What’s Your Favorite Performance By An Actor in Multiple Roles?

How about Kim Novak in Vertigo?
Or Michael Keaton in Multiplicity?

How about FREDRIC MARCH (and SPENCER TRACY too) in DR, JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE? March won the Oscar in 1931. Tracy hated his performance--thought it would end his career even--but his interpretation was wonderful as well.
(Also, you might add A DOUBLE LIFE for Coleman. He won his Oscar and was mesmerizing in that role.)

There are too many people who played multiple parts to list them all. My favorite was Tony Randall in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, where he appeared in EIGHT parts! And of course, you missed Lindsay Lohan or Haley Mills in The Parent Trap. Visit me at http://bitactors.blogspot.com

how about Maria Rohm in "Venus in Furs"

on the poll, all are very good, but as I expected, peter sellers won it hands down, and he deserves it.

Anybody for Tony Randall in the tour de force of multiple roles for The 7 Faces of Doctor Lao?? Its a fun little movie anyway!!

You got Peter Sellers right but the wrong movie--he should have been cited for his multiple roles The Mouse that Roared.

And you completely left Jack Lemmon for his two very different but equally funny roles as the dispicable Dr. Doom and the flighty and inebriated playboy prince in The Great Race, funnier IMHO than in his and Tony Curtis' roles in Some Like It Hot. Technically Lemmon and Curtis did not play dual roles in SLIH, since their primary roles were as men on the run disguised as women. And as much as I love the film and Steiger's performance, the same can be said of Steiger in No Way to Treat a Lady, in which he is always a serial killer who is good at disguises, thanks to his theater training.

I believe Alistair Sim palying St. Trian's headmistress Millicent Fritton and her brother Clarence in "The Belles of St. Trian's" wins this one.

This was a decent list of nominees, though it missed a couple of my favorites:
--Charles Spencer Chaplin in THE GREAT DICTATOR (and THE IDLE CLASS);
--Satn Laurel and Oliver Hardy in BRATS;
--Irene Jacobs in THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE;
--Michel Blanc in DEAD TIRED;
--and of course, maybe the most brilliant of all, Mel Blanc in any of a hundred if not a thousand Warner Bros cartoons.
By the way, I'm dying to see Lodge Kerrigan's REBECCA H.: RETURN TO THE DOGS, which played at Cannes last year but hasn't got a distributor yet.

How about Tony Perkins in PSYCHO. Mother was a "scream".
Or how about either Julie Andrews or Robert Preston in VICTOR, VICTORIA?
Or the Mauch twins in PRINCE AND THE PAUPER?
But, in the end, Sir Alec played the whole doggoned family. That should count for something.

Ewan McGregor in the Island
Haley Mills in The Parent Trap

How about Kirk Douglas in "The List of Adrian Messenger".

My vote goes to Anne Carlisle for her role as Margaret/Jimmy in 1983's Liquid Sky. I remember seeing that film in the theater and being astounded as the credits rolled that Margaret and Jimmy were played by the same actor.

I enjoyed Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall in
"Coming To America". Both played several roles.

Peter Sellers also played multiple roles in the movie Soft beds, Hard battles. His portrayal of the French General was superb

Not "high-brow" cinema, but Eddy Murphy in Coming to America was genius!

How about George Hamilton in Zorro, the Gay Blade?

My favorite though is Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou.

Meryl Streep "The French Lt's Woman"

SPOILER ALERT: does Shirley MacLaine count in Two Mules for Sister Sara? I didn't see that ending coming. Are we talking strictly two roles or do just disguises/personalities count here?

I consider "multiple roles" to mean each role corresponds to a distinct character - a genetically distinct being, if you will, as opposed to one character using multiple disguises (leaving out such movies as "Tootsie"). I am inclined to include psychological multiplicities, in which case Joanne Woodward in "The Three Faces of Eve" and Sally Field in "Sybil" rise up towards the top of the list. And, I have to give a nod to Jerry Lewis in "The Family Jewels" - 7 roles in that, I believe.

As a nember of Screen Actor's Guild, for the performance where it actually looks like different actors and not different faces of the same person, I vote number one for Peter Sellers in Strangelove and to for Michael Caine in Sleuth

We seem to have overlooked Marlene Dietrich in WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION and Danny Kaye in ON THE RIVIERA.

What about Peter Sellers in Lolita? Well, he's actually playing someone masquerading as various people, but still, he was great ... Of course his multiple roles in Strangelove were fabulous. I agree about Michael Keaton in Multiplicity--I've watched it several times for that reason. I love Tony Randall, so will have to catch that Dr. Lao film. So many great candidates.

P.P.S. It's a Showtime series, not a film, but don't miss United States of Tara. Toni Collette is amazing in her multiple personalities.

OMG ! We have overlooked the marvelous Madeline Kahn in Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective 1978 and ALL her disparate disguises -- even if it was the same character you wouldn't know it -- to say its just costume changes is to belittle her perfected presence & performance!!

How about Elvis Presley in his roles as Josh and Jody in "Kissin' Cousins".

The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, starring Tony Randall, is one of my all time favorite movies. I understand that director George Pal really wanted Peter Sellers for the character(s). I voted for David Carradine in Circle of Iron, another favorite film. Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove is my next choice.

Sutherland ans Wilder in "don't start the revolution w
ithout me "

You left off what may be the greatest 1-actor, multiple character performance of all-time. Sam Rockwell in Moon.

A recent film, and one that didn't get a lot of attention -- but a jaw-dropping performance!

Errol Flynn in Cry Wolf(1947)

I actually wanted to vote for Peter Sellers for his roles in LOLITA. But ill be glad to vote for Dr.Strangelove....

I forgot to give a nod to the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz. Frank Morgan had many roles in oz and was excellent. Also the lion , tin man , scare crow & wicked witch played two parts & did a great job.