List of fat actors
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the golden age of Hollywood, there were many character actors on the silver screen who made a good living playing a “fat man.” <ref name=Sante>http://www.danagioia.net/essays/efatmen.htm Sante, Luc and Melissa Holbrook Pierson, "O.K. You Mugs: Writers on Movie Actors" (1999) Random House. ISBN 0375401016 </ref> A “big” man seemed heroic, but a “fat” man added a note of tragedy. <ref name=DoubleStandard>http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/39514/the_double_standard_in_hollywood_fat.html?page=2 Coleman, Angela, The Double Standard in Hollywood: Fat Old Actors and Beautiful Shapely Actresses</ref> <ref name="de Jong"> de Jong, Peter, "Being the big guy," New York Times, Feb. 10., 1991, pg. SM44. viewed online 9/16/06 (subscription) Says it seems heroic to play a big guy, but tragic to play a fat guy.</ref> Movie reviews of the golden age of Hollywood referred to the characters and actors as “rotund” or “roly-poly” without any note of criticism or implication they should lose weight. Today, the more politically correct terms “overweight” or “obese” are used, and the overweight actors have trouble finding work, but there are still occasional casting calls for “fat” actors.<ref>http://actorschecklist.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=119&sid=44e66385d028ab84dc1b7572115d4777 News and information for actors: casting call for “My Catskills Summer” asks for “4 Husbands (Machers): 30s-50s, must sing and dance, strong willed New York character types, fat, bald, funny, obnoxious.“ viewed 9/16/2006</ref> Actresses are held to an even more severe standard of thinness, even as the overall population in the United States is reaching new levels of obesity. Today an overweight actor’s best bet is to play a clown, such as Drew Cary, while most fat characters are played by thin men in fat suits. <ref>http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1514229/11212005/story.jhtml Heitmueller, Karl, Rewind, does the fat suit really fit anyone in Hollywood?” at MTV.com. Viewed 9/16/06</ref> <ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D9163DF93BA15754C0A9669C8B63 Mitchell, Elvis, “Film review: Mad scientist’s weight loss formula for disaster’” New York Times, July 20, 2000 Eddie Murphy in a fat suit. Viewed 9/16/2006</ref>, A “fat actor” was not just a leading man who had put on a few pounds. Instead he sought roles calling for a “fat man,” and it was as much a stereotype as “romantic lead” or “hard-boiled private eye.” He might play a funny guy like Lou Costello, “a gangster type,” like 400 pound Victor Buono, <ref name=Gaiter>Gaiter, Dorothy J. "Victor Buono dies on coast at 43; known for portrayals of villains" New York Times, Jan. 3, 1982, pg. 28. Weighed 400 pounds, played villains. viewed online 9/16/06 (subscription)</ref> or pure menace, like 357 pound <ref name=Sante/>Sidney Greenstreet as the “Fat Man” in The Maltese Falcon.
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[edit] Famous fat actors
- Jason Alexander<ref name=eastvalley>http://http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=50465 Reed, Bill, "Fat in America'" Freedom News Service, at East Valley Trubune.com viewed 9/15/2006</ref>
- Fatty Arbuckle <ref name=Sante/>
- Edward Arnold<ref name=Sante/>
- Wallace Beery <ref name=Sante/>
- Ned Beatty <ref>http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=4810&mod=bio Brennan, Sandra, "Ned Beatty," New York Times, Movie online main page, "portly character actor" viewed 9/17/2006 </ref>
- John Belushi<ref>http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018622/bio "zany and hefty" viewed 9/16/2005</ref>
- William Bendix<ref name=Sante/>
- Jack Black<ref name=DoubleStandard/> <ref>Rottenberg, Josh, "Jack out of the box'" New York Times, Sept 28, 2003, pg. SM 36. Refers to Black as "this generation's outsized, outrageous comic actor," and says he "often plays stony fat dudes."</ref>
- Ernest Borgnine<ref name=vox>http://glassdog.vox.com/library/posts/tags/movie/ Review of Poseidon Adventure remake</ref>
- Marlon Brando <ref name=Sante/>
- Victor Buono <ref name=Gaiter/>
- Raymond Burr <ref name=Sante/>
- Sebastian Cabot <ref name=Sante/> <Ref>Flint, Peter B. "Sebastian Cabot, 59, a character actor," New York Times, August 24, 1977, pg. 32. "proud of his rotundity," weighed 280. viewed online 9/16/06 (subscription)</ref>
- John Candy<ref name=DoubleStandard/>
- Charles Coburn <ref name=Sante/>
- James Coco<ref>Bennets, Leslie, "James Coco, character actor on stage, on tv and in films," New York Times, Feb. 27, 1987, pg. D19 "roly-poly actor who parlayed his sizeable girth into a successful career in character parts that ranged from the comic to the terrifying" viewed online 9/16/06 (subscription)</ref>
- Lou Costello<ref> Stanley, Fred, "Hollywood Flash" New York Times, April 16, 1944, pg.X3. Refers to Costello as "rotund comic" and "fat boy" re film "Lost in a Harem." viewed online 9/16/06 (subscription)</ref>
- Dom DeLuise<ref>http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?_r=1&res=9F0DE2D71730E532A25753C1A96E9C946890D6CF&oref=slogin Canby, Vincent, "Film:DeLuise directs himself in 'Hot Stuff'" New York Times, August 10, 1979 "portly, often hypertensive actor" viewed 9/17/2006 </ref>
- Andy Devine <ref name=Sante/>
- Brian Dennehy<ref name=DoubleStandard/> <ref name=backstage> http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/features/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002503633 Horwitz,Simi "Fat and Fabulous?" May 16, 2006 at Backstage.com, the actor's resource. viewed 9/15/2006 </ref>
- Charles Durning <ref name=backstage/>
- Chris Farley<ref>http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7384/dec18.htm "Comedian Chris Farley dies" Reuters "overweight actor" played "overweight motivational speaker" and "unhealthy Chicago Bears fan." viewed 9/15/06</ref>
- W.C. Fields <ref name=Sante/>
- Dennis Franz <ref name=DoubleStandard/>
- James Gandolfini<ref name=DoubleStandard/> <ref name=eastvalley/>
- Jackie Gleason <ref name=backstage/>
- John Goodman <ref name="de Jong"/>
- Sydney Greenstreet<ref name=Sante/>
- Oliver Hardy <ref name=Sante/>
- Burl Ives <ref name=Sante/><ref>Shanley, J.P., "The rustic trail" New York Times, June 20, 1954, pg. X1. Refers to Ives as "rotund actor." viewed online 9/16/06 (subscription)</ref>
- Charles Laughton <ref name=Sante/><ref>Calta, Louis, "Charles Laughton reads in Brooklyn" New York Times, Nov. 22, 1950, pg. 35 . Refers to Laughton as "rotund actor." viewed online 9/16/06 (subscription)</ref>
- Robert Morley <ref name=Sante/><ref>Krebs, Albin, "Robert Morley, jowly actor of jovial roles, dies at 84," New York Times, June 4, 1992, pg. B12. viewed online 9/16/06 (subscription)</ref>
- Michael Tucker<ref>Oney, Steve, "Once a nebbish, now a sex symbol," New York Times, April 12, 1987, pg. A1 "Roly- poly character actor" became "roly-poly heart-throb" on L.A. Law.</ref>
- Rosie O'Donnell
- Orson Welles<ref name=vox/> <ref name=Sante/>
- George Wendt<ref name=DoubleStandard/>
- Don Wilson<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933311/bio IMDB Biography</ref>
- Monty Woolley<ref name=Sante/>
- Fred Feast
- Arthur Lowe
- Bernard Youens
- Ron Jeremy
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- http://www.cswd.org/tvmediadiscontv.html Council on Size & Weight Discrimination: Weight discrimination on television viewed 9/15/2006
