{"id":81856,"date":"2022-02-21T21:02:59","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T15:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/14-stars-whove-played-abraham-lincoln-from-henry-fonda-to-daniel-day-lewis-photos\/"},"modified":"2022-02-21T21:02:59","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T15:32:59","slug":"14-stars-whove-played-abraham-lincoln-from-henry-fonda-to-daniel-day-lewis-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/14-stars-whove-played-abraham-lincoln-from-henry-fonda-to-daniel-day-lewis-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Stars Who’ve Played Abraham Lincoln, From Henry Fonda to Daniel Day-Lewis (Photos)"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” That Abraham Lincoln quote sums up the quiet, thoughtful dignity that actors have tried to portray on film for several generations now. And on screen, the 16th president has done everything from meeting Shirley Temple to fighting vampires. In honor of Presidents Day, here are some of the actors who have played Honest Abe over the years.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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The racism in “The Birth of a Nation” aside, D.W. Griffith stages the assassination of Abraham Lincoln<\/a> as a true national tragedy, and he does so in ravishing display, staging a scene everyone already knows but hadn’t yet visualized on film, using never before seen intercutting and sweeping wide shots as John Wilkes Booth dives from the balcony to provide ravishing tension and action.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Walter Huston<\/strong> – “Abraham Lincoln” (1930)<\/em><\/p>\n D.W. Griffith would revisit the Lincoln legend in 1930 with “Abraham Lincoln,” which more closely follows the life of the president and culminates in his death. The film somewhat atoned for the other sins of “The Birth of a Nation,” and it was celebrated in its day. But it has been looked at less fondly in recent years for its historical inaccuracies. Walter Huston also portrayed Lincoln in a 1929 short film called “Two Americans,” about Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n 20th Century Fox<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n In “The Littlest Rebel,” Shirley Temple plays the daughter of a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. When he’s captured, Temple and Bojangles make a plea for his freedom directly to President Lincoln, with Lincoln sitting her right on the desk of the Oval Office. Lincoln doesn’t tap dance or anything here, but Franks McGlynn’s take on Lincoln certainly does love apples. Watch a clip here<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n 20th Century Fox<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cYou\u2019re crazy! I can\u2019t play Lincoln. That\u2019s like playing God, to me,\u201d\u00a0Henry Fonda said in a 1975 interview<\/a>.\u00a0But director John Ford “shamed” him into doing it, saying, “You think it\u2019s The Great Emancipator, huh? He\u2019s a young, jack-legged lawyer from Springfield for Christ sake.” And in “Young Mr. Lincoln,” which charts Honest Abe’s humble roots in Illinois, Fonda plays Lincoln with calm, plain spoken, laid back aplomb absent all the pomp and circumstance.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n RKO Radio Pictures<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Raymond Massey – <\/strong>“Abe Lincoln in Illinois” (1940)<\/em><\/p>\n Massey had become synonymous with the role of Abe Lincoln, having played him numerous times in his career, following his Oscar-nominated work in “Abe Lincoln in Illinois.” The film is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play, and Massey’s croaking baritone voice sounds closer to a Hollywood, idealized image.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Warner Bros.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Hal Holbrook<\/strong> – “Lincoln” (1974)<\/em> and “North and South” (1985)<\/em><\/p>\n Hal Holbrook is another institution who Hollywood turned to time and again to play Lincoln. He acted as Lincoln during the miniseries “Lincoln” in the 1970s and would win an Emmy for his work. Fittingly, Steven Spielberg found a part for him in his 2012 film “Lincoln.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n CBS<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Who better to deliver a stirring speech about how all men are created equal than Atticus Finch himself? Peck briefly appeared as Lincoln in the miniseries “The Blue and the Gray,” and here’s a clip<\/a> of him nobly reciting the Gettysburg Address.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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