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Post by kijii on May 12, 2019 19:06:44 GMT
I would start this thread with Susan Hayward:
---I Want to Live! (1958)--her Oscar win for portraying Barbara Graham
---I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955) based on life of actress Lillian Roth
---Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) portrayed Messalina (3rd wife of Roman emperor Claudius)
---The President's Lady (1953) portrayed Rachel Donelson, Andrew Jackson's wife
---With a Song in My Heart (1952) in which she played the heroic singer Jane Froman.
---David and Bathsheba (1951) as Bathshedba
---I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951) biopic about Mary Elizabeth Eden Thompson
---Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947) loosely based on the life of Bing Crosby's first wife, Dixie Lee
---Jack London (1943) where Hayward portrayed Jack London's 2nd wife, Charmian Kittredge
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Post by marshamae on May 12, 2019 21:17:19 GMT
George Arliss
Disraeli
Alexander Hamilton
Voltaire
Meyer Rothschild
Duke of Wellington
Cardinal Richelieu
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spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on May 12, 2019 21:28:15 GMT
Great topic! Meryl Streep has also played quite a few: The Post (2017)- newspaper publisher Kay Graham Florence Foster Jenkins(2016) - opera singer (??) of that name Suffragette (2015) - Emmeline Pankhurst, British political activist The Iron Lady (2011) - Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Julie and Julia (2009) - renowned cook Julia Childs Angels in America (2003) - Ethel Rosenberg, an American who was convicted of spying for the Russians and executed Adaptation (2009) - novelist Susan Orlean
Music of the Heart (1999) - teacher Roberta Guaspari, who struggled to teach violin to inner-city Harlem kids
A Cry in the Dark (1988) - Linda Chamberlain, a mother accused of murdering her child
Out of Africa (1985) - writer Isaak Dinesen aka Karen Blixen Silkwood (1983) - plutonium factory worker turned whistle blower, Karen Silkwood |
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 12, 2019 21:34:20 GMT
I'll nominate Henry Fonda -
The Story Of Alexander Graham Bell - Bell associate Thomas Watson
Jesse James - Brother Frank James, and again in The Return Of Frank James
Young Mr. Lincoln - Need I say?
Lillian Russell - Newspaper owner Alexander Moore
My Darling Clementine - Wyatt Earp
The Wrong Man - New York musician - and falsely-accused as armed robber - Manny Balestrero
The Longest Day - Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
Yours, Mine and Ours - Frank Beardsley
Clarence Darrow - A videotaped performance of Fonda's one-man show as the celebrated attorney
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur (TV movie) - Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Midway - Adm. Chester Nimitz
It's said that Fonda's Battle Of the Bulge character, Lt. Col. Daniel Kiley, is based on true-life WWII hero Al Jaffe.
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Post by claudius on May 12, 2019 21:57:25 GMT
Anthony Hopkins
Richard I THE LION IN WINTER
William Bligh THE BOUNTY
Adolf Hitler THE BUNKER
Ptolemy ALEXANDER
C S Lewis SHADOWLANDS
John Frost A BRIDGE TOO FAR
David Lloyd George YOUNG WINSTON and THE EDWARDIANS
Dr. Frederic Treves THE ELEPHANT MAN
Richard Nixon NIXON
Titus TITUS ANDRONICUS
Pablo Picasso SURVIVING PICASSO
Dr. Kellogg THE ROAD TO WELLSVILLE
Okay his part in CHAPLIN was fictional, but this is about Chaplin's MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY
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Post by mattgarth on May 12, 2019 22:25:15 GMT
Charlton Heston has played a buncha real guys -- 15:
Feature Films --
Marc Antony (3) / Andrew Jackson (2) / Cardinal Richelieu (2)
Buffalo Bill Cody / William Clark / Moses / El Cid
John the Baptist / Michaelangelo / 'Chinese' Gordon / Henry VIII
Television Productions --
Thomas Jefferson / Earl of Essex / Thomas More / Brigham Young
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Post by mattgarth on May 12, 2019 23:13:15 GMT
And another Bio Biggie -- Jason Robards with 17:
Feature Films --
George S. Kaufman / Al Capone / Doc Holliday / Ulysses S. Grant
Paris Singer / General Walter Scott / Brutus / Lew Wallace
Ben Bradlee / Dashiell Hammett / Howard Hughes
Television Productions --
Abraham Lincoln / Leland Hayward / Franklin D. Roosevelt
Andrei Sakharov / Mark Twain / Dr. Armand Hammer
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Post by claudius on May 12, 2019 23:48:15 GMT
I forgot about Chuck! Thanks mattgarth.
VANESSA REDGRAVE
Anne Boleyn A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (67)
Lady More A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (90)
Mary Stuart MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Agatha Christie AGATHA
Julia JULIA (She was probably based on a real person)
Fania Fenelon PLAYING FOR TIME
The Regent Sophia PETER THE GREAT
Czarina Elizabeth YOUNG CATHERINE
Elizabeth I ADAPTATION
Robert Hardy
Henry V AN AGE OF KINGS
Headmaster YOUNG WINSTON
Robert Dudley ELIZABETH R
Prince Albert EDWARD THE SEVENTH
Ribbentropp THE GATHERING STORM
Winston Churchill WINSTON CHURCHILL THE WILDERNESS YEARS, THE WOMAN HE LOVED, WAR AND REMEMBRANCE
Franklin Roosevelt BERTIE AND ELIZABETH
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Post by bravomailer on May 12, 2019 23:55:18 GMT
I'll nominate Henry Fonda - The Story Of Alexander Graham Bell - Bell associate Thomas Watson Jesse James - Brother Frank James, and again in The Return Of Frank JamesYoung Mr. Lincoln - Need I say? Lillian Russell - Newspaper owner Alexander Moore My Darling Clementine - Wyatt Earp The Wrong Man - New York musician - and falsely-accused as armed robber - Manny Balestrero The Longest Day - Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Yours, Mine and Ours - Frank Beardsley Clarence Darrow - A videotaped performance of Fonda's one-man show as the celebrated attorney Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur (TV movie) - Gen. Douglas MacArthur Midway - Adm. Chester Nimitz It's said that Fonda's Battle Of the Bulge character, Lt. Col. Daniel Kiley, is based on true-life WWII hero Al Jaffe. If we're counting made-for-televsion films, let's add Gideon's Trumpet (Clarence Earl Gideon).
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Post by kijii on May 13, 2019 0:01:03 GMT
I just thought of another actor who might fit: Fredric March:
Starting with his early talkies---
1) The Sign of the Cross (1932) - Marcus Superbus, Prefect of Rome
2) The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) - Robert Browning
3) The Affairs of Cellini (1934) - Benvenuto Cellini
4) Mary of Scotland (1936) - Earl of Bothwell
5) The Buccaneer (1938) - Jean Lafitte
6) One Foot in Heaven (1941) - William Spence
7) The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) - Mark Twain
8) Christopher Columbus (1949) - Christopher Columbus
9) The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) - Rear Adm. George Tarrant
10 ) Alexander the Great (1956) - Philip of Macedonia
11) Inherit the Wind (1960) - Wm Jenning Bryant (implied)
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Post by bravomailer on May 13, 2019 0:01:25 GMT
Paul Muni played Don Juan, Napoleon, Franz Schubert, Joe Gans in a single film - Seven Faces.
He also played
Louis Pasteur (The Story of Louis Pasteur)
Émile Zola (The Life of Emile Zola)
Benito Juarez (Juarez)
Pierre-Esprit Radisson (Hudson's Bay)
Joseph Elsner (A Song to Remember)
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Post by kijii on May 13, 2019 0:21:27 GMT
How about Richard Burton:
1) Prince of Players (1955) - Edwin Booth
2) Alexander the Great (1956) -Alexander
3) Cleopatra (1963) - Mark Antony
4) Becket (1964) - Thomas Becket
5) Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) - Henry VIII
6) The Assassination of Trotsky (1972) - Leon Trotsky
7) The Gathering Storm (TV mini-Series) (1974) - Winston Churchill
7) Wagner (TV Mini-Series) - Richard Wagner
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 13, 2019 0:53:12 GMT
If we're counting made-for-televsion films, let's add Gideon's Trumpet (Clarence Earl Gideon). Completely overlooked that one, bravomailer. And I realize also that I've never seen it. Many thanks.
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Post by manfromplanetx on May 13, 2019 20:56:51 GMT
Sorry about my first post kijii , now deleted, I had completely misread your opening introduction, as "most real characters" !!
Laurence Olivier has played 13 real life characters listed below … Charles Laughton around 9
Vincent Lunardi, Horatio Nelson, King Henry V, Richard III, General John Burgoyne, Marcus Licinius Crassus, Sir John French, Sir Hugh Dowding, Count Witte, The Duke of Wellington, General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Hood and Rudolf Hess
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Post by manfromplanetx on May 14, 2019 6:57:19 GMT
20 "real life characters" in feature films for Toshiro Mifune feudal warlords, feudal military dictators, philosophers, samurai warriors, military officers, striking performances, bountiful subject material from Japans extraordinary and fascinating history... Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer and rōnin born 1584-1645 Miyamoto Musashi (1954)  Isoroku Yamamoto Japanese Fleet Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II … Midway (1976) 
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Post by jervistetch on May 14, 2019 7:44:28 GMT
Great topic! Meryl Streep has also played quite a few: Spider, You left out Lindy Chamberlain in A CRY IN THE DARK and Susan Orlean in ADAPTATION.
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Post by teleadm on May 14, 2019 17:19:53 GMT
Orson Welles:
Macbeth in Macbeth 1948, yes there once was a real Macbeth
Cagliostro in Black Magic 1949
Cesare Borgia in Prince of Foxes 1949
Benjamin Franklin in Royal Affairs in Versailles 1953
Jonathan Wilk in Compulsion 1959
Burundai in The Tartars 1961
Swedish Consul Raoul Nordlin in Is Paris Burning? 1966
Cardinal Wolsey in A Man for All Seasons 1966
Emperor Justinian in Kampf um Rom 1969
Louis XVIII of France in Waterloo 1970
Winston Churchill in Battle of Sutjeska 1973
J. P. Morgan in The Secret of Nikola Tesla 1980
Plus, if he existed:
King Saul in David and Goliath 1961
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Post by fangirl1975 on May 14, 2019 20:49:41 GMT
Tom Hanks has played several real life people in films such as Sully, Captain Phillips, Charlie Wilson's War, and Bridge Of Spies. The next real life person he'll be portraying is Mr. Rogers.
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Post by bravomailer on May 14, 2019 22:18:04 GMT
Tom Hanks has played several real life people in films such as Sully, Captain Phillips, Charlie Wilson's War, and Bridge Of Spies. The next real life person he'll be portraying is Mr. Rogers. He also played Walt Disney and James Lovell.
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Post by bravomailer on May 14, 2019 22:27:46 GMT
I count nine for John Wayne, including Davy Crockett, Wm T Sherman (2x), John Chisum, Jim Smith, Genghis Khan, Frank Wead, Townsend Harris, and Benjamin Vandervoort.
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