Twenty Questions - Channel U62 Edition

[DougJoe]

Richard Harris ( no time to research all the details... thinking of camelot)

Nope

[flash2015]

I am trying to think of / find actors who played the same role, first on stage and then in a film adaptation.

Yul Brynner played the same role in "The King and I" both on stage and on screen, but it can't be him because he's not American and he did win an Oscar.

Joel Grey played the same role again and again in numerous runs and adaptations of "Cabaret" but again it can't be him because he won an Oscar.

Rex Harrison played the lead in "My Fair Lady" on both stage and screen, but he's English.

I'm stumped.

I went through the list here and I couldn't find anyone that matched exactly the requirements:

https://www.quora.com/What-actor-actres ... uccess-Why

[VillageIdiot]

Yes, this one's proving a challenge. I feel like we've got some respectable clues here but still struggling to connect the dots in the right way.

The clues I'm focussing on are:
- Film and stage game but no television
- Born in USA
- Dead
- Questionably 'famous enough' (so not an A list celebrity)
- Was on cover of Time Magazine
- Most famous character he played first on stage, then film, then similar character 20 years later for last film
- Nominated only once - Best Supporting Actor
- Did a western movie (but not what known for)

[VillageIdiot]

Oh damn, I think I've cracked it!!!!

It's Robert Preston from The Music Man!

[VillageIdiot]

"The Last Starfighter was Robert Preston's final role in a theatrical film. The character of Centauri, a 'lovable con-man', was written with him in mind and was a nod to his most famous role as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man."

Hot DAMN that was a hard one.

[JECE]

Well some of the questions were just plain sabotage, ha ha. We need all 20 questions to really crack these riddles.

[DougJoe]

Oh damn, I think I've cracked it!!!!

It's Robert Preston from The Music Man!

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Well done, VI!

Yes, this one's proving a challenge. I feel like we've got some respectable clues here but still struggling to connect the dots in the right way.

The clues I'm focussing on are:
- Film and stage game but no television
- Born in USA
- Dead
- Questionably 'famous enough' (so not an A list celebrity)
- Was on cover of Time Magazine
- Most famous character he played first on stage, then film, then similar character 20 years later for last film
- Nominated only once - Best Supporting Actor
- Did a western movie (but not what known for)

A clarification or two:
He did have a couple of TV roles, and the question was "famous for both film and TV" and he wasn't really well known for his few TV roles, so I had to answer no there.

When someone asked about westerns, I really wanted to say he was most known for a "midwestern", since _The Music Man_ takes place in Iowa.

"The Last Starfighter was Robert Preston's final role in a theatrical film. The character of Centauri, a 'lovable con-man', was written with him in mind and was a nod to his most famous role as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man."

Hot DAMN that was a hard one.

_The Last Starfighter_ is one of my favorite 80's movies and I happened to be watching clips of it on YouTube it the day I got game #61 correct.

Always trust Centauri.

[DougJoe]

Oh, and, just because I'm curious: VI, what made you finally think of Preston?

[Jamiet99uk]

Who?

I have never heard of this person.

[DougJoe]

Who?

I have never heard of this person.

...and that's what I was worried about with "not famous enough", especially from an international point of view.

Here's a clip from the movie _The Music Man_ with Mr. Preston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdI

It's probably more of a US thing in terms of pop culture. My parents had the soundtrack and I heard it quite often when I was growing up - my high school did it as a musical as well when I was there.

Also, the fourth season Simpsons episode "Marge vs. the Monorail" was essentially a direct lift of the plot of the movie - including a song very similar to the clip above.

[Jamiet99uk]

I've seen that Simpsons episode but would have considered Lando Monorail a very obscure character.

[flash2015]

"The Last Starfighter was Robert Preston's final role in a theatrical film. The character of Centauri, a 'lovable con-man', was written with him in mind and was a nod to his most famous role as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man."

Hot DAMN that was a hard one.

Oh bollocks! I thought it was him but I couldn't see the connection. That was also 22 years after the Music Man (Music Man was 1962, the Last Starfighter was 1984).

[DougJoe]

"The Last Starfighter was Robert Preston's final role in a theatrical film. The character of Centauri, a 'lovable con-man', was written with him in mind and was a nod to his most famous role as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man."

Hot DAMN that was a hard one.

Oh bollocks! I thought it was him but I couldn't see the connection. That was also 22 years after the Music Man (Music Man was 1962, the Last Starfighter was 1984).

Again, sorry to everyone if my choice was a little too "out there".

[JECE]

The Music Man wasn't an obscure choice. I didn't remember the "Ya Got Trouble" song, though, ha ha. I basically don't know any actors, but I doubt that the actor who played the Music Man is obscure either.

Thanks for the recommendation on Last Starfighter!

[VillageIdiot]

Oh, and, just because I'm curious: VI, what made you finally think of Preston?

Just fell into obsessive Google mode. Previously I scoured dead actors and Time magazine covers but couldn’t find a hit. Refocusing towards stage famous actors who transitioned to film adaptations suddenly made sense why he wasn’t necessarily ‘famous enough’ for the masses, and that group was just a much smaller field to search and eventually I hit a wiki article that just hit most of the clues. Further looking up details on his final film confirmed it.

[VillageIdiot]

Can’t tell if the ‘sabotage’ responses are a sign people are starting to burn out on this.

You guys still enjoying these or have we had enough?

[Doom427]

It might be time to at least swap the setup to inject some life into it. I dunno how to swap things though.

[DougJoe]

It might be time to at least swap the setup to inject some life into it. I dunno how to swap things though.

Maybe guessing something other than people? *shrug*

[damo666]

Can’t tell if the ‘sabotage’ responses are a sign people are starting to burn out on this.

You guys still enjoying these or have we had enough?

Go with whatever you like. Change the rules if you wish.

[Jamiet99uk]

It might be time to at least swap the setup to inject some life into it. I dunno how to swap things though.

Maybe guessing something other than people? *shrug*

Not a bad idea but if we are going for specific non-people options I think the question-setter might have to declare PERSON or NOT PERSON at the outset.