• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Real names used

J

johnbasalla

What actors used their real names for their character(s) in one or more series? To get us going, here are a few. On "Emergency!", Marco Lopez played Marco Lopez (listed in the credits as Fireman Lopez). Mike Stoker, whose given first name was actually Charles, but he went by Mike in real life, was an actual firefighter hired to drive the fire truck on the show.
There was also a gentleman who appeared in part of the first season whose character's name was his own.

People who used their first name only, such as Lucille Ball (Lucy), are ok to add, although I'm most interested in those that used their full names.

What I am NOT looking for are actors who played themselves in a one-off appearance, such as Sammy Davis, Jr. on "All In The Family", and the many famous actors and actresses who popped up on Lucy's shows.
 
johnbasalla said:
People who used their first name only, such as Lucille Ball (Lucy), are ok to add, although I'm most interested in those that used their full names.
Click to expand...

Do last names count? Charles Robinson played his character, Mac Robinson, on "Night Court".
 
Sheriff Andy Taylor used Andy Griffith's real 1st name.

Danny Thomas played Danny Williams on Make Room For Daddy. In fact, Danny William's storyline son-in-law, Pat Hannigan, was played by Pat Harrington (later of One Day At A Time).
 
Drew Carey used his full real name for his character on The Drew Carey Show.

As for actors using their real first names only-

Tim Allen as Tim Taylor on Home Improvement.
Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men, and before that as Charlie Crawford on Spin City.
Also on Spin City (before Charlie Sheen), Michael J. Fox as Michael Flaherty.
Roseanne Barr as Roseanne Conner on Roseanne.
Ray Romano as Ray Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond.
Bob Newhart as Bob Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show.
Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.


I know there's more, but that's all that come to mind right now.
 
Shirley Jones and Danny Bonaduce as Shirley and Danny Partridge.
Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham.
Fisher Stevens played Chuck Fishman in Early Edition, but everyone called him Fish.
 
Harry Anderson as Harry Stone on 'Night Court'
Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd on 'Cheers'
Bob Newhart(again) as Bob McKay on 'Bob'
 
James Garner as 'Jim Rockford' in the Rockford Files.

Kim Raver as 'Kim Zambrano' in Third Watch.

Derek Kelly as 'D.K.' in Third Watch. (He was a firefighter in real life for FDNY).

Bill Walsh as 'Walsh' in Third Watch. Also FDNY in real life.

Dick Hammer as 'Captain Hammer' in Emergency (1st Season - Before Captain Hank Stanley).

Vince Howard as 'Officer Vince' in Emergency. (He was the cop that seemed to always be on duty everytime the boys went to a rescue).

One more...

Richard Correll as 'Richard Rickover' in Leave it To Beaver.
 
Staying with same first names...

Tony Danza as Tony Banta (Taxi), Tony Micelli (Who's the Boss?), Tony Canetti (Hudson Street) and Tony DiMeo (The Tony Danza Show).
 
...Redd Foxx's birth name was John Elroy Sanford; Fred Sanford, the name of his character on Sanford & Son, Grady and Sanford, was actually the name of Foxx's father (Sr.) and older brother (Jr.)...

...then you had David Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith playing David Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith on The Monkees...
 
On 1 episode of "Green Acres," actor Lyle Talbot played a politician named Lyle Talbot. I can't remember exactly how the dialogue went, but I think there was a reference to Ronald Reagan being the governor of California.....so the conversation went like Lisa saying to LT, "So, which actor's name do YOU use?" :)

It seems that many sitcoms that use the name of the actor in the title (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bob Newhart Show) have the actual actor's first name as the character's first name.

On the short lived sitcom "Bette" w/ Bette Midler, I didn't watch it, but I came across dialogue in our break room at work......it seemed per Wikipedia that the character's name was also Bette---not sure if the last name was revealed. I guess I was wrong----I thought it was a running gag that even her FIRST name wasn't mentioned:

Bette: Hello, my name is----
Man: Oh I KNOW who you are.

And of course if not mentioned, on the Donna Reed Show, Donna's character was Donna Stone.

:) cd
 
UPDATE! UPDATE! "The Monkees", "Emergency!" and "Ozzie and Harriet" seem to be the winners in the use of the actors real names ... both first and last names.
 
brian4 said:
Staying with same first names...

Tony Danza as Tony Banta (Taxi), Tony Micelli (Who's the Boss?), Tony Canetti (Hudson Street) and Tony DiMeo (The Tony Danza Show).
Click to expand...

How could anyone forget Lucy (Ricardo, Carmichael, Carter)?

Bob Crane played Col. Robert Hogan on Hogan's Heroes.

On The Mothers-In-Law, all but one of the main actors played characters with their real first names: Eve Arden/Hubbard, Herbert Rudley/Hubbard, Kaye Ballard/Buell, Roger Carmel/Buell (first season only), & Jerry Fogel/Buell. Only Deborah Walley (Susan Hubbard Buell) did not use her real first name on the show.

Others who used their real names as characters on their shows were Don Wilson and Frank Nelson (The Jack Benny Program), Gracie Allen & Harry Von Zell (Burns & Allen). I'm not including those who changed their names legally to their "stage" name later in life, such as Jack Benny (Benjamin Kubelski), his wife Mary Livingstone (Sadie Marks), and George Burns (Nathan Birnbaum).
 
I read that Tony Danza's character on "Taxi" was supposed to be Phil but he was too dumb to respond to that so they changed it. :)
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom