Basically, I want examples of cases where the same actor/actress plays the same historical character in movies that are NOT sequels or part of a same series of films or shows, possibly even contradicting each other by going over the same ground in different ways.
Here are some examples I might pick:
- Peter O'Toole as Henry II in 'Becket' (1964) and 'The Lion In Winter' (1968)
- Flora Robson as Elizabeth I in 'Fire Over England' (1937) and 'The Sea Hawk' (1940).
- Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I in 'Mary, Queen of Scots' (1971) and the TV series 'Elizabeth R' (1971)
- Bette Davis as Elizabeth I in 'The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex' (1939) and 'The Virgin Queen' (1955)
- Charles Laughton as Henry VIII in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' (1933) and 'Young Bess' (1953)
- Keith Michell as Henry VIII in the TV series 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' (1970) and the movie remake 'Henry VIII and His Six Wives' (1972)
I'd also like examples of cases where an actor/actress plays a particular historical character in a movie/show, but then appears as an opponent of that character in another movie/show. Examples of this include at least the following:
- Vanessa Redgrave played the titular character in 'Mary, Queen of Scots' (1971), and later appeared as her rival Elizabeth I in 'Anonymous' (2011)
- Richard Egan played King Xerxes in 'Esther and The King' (1960), and then appered as his rival King Leonidas in 'The 300 Spartans' (1962).
Any other examples you can think of in regards to either category?
William Daniels as John Adams in "1776" and the TV-miniseries "The Rebels". And related to that is that in the miniseries that preceded "The Rebels", "The Bastard" Daniels played Cousin Samuel Adams while in "The Adams Chronicles" for PBS he played the older John Quincy Adams (son of John).
Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln in "Abe Lincoln In Illinois" and "How The West Was Won."
Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson in "The President's Lady" and "The Buccaneer".
John Anderson played Baseball Commissioner Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis in "Eight Men Out" and in the TV-movie "Babe Ruth".
Romy Schneider: She played Austrian Princess Elisabeth in the Sissi film series during the 1950s and also in the unrelated Visconti movie Ludwig (1972).
Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson in "The President's Lady" and "The Buccaneer".
Not to mention his Mark Antony in three different Shakespearean films.
Sean Connery played Robin Hood against Richard Harris's Richard I, but then played Richard I against Costner's Robin Hood. Meanwhile, Harris played King Arthur, but so did Connery.
Ha, I have a good 'un. The great Alan Hale. Little John in the silent Robin Hood 1922. Little John in The Adventures Of Robin Hood 1938. Little John in The Rogues Of Sherwood Forest 1950 (I think that was his last film).
Basically, I want examples of cases where the same actor/actress plays the same historical character in movies that are NOT sequels or part of a same series of films or shows, possibly even contradicting each other by going over the same ground in different ways.
Here are some examples I might pick:
- Peter O'Toole as Henry II in 'Becket' (1964) and 'The Lion In Winter' (1968)
- Flora Robson as Elizabeth I in 'Fire Over England' (1937) and 'The Sea Hawk' (1940).
- Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I in 'Mary, Queen of Scots' (1971) and the TV series 'Elizabeth R' (1971)
- Bette Davis as Elizabeth I in 'The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex' (1939) and 'The Virgin Queen' (1955)
- Charles Laughton as Henry VIII in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' (1933) and 'Young Bess' (1953)
- Keith Michell as Henry VIII in the TV series 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' (1970) and the movie remake 'Henry VIII and His Six Wives' (1972
I'd also like examples of cases where an actor/actress plays a particular historical character in a movie/show, but then appears as an opponent of that character in another movie/show. Examples of this include at least the following:
- Vanessa Redgrave played the titular character in 'Mary, Queen of Scots' (1971), and later appeared as her rival Elizabeth I in 'Anonymous' (2011)
- Richard Egan played King Xerxes in 'Esther and The King' (1960), and then appered as his rival King Leonidas in 'The 300 Spartans' (1962).
Any other examples you can think of in regards to either category?
You failed to mention Glenda Jackson reprised her role as Elizabeth II from the "Masterpiece Theatre" series "Eizabeth II" in "Mary Queen Of Scots".
Andrew Duggan as Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1979 miniseries "Backstairs At The White House" and the 1987 cable movie "J. Edgar Hoover."
In the "opponent" category you could take note of Donald Pleasance first playing Satan in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and then becoming one of the Magi in "Jesus Of Nazareth."
Ed Flanders played Harry S. Truman in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie TRUMAN AT POSTDAM (1976) and then later that same year in a filmed one-person show called HARRY S. TRUMAN: PLAIN SPEAKING, for which he won an Emmy.
Then, Flanders took his impersonation to two theatrical films: MACARTHUR (1977) and INCHON (1981).
In March 1989, Richard Dysart played Harry S. Truman in DAY ONE, a television movie about the A-bomb. Two months later, he was on-screen again as Truman in an episode of the mini-series WAR AND REMEMBRANCE.
Kenneth Welsh played Harry S. Truman in the 1995 Showtime cable movie HIROSHIMA. In 2001, he reprised Truman in the CBS television film HAVEN, about a woman who travels to Europe to help escort 1000 Jewish war victims to the United States.
Robert Barrat played Gen. Douglas MacArthur in John Ford's 1945 P.T. boat film THEY WERE EXPENDABLE. He repeated the characterization in 1950's AMERICAN GUERRILLA IN THE PHILIPPINES.
Selmer Jackson played Adm. Chester W. Nimitz in the 1957 Ronald Reagan film HELLCATS OF THE NAVY. He played Nimitz again in the 1960 James Cagney film THE GALLANT HOURS, in which Cagney played Adm. William F. Halsey Jr.
Toshirô Mifune first played Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto in two Japanese films, 1968's ADMIRAL YAMAMOTO and 1970's THE MILITARISTS, and then in the U.S. production MIDWAY (1976).
George C. Scott played Gen. George S. Patton in 1970's PATTON. Sixteen years later, in what admittedly could be considered a sequel, he played the role again in the 1986 CBS television film THE LAST DAYS OF PATTON.
James Mason played German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in the 1951 Henry Hathaway film THE DESERT FOX. Two years later he reprised the role in the 1953 Robert Wise film THE DESERT RATS.
Bobby Watson had a minor career playing Adolf Hitler on screen--in nine different productions--most notably in the lead role in 1944's THE HITLER GANG. But he usually appeared in bit parts, whenever a brief on-screen appearance by Hitler was needed, in such films as HITLER-DEAD OR ALIVE (1942), Preston Sturges' THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN CREEK (1944), Billy Wilder's A FOREIGN AFFAIR (1948), Irwin Allen's THE STORY OF MANKIND (1957), and Vincente Minnelli's THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE.
