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Longest Running Character on TV

M

Mark Giardina

I would have to say right now it has to be Richard Belzer. He's played Detective John Munch since the debut of "Homicide Life on the Street" in 1993. Then Belzer moved on to Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Of course we can't forget Homer Simpson ;D

Before that it was Kelsey Grammer as Doctor Fraiser Crane.
Then of course it was James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon.
 
I think it has to be Nancy Hughes of "As The World
Turns." Helen Wagner has played her since the show
debuted on April 2, 1956.
 
How about Susan Lucci from All My Children as Erica Kane (with all last names included through her marriages, divorces, widowship)? She has played in this role since All My Children debuted in 1970 and that's almost 40 years in the same role.
 
I may be wrong, but I think it may have been Charita Bauer from Guiding Light. She dates back to the radio version and kept going into TV. I believe she has passed away now, but I think she held the record.
 
I believe Richard Belzer holds the record not for longevity, but for playing the same character on the largest number of shows. Det. John Munch started on Homicide: Life on the Streets, then moved to L&O SVU, but has guested as Munch on the other L&O shows including the short lived "...Trial by Jury."

I guess other producers think its cute to have him appear as Munch in their shows, because he's also appeared as that character on an episode of Arrested Development, a short-lived show called The Beat, and an episode of the X Files.

Belzer also had a brief cameo in an episode of the HBO series The Wire last year. He only had one speaking line in a bar scene, so it wasn't clear he was playing Munch. But one could surmise that Munch was returning to his home town of Baltimore (same locale as Homicide) for a visit.
 
bpatrick said:
I think it has to be Nancy Hughes of "As The World
Turns." Helen Wagner has played her since the show
debuted on April 2, 1956.
Click to expand...

She was actually fired from the role a few months after the show began because the show's creator didn't like the way she poured coffee. Viewer response was responsible for bringing her back.
 
Smittian said:
bpatrick said:
I think it has to be Nancy Hughes of "As The World
Turns." Helen Wagner has played her since the show
debuted on April 2, 1956.
Click to expand...

She was actually fired from the role a few months after the show began because the show's creator didn't like the way she poured coffee. Viewer response was responsible for bringing her back.
Click to expand...

That would still put her over the 50-year mark, even though I think
she was off-contract briefly and may still be. A couple of other "ATWT"
actors have been on the show since 1960: Don Hastings (Bob Hughes)
and Eileen Fulton (Lisa whatever-her-name-is-now).

Frances Reid has played Alice Horton on "Days Of Our Lives" since
its 1965 debut; that will be 43 years in November, and five more years
than Susan Lucci has played Erica Kane. Ray Macdonnell has played
Dr. Joe Martin on "AMC" since its debut in 1970 as well, and Erika Slezak
has played Viki Buchanan (or whatever her name is) on "One Life To Live"
since 1971.

Charita Bauer joined "Guiding Light" in 1950, when it was still a
radio show, and remained with the show until her death in 1985.
 
bpatrick said:
Frances Reid has played Alice Horton on "Days Of Our Lives" since
its 1965 debut; that will be 43 years in November, and five more years
than Susan Lucci has played Erica Kane.
Click to expand...

...a couple of nights ago I watched the 1966 movie SECONDS, in which Frances Reid was a featured player. Superb actress...
 
Across the pond: I'm not a real "Doctor Who" expert, but that show has been on (or maybe off and on) since the early 60s, right? Also, the British soap "Coronation Street" has been around for about as long, so I'm guessing it has some characters who have been there for 40 plus years.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
Across the pond: I'm not a real "Doctor Who" expert, but that show has been on (or maybe off and on) since the early 60s, right? Also, the British soap "Coronation Street" has been around for about as long, so I'm guessing it has some characters who have been there for 40 plus years.
Click to expand...

...someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Dr. Who premiered on the weekend of President Kennedy's assassination, as BBC-1's competition directly opposite The Avengers on ABC London/ITV. And Coronation Street predates that; later Monkee Davy Jones was a regular on it circa '62, just before leaving for New York to play The Artful Dodger in Oliver! at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway...
 
bpatrick said:
Smittian said:
bpatrick said:
I think it has to be Nancy Hughes of "As The World
Turns." Helen Wagner has played her since the show
debuted on April 2, 1956.
Click to expand...

She was actually fired from the role a few months after the show began because the show's creator didn't like the way she poured coffee. Viewer response was responsible for bringing her back.
Click to expand...

That would still put her over the 50-year mark

Frances Reid has played Alice Horton on "Days Of Our Lives" since
its 1965 debut; that will be 43 years in November
Click to expand...

Sadly, Frances hasn't been on since Christmas 2006...she was deemed too ill to continue in the role after the effects of a stroke she suffered in recent years.

Her last scene (so far) :'( ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLiLy2IXdtA
(FF to about 6:00, after a brief pan of Horton family pix on the mantle, 'Alice' is sitting in her chair in the living room, across from the family Christmas tree with the painted ornaments with family members' names inscribed on each, she holds a picture of her beloved Tom (the late MacDonald Carey) and speaks to it, then looks at the camera to give us her best wishes 'all the days of our lives.'

They didn't *really* need Clay Aiken on the show and in the background...

As for Helen Wagner, I think (?) she was recognized by the Emmys or Guinness or somebody about her accomplishment in recent years.
 
That would still give Frances Reid 41 years in the
same role.

Jeanne Cooper has played Katherine Chancellor on
"The Young And The Restless" since day one in 1973--
35 years.
 
bpatrick said:
That would still give Frances Reid 41 years in the
same role.

Jeanne Cooper has played Katherine Chancellor on
"The Young And The Restless" since day one in 1973--
35 years.
Click to expand...

Not quite day one, but she did begin the role before it had been on the air a whole year, though. And she's still one of the best reasons to watch that show!
 
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