"You look a lot like ....

[Mary-Kate]

This might be a strange topic, but do you have any actors you confuse with another? I used to mix-up quite a few when I was young (Randolph Scott, Jimmy Stewart, and Gary Cooper all blurred for me at one time - I'm talking really young here, romper stage! )

But later on, there are still some actors who, I think, strongly resemble each other... Richard Carlson and Hugh Marlowe stand at the top of my list. In fact, I know someone who always thought they were the same person, just using different names! Some time ago, I did a photo merge of Carlson and Marlowe, just to see if any family members could ace the quiz (I have the answers written down somewhere, there are one or two I'm not sure of anymore):




These aren't the best photos, but Louis Jean Heydt and James Millican look and sound almost like twins...


Dennis O'Keefe (aka Edward Flanagan) and William Lundigan are strongly reminiscent of each other...




And for a semi-related digression, have you every been told by a complete stranger that you look like some famous (or infamous) person? I have a friend who's the nicest girl you'll ever meet, but she's been told several times that she looks like Casey Anthony. And I've had so many people tell me that I look like a certain actress, that when someone says to me: "did anyone ever tell you you look like .... " I just know who they're going to say (and I don't even find her attractive!)

[MissGoddess]

O'Keefe and Lundigan still confuse me! And Marshall Thompson is the one I confuse with Richard Carlson even though they don't look that much alike. I think it's their names and the kind of movies they did that mix me up.

I used to mistake Sally Forrest for Anne Francis.

[Mary-Kate]

O'Keefe and Lundigan still confuse me!

They can, can't they? Both tall, blonde, good-looking, and Irish... not intending to be a wise-guy, but can you spot which is O'Keefe, and which is Lundigan without checking the backlinks?

I used to mistake Sally Forrest for Anne Francis.

I can see that perfectly:

[MissGoddess]

Is the third one down O'Keefe? The others look like Lundigan to me.

[charliechaplinfan]

I don't mix these guys up but Stan Laurel and Fred Astaire is a long running joke in our house. I like both men but don't like to be reminded of the resemblance when Fred's mid dance.

[Mary-Kate]

Is the third one down O'Keefe? The others look like Lundigan to me.

Thanks for playing! Yes, that's him. Top left is Lundigan, top right O'Keefe. Bottom left O'Keefe, bottom left Lundigan.

I don't mix these guys up but Stan Laurel and Fred Astaire is a long running joke in our house. I like both men but don't like to be reminded of the resemblance when Fred's mid dance.

That would be distracting! And I think I can notice a similitude...

[feaito]

When I was a kid I always confused Spencer Tracy with James Whitmore...

[moirafinnie]

Good one, Fernando! I used to confuse Tracy with Whitmore too.

I used to think that these people looked like relatives...and of course, I confused them all the time as a kid. The only person I was told I looked like was not someone that anyone who knew me well ever believed I looked like...fortunately.

A few "relatives" who occurred to me in the past as always looking a lot alike were:

Laird Cregar & Raymond Burr
(brothers: large fellows, sensitive,erudite, and a wee bit menacing!)

Zazu Pitts & Estelle Winwood
(sisters: just a little otherworldly)

Florence Bates & Josephine Hull
(sisters: Bates is the evil sis, Josephine is the incompetent sibling)

Cecil Kellaway & Gene Lockhart
(genial, ineffectual, and sometimes wiser--or is it sneaky?--than their surface appearance suggests)

Jane Darwell & Sara Allgood
(sisters who share a cottage: no-nonsense Jane takes care of the outside of the house, Sara fusses around the interior--and rules the roost)

Ann Sothern & Joan Blondell
(sisters: and rivals!)

Cathleen Nesbitt & Gladys Cooper
(sisters: Cathleen would be the nice sister--most of the time--and Gladys could be the one with the spine of steel)

Kirk Douglas & Burt Lancaster
(brothers: their Dad must have been a very successful orthodontist since their teeth are dazzling. While I used to confuse them all the time, nowadays, I only think they share their era and a great physical and psychological intensity, though even Kirk would probably concede that Burt had a few more arrows in his quiver)

[Mary-Kate]

Oh my gosh, Spencer Tracy and James Whitmore are dead ringers for each other! Never thought of that resemblance before.

Some good "relative" picks too ... several descriptions made me laugh!

The only person I was told I looked like was not someone that anyone who knew me well ever believed I looked like...fortunately.

A little curious now, but I wouldn't want to pry... (I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yous. )

[CineMaven]

Moira, Moira, Moira...you're quite a card. I love your descriptions.

* * * *

Hi there Mary Kate...nice thread. I'd like to jump into the DNA fray with you guys with a couple of chromosonal picks of my own.These gals are not dead ringers for each other, but I think they all look like they could've been in the same gene pool. Here's what I mean...

SOFT AND BROWN:

There were some showstopping and dazzling brunettes back in the day: Ava, Gene, Jean, Elizabeth. But let me scale it down a bit. These ladies are no less brunette, but just a softer variety. I don't get confused, but these ladies often remind me of each other:

GALE PAGE, MARGARET LINDSAY and FREDI WASHINGTON:



FABULOUSLY, MARVELOUSLY FELINE:

Here are two lovely felines. Panthers actually, or cougars? I dunno which breed of cat they are. I do know that these sloe-eyed beauties look similar:

LAUREN BACALL and CHARLOTTE RAMPLING



UPTOWN, CLASSY...PATRICIAN:

There are blondes and there are blondes. This time ‘round I’m not talking about the Bombshells. This time let’s look at the Patrician. Yes, Grace Kelly set the 50’s standard and broke the mold...but she’s got a couple of little blonde siblings right behind her. (Dagnabit, I’ve still got to tell you about “The Best of Everything”). They're not warm like Faye or Grable. Here are two ice blondes that might've come from some Nordic Revlon'd flaxen-haired stock:



SURELY YOU JEST:

And yes, you may call them Shirley. Girls-next-door. Kind of peaches and cream. In the dark at the top of the stairs, they played with Elmer Gantry. You know who I'm talking about...don't they look like they could be related?

SHIRLEY JONES and SHIRLEY KNIGHT



I've got more...but I always seem to go over the top.

[MissGoddess]

Those are great, T...I never would have thought about 'Tippi and Martha but they do have that "posh" vibe, don't they? And Margaret Lindsay and Fay Wray always remind me of each other, in fact I've mistaken them in several '30s movies!

[MissGoddess]

I never confused them but maybe Lauren Bacall did.

[CineMaven]

Thanxx so much April. Yes, I can see how you'd mix up Margaret Lindsay & Fay Wray. And your post on Bogie and Robards, priceless!!

[CineMaven]

I've been given permission by the author to steal...uhmmmmm borrow her phrase. So I shall:

DELICIOUSLY MALEVOLENT*:



HELEN VINSON and HILLARY BROOKE


* Thank you Jack Favell.

[moirafinnie]

I always liked Hillary Brooke--despite the nasty characters she played with such relish (maybe it was because she did time in those horrible half hour Abbott and Costello shows after the studio system began to fade away. She deserved better). Helen Vinson really never seemed to have a nice bone in her skinny body--but boy, could she play NASTY (I also think that my prejudice toward Helen began after reading her reported comments about her short leading men, including Jimmy Cagney. How dare she!...even if she was right...guys were shorter back then).

I used to confuse these two gals, but now I figure Alexis was hired to make Annie nervous if she got too uppity around the Warner's lot...(and of course, both ladies were sort of the Warner studio's answer to Columbia's reigning screen goddess, Rita Hayworth):
Ann Sheridan


Alexis Smith