Actors' Hat Tricks

[Andrew_Kearley]

David McCallum:
The Man from UNCLE
The Invisible Man
Sapphire and Steel

Good one! Though I'd go with NCIS since INVISIBLE MAN was a flop that only lasted one season. Not exactly iconic!

Well, I've never even heard of NCIS, let alone seen it, whereas The Invisible Man is something I well remember from childhood, and it's been repeated loads of times. Maybe it's more popular/well known in Britain? It was after all a prime time show on BBC1.

 

[od0_ital]

Harrison Ford (although even this is a small stretch since other actors played Ryan before and after him)

One actor, Alec Baldwin, played Jack Ryan before Harrison Ford. Ford then played Jack Ryan in two movies, and then Ben Affleck took over the role in one movie.

So, out of the three actors, Harrison Ford did it twice as much as either of the other two.

I do, however, prefer Baldwin's version of Jack Ryan.

 

[TGTheodore]

James Garner:

Maverick, The Rockford Files and um ... 8 Rules for Dating My Daughter?

--Ted

 

[Captaindemotion]

Has anyone mentioned Pierce Brosnan yet? He's had Remington Steele, James Bond and I believe there's a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair in development.

Steve Martin has had The Pink Panther, Cheaper By the Dozen and ... shite, can't think of a third series. Bilko is an iconic character but his remake didn't spawn a sequel (thankfully).

Dan Ackroyd is almost there - Coneheads on tv and the cinema, 2 Blues Brothers movies, 2 Ghostbusters movie. Maybe this one has already been mentioned.

Robert Downey jr has Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes. Does Charlie Chaplin count as a 3rd?! lol. Matt Damon has Bourne, his Ocean's 11/12/13 character and also played Tom Ripley, who has appeared in numerous movies, though never twice by the same actor.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

No, Chaplin wouldn't count as a third. And Sherlock Holmes will only count for Downey Jr if and when he plays the part for a second time. It's not clear yet whether the Thomas Crown sequel will actually be made either.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Yeah, I was basically clutching at straws, coming in at this stage!

 

[kNkg]

Jackie Chan
Shanghai *****(Noon & Knights)
Rush hour
Police story

Kristen Bell
Veronica Mars
Heroes
Gossip Girl

 

[mostly_nameless]

Again, not exactly "iconic" but steady work:
Doug McClure -
Checkmate
The Virginian
The Barbary Coast
Out of This World (an epic if ever there was one)

 

[mostly_nameless]

James Garner:

Maverick, The Rockford Files and um ... 8 Rules for Dating My Daughter?

--Ted

He did have another series in the early 70's that ran for one season. It was called Nichols and all I remember is he rode an Indian motorcycle. (I remember this because it was one of the reasons that made my dad want the motorcycle that he rode off the levee and into the river. Dad lived. The motorcycle didn't.)

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Again, not exactly "iconic" but steady work:
Doug McClure -
Checkmate
The Virginian
The Barbary Coast
Out of This World (an epic if ever there was one)

Barbary Coast wouldn't count since it only ran for 1 season. Only successful TV shows that had some longevity count for these purposes. Checkmate only ran for two seasons, but with the large number of episodes per season shows had back then it amassed a good number. I'd say it counts, which would give him the hat trick.

 

[od0_ital]

No, Chaplin wouldn't count as a third. And Sherlock Holmes will only count for Downey Jr if and when he plays the part for a second time. It's not clear yet whether the Thomas Crown sequel will actually be made either.

Considerin' all the movies RDJ has been in over the course of his career, and that Iron Man 2 is the first time he's done a sequel....I wouldn't hold my breathe for a Holmes sequel, unless it does crazy huge business like Iron Man did.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Has anyone mentioned John Travolta? Saturday Night Fever and its sequel Staying Alive, the Look Who's Talking trio of movies and Get Shorty and its sequel Be Cool.

All united by the fact that the sequels were shite. But hey, maybe the sequel to Battlefield Earth will be great!

 

[Kirby]

Has anyone mentioned John Travolta? Saturday Night Fever and its sequel Staying Alive, the Look Who's Talking trio of movies and Get Shorty and its sequel Be Cool.

All united by the fact that the sequels were shite. But hey, maybe the sequel to Battlefield Earth will be great!

I suppose you could add Welcome Back Kotter. Was he on that more than 1 season?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Has anyone mentioned John Travolta? Saturday Night Fever and its sequel Staying Alive, the Look Who's Talking trio of movies and Get Shorty and its sequel Be Cool.

All united by the fact that the sequels were shite. But hey, maybe the sequel to Battlefield Earth will be great!

I suppose you could add Welcome Back Kotter. Was he on that more than 1 season?

It ran for four seasons, so Travolta has four series/franchises to his name. Good catch, both of you.

I can't recall if anyone's mentioned him yet, but there's also Billy Crystal:

1. Soap
2. City Slickers and its sequel
3. Analyze This and its sequel

 

[Orintho]

Leonard Nimoy: (TV-wise)

Star Trek
Mission Impossible
In Search of

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

What about Oddjob from Goldfinger? Granted, he only appeared in one movie. But ya gotta admit, his tricks with that hat were pretty impressive.

 

[wamdue]

ive got British one

Max Beesley

Bodies (BBC 3 hospital drama, that took a dark look at the hospital drama genre)
Hotel Babylon (think "Las Vegas" but set in a 5 star London hotel)
Survivors (remake of the 70s show of the same name, about a group of survivors after a virus wipes out most of the human race)

meanwhile I guess you could also have

Tamzin Outhwaite
Eastenders (367 episodes according to IMDB, of the long running British soap)
Red Cap (show about a British Army unit based in German)
Hotel Babylon (think "Las Vegas" but set in a 5 star London hotel)

and one more

Raquel Cassidy

Moving Wallpaper (plays the head of ITV, in a drama about a producer and the group of writers of the soap opera Echo Beach, and there zombie pilot "Renaissance")
Lead Ballon (wife of the Rick Spleen in the BBC comedy about a struggling comedian, and his family, she plays an agent)
Teachers (played Susan Gately in 2 of the 4 series of the successful C4 comedy)

Andrew Lincoln
This Life
Teachers
Afterlife
Moonshoot

Ben Miller
Moving Wallpaper
Primeval
The Armstrong and Miller Show

Plenty of British actors to have had been important character in 3 or more shows.

 

[ancientone51]

wamdue I'll have to take your word for those. One other advantage of the shorter, planned seasons of British TV, more opportunities to be in more good series than stateside.

 

[wamdue]

wamdue I'll have to take your word for those. One other advantage of the shorter, planned seasons of British TV, more opportunities to be in more good series than stateside.

this is very true.

I may have got carried away with that post

 

[Hermiod]

^Plus, we tend to get flavour of the month actors on golden handcuffs deals where we end up seeing them playing very similar characters to the one who made them popular in multiple short series.