"Best George Washington Since 1984" Topic

Barry Bostwick – George Washington – 1984
Frank Windsor – Revolution – 1985
Jeff Daniels – The Crossing – 2000
Terry Layman – The Patriot – 2000
Kelsey Grammer – Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor 2003
David Morse – John Adams – 2008
Jess Harnell – Mr. Peabody & Sherman – 2014
John Koopman – America – 2014
Ian Kahn – TURN – 2014

I liked Jeff Daniels.

Even though I think it's funny that by and large the actors have also played buffoons.
Barry Bostwick in Rocky Horror.
Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber.
Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane.

Surely, there are more before 1984?

For film and television the next one on the list is 1939 and starts in 1909. Big gap there. I am only doing TV and film, not on stage or in documentaries. By the way I left the Musical "1776" off because George Washington was not in it. He was off fighting some war.

I liked Jeff Daniels too. I also liked him in Gettysburg.

You know, I don't remember George Washington being in the Patriot. But there he is listed as one of the characters. I would just assume to completely forget about that film.

To make the list more complete, you should include Sleepy Hollow's Louis Herthum

Who'd have thought someone from "Z Cars" would end up playing George Washington?

And losing.

Rene Auberjonois (Deep Space Nine actor)

link

The most depressing part is that I remember when it ran on TV

Barry Bostwick is the one I remember the most

Jeff Daniels did an excellent job

The guy playing Washington in John Adams needs a mention as well.

Jeff Daniels did an outstanding job.

Jeff Daniels did a fine job as a stuffy aloof leader that when he told Knox to "Sit your fat ass down, Henry" it was as startling to the viewers as it would have been to the men.

The guy playing Washington in John Adams needs a mention as well.

David Morse is on the list.

I really liked Jeff Daniels. I think OFM sums it up well.

Overall, I give the edge to David Morse. He has the advantage of playing Washington not only as military leader but as President. He conveys a great deal with his facial expression and his eyes, and there are many times where you can see he is straining to retain his composure in the face of our fractious Founders.

Perhaps of interest, I have a friend who worked on John Adams who related that "David Morse" was never on set. He said they all felt like it really was George Washington, and they had to keep reminding themselves "We're making a TV series. This isn't real."

How about Sebastian Roche from "We Fight to be Free"? This is the 47 minute movie shown at Mount Vernon.

Rene Auberjonois (Deep Space Nine actor)

Actually Rene Auberjonois is a descendant of Joachim Murat, King of Naples and Marshal of France under Napoleon.

Yeah it's before 84, but Richard Basehart did solid job in Valley Forge.

Jon Voight played him in "An American Carol"

Looked for "John Adams" twice and passed right by it. Need better glasses.

Do commercials count? I'm fairly certain GW showed up in every President's day commercial Crazy Eddie ever made…

Good catch, I missed Richard Basehart in 1975. We can add that to the list and make it since 1975. Did I miss any others after 1939? We may prevail on dear editor to add them.

Jon Voight? Really? Must give that a miss!

does Richard Mulligan in Teachers(1984) count?

Gotta go with Barry Bostwick as the best, but Jeff Daniels is a very close 2nd.

Sons of Liberty

add
George Washington
Played by Jason O'Mara

Fantastic mini series so far

David Morse was very good and looked the most like Washington.

I like both Bostwick and Daniels.

Rene Auberjonois played an early Washington at Fort Necessity but I think that was pre-1985.

Washington in The Patriot was shown at Yorktown riding by The Ghost and The Gay Marine Colonel from American Beauty.

Blue Devil:

Already got Rene (see above – I think it was a PBS special, I don't recall he really had any lines though).

Sons of Liberty is painful to watch – at least for some of us – based on its mangled history. it seems about as historically correct as Inglorious Basterds

Agree historygamer. This is the result of the "Historic" Novel. Words are put into famous figures from the Revolution that they would never has said. While Sam Adams was a rabble rouser, he in no way played that important a role in the Continental Congress. You would think from the show that he was the sole person who caused the revolution. And people think this is reality.

Jeff Daniels gets my vote! Love The Crossing, can't find it on DVD anywhere :(

SmokeyRoan – I found it on ebay.

Assassin's Creed 3. "The Tyranny of King Washington" is a campaign told through three episodic content packs that lets gamers experience an alternate history of the events following the American Revolution.