’t based on the actors. I remember the first time I watched “Inside the Actor’s Studio”, the Simpson voices were on, and they (except for Kavner, she left halfway through and, for some reason, didn’t look happy when she was there) answered questions from James Lipton in character for a part of the show. That blew me away that they could do that, I’m guessing it was already vetted a long time earlier that they’d want them to do the character voices and got the required permission lined up. (Interestingly, the second time I watched “Actors Studio”, about a year or so later, it was the same episode!) I remember Seth McFarlane said he deliberately made Brian’s voice nearly (if not exactly) identical to his own (I think due to Brian’s views and personality being similar to his), and it always throws me to hear Seth, as Seth, talk, it took me quite a while to wonder why he was doing Brian’s voice when he’s supposed to talk as him, I never expected him to sound like Brian … ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/32 "2010-05-26T20:49:03Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > I don’t think that’s correct. Jeffrey Weissman’s IMDB page said _he_ was used in new footage created (and you can see a photo of him made up quite convincingly with prosthetics to look a helluva lot like Glover). On Weissman’s IMDB page it also says he thought he was being used as a “photo double” so they could incorporate footage from the original. Interesting. Maybe I remembered it wrong; it could be that The Bobs planned to use the BTTF1 footage originally, but that plan was thwarted by Glover’s suit. I’ll have to dig out the DVDs at some point and listen to the commentary tracks again. That’ll ruin a weekend. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/33 "2010-05-26T21:20:43Z")
The commentary track for the Criterion Laserdisc release of “This is Spinal Tap” has Guest, Shearer and McKean speaking as themselves. At one point one of them comments they had to sell the rights to get the film made and a French company owns it now. In order to do anything as the characters, they have to get permission. Of course that would be with wigs, clothes, cucumbers so it isn’t “themselves”. I’d guess it depends on what the contract says and what your lawyer gets. One of the most fascinating things I ever read was an article in “Playboy” 20 years ago by the author who created Rambo in a novel. His lawyer got things like merchandising, profits in sequels, novelization of movie rights which the author thought were stupid when the contract was negotiated in the early 1970s. As his lawyer told him, you never know…Broadway could make a musical out of this slaughter fest for all you know When Flo Ballard left the Supremes in the 1960s, Motown forced her new label not to mention on the album that she had been a Supreme. Ballard was the one who chose the name from a list Motown gave them (they were known as the Primettes since they were friends with the Primes, who became the Temptations). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/34 "2010-05-26T21:24:23Z")
One of the weirder cases was Larry “Bud” Melman. When Letterman jumped ship from NBC to CBS he wasn’t allowed to use that character anymore- it was NBC’s intellectual property- so on the few occasions Calvert DeForest appeared, playing pretty much the exact same “weird little old man” character, he appeared as Calvert DeForest. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/35 "2010-05-26T21:42:20Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Interesting. Maybe I remembered it wrong; it could be that The Bobs planned to use the BTTF1 footage originally, but that plan was thwarted by Glover’s suit. I’ll have to dig out the DVDs at some point and listen to the commentary tracks again. That’ll ruin a weekend. 😛 I just watched BTTF2 last weekend, and there’s definitely some footage from the original used in it. I don’t remember offhand if there is any footage that includes Glover. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/36 "2010-05-26T22:46:53Z")
Disputes over characters happens in wrestling when a wrestler moves from one company to another. Sometimes they can take their name and character with them, and sometimes they can’t, so you wind up with situations like The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) becoming Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) when they moved from WWE to TNA, but at the same time Hulk Hogan gets to be Hulk Hogan no matter where he goes. Speaking of Hulk Hogan, sometimes neither the wrestler nor the wrestling company owns the character. For a long time Marvel Comics owned all the Hulk Hogan trademarks (that’s no longer the case, however) ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/37 "2010-05-27T00:10:12Z")
Depends on whatever deal the writer makes with the producers. Obviously complicated if there is an adaptation. A friend of a friend wrote the spec script that resulted in the first Barkly (sp?) episode of Star Trek TNG. Though the script was heavily modified by the staff before airing, they still got ownership of that character, and therefore residuals whenever he appeared in a later episode or movie. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/38 "2010-05-27T14:11:35Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > I’m more curious about actors such as Harry Shearer or Dan Castellanata, who have done dozens of voices on a series. Could they be barred from doing similar characters on another show? That would seem to seriously limit their employment opportunities. (Not that they should ever _need_ to work on another series, but still…) “Sorry, I can’t do a frail old man voice; It might sound too much like Jasper or Mr. Burns. Indian shopkeeper? Not on your life.” I saw an old episode of “Married…with Children” and the minute the gay guy spoke I thought “Homer Simpson.” Castellanata uses a different voice for Homer, but his method of speaking (cadence?) is the same as his regular voice. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/39 "2010-05-27T15:12:21Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I just watched BTTF2 last weekend, and there’s definitely some footage from the original used in it. I don’t remember offhand if there is any footage that includes Glover. Well, I know they refilmed everything they showed with Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer, as they cast a new actress due to scheduling problems. You can compare the two scenes on [this annotated video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-M_HE3kjVw). ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811/40 "2010-05-27T15:44:39Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Interesting. Maybe I remembered it wrong; it could be that The Bobs planned to use the BTTF1 footage originally, but that plan was thwarted by Glover’s suit. I’ll have to dig out the DVDs at some point and listen to the commentary tracks again. That’ll ruin a weekend. 😛 It’s probably a combination of both issues involving original footage as well as the “double”. But the heavy amount of prosthetic make-up to create a Faux Glover is probably what got them in trouble. It certainly resulted in new SAG rules. BTTF II did use footage from the first movie in a bunch of shots, but they also re-did some scenes from different angles and such. They could have simply re-shot some scenes with George McFly recast, the way they did with the new Jennifer as in **BigT** ’s example. The DVD commentary tracks will probably be one side of the story. Crispin Glover’s side being different, and the The Faux Glover’s comments from the above linked interview: > [@Faux Glover](#): > > He asked if I was the same size as Crispin; (confused), I said I’m probably not as tall, and I mentioned he was younger and probably a bit heaver than me. I was told they were seeking a “stand in” and “photo double”. . . . Next I went through a series of make up effects fittings for a screen test of the “young George McFly” look at Universal with director Robert Zemeckis and cinematographer Dean Cundey. They agreed that they had Crispin “without the trouble” and an offer was made a short while later for me to take the roll. So it sounds more like the suit was less about re-creating “George McFly” and more to do with re-creating “Crispin Glover” which would make a legit cause of action. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-a-character-the-actor-or-the-studio/540811.md?page=1)