Actors playing multiple roles
September 28, 2014 5:48 AM Subscribe
Who was the first comic actor to play multiple roles in the same movie, particularly with one of them in drag?
The earliest examples I can think of are Peter Sellers in The Mouse that Roared and Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets. Are there earlier ones?
Bonus question: is there a female comic who's done this in a movie?
The earliest examples I can think of are Peter Sellers in The Mouse that Roared and Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets. Are there earlier ones?
Bonus question: is there a female comic who's done this in a movie?
Re: the bonus question: Viktor und Viktoria (1935) remade in 1982 as Victor Victoria.
posted by griphus at 6:47 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 6:47 AM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: To clarify, I'm not asking for characters who cross dress or impersonate each other as part of the plot, but actors who play multiple roles as kind of a meta-joke, without it ever being acknowledged in the film itself. An actor playing twins wouldn't really count either.
posted by neat graffitist at 7:11 AM on September 28, 2014
posted by neat graffitist at 7:11 AM on September 28, 2014
Anna Deavere Smith did this in Twilight: LA but it's not really a comedy... It's more tragicomic
posted by spunweb at 7:17 AM on September 28, 2014
posted by spunweb at 7:17 AM on September 28, 2014
Best answer: Yeah, Buster Keaton fits the bill in The Playhouse (1921), including the drag and the meta-joke. Harold Lloyd appeared in and out of drag in short films a few years earlier, but I think it was always as the same character.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 7:44 AM on September 28, 2014
posted by chimpsonfilm at 7:44 AM on September 28, 2014
Best answer: Twice two (1933) by Laurel and Hardy has both men playing dual roles as themselves and their sisters, although their 'feminine' voices were overdubbed by female actors.
According to this indiewire article, Alec Guiness is the first to have acted multiple opposite gender roles in the same film (Kind Hearts and Coronets).
Wikipedia has a comprehensive list of male and female actors who've played dual roles that match your criteria - doesn't provide dates but might be worth a scan.
posted by freya_lamb at 7:55 AM on September 28, 2014
According to this indiewire article, Alec Guiness is the first to have acted multiple opposite gender roles in the same film (Kind Hearts and Coronets).
Wikipedia has a comprehensive list of male and female actors who've played dual roles that match your criteria - doesn't provide dates but might be worth a scan.
posted by freya_lamb at 7:55 AM on September 28, 2014
Best answer: In the list mentioned by freya_lamb, the oldest entry is Florence La Badie as Laura Fairlie and Ann Catherick in The Woman in White (1917). According to IMDb, "The lead Florence La Badie plays dual roles. Clever editing is used for the scene where her two characters meet. La Badie, however, does appear twice within a scene via superimposition, but that's in a flashback-within-a-mirror scene. There are a couple such scenes where La Badie's reflection in the mirror reflects her reflective melancholy mood."
Other old dual roles: Mary Pickford as Stella Maris and Unity Blake in Stella Maris (1918) (dual roles as the title character and an orphan servant) and later in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921) as the characters Cedric Errol and Widow Errol. According to the plot, "Cedric Errol is a poor American boy who finds out that he is the sole heir to a wealthy British earldom and thus becomes Lord Fauntleroy", so Mary Pickford played the title character in drag, and also played the title character's mother (mother introduced at 2:52, both characters together at 4:06).
"Little Lord Fauntleroy" (1921 version) was a drama film with elements of comedy, and had a drag performance by a female actor, so it might fit your bill.
posted by iviken at 5:57 AM on September 29, 2014
Other old dual roles: Mary Pickford as Stella Maris and Unity Blake in Stella Maris (1918) (dual roles as the title character and an orphan servant) and later in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921) as the characters Cedric Errol and Widow Errol. According to the plot, "Cedric Errol is a poor American boy who finds out that he is the sole heir to a wealthy British earldom and thus becomes Lord Fauntleroy", so Mary Pickford played the title character in drag, and also played the title character's mother (mother introduced at 2:52, both characters together at 4:06).
"Little Lord Fauntleroy" (1921 version) was a drama film with elements of comedy, and had a drag performance by a female actor, so it might fit your bill.
posted by iviken at 5:57 AM on September 29, 2014
Best answer: Charlie Chaplin played two roles (Mr. Pest and Mr. Rowdy - neither in drag) in A Night in the Show from 1915.
posted by Awkward Philip at 4:07 PM on October 1, 2014
posted by Awkward Philip at 4:07 PM on October 1, 2014
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posted by vacapinta at 6:10 AM on September 28, 2014