Cultural depictions of George Washington
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American Revolution
1st President of the United States
First term
Second term
Legacy
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George Washington has inspired artistic and cultural works for more than two hundred years. The following lists cover various media to include items of historic interest, enduring works of high art, and recent representations in popular culture. The entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalog. Lesser known works are not included.
For purposes of classification, popular culture music is a separate section from operas and oratorios. Television covers live action series, TV movies, miniseries, and North American animation but not Japanese anime, which appears with manga and graphic novels.
Art
[edit]Washington is among the historical figures depicted in Our Nation's 200th Birthday, The Telephone's 100th Birthday (1976) by Stanley Meltzoff for Bell System.[1]
Gallery
[edit]-
A ca. 1810–1815 French Empire mantel clock, portraying George Washington. In the drapery swag under the dial can be read the famous quote by Henry Lee.
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The United States one-dollar bill has George Washington's face on it.
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The statue of Washington outside Federal Hall National Memorial, facing Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange Building in New York City.
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Construction on the George Washington portrait at Mount Rushmore, c. 1932.
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Quarter with profile of Washington bust. He faces left regally and wears a colonial-style queue in his hair. "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" is at top, "QUARTER DOLLAR" at bottom, "LIBERTY" at left, and "IN GOD WE TRUST" above "P" at right. Just below the bust is "JF uc" in tiny letters.
Documentaries
[edit]Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB |
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1994 | The American Revolution | Cliff Robertson | USA | Voice role | [1] |
2002 | Founding Brothers | Brian Dennehy | USA | Voice role | [2] |
2007 | Searching for George Washington | Martin Sheen | USA | Voice role | |
2007 | Alexander Hamilton | Richard Easton | USA | Voice role | [3] |
Films
[edit]Television
[edit]Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB |
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1952 | Hallmark Hall of Fame The Plot to Kidnap George Washington | Tod Griffin | USA | [32] | |
1955 | You Are There Washington Crosses the Delaware (December 25, 1776) CBS | Russ Conway | USA | [33] | |
1972 | Bewitched George Washington Zapped Here (Parts 1 and 2) | Will Geer | USA | [35] [36] | |
1975 | The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence | Jim Henson | USA | Featured a Muppet version of George Washington | [37] |
1989 | A Little Bit Strange | — | USA/Canada | [38] | |
1998–2001 | Histeria! | — | USA | Featured a caricature of Washington modeled after Bob Hope as an occasional guest host. | [39] |
1999 | Celebrity DeathMatch | — | USA | Faced-off against Abraham Lincoln | |
2007 | Masters of Horror "The Washingtonians" | — | USA | Washington is portrayed as a cannibal in a fictional account of alternate history. | |
2011 | Deadliest Warrior | Nick Schroeder (young) | USA | In the third-season premiere, Washington battled Napoleon. | [40] |
2013–2014 | Sleepy Hollow | Louis Herthum | USA | [41] | |
2014 | Epic Rap Battles of History | Peter Shukoff | USA | YouTube web series; episode "George Washington vs. William Wallace". | [42] |
2014 | Ben 10: Omniverse | David Kaye | USA | Voice role | [43] |
2014–2017 | Turn: Washington's Spies | Ian Kahn | USA | [44] | |
2015 | Turn: Washington's Spies | Bryan Adrian | USA | [45] | |
2016 | Timeless | Damian O'Hare | USA | [46] | |
2017 | Legends of Tomorrow | Randall Batinkoff | USA | Two episodes | [47] |
2018 | Outlander | Simon Harrison | Scotland/USA | Episode
"Wilmington" |
Television movies
[edit]Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1975 | Valley Forge | Richard Basehart | USA | TV movie directed by Fielder Cook | [48] | [15] |
1976 | The Patriots | Ralph Clanton | USA | TV movie directed by Bob Hankal and Robert Strane | [49] | [16] |
1979 | The Rebels | Peter Graves | USA | TV movie directed by Russ Mayberry | [50] | [17] |
1992 | 1775 | Adam West | USA | TV movie directed by David Trainer | [51] | [18] |
2000 | The Crossing | Jeff Daniels | USA | TV movie directed by Robert Harmonstarring | [52] | [19] |
2003 | Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor | Kelsey Grammer | USA | TV movie directed by Mikael Salomon | [53] | [20] |
Miniseries
[edit]Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB |
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1984 | George Washington | Barry Bostwick | USA | TV miniseries directed by Buzz Kulik | [54] |
1986 | George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation | Barry Bostwick | USA | TV miniseries directed by William A. Graham | [55] |
1997 | LIBERTY! The American Revolution | Stephen Lang (voice) | USA | TV miniseries directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer | [56] |
2000 | Founding Fathers | Brian Dennehy (voice) | USA | TV miniseries directed by Mark Hufnail and Melissa Jo Peltier | [57] |
2000 | The American President | Walter Cronkite (voice) | USA | TV miniseries directed by Philip Kunhardt III, Philip Kunhardt Jr., Peter W. Kunhardt, and James A. Edgar | [58] |
2002 | Liberty's Kids | Michael Santo (voice) | USA | TV animated series | |
2006 | Washington the Warrior | Jackson Bolt, Shea Patrick (young) | USA | TV miniseries directed by Robert M. Wise | [59] |
2006 | The War That Made America | Larry Nehring | USA | TV miniseries directed by Ben Loeterman and Eric Stange | [60] |
2008 | John Adams | David Morse | USA | TV miniseries directed by Tom Hooper starring David Morse as Washington | [61] |
2015 | Sons of Liberty | Jason O'Mara | USA | TV miniseries | [62] |
2020 | Washington | Nicholas Rowe | USA | TV miniseries | [63] |
Theatre
[edit]Date | Title | Original portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB |
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1920 | George Washington | Walter Hampden | USA | Ran for 16 performances[21] | |
2015 | Hamilton | Christopher Jackson | USA | Musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, written by Lin Manuel-Miranda. Washington features as a main character in the musical. A digital recording of the musical is available on Disney+. |
Video games
[edit]George Washington is featured in modern video games as a prominent fictionalized character from world history in Age of Empires III, Civilization V and Assassin's Creed III (as himself in game and a counter-history King in DLC). These games are discussed in Winnerling and Kershbaumer's Early Modernity and Video Games explaining that the player manipulating the games' semiotic system of communications thereby "gives insights in his historical consciousness."[22]
Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB | Ref. |
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1991 | Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure | — | USA | One of the historical figures that must be retrieved within the game. | ||
1993 | Day of the Tentacle | — | USA | A character that travels to the past meets George Washington, and among other things, "converts" a kumquat tree to a cherry tree for George to cut down | [64] | |
1993 | Mario's Time Machine | — | USA | |||
1994 | Liberty or Death | — | Japan, USA | [23] | ||
2004 | The Political Machine | — | USA | |||
2005 | Age of Empires III | Daniel Riordan | USA | Voice role | [65] | |
2005 | Civilization IV | — | USA | [66] | ||
2007 | Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs | Daniel Riordan | USA | Voice role | ||
2008 | The Political Machine 2008 | — | USA | |||
2008 | Civilization IV: Colonization | — | USA | |||
2009 | Scribblenauts | — | USA | Washington also appears in a similar fashion in all of the sequels to Scribblenauts. | ||
2009 | Empire: Total War | — | USA | Washington is a selectable general for the United States faction | ||
2010 | Civilization V | Marcel Jeanin | USA | Voice role | [67] | |
2012 | The Political Machine 2012 | — | USA | |||
2012 | Assassin's Creed III | Robin Atkin Downes | Canada | Voice role. The assassin ancestor Ratonhnhaké:ton interacts with Washington during the course of the American Revolution. | [68] | [24] |
2012 | Assassin's Creed III: The Tyranny of King Washington | Robin Atkin Downes | Canada | Voice role. Revolves around an alternative history, wherein Washington becomes corrupted by an ancient artifact, and dubs himself King. | [69] | [25] |
2013 | BioShock Infinite | — | Patriot robots are modeled after George Washington. | [70] | [26] | |
2014 | Team Fortress 2 | — | USA | George Washington is featured in a comic called A Cold Day in Hell. | [27] | |
2014 | Second Chance Heroes | — | USA, Canada | George Washington is featured in a comic book introduction to the game. | ||
2014 | Assassin's Creed: Rogue | Tod Fennell | Bulgaria | Voice role. A young Washington briefly appears during a party for his half-brother, Lawrence. | [71] | |
2016 | The Political Machine 2016 | — | USA | |||
2018 | The Council | Christian Erickson | France | Voice role | [28] | |
2020 | The Political Machine 2020 | — | USA | |||
2020 | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | Daniel Riordan | USA | Voice role | ||
2021 | Funko Pop! Blitz | USA |
Internet
[edit]Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB | Ref. |
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2014 | Epic Rap Battles of History | Peter Shukoff | USA | Washington features in a rap battle against Scottish resistance leader William Wallace. | [29] |
See also
[edit]- George Washington
- George Washington on U.S. postage stamps
- List of statues of George Washington
- Hamilton (2015 musical)
- Valley Forge play
References
[edit]- ^ "Stanley Meltzoff Archives: The 1976 Bell System Telephone Book Cover" JKL Museum of Telephony (December 19, 2015); retrieved March 16, 2021
- ^ Pencak, William (2010). Pennsylvania's Revolution. Penn State Press. p. 337. ISBN 9780271035796.
- ^ "The Battle Cry of Peace (1915)". Stanford University. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Bolam, Sarah Miles; Bolam, Thomas J. (2007). The Presidents on Film: A Comprehensive Filmography of Portrayals from George Washington to George W. Bush. McFarland & Company. p. 392. ISBN 9780786424818.
- ^ Robertson, Patrick (1991). Guinness Movie Facts & Feats. Guinness Publishing. p. 49. ISBN 9780851129082.
- ^ Reinhart, Mark S. (1 January 2009). Abraham Lincoln on Screen: Fictional and Documentary Portrayals on Film and Television. McFarland Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 9780786452613.
- ^ Hilger, Michael (16 October 2015). Native Americans in the Movies: Portrayals from Silent Films to the Present. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 332. ISBN 9781442240025.
- ^ Rollins, Peter C. (24 March 2004). The Columbia Companion to American History on Film: How the Movies Have Portrayed the American Past. Columbia University Press. p. 201. ISBN 9780231508391.
- ^ Nowlan, Robert A. (10 January 2014). The American Presidents, Washington to Tyler: What They Did, What They Said, What Was Said About Them, with Full Source Notes. McFarland Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 9781476601182.
- ^ Oliver, Myrna (15 September 1994). "Patrick O'Neal; Versatile Actor, Restaurateur". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Sommerlad, Joe (18 February 2019). "President's Day: How the 'leader of the free world' has been played on screen, from conflicted statesmen to heroic action heroes". Independent. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Scheck, Frank (10 February 2008). "An American Carol". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Tucker, Justin (17 September 2015). "Beyond the Mask – REVIEWS". UR Chicago. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Kang, Inkoo (June 30, 2021). "A beefy George Washington avenges Lincoln's death in this cheekily inaccurate and dumb animated comedy". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ Henniger, Paul (30 November 1975). "Richard Basehart to star in 'Valley Forg' special". The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 50. Retrieved 19 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Goodson attacks "gimmickry"". Salina Journal. 26 May 1976. p. 15. Retrieved 19 February 2019 – via Newspaperarchive.
- ^ Coyne, Michael (30 September 2008). Hollywood Goes to Washington: American Politics on Screen. Reaktion Books. p. 60. ISBN 9781861895776.
- ^ Roberts, J. F. (11 October 2012). The True History of the Blackadder: The Unadulterated Tale of the Creation of a Comedy Legend. Random House. p. 258. ISBN 9781409051718.
- ^ Speier, Michael (3 January 2001). "The Crossing". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Wertheimer, Ron (13 January 2003). "TELEVISION REVIEW; Is That You, Mr. W., or a Dream Sequence from 'Frasier'?". The New York Times. p. 5. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ "George Washington".
- ^ Winnerling, Tobias and Kershbaumer, Florian. Early Modernity and Video Games. ISBN 978-1-44-386234-9, p. 70, 106, 148, 160.
- ^ Weiss, Brett (9 July 2018). Classic Home Video Games, 1989–1990: A Complete Guide to Sega Genesis, Neo Geo and TurboGrafx-16 Games. McFarland Publishing. p. 132. ISBN 9780786492312.
- ^ Tamburro, Paul (8 June 2015). "New Prince of Persia Game to be Revealed at E3, According to Voice Actor". Mandatory.com. Evolve Media LLC. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ Grubb, Jeff (3 October 2012). "George Washington stars as the villain in Assassin's Creed III extra content". Venture Beat. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ McCaffrey, Ryan (22 March 2013). "BioShock Infinite PC Review". IGN. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ Valve. "A Cold Day in Hell - Team Fortress 2 comics". Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ Rouner, Jef (3 September 2018). "The Historically Inaccurate George Washington in The Council". Houston Press. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ "George Washington vs William Wallace. Epic Rap Battles of History". Epic Rap Battles of History. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
Further reading
[edit]- Bergmann, Linda S. "Epic, Parody, and National Identity: George Washington in Nineteenth-Century American Humor." Studies in American Humor 2 (1995): 1-22. online
- Browne, Stephen Howard. The First Inauguration: George Washington and the Invention of the Republic (Penn State Press, 2020) on the inaugural address. online
- Bruggeman, Seth C. Here, George Washington was born: Memory, material culture, and the public history of a national monument (U of Georgia Press, 2011).
- Cavitch, Max. "The man that was used up: Poetry, particularity, and the politics of remembering George Washington." American Literature 75.2 (2003): 247-274. summary
- Greenhalgh, Adam. " 'Not a man but a god' the apotheosis of Gilbert Stuart’s Athenaeum portrait of George Washington." Winterthur Portfolio 41.4 (2007): 269-304. online
- Jacobs, Phoebe Lloyd. "John James Barralet and the Apotheosis of George Washington." Winterthur Portfolio 12 (1977): 115-137. online
- Marks, Arthur S. "The statue of King George III in New York and the iconology of regicide." American Art Journal 13.3 (1981): 61-82. online on tearing down statues
- Marling, Karal Ann. George Washington Slept Here: Colonial Revivals and American Culture, 1876-1986 (Harvard University Press, 1988).
- Mitnick, Barbara J., et al. George Washington: American Symbol (Hudson Hills, 1999).
- Savage, Kirk. "The self-made monument: George Washington and the fight to erect a national memorial." Winterthur Portfolio 22.4 (1987): 225-242. online
- Schwartz, Barry. "Social change and collective memory: The democratization of George Washington." American Sociological Review (1991): 221-236. online
- Tschachler, Heinz. George Washington and Political Fatherhood: The Endurance of a National Myth (McFarland, 2020) re "Father of his country" slogan.
- Young, Christopher J. "Memory by Consensus: Remembering the American Revolutionary War in Chicago." Journal of American Studies 50.4 (2016): 971-997. online[dead link]
External links
[edit]- "Memory and Myth: George Washington in American Art" from Smithsonian
- "George Washington in American Art" Lesson plan for secondary schools, from Bill of Rights Institute