Actors who have frequently played historical figures

Blanchett, arguably our greatest living actor, first made a splash in 1999 when she played Elizabeth I, earning an Oscar nomination. She then earned another one for playing the same queen in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” In between, Blanchett won an Oscar for playing Katharine Hepburn — a little less “historical,” but certainly a historical figure in the history of cinema!

If you are British, you likely were well aware of Mirren for her sexy, provocative work. After all, she was in “Caligula”! Hey, there’s a historical movie (kind of). Americans, though, were largely introduced to Mirren when she played the dour Queen Elizabeth II in “The Queen,” which won her an Oscar. There are many other historical figures in the mix, and in 2023 Mirren added Golda Meir to her resume.

Oldman loves to disappear under makeup and prosthetics like another guy who could have been on this list, Johnny Depp. However, he’s a great actor, and he has played some truly significant figures from history. In addition to two massive World War II politicians, Winston Churchill and Harry Truman, he’s also played two famed musicians in Beethoven and Sid Vicious. So, you know, different ends of the musical spectrum.

Batman may not be real – and Kilmer may have been the worst Batman – but anybody who has seen “Tombstone” points out his great work as Doc Holliday. Kilmer also memorably played Jim Morrison of The Doors, and for a while the dude was straight-up obsessed with playing Mark Twain.

Well, where to begin? Streep has racked up award nominations and wins throughout the years, often on the back of playing real people. There’s Julia Child and Margaret Thatcher, for example. It may be a stretch to call Karen Silkwood an “historical figure,” but we’ll mention her anyway. Streep also played Emmeline Plankhurst in the film “Suffragette,” which we will admit we had completely forgotten existed until right now.

Bale loves to physically transform himself, so tell him he can play former Vice President Cheney and he’ll go for it. Need him to drop a ton of weight to play a real person? He’s in! That was probably part of the appeal to him in playing Dieter Dengler. Bale has also played John Rolfe, Ken Miles, and, oh yeah, Moses.

We’re about to get into an old-timey actor kick, because let’s face it, the Golden Age of Hollywood loved a movie about historical figures. It was the era of the historical epic, and Olivier was one of the icons of that era. A legendary Shakespearean actor, he appeared in adaptations of the Bard’s historical plays in roles such as Henry V and Richard III (he also played Othello but, um, let’s ignore that for now). Even at the end of his life, he was playing the likes of Douglas MacArthur and Rudolph Hess.

In addition to being one of the all-time one-and-done directors (“The Night of the Hunter”), Laughton was a character actor of great acclaim when he was on the screen. He won an Oscar for playing Henry VIII, and he had the first indelible portrayal of William Bligh, of “Mutiny on the Bounty” infamy. Laughton even played Rembrandt for good measure.

Fonda operated on both sides of the law, Old West style, in his career. In addition to playing Frank James twice, the legendary actor (and father to Jane and Peter Fonda) played Wyatt Earp. Oh, there’s also a guy named Abraham Lincoln that he got around to playing. Even in fiction, Fonda played iconic people, such as Tom Joad from “The Grapes of Wrath.”

We likely wouldn’t remember soldier Alvin C. York if not for the film “Sergeant York,” which was able to stay in the Hollywood firmament because Cooper won an Oscar for starring in it. Two years later, he would be nominated again for playing Lou Gehrig. Also, earlier in his career, he played “Wild Bill” Hickock and Marco Polo.

Olivier and Laughton are both in “Spartacus,” but we saved mentioning it until we got here. Douglas plays the titular Spartacus, who is historically considered a real person. When he played Odysseus? Less so. However, Douglas has two other iconic turns as historical figures, one as Doc Holliday, and one as Vincent Van Gogh.

O’Toole and Glenn Close are tied together in Oscars infamy, as they both have been nominated eight times without winning. Close could one up O’Toole, or win and remove herself from the top of that infamous list, but the late O’Toole is locked in. In addition to starring as T.E. Lawrence in Best Picture winner “Lawrence of Arabia,” he twice played Henry II to acclaim, first in “Becket” and then in “The Lion in Winter” alongside Katharine Hepburn. By the way, Hepburn played real people less often than you might expect.

Newman toed the line between Old Hollywood and New Hollywood, so he’s a good pivot point as we close with some more recent names (though not exactly spring chickens). For a guy who isn’t synonymous with the Western, Newman played a lot of real figures of that realm. There’s Butch Cassidy, of course, but also Judge Roy Bean, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Billy the Kid.

Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull” is one of those on-the-fence ones, as LaMotta is likely only remembered because he is the main character in Martin Scorsese’s iconic film. However, he’s also played the likes of Al Capone, Frank Sheeran, and in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” William Hale. De Niro also has played a couple of mobsters based heavily on real people. Sometimes, though, you don’t necessarily want to use a criminal’s real name for your character.

Loretta Lynn in “Coal Miner’s Daughter” is the big one, obviously. However, there are several other real people in the mix, from Liz Garrison to Maria Ragghianti to Carolyn Cassady. Also, Spacek played Zelda Fitzgerald in a TV movie for good measure.

Beatty actually doesn’t have an extensive filmography, and yet he earns a spot on this list. After all, he’s played Clyde Barrow, John Reed, Bugsy Siegel, and Howard Hughes. He’s only been in 23 films, and if you want to throw in his “Shampoo” character reportedly being based on Jon Peters, that’s not too shabby.

In his first film, Hopkins played Richard I in “The Lion in Winter,” so he came out the gate playing historical figures. He’s another guy who has played William Bligh, and he’s also portrayed Richard Nixon, John Kellogg, Pablo Picasso (somehow), and John Quincy Adams (that one we can see). The oldest Oscar winner for acting ever, Hopkins has a film where he plays Sigmund Freud coming up.

While his skill is unquestioned (and his retirement hopefully open for reversal), we were on the fence about including Day-Lewis. Yes, “Lincoln” won him an Oscar, and it is an all-time biopic performance as an historical figure. However, he also played Christy Brown and Gerry Conlon, and when we found out John Proctor from “The Crucible” was a real person, that sealed the deal.

As a character actor, Bates is rarely at the forefront, but she’s gotten to play real people and historical figures even in films not centered on them. For example, Molly Brown in “Titanic” and Gertrude Stein in “Midnight in Paris.” Richard Jewell’s mother may not be terribly notable, but she’s also played Queen Victoria, Dorothy Kenyon, and former Texas Governor Miriam A. Ferguson. That’s just film, as she’s popped up as historical figures on TV as well.

Kidman put on a fake nose and won an Oscar for playing Virginia Woolf in “The Hours.” She seems to have settled into the playing historical figures genre more recently, though Gretchen Carlson may be too contemporary for that. On the other hand, she’s also played Grace Kelly and Lucille Ball in the last decade.