Cultural depictions of George Washington

*George Washington at Princeton,*
by Charles Willson Peale, 1779

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.

Gallery

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.
The United States one-dollar bill has George Washington's face on it.
The statue of Washington outside Federal Hall in New York City, looking on Wall Street.
Construction on the George Washington portrait at Mount Rushmore, c. 1932.
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.
The Purple Heart medal, awarded for injuries whIle serving in the U.S Military. The back of the medal reads "FOR MILITARY MERIT".

The Purple Heart medal, awarded for injuries whIle serving in the U.S Military. The back of the medal reads "FOR MILITARY MERIT".

Documentaries

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	IMDB
1994	The American Revolution	Cliff Robertson (voice)	USA
2002	Founding Brothers	Brian Dennehy (voice)	USA	[1]
2007	Searching for George Washington	Martin Sheen (voice)	USA

Films

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes	IMDB
1909	Washington Under the American Flag	Joseph Kilgour	USA	Early black and white silent film directed by J. Stuart Blackton	[2]
1909	Washington Under the British Flag			Early black and white silent film directed by J. Stuart Blackton	[3]
1915	The Battle Cry of Peace			Early black and white silent film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Wilfrid North	[4]
1916	The Dawn of Freedom			Early black and white silent film directed by Theodore Marston and Paul Scardon	[5]
1917	The Spirit of '76	William Beery		Early black and white silent film directed by Frank Montgomery	[6]
1923	In the Days of Daniel Boone	Duke R. Lee
1924	America	Arthur Dewey		Black and white silent film directed by D.W. Griffith	[7]
1924	Alexander Hamilton	George Nash		Black and white silent film directed by Kenneth S. Webb	[8]
1924	Yorktown	George Nash		Black and white silent film directed by Webster Campbell	[9]
1927	The Flag: A Story Inspired by the Tradition of Betsy Ross	Francis X. Bushman		Color silent film directed by Arthur Maude	[10]
1933	The Road is Open Again	Alan Dinehart		Short black and white film directed by Alfred E. Green	[11]
1936	Give Me Liberty	Robert Warwick		Short film directed by B. Reeves Eason	[12]
1939	Sons of Liberty	Montagu Love		Directed by Michael Curtiz	[13]
1943	Don't You Believe It	Walter Kingsford		Directed by Edward L. Cahn	[14]
1946	Monsieur Beaucaire	Douglass Dumbrille		Directed by George Marshall	[15]
1957	The Unbearable Salesman	Daws Butler		Directed by Paul J. Smith, Butler also portrays Washington's father and Horace Greeley	[16]
1959	John Paul Jones	John Crawford		Movie directed by John Farrow	[17]
1961	La Fayette	Howard St. John	France / Italy	Movie directed by Jean Dréville	[18]
1976	Independence	Patrick O'Neal	USA	Directed by John Huston	[19]
1976	The Spirit of Seventy Sex	Tyler Reynolds	USA	Directed by Stu Segall	[20]
2000	The Patriot	Terry Layman	USA / Germany	Directed by Roland Emmerich	[21]
2003	George Washington's First War: The Battles for Fort Duquesne	Bryan C. Cunning	USA	Directed by Robert Matzen	[22]
2014	Mr. Peabody & Sherman	Jess Harnell	USA	Directed by Rob Minkoff	[23]
2015	Beyond the Mask	John Arden McClure	USA	Directed by Chad Burns	[24]
TBA	The General		USA	Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Television

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes	IMDB
1952	Hallmark Hall of Fame The Plot to Kidnap George Washington	Tod Griffin	USA		[25]
1955	You Are There Washington Crosses the Delaware (December 25, 1776) CBS	Russ Conway	USA		[26] [27]
1972	Bewitched George Washington Zapped Here (Parts 1 and 2)	Will Geer	USA		[28] [29]
1998–2001	Histeria!	—	USA	Featured a caricature of Washington modeled after Bob Hope as an occasional guest host.	[30]
1989	A Little Bit Strange	—	USA/Canada		[31]
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.	[32]
2013–2014	Sleepy Hollow	Louis Herthum	USA		[33]
2014–present	Turn: Washington's Spies	Ian Kahn	USA		[34]
2015	Turn: Washington's Spies	Bryan Adrian	USA		[35]

Television movies

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes	IMDB
1975	Valley Forge	Richard Basehart	USA	TV movie directed by Fielder Cook	[36]
1976	The Patriots	Ralph Clanton	USA	TV movie directed by Bob Hankal and Robert Strane	[37]
1979	The Rebels	Peter Graves	USA	TV movie directed by Russ Mayberry	[38]
1992	1775	Adam West	USA	TV movie directed by David Trainer	[39]
2000	The Crossing	Jeff Daniels	USA	TV movie directed by Robert Harmonstarring	[40]
2003	Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor	Kelsey Grammer	USA	TV movie directed by Mikael Salomon	[41]

Miniseries

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes	IMDB
1984	George Washington	Barry Bostwick	USA	TV miniseries directed by Buzz Kulik	[42]
1986	George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation	Barry Bostwick	USA	TV miniseries directed by William A. Graham	[43]
1997	LIBERTY! The American Revolution	Stephen Lang (voice)	USA	TV miniseries directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer	[44]
1999	Celebrity DeathMatch	—	USA	Faced-off against Abraham Lincoln
2000	Founding Fathers	Brian Dennehy (voice)	USA	TV miniseries directed by Mark Hufnail and Melissa Jo Peltier	[45]
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	[46]
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	[47]
2006	The War That Made America	Larry Nehring	USA	TV miniseries directed by Ben Loeterman and Eric Stange	[48]
2008	John Adams	David Morse	USA	TV miniseries directed by Tom Hooper starring David Morse as Washington	[49]
2015	Sons of Liberty	Jason O'Mara	USA	TV miniseries	[50]

Video games

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes	IMDB
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	[51]
2004	The Political Machine	—	USA
2005	Age of Empires III	Daniel Riordan (voice)	USA		[52]
2005	Civilization IV	—	USA		[53]
2007	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs	—	USA
2008	The Political Machine 2008	—	USA
2008	Civilization IV: Colonization	—	USA
2010	Civilization V	Marcel Jeanin (voice)	USA		[54]
2012	The Political Machine 2012	—	USA
2012	Assassin's Creed III	Robin Atkin Downes (voice)	Canada		[55]
2012	Assassin's Creed III: The Tyranny of King Washington	Robin Atkin Downes (voice)	Canada	The assassin ancestor Ratonhnhaké:ton interacts with Washington during the course of the American Revolution. Revolves around an alternative history, wherein Washington becomes corrupted by its power, and dubs himself King.	[56]
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 (voice)	Bulgaria		[57]
2016	The Political Machine 2016	—	USA

References

External links

The Internet Movie Database - Most of the information for the films, video games, and television works are derived from information from this site

v t e George Washington
1st President of the United States (1789–1797) Senior Officer of the Army (1798–1799) Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army (1775–1783) Delegate to the Second Continental Congress (1775) Delegate to the First Continental Congress (1774)
Military career Revolutionary War	Military career French and Indian War Jumonville Glen Battle of Fort Necessity Battle of the Monongahela Forbes Expedition Washington in the American Revolution Commander-in-chief, Continental Army Aides-de-camp Washington's headquarters office and sleeping tent Boston campaign Siege of Boston New York and New Jersey campaign Delaware River crossing Battle of Trenton Battle of the Assunpink Creek Battle of Princeton Philadelphia campaign Battle of Brandywine Battle of Germantown Battle of White Marsh Valley Forge Battle of Monmouth Battles of Saratoga Sullivan Expedition Yorktown campaign Siege of Yorktown Culper Spy Ring Newburgh Conspiracy Newburgh letter Asgill Affair Evacuation Day Resignation as commander-in-chief Badge of Military Merit Purple Heart Washington Before Boston Medal Horses Nelson Blueskin
Other U.S. founding events	Initiated, co-wrote, 1769 Virginia Association Initiated, 1774 Fairfax Resolves Continental Association Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture 1785 Mount Vernon Conference Chairman, 1787 Constitutional Convention George Washington's political evolution
Presidency (timeline)	1788–89 United States presidential election First inauguration inaugural bible 1792 presidential election Second inauguration Reception at Trenton Title of "Mr. President" Cabinet of the United States Secretary of State Attorney General Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of War Judiciary Act of 1789 Oath Administration Act Nonintercourse Act Whiskey Rebellion Militia Acts of 1792 Coinage Act of 1792 United States Mint Presidential Succession Act of 1792 United States Capitol cornerstone laying Proclamation of Neutrality Neutrality Act of 1794 Jay Treaty Pinckney's Treaty Slave Trade Act of 1794 Residence Act Thanksgiving Proclamation Farewell Address State of the Union Address 1790 1791 1792 1793 1796 Cabinet Federal judicial appointments John Rutledge Supreme Court nominations
Views and public image	Presidential library The Washington Papers Religious views Washington and slavery Town Destroyer Legacy
Life and homes	Early life Birthplace Ferry Farm boyhood home Mount Vernon Fishery Gristmill Whiskey distillery Woodlawn Plantation Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site Ford Mansion, Washington's headquarters Hasbrouck House First Presidential Mansion Second Presidential Mansion President's House, Philadelphia Germantown White House Custis estate Washington's relations with the Iroquois Confederacy Potomac Company James River and Kanawha Canal Mountain Road Lottery Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress President General of the Society of the Cincinnati Washington College Washington and Lee University Electoral history of George Washington Post-presidency of George Washington
Memorials and depictions	Washington, D.C. Washington state Washington Monument Mount Rushmore Washington's Birthday Purple Heart The Apotheosis of Washington Washington Monument (Boonsboro, Maryland) Washington Monument (Baltimore) George Washington (Houdon) plaster copy George Washington (Ceracchi) George Washington (Canova) George Washington (Greenough) George Washington (Trumbull) George Washington and the Revolutionary War Door Revolutionary War Door Washington Crossing the Delaware The Passage of the Delaware General George Washington at Trenton Washington at Verplanck's Point General George Washington Resigning His Commission Surrender of Lord Cornwallis Unfinished portrait Lansdowne portrait The Washington Family portrait Washington at Princeton paintings George Washington Taking the Salute at Trenton Reception at Trenton painting Statues Trenton Battle Monument Princeton Battle Monument Point of View sculpture George Washington on Horseback Austin statue Baltimore statue Boston statue Mexico City statue Morristown statue Newark statue New York City statue Wall Street statue Paris statue Perth Amboy statue Philadelphia statue Portland statue Washington, D.C. statue West Point monument George Washington University Washington University in St. Louis Washington Masonic National Memorial George Washington Memorial Parkway George Washington Bridge Washington and Jefferson National Forests Washington Square Park Arch U.S. Postage stamps Washington–Franklin Issues 1932 bicentennial Currency Washington quarter 50 State Quarters D.C. and territories quarters America the Beautiful quarters American Women quarters History Instructing Youth dollar Washington dollar Lafayette dollar Silver bullion coins Washington nickel Washington half eagle 250th Anniversary half dollar Mount Rushmore Anniversary coins Mount Washington Cultural depictions George Washington (1984 miniseries 1986 sequel) A More Perfect Union (1989 film) The Crossing (2000 film) We Fight to Be Free (2006 film) Turn: Washington's Spies (2014–2017 series) The War that Made America (2006 miniseries) Washington (2020 miniseries) Hamilton (film)
Related	Bibliography List of articles Founders Online Founding Fathers of the United States Republicanism Federalist Party Federalist Era Virginia dynasty Coat of arms Cherry-tree anecdote River Farm Washington's Crossing Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route 1751 Barbados trip Category Syng inkstand General of the Armies Conway Cabal American Foxhound American Philosophical Society American Revolution patriots Betsy Ross flag Mount Vernon Ladies' Association Mount Vernon replicas George Washington Memorial Building Attempted theft of Washington's skull
Family	Martha Washington (wife) John Parke Custis (stepson) George Washington Parke Custis (step-grandson, adopted son) Eleanor Parke Custis (step-granddaughter, adopted daughter) Augustine Washington (father) Mary Ball Washington (mother) Lawrence Washington (half-brother) Augustine Washington Jr. (half-brother) Elizabeth Washington Lewis (sister) Samuel Washington (brother) John A. Washington (brother) Charles Washington (brother) Lawrence Washington (grandfather) Mildred Gale (grandmother) John Washington (great-grandfather) George Reade (2nd great-grandfather) Bushrod Washington (nephew)
Slaves	List Betty Caroline Branham William Costin Sarah Johnson Oney Judge William Lee Hercules Posey Christopher Sheels Deborah Squash Harry Washington
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