Roles That Actors Own?

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Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 8:15am

What are some roles where actors have left such an indelible mark that it's hard to imagine the part without them?

Yul Brenner, The King and I
Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady
Carol Channing, Hello Dolly!
Barbra Streisand, Funny Girl
Angela Lansbury, Sweeney Todd and Mame
Zero Mostel, Fiddler on the Roof
Robert Preston, The Music Man
Patti LuPone, Evita
Julie Andrews, The Sound of Music
Nathan Lane, The Producers

???

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 8:18am

I would say Robert Preston as Harold Hill. Craig Bierko in the revival even sounds like him.

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 9:00am

To add to Jay's list (the following are branded, all but branded, or should be):

Barbara Cook, SHE LOVES ME, CANDIDE, THE MUSIC MAN
Barbara Harris, ON A CLEAR DAY, THE APPLE TREE
Richard Burton, CAMELOT
Robert Morse, HOW TO SUCCEED...
Jerry Orbach, PROMISES, PROMISES, CARNIVAL, THE FANTASTIKS
Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, GREY GARDENS
Keith Carradine, THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES
Nathan Lane, GUYS AND DOLLS, THE PRODUCERS
Lotte Lenya, THREEPENNY OPERA and CABARET
Richard Kiley, MAN OF LA MANCHA
Jennifer Holliday, DREAMGIRLS
Katharine Kepburn, COCO
Anna Maria Alberghetti, CARNIVAL
Joanna Gleason, INTO THE WOODS
Sahr Ngaujah, FELA
Lauren Bacall, APPLAUSE
Melba Moore, PURLIE
Gene Kelly, PAL JOEY
Ethel Merman, GIRL CRAZY, CALL ME MADAM, GYPSY, ANYTHING GOES, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, etc.
Carol Channing, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES
Chita Rivera, WEST SIDE STORY, KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN, BYE BYE BIRDIE , THE RINK
Liza Minnelli, THE RINK, FLORA THE RED MENACE
Dick Van Dyke, BYE BYE BIRDIE
Paul Lynde, BYE BYE BIRDIE
Mandy Patinkin, EVITA
Judy Holiday, BELLS ARE RINGING
Elaine Stritch, COMPANY, SAIL AWAY, AT LIBERTY (obviously)
Vivian Blaine, GUYS AND DOLLS
Bea Lillie, HIGH SPIRITS
Gwen Verdon, DAMN YANKEES, SWEET CHARITY, CHICAGO etc.
Bebe Newirth, CHICAGO
Alfred Drake, KISMET, OKLAHOMA
Stanley Holloway, MY FAIR LADY
John Raitt, CAROUSEL
Joel Grey, CABARET, GEORGE M.
John Cullum, ON A CLEAR DAY, SHENANDOAH, ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Donna Murphy, PASSION
Julie Andrews, MY FAIR LADY, VICTOR, VICTORIA, CAMELOT
Glynis Johns, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Dorothy Loudon, ANNIE, BALLROOM
Andrea McArdle, ANNIE
Rosalind Russell, WONDERFUL TOWN
Bea Arthur, MAME
Pat Sukuzki, FLOWER DRUM SONG
Jane Connell, MAME
Celeste Holm, OKLAHOMA
Carol Burnett, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS
Yvonne de Carlo, FOLLIES
Barbara Baxley, SHE LOVES ME
Robert Goulet, CAMELOT
Sammy Davis, Jr., GOLDEN BOY
Anthony Newley, STOP THE WORLD, THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT
Zero Mostel, FORUM
Jack Gilford, FORUM, CABARET
Nancy Walker, ON THE TOWN, DO RE MI
Phil Silvers, DO RE MI
Leonard Frey, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Herschel Bernardi, ZORBA
Maria Karnilova, FIDDLER, ZORBA
Tammy Grimes, MOLLY BROWN, HIGH SPIRITS
Leslie Uggams, HALLELUJAH, BABY
Patricia Routledge, DARLING OF THE DAY
Angela Lansbury, DEAR WORLD, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE
Lee Remick, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE
Bernadette Peters, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
Hermione Gingold, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
D'jamin Bartlett, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Patricia Elliott, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Jonathan Pryce, MISS SAIGON
Lea Salonga, MISS SAIGON
Mary Martin, PETER PAN, ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, etc.
Hal Linden, THE ROTHSCHILDS
Alice Playten, HENRY SWEET HENRY
Georgia Brown, OLIVER
Victoria Clark, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
Diahann Carroll, NO STRINGS, HOUSE OF FLOWERS
Shirley Booth, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, JUNO

and, as stated later herein:
THE ORIGINAL CAST OF A CHORUS LINE
William Daniels, 1776
Gertrude Lawrence, LADY IN THE DARK (and I'd add OH, KAY as well)

And with due respect to Marian Mercer, Katie Finneran has now stolen Marge MacDougall, as well as my heart.

Updated On: 5/8/12 at 09:00 AM

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 9:29am

Harvey Fierstein - Torch Song Trilogy
Cherry Jones - Doubt
Michael Crawford - Phantom Of The Opera

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 9:49am

I don't think any actor owns a role, but some will always be associated with it.It depends if you mean just in the US or worldwide.

Worldwide
Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins
Yul Brenner - King and I
Barbra Streisand - Funny Girl
Colm Wilkonson - Les Miserables

UK (maybe Europe)
Elaine Paige - Evita and Cats

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 10:29am

Alice Ripley owns Next to Normal. Enough said.

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 10:44am

I think people are confusing "owning" a role (which, in most cases, is a subjective judgment) with being heavily associated with a role. I would venture to say that someone like Rex Harrison owns Henry Higgins about as much any actor can own a role; I'd be less willing to say (using examples from this thread) that Vivian Blaine owns Adelaide, or Joanna Gleason owns The Baker's Wife.

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 10:52am

"Owning a role" can mean different things to different people. No actor owns a role exclusively and in perpetuity (I can even imagine, (on shrooms), a generation from now someone potentially making a strong impression in the role of Elaine Stritch in At Liberty). I interpreted the question to be about actors who've made a profoundly indelible impression inhabiting a role such that it is uniquely challenging to think of that specific role without first and foremost thinking of that performer's interpretation; that's what informed my list. The phrase might always be hyperbolic but should always be heartfelt and never be a patronization. It should go without saying that it is always a subjective determination.

Updated On: 5/6/12 at 10:52 AM

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 11:10am

I'm surprised no one has said Ellen Greene's Audrey.

Every actress until the end of time will be either "just doing an impression of the girl in the movie" or "not enough like the girl in the movie".

#10

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 11:15am

That's a fair explanation of your rationale, Henrik. It definitely differs from my own idea of what constitutes "owning a role"--something more collective and widely recognizable--which is why I wouldn't or example say that Joanna Gleason owns The Baker's Wife when you also consider the highly-acclaimed, major-award winning performances by people like Imelda Staunton and Sophie Thompson. (Same for Adelaide when you have Prince, McKenzie, Krakowski, Staunton, etc) But if you're looking at it from a more personal perspective, I see where you're coming from.

#11

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 11:27am

I would agree with all, Jay, except Angela for Nellie Lovett. Yes she was brilliant in the role, but many other actors have done the role very well.

Add Jennifer Holliday for Effie White.

"Owning" a role is something that can't be determined til quite a while after the show opens. Not just because some of these people did these roles on stage, then on film, then again on the stage, but because of the brilliant performances that they gave in the role. I think it's too early to determine whether Peters and Gleeson own their roles in Into the Woods.

I would also argue against Ripley because, though she originated it, other people (Marin Mazzie) have played the role equally as well.

#12

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 11:37am

Henrikegerman's extensive list seems right on target to me. Those are the performers that one thinks of first when a role is brought up in conversation. I was going to suggest that Ethel Merman comes to mind first when one thinks of GYPSY, although the role has subsequently been played by some pretty remarkable actresses. But surely the OBC recording of GYPSY is the album of choice for most people, I would think. The originator of a role almost always has the advantage. And yet, at this Tony time, let's not forget that Ethel Merman lost the Tony to Mary Martin for THE SOUND OF MUSIC. As Merman quipped, "How can you buck a nun?" She would not be so charitable about Rosalind Russell receiving the part of Rose in the film of GYPSY.

"Madam Rose...and her daughter...Gypsy!"

#13

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 11:46am

I don't think actors own roles either. Yes there may be actors that are specifically associated with a role but I would dare say Marilyn Monroe is associated with the role of Lorelei Lee as much (if not more so) than Carol Channing is.

Also, in the case of the role of "Effie White", some felt that Jennifer Holliday "owned" that role and that NO ONE would be able to come near let alone excel in that part the way she did...and then along came Jennifer Hudson.

I could list other examples but those two are the best I could come up with.

#14

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 1:23pm

The fact that others have scored well with a role still doesn't change the fact that subjectively one can regard someone as owning it; it's a question of degree. For instance, I find it hard to say that Channing owns Dolly, although she clearly has is monumentously forever linked to that role,, simply because for me Bailey's Dolly is equally iconic. And while, AC, I understand you feel the similarly about various interpretations of The Baker's Wife, for me Joanna remains imbedded in my heart. That's precisely why it's a subjective determination.

#15

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 1:45pm

^ ^ In other words tomato, tomatoe...

#16

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 1:51pm

Let's call the whole thread off.

#17

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 3:51pm

Bebe Newirth, CHICAGO

All discussions of subjectivity aside, I and the other Chita Rivera-loving villagers will be gathering outside henrikegerman's house tonight.

Bring your own torch and pickax.

(Otherwise, I'm happy to second his list.)

#18

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 3:53pm

Actually an actor can literally own a role, James O'Neill literally OWNS The Count of Monte Christo...he bought the rights to the play so that he was the oy one could play the role

#19

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 4:03pm

I wouldn't say Patti owns Evita. Based on most things I've heard people who didn't see her think she does.

#20

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 4:12pm

@chenokahn although i have never seen Patti's Eva Peron, based on Elena r
Rogers' review whih constantly compared to two, amd said elena just does hold up to Patti it can be infered the role of Eva Peron will be most closely assoiated with Patti until someone new comes along and can hold their own against Her

#21

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/6/12 at 9:57pm

bdn223 certainly has a point.

But I must admit that while I thought Lupone was very good in EVITA, I later saw someone else in London and numerous replacements, understudies and standby Evitas during the long Broadway run. (I was related to the assistant casting director and it was his job to see everyone who played the role.)

In all honesty, Lupone blended into the mix after awhile. Florence Lacey, Nancy Opel and Marti Webb (London) all hold their own in my memory. Also Paige O'Hara, who delivered a killer Evita in a dinner theater in Connecticut.

#22

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:34am

Alan Rickman, Les Liaisons Dangereuses

#23

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 7:38am

Yul Brynner in "The King and I". I can't imagine anyone else in the role, he was just so good, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

#24

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:48am

Gaveston thanks for keeping the rally down to a minimum of chaos last night. Although I hope you saw that on my list Chita owns at least four other roles besides Velma..... some people are never satisfied.

#25

Roles That Actors Own?

Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:56am

A glaring omission from this thread:

William Daniels in 1776

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

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