Which Historical Figure Most Frequently Seen on Silver Screen?
Upon learning that Marlon Brando played Mark Antony in the 1953 film version of Shakespeare’s Julius Cæsar, a role which Charlton Heston played in the 1970 production (reprising his 1950 performance), a character which Richard Burton played in the celebrated (& controversial) 1963 film, Cleopatra, during the production of which he began his romance with Elizabeth Taylor, I wondered which other screen icon had played the unfortunate Roman politician and soldier.
And then I wondered if perhaps Mark Anthony had been more frequently represented on screen than Julius Cæsar, the man he once served. Rex Harrison played that great Roman opposite Antony in the 1963 film. Sir John Gielgud played him opposite Heston (in 1970) and Louis Calhern opposite Brando. He has more recently been represented by Ciarán Hinds in the HBO series Rome.
Has any historical figure, I wondered, been more frequently represented on the silver screen?
Perhaps, it was England’s Elizabeth I. In 1999, both Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench were nominated for playing the monarch, though in different films. Screen legend Bette Davis also played the virgin queen (twice) as did Helen Mirren, a performance which earned her an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
Or maybe her rival Mary Queen of Scots has been more frequently represented on the silver screen. Samantha Morton played the matriarch of the later English monarchs opposite Blanchett’s second turn as Elizabeth in the 2007 sequel to her 1998 film. The great Katharine Hepburn played the exiled Scottish queen in John Ford‘s 1936 production, Mary of Scotland, Vanessa Redgrave played her in 1971′s Oscar-nominated Mary Queen of Scots, a film in which Glenda Jackson played Queen Elizabeth.
Or maybe perhaps, Elizabeth’s colorful father (Mary’s great uncle), Henry VIII, has been the most represented historical figure on screen. Burton played him in 1969′s Anne of the Thousand Days. Robert Shaw played him in A Man for All Seasons (where Redgrave has a brief cameo of Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn). The fetching Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays him most in the current TV series The Tudors.
Or maybe it’s someone else. So, I wonder, which historical has been most frequently represented on the silver screen?
UPDATE: Having written this post in haste, I spaced on a number of flicks I might otherwise have mentioned, most notably The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex where Davis first played the 16th century monarch.
UP-UPDATE: The consensus of the commentary that Jesus has been most frequently portrayed. So, let’s eliminate him from the mix and speculate what figure after him was most frequently represented in film?
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I’m going with Henry VIII, to which I can add two more portrayals, both by Charles Laughton; The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) and Young Bess (1953). That last film adds Jean Simmons to the list of Elizabeth I portrayals.
Upon further thought, there was also last year’s “The Other Boleyn Girl” with the fetching Eric Bana as Henry. Add to that Shakespeare’s play about the monarch, which I’m sure has been filmed a couple of times…
Hang on…
A quick IMDb search shows no less than 16 titles with “Henry VIII” in them.
I rest my case.
Comment by Draybee — January 11, 2009 @ 2:21 pm - January 11, 2009
Me, I would pick Jesus as the historical figure most often on the screen.
Comment by Louise B — January 11, 2009 @ 4:43 pm - January 11, 2009
Louise beat me to it.
Comment by American Elephant — January 11, 2009 @ 5:31 pm - January 11, 2009
Lets see, just counting major motion pictures there’s:
Jesus of Nazareth,
The Nativity Story, which I just watched for Christmas, although Jesus, admittedly has a very small role.
The Passion of the Christ
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Jesus Christ, Superstar
Godspell
King of Kings
The Last Temptation of Christ
and a bunch Ive never even heard of:
The Gospel According to St Matthew
The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ
The Messiah
Jesus
The Miracle Maker
And Im sure theres more.
Moses might be up there too, with The 10 Commandments, Prince of Egypt and I’m sure many others.
Comment by American Elephant — January 11, 2009 @ 5:45 pm - January 11, 2009
Oh, and I forget, was Jesus in Southpark, bigger longer and uncut?
Comment by American Elephant — January 11, 2009 @ 5:49 pm - January 11, 2009
Don’t forget the back of his head in “Ben Hur”.
Comment by Draybee — January 12, 2009 @ 12:04 am - January 12, 2009
Draybee, I just typed the same thing before seeing yours
Also in the Life of Brian, right? I don’t think He was in the South Park movie.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — January 12, 2009 @ 1:44 am - January 12, 2009
Jesus wins again!
Comment by Jeb — January 12, 2009 @ 11:16 am - January 12, 2009
What more proof do you need that Jesus is Lord of the Universe? Wouldn’t you put yourself in as many movies as possible?
Comment by Ashpenaz — January 12, 2009 @ 2:45 pm - January 12, 2009
Don’t have the count but Wyatt Earo was in a lot of movies. Not just movies about him, (TOMBSTONE, GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL and–obviously–WYATT EARP, to name a few) but where he appeared as asupporting character (MASTERSON OF KANSAS, WINCHESTER ’73, et al).
Comment by Bilwick1 — January 12, 2009 @ 3:58 pm - January 12, 2009
#9 – Who is Wyatt Earo?
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — January 12, 2009 @ 4:45 pm - January 12, 2009
He invented the Earoplane
Comment by American Elephant — January 12, 2009 @ 5:22 pm - January 12, 2009
Henry Fonda played Wyatt Earp (nee Earo) in John Ford’s “My Darling Clementine”.
He also played Abe Lincoln in “Young Mr. Lincoln”, a character that at first popped into my mind with this topic, but I don’t think he’s the most portrayed.
Comment by Draybee — January 12, 2009 @ 10:23 pm - January 12, 2009
#12 – AE, now THAT was a rimshot!!
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — January 12, 2009 @ 10:50 pm - January 12, 2009
OK, I’m going to guess Hitler. From The Producers to Zelig to Expelled, he seems to come up a lot. I thought Benjamin Franklin, too, because he was on a couple of episodes of Bewitched which must bring up his numbers.
Comment by Ashpenaz — January 13, 2009 @ 12:24 am - January 13, 2009
I wonder which American figure is most filmed. Lincoln? Franklin? Valley Girl?
Comment by Ignatius — January 13, 2009 @ 12:09 pm - January 13, 2009
I’ve been led to believe that Abe Lincoln is the second most portrayed American president on film, and that Teddy Roosevelt was the most. I recall an entire three hour radio show devoted to this very question, and amazingly, at the end of the night Teddy beat out Abe.
Thought you might like to know.
Comment by kevin barry — January 13, 2009 @ 1:52 pm - January 13, 2009
ok kevin,
but has Teddy R been on Star Trek? huh? huh? huh?
Comment by The Livewire — January 14, 2009 @ 6:44 am - January 14, 2009
Or The Twilight Zone?
Comment by Draybee — January 14, 2009 @ 3:12 pm - January 14, 2009
If Teddy had been in that episode of Star Trek, those evil aliens would’ve had their asses kicked in the first five minutes, and the other twenty five, the good guys would have been eating them around the campfire while Teddy told stories and whittled a tree.
And I don’t remember the episode of the Twilight Zone, but somewhere in there Teddy would have kicked somebodys ass, and a tree would have been whittled.
Comment by Kevin Barry — January 14, 2009 @ 10:39 pm - January 14, 2009