The actor who has played the US President in the most movies
There may be no greater role to take on in cinema than that of the President of the United States. Many have succeeded in bearing this heavyweight, with Daniel Day-Lewis shining as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spileberg’s 2012 ‘Best Picture’ nominee, whilst others haven’t fared so well, such as Jon Voight in Michael Bay’s disastrous 2001 war flick Pearl Harbor, which was nominated for ‘Worst Picture’ at the Razzie awards.
Indeed, to play the President once is a feat considered too great for many actors to take on, but to depict an American icon multiple times is a true act of cinematic bravery. Such likely explains why so few modern actors have chosen to take up the challenge, with the most recent being the American star Brett Stimely, who appeared in 2009’s Watchmen, 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Kill the Dictator and Parkland of 2013, as John F. Kennedy.
Decades earlier, another brave American actor decided to take up the task, with Jay Koch appearing in the influential, family-friendly sci-fi sequel Back to the Future Part II in 1989 as Ronald Reagan. Years later, he would play the same President in the spoof comedy Hot Shots! Part Deux in 1993, months before he played the icon in the 1995 civil rights drama Panther.
In terms of more recognisable names, the late American star Rip Torn managed to appear as three different Presidents over the same number of movies, playing Richard Nixon in 1989’s Blind Ambition, Ulysses S. Grant in The Blue and the Gray and Ronald Reagan in Airplane II: The Sequel, both released in 1982.
Yet, none of these aforementioned names compares to the classic actor Francis Ford, the brother of the iconic director John Ford, who appeared as Abraham Lincoln a whopping nine times over just four years from 1912 to 1915.
His first depiction of the 16th US President came in 1912 when he appeared in the short drama On Secret Service, helmed by Thomas H. Ince. Yet, it was the following year that Ford really embraced the role of Lincoln, appearing as the President a total of six times in When Lincoln Paid, The Battle of Bull Run, From Rail Splitter to President, The Toll of War, With Lee in Virginia and The Great Sacrifice.
Two years later, Ford would cap off his record by playing Lincoln twice more in The Heart of Maryland and The Heart of Lincoln.
Despite having played the President eight times, he was never lucky enough to claim an Academy Award for any of his performances. It was decades later that a performance of Lincoln would claim an Oscar, with Daniel Day-Lewis deservedly taking home a ‘Best Leading Actor’ award for his role in the Spielberg drama, which was nominated in a total of 12 categories.
Forget Francis Ford. Day-Lewis delivers the greatest performance as the 16th US President. Check out a clip from his 2012 role below.
