A few times, I've seen people on boards ask questions about a celebrity using the character's name, or vice versa. Or, they'll atrribute a character's personality to that of his or her performer.

Now, this may not be a *totally* new phenomenon, I'm sure; I recall an ad fromt he late '70s, I forget for what, starring Tony Randall in which he starts saying, "People often confuse me with the roles I play. For instance, i'm not a 'neat freak....'" Then, with the obvious "Odd Couple" reference to make people remember the ad (if not the product :-) he says "Of course, I'm not a slob, either, like...er..." And, there was the Barney Miller episode with the woman who came into the precinct asking them to arrest a character on a soap opera. But, at least she knew the difference between character and performer, even if she didn't know the difference between fantasy and reality. (Even as wild as I got over Charlie Brown and friends as a kid, I knew they were *imaginary* friends.)

Is it not really a problem and I've just noticed a few weird, isolated instances? Has this problem always existed? Is it a lack of thinking? A combination of these? Or what?

There are those who do confuse the celebs with the roles they play. I have read or seen interviews where celebs, mostly soap stars, are approached by fans on the street or wherever, and the fans will start getting mad at them (if they played a villian). I remember Larry Hagman from DALLAS saying how so many people would rag on him for being so cruel to his tv wife, Sue Ellen, how mean and dirty he was, what a ruthless, cunning snake he was. :lol:

I can't speak for those who post on boards using the name of a tv character, but I suppose it is easier for them to make their post (and their point) by using the name that is more familiar to everyone rather than the person's real name.

There's many examples of this phenomenon, Larry Linville for instance was said to be one of the nicest, most generous people in Hollywood, but, got tons of hate mail because he played Frank Burns on M*A*S*H. (Something that really bothered him, apparently)
Susan Lucci is reviled by soap fans everywhere , but, she's NOT really Erica Kane, the Superb*tch from All my Children!
Then you can take the cases of both Jack Webb and Abe Vigoda; both of whom were often taken for real criminals, back when they played bit gangster parts, in "B" movies, but later became beloved TV cops as Joe Friday (Dragnet) and Sargeant Phil Fish!(Barney Miller)

Well and there's always the infamous example of the producers of the Mary Tyler Moore show not wanting to make Mary Richards divorced because they feared the audience would think she was divorced from Rob Petrie. Not an example of confusing character and actor, but still an example of people taking a character and running in all directions with it.

Margaret Hamilton who played the wicked witch of the west, had a person push her before. They say if you hate the person who plays a villain, then they did a good job. People take it too extreme though.

Margaret Hamilton who played the wicked witch of the west, had a person push her before. They say if you hate the person who plays a villain, then they did a good job. People take it too extreme though.

It is ironic that her performance as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939) was so scary to children, because her first job was as a kindergarten teacher. She loved and doted upon children all her life.

Until the day she died she had children recognizing her and coming up to her to ask why she was so mean to Dorothy. She became very concerned about the role's effect on children, and finally guested on "MisteRogers' Neighborhood" (1968) to explain that the Witch was just a character in the film, and not herself.

She was the kindergarten teacher of five-year-old William Windom, until she threw him out for rambunctious behavior. Another of her students was Jim Backus.

Gave her most noted recollection of her role in The Wizard of Oz (1939) by writing the Preface to the book "The Making of The Wizard of Oz" by Aljean Harmetz.

Nearly quit The Wizard of Oz (1939) after a December 1938 accident in which she was severely burned during the appearing/disappearing scene in Munchkinland. She was off the film for more than a month.

Welcomed pen-pal fans to visit her at her New York City apartment in later years.

Her legendary role as the Wicked Witch of the West was ranked #4 on the American Film Institute's villains list of the 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains.


And Your Little Dog, Too: Miss Hamilton was a strong promoter of animal rights and the welfare of companion animals. She often appeared in TV public service announcements with her cat, pleading that everyone spay and neuter their pets to help cut down on the number of unwanted, homeless animals. She also had a dachshund named Otto.

For many years, she appeared in Maxwell House coffee commercials as the feisty storekeeper who declares, "It's the only brand I sell!"

I remember seeing an episode of SNL in the 70s; where Rob Reiner was the host and he was saying that "some people think I'm really married to Sally Struthers".
I know that; for years people used to think that Jack Benny was cheap; and single; like he was on his radio and TV shows.

Certainly not a reliable source but several years ago I read in one of the tabloids that Actor Timothy Busfield was spotted in grocery store by a woman who couldn't stand his character Elliot Weston from Thirtysomething and walked up to him and slapped him across the face.

in the 40s; some kids thought that Curly from THE 3 STOOGES was really like he appeared on camera. (for all the non-stooges fans, he was the fat one with the shaved head)

For many years, she appeared in Maxwell House coffee commercials as the feisty storekeeper who declares, "It's the only brand I sell!"
I vividly remember those Maxwell House commercials with her, she was getting up ther in age at that time. Very interesting info on her, thanks for posting.

Another example of an actor being the opposite of the character they played was Carrol O'Connor, who played bigoted Archie Bunker in All In The Family. In real life Carrol was urbane and learned, behaved kindly to others, and who, at one time, taught English.

I remeber watching Alice on ion couple months ago. they had geroge burns in alice. he was in the movie oh god. one of Alice friends thought that he was really god. he just played god in the movie. it was good epsidoes.

I admit to getting into my favorite actors' characters so much that when I do see them on a talk show, I'm shocked with how sweet and kind they are in real life! omg:

She was the kindergarten teacher of five-year-old William Windom, until she threw him out for rambunctious behavior. Another of her students was Jim Backus.



Groovy piece of information!!

Since Jim Backus is related to Gilligan's Island... :happyface
Tina Louise always got ticked with always being known as 'Ginger'. Infact, it's rumoured that when someone would come up and say "Aren't you Ginger?", she would reply point blank, "No, I'm Tina." (and then of course you have the complete opposite, Alan Hale Jr., who 'was' the Skipper everywhere he went)

But, I agree, I think it's an unfair justification that the actors and the characters are the same person, because they just aren't!

Much as it embarrasses me to admit it, I can't STAND John Larroquette in anything, and it all has to do with the fact that he played a total jerk on Night Court...it doesnt matter what role he plays, all i see is "Dan Feilding" and I will change the channel, as soon as I see him! (So i guess I'm not immune to this phenomenon) :blush:

I can't stand Jennifer Lopez. Because she HAS NO CHARACTER. Does this count for this thread? :lol:

Well and there's always the infamous example of the producers of the Mary Tyler Moore show not wanting to make Mary Richards divorced because they feared the audience would think she was divorced from Rob Petrie. Not an example of confusing character and actor, but still an example of people taking a character and running in all directions with it.
Now that I think is pretty dumb...the people who think Mary was still Laura.

Didn't that come into play with Lucille Ball on her other shows? Something about people thinking she and Ricky got divorced I think. I'm sure some people thought Ricky died because she was always a widow.

People assumed that Little Ricky on I Love Lucy was really Desi Jr. I believe some people also thought Desi Jr. was the boy who played Little Ricky. He would be asked if he played the drums and so forth.

People assumed that Little Ricky on I Love Lucy was really Desi Jr. I believe some people also thought Desi Jr. was the boy who played Little Ricky. He would be asked if he played the drums and so forth.
I never thought they looked enough alike. Not that I've seen too many toddler pics of Desi Jr., but as they grew up, they sure didn't look alike!

Nancy Robertson who plays Wanda the clerk on Corner Gas was recently in New York City , shopping in one of the expensive stores there, when a fan of the show (The story didnt specify if this was a Canadian or someone from NY watching the show on WGN) saw her in the swanky shop and yelled "Wanda???!!! What are you doing HERE?" Apparently the man couldnt understand what poor underpaid Wanda would be doing, shopping in NY :rofl:

Nancy Robertson of Corner Gas was recently in New York City , shopping in one of the expensive stores there, when a fan of the show (The story didnt specify if this was a Canadian or someone from NY watching the show on WGN) saw her in the swanky shop and yelled "Wanda???!!! What are you doing HERE?" Apparently the man couldnt understand what poor underpaid Wanda would be doing, shopping in NY :rofl:

While this thread has gotten off the question (then again, maybe none of y'all can figure out why, either :-)), this at least reminds me of a story I heard a number of years back. A child - I think the kid was around 5-6 - saw their teacher in the grocery store with his/her mom shopping, when the kid spotted their Kindergarten or 1st grade teacher. The kid went up to the teacher and said, "Mrs. x, I didn't know you bought groceries." As if the kid hadn't made the connection that their teacher had a life outside of school.

That makes perfect sense, children that age are always very concrete. (Incidents like that are what help their minds to develop, in fact.)

However, from the examples I'm seeing on this thread, it makes me wonder what it is that keeps our minds from keeping those connections. I mean, now we don't get surprised when we see our bosses/co-workers/etc. in another place. In fact, we sort of expect at some big events (county fair for us midwesterners is a biggie) that we are likely to see someone we know.

So, if we can picture those we know well to be in a different setting, where they might not be acting "in character," what is it about TV that's different?

While this thread has gotten off the question (then again, maybe none of y'all can figure out why, either :-)), this at least reminds me of a story I heard a number of years back. A child - I think the kid was around 5-6 - saw their teacher in the grocery store with his/her mom shopping, when the kid spotted their Kindergarten or 1st grade teacher. The kid went up to the teacher and said, "Mrs. x, I didn't know you bought groceries." As if the kid hadn't made the connection that their teacher had a life outside of school.

That makes perfect sense, children that age are always very concrete. (Incidents like that are what help their minds to develop, in fact.)

However, from the examples I'm seeing on this thread, it makes me wonder what it is that keeps our minds from keeping those connections. I mean, now we don't get surprised when we see our bosses/co-workers/etc. in another place. In fact, we sort of expect at some big events (county fair for us midwesterners is a biggie) that we are likely to see someone we know.

So, if we can picture those we know well to be in a different setting, where they might not be acting "in character," what is it about TV that's different?
I think the posts have stayed on topic. Why do you say we have gotten off track? Besides, there will almost always be instances of threads never staying on topic. :wave:

I think the posts have stayed on topic. Why do you say we have gotten off track? Besides, there will almost always be instances of threads never staying on topic. :wave:

I was also looking for a more in depth discussion of the psychology behind it; what causes people to do this? What in the mental makeup of fans causes them to be confused? Whereas the topic has generally turned to different exmples of when actors such as Larry Linville have been mistaken for being like the characters they play. And not the question of, "Why would a person, seeing a known actor in a different position, believe them to be the same person they are when acting?"

I probably just didn't explain myself well with the original question, though. It probably should have focused mroe on the "why"s of it, instead of just asking a couple questinos at the end after the query of whether it's always been a problem. The first question, whether it's always been a problem, was answered well, though.

Maybe a psychology forum would be better for that question of mine - it is pretty deep :-) And, I do tend to be extremely cerebral in a lot of stuff.:crazy:

I was also looking for a more in depth discussion of the psychology behind it; what causes people to do this? What in the mental makeup of fans causes them to be confused? Whereas the topic has generally turned to different exmples of when actors such as Larry Linville have been mistaken for being like the characters they play. And not the question of, "Why would a person, seeing a known actor in a different position, believe them to be the same person they are when acting?"

I probably just didn't explain myself well with the original question, though. It probably should have focused mroe on the "why"s of it, instead of just asking a couple questinos at the end after the query of whether it's always been a problem. The first question, whether it's always been a problem, was answered well, though.

Maybe a psychology forum would be better for that question of mine - it is pretty deep :-) And, I do tend to be extremely cerebral in a lot of stuff.:crazy:
Well, if thats what you want, maybe you need to contact Dr. Sigund Freud...we are laymen here, at best; trying to delve into someone's twisted psyche is something most of us simply arent qualified to do. (And frankly, when you see the contradicting opinions between so-called qualified psychiatrists, one wonders if anyone truly is!)

We are not psychologists, we can't tell you any mental reason behind why people do what they do as far as confusing celebs with the roles they play.

There are those who do confuse the celebs with the roles they play. I have read or seen interviews where celebs, mostly soap stars, are approached by fans on the street or wherever, and the fans will start getting mad at them (if they played a villian). I remember Larry Hagman from DALLAS saying how so many people would rag on him for being so cruel to his tv wife, Sue Ellen, how mean and dirty he was, what a ruthless, cunning snake he was. :lol:

I think it's easy to make that mistake for some people because people are probably so used to the character they see and not the actor seperately. Especially if they've watched the actor play the same role for over a decade. It happened to Chandra Wilson. She was interviewing some of the stars at the Daytime Emmys this year and calling some of them by the character's names because she's so used to seeing the actors in character.

Though I wholeheartedly agree with the fact people do take things too far. For instance a few months ago, someone throwing hot coffee on a One Life to Live actress. That is inexcusable. Not only that, but people doing stuff like that makes all the sane soap fans, even the ones who are liable to make the occassional character-actor name boo-boo from time to time, look bad IMO and that is not right.

I can't stand Jennifer Lopez. Because she HAS NO CHARACTER. Does this count for this thread? :lol:


:brent :brent Can we add Britney, Linsday, Paula, Mariah, and their ilk here too?

:brent :brent Can we add Britney, Linsday, Paula, Mariah, and their ilk here too?
Be my guest...:wave:

Many celebrities are direct opposites of the roles that made them famous.
A few examples: Jack Benny (who was generous), Dan Blocker (who was a
former school teacher), Boris Karloff (a kind, gentle man), Stan Laurel (a comic genius; he created most of Laurel & Hardy's classic bits), John Wayne
(who hated horses), and Henry Winkler (who was once described by Bob Hope
as "an anemic bookkeeper"). All of which is just a testament to their acting
range.

Henry Winkler is also TERRIFIED of motorcycles. On HAPPY DAYS; whenever Fonzie rode his motorcycle into a scene; they used to have a couple guys wheel it to just behind the camera; then he'd get on and they'd push it.

Yes, I had read that before, too. It came as quite a surprise at first.