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27 Well-Known Characters That Are Based On Real People

By:: AM Smiley

August 12, 2020

27 Well-Known Characters That Are Based On Real People

It's easy to assume that famous characters are born in a flash of inspiration, somewhere deep (or shallow) in the cortexes of some creative genius. But as it turns out, a lot of the time creative people just pick a famous person as a starting point, and just add some embellishments until they're fiction. Green skin. A cancer diagnosis. Adam Sandler with a ukulele.

But the fact remains, at the core of a lot of great characters is a real person who deserves some credit for being interesting. Real people like:

28

SCANDAL'SOLIVIA POPEIS BASED on CRISIS management GuRu JUDY smItH.. MOSTLY. Smith, who worked as deputy press secretary to President George H W. Bush, — Source: ABC

27

JOHN NETTLESHIP described himself as a hort-tempered chemistry teacher with long hair... gloomy, malodorous laboratory' who enjoyed picking — Source: 5 Villains That Were Thinly-Veiled Versions of Real People

26

THERE WASA REAL SHREK Maurice Tillet was a French wrestler known as the freak ogre of the ring in the '40s. Tillet suffered from acromegaly, a thick — Source: 15 Mind-Blowing Old-Timey Photos You Won't Believe Are Real

25

TWISTY WAS BASED on A REAL SERIAL KILLER One of the most terrifying characters in American Horror Story: Freak Show was based on a terrifying real per — Source: The Atlantic

24

URSULAIS LITERALLY DIVInE The Little Mermaid sea witch is based on drag queen Divine, who made a splash in the '70s with Pink Flamingoes and Mondo Tra — Source: 5 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Are Based On Real People

23

This is Louis Red Deutsch, a New Jersey bartender and ex-boxer. In the '70s, prank callers Jim Davidson and John Elmo would constantly call him aski — Source: 5 Villains That Were Thinly-Veiled Versions of Real People

22

THE DUDE IS A REAL DUde. This is Jeff Dowd, friend of the Coen brothers. The Big Lebowsky Dude's personality, drink of choice, nickname, AND even biog — Source: 8 Characters You Won't Believe Are Based on Real People

21

POPEYE WAS BASED on A REAL GUY. SE His name was Frank Rocky Fiegel, and he was a tough guy from Popeye creator E.C. Segar's hometown. IMPeR He was k — Source: 8 Characters You Won't Believe Are Based on Real People

20

Sergio Gutierrez Benitez was a Mexican priest who fought as mysterious masked wrestler Fray Tormenta, then used his winnings to buy food for orphans. — Source: 6 Real People With Secret Identities Nobody Saw Coming

19

Norman Bates, the knife-wielding OEVD momma's boy in olunu was actually much tamer than the real-life inspiration for the movie, Ed Gein. Gein liked t — Source: 5 Badass Movie Characters You Didn't Know Were Real People

18

HA-HAW! YOU DiDn't know THAT neLson IS JOHN BenDeR! Not only is the Simpsons tough guy based on the Breakfast Club tough guy, but he shares a name wit — Source: 4 Cartoon Characters (Surprisingly) Based On Real People

17

Sydney Greenstreet was famous for playing greedy gangsters in movies like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. He WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR JABBA THE HUTT — Source: 5 Characters Amazingly Based on Real People

16

THE JOKER IS BASED on A '20s FILm STAR. That star was Conrad Veidt, who played Gwynplaine, a character who has his face deliberately cut into a perman — Source: 5 Characters Amazingly Based on Real People

15

MEET Kenny KRAmeR. He gives reality tours of his life for $37.50 a pop-just like his Seinfeld counterpart Cosmo Kramer. He also enjoys cigars, golf, a — Source: 8 Characters You Won't Believe Are Based on Real People

14

THE oBSESSIVE COP in LAKEVIEW TERRACE WAS A REAL GUY. In 2002, Officer Irsie Henry terrorized his Altadena, CA neighbors for being a mixed-race couple — Source: Pasadena Weekly

13

THE REAL SOUP NAZI HATED seinFeld. His name is Al Yeganeh, and he claimed the show ruined his business. Not that the character was inaccurate. When — Source: 5 Villains That Were Thinly-Veiled Versions of Real People

12

KRATOS IS EDWARD NORTON. Specifically, Norton's character in American History X. According to God of War director David Jaffe, his design team based K — Source: 5 Characters Amazingly Based on Real People

11

BETTY BOOP STOLE HER EVERYTHING FRom HELEN KAne. Kane was a popular actress and singer from the '20s who pretty much invented the whole I'm a sexy ba — Source: 5 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Are Based On Real People

10

THE REAL DIRTY HARRY WAS named DAVE. Dave Toschi was a San Francisco cop who focused on hunting down the Zodiac killer. He was also the inspiration fo — Source: 5 Badass Movie Characters You Didn't Know Were Real People

9

Archie Bunker was the main character in a '70s sitcom called All in the Family. He was bigoted, childish, spiteful, and chubby. He was an objectively — Source: 4 Cartoon Characters (Surprisingly) Based On Real People

8

INCREDIBLES coSTumE DeSIGnER EDnA MODE IS BASED on HOLLYWOOD COSTUME DesIGneR EDITH HEAD. Head, who was a petite brunette in bangs and round glasses, — Source: 8 Characters You Won't Believe Are Based on Real People

7

50 FIRST DATES IS BASED on A ReAL person. In the movie, Lucy suffers from anterograde amnesia, where she can't remember anything that happens after th — Source: 6 Movies You Won't Believe Are Based on Insane True Stories

6

Eric Stough is one of the producers on South Park. The other producers like to tease him for his nice-guy attitude about the show's often brutal, targ — Source: 5 Plotlines Where The Creators Secretly Trolled People

5

When Wes Craven was 11, he looked out the window of his apartment building to see a disfigured homeless man staring at him. Kid Craven ducked into the — Source: The 7 Most WTF Origins of Iconic Pop Culture Franchises

4

JACK NICHOLSON'S DILDO-WAVING DEPARTED VILLAIN IS BASED on A REAL MOBSTER. Nicholson played Frank Costello, a character directly based on James White — Source: 5 Badass Movie Characters You Didn't Know Were Real People

3

MeeT THE REAL DON DRAPER. This is Draper Dan Daniels, head of the Leo Burnett Agency in the '60s. He was the creator of the Marlboro Man, and a mino — Source: Ad Age

2

Empire's Lucious Lyon is a musician with a checkered past, now sitting atop a hip hop empire and dealing with his legacy. Show creator Lee Daniels bas — Source: YouTube

1

And just because a movie or character is based on real-life, doesn't mean it's accurate. Check out these 'True Story' Oscar movies that are full of cr — 6 'True Story' Oscar Movies (That Are Secretly Full Of Lies)

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