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Monday February 18, 2013
Why is FDR Hanging with the Three Stooges? Everything You Didn't Want to Know About Screen Portrayals of U.S. Presidents, and Didn't Ask
FDR: “As for you gentlemen, I find it possible to extend to you executive clemency.”
Curly: “No, please not that.”
For Washington and Lincoln it was a silent short (“Washington Under the British Flag” and “His First Commission,” respectively). For Grover Cleveland, it was a James Cagney/Humphrey Bogart western (“The Oklahoma Kid”). JFK got an episode of a forgotten TV show, “Navy Log,” LBJ got “Batman: The Movie,” and FDR, believe it or not, got the Three Stooges.
These are the first moments our presidents have been portrayed on screen. Per IMDb.
Some surprising revelations. Herbert Hoover (1929-33) was never portrayed on screen until 1979's “Backstairs at the White House,” a mini-series attempting to combine “Upstairs Downstairs” with “Roots.” Then there's James Buchanan (1957-61), who has been portrayed only once, voicework by David Gergen, in the 2000 PBS documentary “The American President.” At least he had John Updike watching his back.
More recent presidents, of course, are first spoofed on television, generally “Saturday Night Live,” which has given us our first screen portraits, or caricatures, of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The British series “Spitting Image” beat them to George H.W. Bush, while “The 1/2 News Hour” beat them to Barack Obama.
Speaking of the Bushes: IMDb.com needs to fix its algorithms, since it includes obvious H.W. characters (a 1990 “Golden Girls” episode, voiced by Harry Shearer, for example) under W.'s character page. The site also includes the “Richard Nixon” thug in Godard's “Made in U.S.A.” on Nixon's character page. I‘ve tried to adjust the numbers accordingly but take these numbers with a grain of salt. Treat them, in other words, as you would campaign promises.
Oh yes, and in case you were wondering, Lincoln wins. By a longshot.
Here are our 44 presidents in order of first cinematic appearance:
President | Port. | First Appearance | First Actor | |
1 | George Washington | 154 | Washington Under the British Flag (1909) | Joseph Kilgour |
2 | John Adams | 54 | The Declaration of Indepedence (1911) | Harry Linson |
3 | Thomas Jefferson | 125 | The Declaration of Indepedence (1911) | Marc McDermott |
4 | James Madison | 27 | Old Louisiana (1937) | Ramsay Hill |
5 | James Monroe | 11 | The Beautiful Mrs. Reynolds (1918) | Charles Brandt |
6 | John Quincy Adams | 8 | The Declaration of Indepedence (1911) | Robert Emmett Tansey |
7 | Andrew Jackson | 47 | My Own United States (1918) | F.C. Earle |
8 | Martin Van Buren | 4 | The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) | Charles Trowbridge |
9 | William Henry Harrison | 7 | Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942) | Douglass Dumbrille |
11 | James K. Polk | 8 | The Monroe Doctrine (1939) | Edwin Stanley |
12 | Zachary Taylor | 8 | The Fall of Blackhawk (1912) | George Cole |
13 | Millard Fillmore | 4 | The Monroe Doctrine (1939) | Millard Vincent |
14 | Franklin Pierce | 2 | The Great Moment (1944) | Porter Hall |
15 | James Buchanan | 1 | The American President (2000) | David Gergen (voice) |
16 | Abraham Lincoln | 327 | His First Commisson (1911) | Charles Brabin |
17 | Andrew Johnson | 6 | In the Days of Buffalo Bill (1922) | Harry Myers |
18 | Ulysses S. Grant | 94 | The Battle of Shiloh (1913) | John Smiley |
19 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 7 | The Flag of Humanity (1940) | Joe King |
20 | James A. Garfield | 7 | The Night Riders (1939) | Francis Sayles |
21 | Chester A. Arthur | 3 | Silver Dollar (1932) | Emmett Corrigan |
22 | Grover Cleveland | 9 | The Oklahoma Kid (1939) | Stuart Holmes |
23 | Benjamin Harrison | 2 | Stars and Stripes Forever (1952) | Roy Gordon |
25 | William McKinley | 11 | A Message to Garcia (1936) | John Carradine |
26 | Theodore Roosevelt | 86 | Why America Will Win (1917) | W.E. Whittle |
27 | William Howard Taft | 5 | The Winds of Kitty Hawk (TV) (1978) | Ross Durfee |
28 | Woodrow Wilson | 31 | The Sons of a Soldier (1913) | Frederick Truesdell |
29 | Warren G. Harding | 5 | The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond (TV) (1975) | Harry Dean Stanton |
30 | Calvin Coolidge | 5 | The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) | Ed Flanders |
31 | Herbert Hoover | 8 | “Backstairs at the White House” (1979) | Larry Gates |
32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 97 | Cash and Carry (1937) | Al Richardson |
33 | Harry S. Truman | 34 | The Beginning or The End (1947) | Art Baker |
34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 37 | The Long Gray Line (1955) | Harry Carey, Jr. |
35 | John F. Kennedy | 86 | “Navy Log” (1957) | John Baer |
36 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 32 | Batman: The Movie (1966) | Van Johnson (voice) |
37 | Richard Nixon | 81 | Eulogy for RFK (1968) | Marty Rednor |
38 | Gerald Ford | 15 | “Saturday Night Live” (1975) | Chevy Chase |
39 | Jimmy Carter | 23 | “Saturday Night Live” (1976) | Dan Aykroyd |
40 | Ronald Reagan | 46 | “Saturday Night Live” (1976) | Chevy Chase |
41 | George H. W. Bush | 27 | “Spitting Image” (1986) | John Glover |
42 | Bill Clinton | 74 | “Saturday Night Live” (1992) | Phil Hartman |
43 | George W. Bush | 112 | “Saturday Night Live” (2000) | Will Ferrell |
44 | Barack Obama | 80 | “The 1/2 News Hour” (2007) | Ron Butler |
And here they are as ranked by how often they’ve been portrayed on screen. Interestingly, W. beats FDR. But U.S. Grant is ahead of Teddy Roosevelt? I guess the Civil War helps:
President | Port. | First Appearance | First Actor | |
16 | Abraham Lincoln | 327 | His First Commisson (1911) | Charles Brabin |
1 | George Washington | 154 | Washington Under the British Flag (1909) | Joseph Kilgour |
3 | Thomas Jefferson | 125 | The Declaration of Indepedence (1911) | Marc McDermott |
43 | George W. Bush | 112 | “Saturday Night Live” (2000) | Will Ferrell |
32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 97 | Cash and Carry (1937) | Al Richardson |
18 | Ulysses S. Grant | 94 | The Battle of Shiloh (1913) | John Smiley |
26 | Theodore Roosevelt | 86 | Why America Will Win (1917) | W.E. Whittle |
35 | John F. Kennedy | 86 | “Navy Log” (1957) | John Baer |
37 | Richard Nixon | 81 | Eulogy for RFK (1968) | Marty Rednor |
44 | Barack Obama | 80 | “The 1/2 News Hour” (2007) | Ron Butler |
42 | Bill Clinton | 74 | “Saturday Night Live” (1992) | Phil Hartman |
2 | John Adams | 54 | The Declaration of Indepedence (1911) | Harry Linson |
7 | Andrew Jackson | 47 | My Own United States (1918) | F.C. Earle |
40 | Ronald Reagan | 46 | “Saturday Night Live” (1976) | Chevy Chase |
34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 37 | The Long Gray Line (1955) | Harry Carey, Jr. |
33 | Harry S. Truman | 34 | The Beginning or The End (1947) | Art Baker |
36 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 32 | Batman: The Movie (1966) | Van Johnson (voice) |
28 | Woodrow Wilson | 31 | The Sons of a Soldier (1913) | Frederick Truesdell |
4 | James Madison | 27 | Old Louisiana (1937) | Ramsay Hill |
41 | George H. W. Bush | 27 | “Spitting Image” (1986) | John Glover |
39 | Jimmy Carter | 23 | “Saturday Night Live” (1976) | Dan Aykroyd |
38 | Gerald Ford | 15 | “Saturday Night Live” (1975) | Chevy Chase |
5 | James Monroe | 11 | The Beautiful Mrs. Reynolds (1918) | Charles Brandt |
25 | William McKinley | 11 | A Message to Garcia (1936) | John Carradine |
22 | Grover Cleveland | 9 | The Oklahoma Kid (1939) | Stuart Holmes |
6 | John Quincy Adams | 8 | The Declaration of Indepedence (1911) | Robert Emmett Tansey |
11 | James K. Polk | 8 | The Monroe Doctrine (1939) | Edwin Stanley |
12 | Zachary Taylor | 8 | The Fall of Blackhawk (1912) | George Cole |
31 | Herbert Hoover | 8 | “Backstairs at the White House” (1979) | Larry Gates |
9 | William Henry Harrison | 7 | Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942) | Douglass Dumbrille |
19 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 7 | The Flag of Humanity (1940) | Joe King |
20 | James A. Garfield | 7 | The Night Riders (1939) | Francis Sayles |
17 | Andrew Johnson | 6 | In the Days of Buffalo Bill (1922) | Harry Myers |
27 | William Howard Taft | 5 | The Winds of Kitty Hawk (TV) (1978) | Ross Durfee |
29 | Warren G. Harding | 5 | The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond (TV) (1975) | Harry Dean Stanton |
30 | Calvin Coolidge | 5 | The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) | Ed Flanders |
8 | Martin Van Buren | 4 | The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) | Charles Trowbridge |
13 | Millard Fillmore | 4 | The Monroe Doctrine (1939) | Millard Vincent |
21 | Chester A. Arthur | 3 | Silver Dollar (1932) | Emmett Corrigan |
14 | Franklin Pierce | 2 | The Great Moment (1944) | Porter Hall |
23 | Benjamin Harrison | 2 | Stars and Stripes Forever (1952) | Roy Gordon |
15 | James Buchanan | 1 | The American President (2000) | David Gergen (voice) |