Real People and Their Film Portrayals

Ian Holm playing various historical characters:



as Ben Gurion in O Jerusalem (2006)




as Sir William Gull in From Hell (2001)




as Lech Walesa in Strike: The Birth of Solidarity (1981)




as Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire (1981)




as J. Bruce Ismay in S.O.S. Titanic (1979)




as Heinrich Himmler in Holocaust (1978)




as J. M. Barrie in The Lost Boys (1978) [with Barnaby Holm]




as El Krim in March or Die (1977)




as King John Lackland in Robin and Marian (1976)




as Emperor Napoleon in Napoleon and Love (1974), Time Bandits (1981) and The Emperor's New Clothes (2001)




as King Richard III in The Wars of the Roses (1965 - 1970)

Great Post, Berze.

Someone else has collected quite a lot of pictures of Anthony Hopkins in historical roles:
imgur.com/r/movies/PZCDo

Have not read through this entire thread (I want to, as it's fascinating), so if I repeat someone here, my apologies--and apologies also for not including stills, as I'm not able to download them at work (naughty, naughty), but Ian Richardson has played a small galaxy of historical characters, including:

Nehru
Ramsay Macdonald
General Montgomery (twice)
Jean-Paul Marat
Sir Rex Hunt (governor of the Falkland Islands during the 1982 invasion)
Dr. Joseph Bell (Conan Doyle's medical mentor and real-life inspiration for Sherlock Holmes)
Anthony Blunt
Leopold Mozart
Edgar Degas
Michael Faraday
Cardinal Robespierre

Thank you most kindly! Oddly enough, specific stills of him aren't always easy to come by, especially in some of his earlier work (the stuff for ITV most especially), but it'll be fun to look some up. He's always been one of my favorite actors; he seems especially suited to historical roles, because he's blessedly free of specific mannerisms in his performances, so he blends extremely well into the roles, from one character to another, and never looks to be repeating himself.