I was surprised by this, so I checked. You're right of course. But it comes down to appearance. Another famous one was the original Manchurian Candidate. Angela Lansbury played Laurence Harvey's mother, though she was only three years his senior. But even though Lansbury was very beautiful as a young woman, by age 37 when the film was made, she was looking rather matronly.
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actors who were most/least like the characters that they played
- Thread starter firepoint525
- Start date
I was surprised by this, so I checked. You're right of course. But it comes down to appearance. Another famous one was the original Manchurian Candidate. Angela Lansbury played Laurence Harvey's mother, though she was only three years his senior. But even though Lansbury was very beautiful as a young woman, by age 37 when the film was made, she was looking rather matronly.
Al Lewis, who was "Grandpa" on "The Munsters", went in to read for a part. They were looking for an "Al Lewis type". He didn't get the part because he was too young!
Lewis sometimes claimed he was born in 1910, although his family insists it was 1923, which would have made him 41 when The Munsters first aired in 1964. He looked fairly young without the "Grandpa" getup when he was on Car 54 Where Are You a couple years earlier.
John Mahoney on 'Frasier', and Len Cairou on 'Blue Bloods' are only a few years apart in age from the actors cast as their sons on those series.
Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur were barely a year apart when they were 'mother and daughter' on 'The Golden Girls'.
Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur were barely a year apart when they were 'mother and daughter' on 'The Golden Girls'.
Well, yeah. But in this case, they made up Estelle Getty to look like an old woman. If you ever saw a non-Sophia picture of Getty, she looked younger than Bea Arthur, if anything.
https://www.google.com/search?q=est...C8GMKHTwUBAkQ_h0ItwEwGA#imgrc=Kl7i6P-bgfu31M:
For the most obvious example - Vicki Lawrence, though they never even bothered to make 'Mama" look old and wrinkled, just plopped that gray wig on her head. I think that was part of the original joke when it was a skit on The Carol Burnett Show- young woman in her 30s playing the mother of the much older Burnett.
Redd Foxx was around 50 when he started playing Fred Sanford on Sanford and Son, even though he was supposed to be at least in his 60's. Also, on both Good Times and The Jeffersons the actresses who played the wives were in their 50's while the actors who played the husbands were in their 30's.
Vicki Lawrence wasn't in her 30s during the Carol Burnett Show. She was 18 when the show started!
Assuming the 1923 date was accurate, Lewis was younger than his TV daughter, Yvonne DeCarlo.
Much like James Caan, who was Jewish, not Italian. However, Caan got plenty of later roles because of his perceived tough-guy persona.
Sherman Hemsley was nothing like George Jefferson. In reality Sherman was a gay man who had a white boyfriend. People Magazine back in the early to mid 90's did a story about Sherman and Andre ( his BF ) about how their home was being foreclosed and have money woes but they were holding hands. For some reason over this tidbit had fallen under the cracks for years. When Isabel Sanford was in Jamestown, NY for "Lucy-Desi Days" around 2002 people of course asked her about whatever happened to her TV husband. When she said he was fine and was living with his boyfriend/lover Andre they were shocked. George Jefferson was gay ?? How could that be ?? Few believed it !!!
Joe E. Ross on Car 54 Where Are you. On TV he was lovable and very much in love with Mrs. Toody played by Bea Pons. Realty was that Ross and Pons HATED each other and that Ross was very crude. Loved to tell dirty jokes even to children and women, be with hookers and did questionable stuff in his dressing room. If Car 54 would had came back for a third season it would be without Ross as even the director hated him and his crudeness.
Joe E. Ross on Car 54 Where Are you. On TV he was lovable and very much in love with Mrs. Toody played by Bea Pons. Realty was that Ross and Pons HATED each other and that Ross was very crude. Loved to tell dirty jokes even to children and women, be with hookers and did questionable stuff in his dressing room. If Car 54 would had came back for a third season it would be without Ross as even the director hated him and his crudeness.
Hemsley was a friend of my father's boss, so my dad would socialize with him on occasion - thought he was a great guy. Joe E. Ross was reportedly such a pig in person that not many people liked him. From what I gather, Fred Gwynne was a sweet guy - he probably didn't think much of Ross, either. Ross wouldn't last a minute in Hollywood in today's climate. Not to mention that he was truly a one-trick pony, and could only do that one character, whether he was playing a cop or a caveman...with the "ooh...ooh" bit.
Jay Leno attended Ross's funeral, and does a hysterical monologue on it. Apparently Joe's hookers came to the wake, and were quite emotional. The Leno bit used to be posted on You Tube, but I couldn't find it. He was guesting on somebody else's talk show, but can't recall which one.
I wonder if it's his appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast a couple years ago. Listening right now, haven't heard it yet, but there's over an hour to go.
Nope! But I found it. He was guesting on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0wNKXKsvQg
Now quite as funny as Bea Pons who played Joe's wife on Car 54 reported to do to some kids in the early 80s. Just before she did Mother's Day ( a cheap horror flick that she called her "Best Work") a group of kids came to her New York apartment for some reason and they talked about Mother's Day. Bea was quite happy that is until someone had to bring up Car 54 Where are You and Ross. Bea Pons went OFF screaming and SCREAMING "....GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE....GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE...YOU WANNA KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT JOE ?? I SPIT ON THAT MOTHER****** !! JOE CAN GO TO HELL !!":. amd people thought Vivian Vance and Bill Frawley from I Love Lucy hated each other. This was on IMDB until they got rid of their boards.
There seemed to be a trend for many years in Hollywood, for non-Italians, and especially Jewish actors - to play Italian-Americans. I think Judd Hirsch has probably played more Italians than anything else, starting with (AFAIK), his first starring role in Delvecchio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzTDjCLD_U4
It's funny watching shows like this, now from that era - mid and late 70s, like Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, etc - and seeing actors - or more likely stunt-people, doing driving stunts in those huge waddling, barge-like Ford LTDs. It's a wonder more people weren't killed.
There was Joan Davis from " I Married Joan". On TV she with well like Lucy. Hard not to like her. Off camera she was actually a drunk and a sue happy woman. In 1954 she sued a hair salon in Hawaii out of business and Joan didn't care at all. Look at Joan Davis the wrong way she would sue you !! Her TV hubby Jim Backus didn't like her either but over the years until his death in 1989 said very very little of Joan Davis. Maybe he thought Joan's family would come out of the woodwork and sue him even though Joan herself died in 1961 and her daughter Beverly and Joan's mother died in a fire in 1963. Come to think of it "I Married Joan" I believe was TV first "cursed" show as most of the cast with the exception of Jim Backus were gone by the mid 60's.
Father Knows Best has to be the tops in this regard.
Robert Young suffered from alcoholism and depression most of his life, and tried to commit suicide later in life.
Billy Gray was a pot smoking biker in his off time (he was busted for pot possession soon after the show ended), and puts down the show for its lack of realism.
Elinor Donahue was abandoned by her father, and was so poor growing up sometimes she'd go the entire day without food. While she was playing an overgrown teenager on the series, she married, had a baby, and divorced.
And Lauren Chapin's life--abuse, drugs, prostitution--is almost too depressing to mention.
Robert Young suffered from alcoholism and depression most of his life, and tried to commit suicide later in life.
Billy Gray was a pot smoking biker in his off time (he was busted for pot possession soon after the show ended), and puts down the show for its lack of realism.
Elinor Donahue was abandoned by her father, and was so poor growing up sometimes she'd go the entire day without food. While she was playing an overgrown teenager on the series, she married, had a baby, and divorced.
And Lauren Chapin's life--abuse, drugs, prostitution--is almost too depressing to mention.
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