Lincoln Goes to Hollywood

ECW welcomes back Tom Elmore.

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most popular figures in Hollywood’s history. Starting with an unknown actor in 1908’s The Reprieve: An Episode in the Life of Abraham Lincoln, he has been portrayed over 200 times in movies, television shows, and documentaries.[1]

Over time, how Lincoln has been portrayed has changed from a saintly figure in the early films, to a complex man or a caricature in recent presentations.

The following is a list of some of the best and most bizarre portrayals of the president. Some of which were played by actors who all but made a career out of playing Lincoln.

Joseph Henaberry The Birth of a Nation, 1915, David W. Griffith Corp.

Sometimes overlooked in discussions of this historic and controversial film is Joseph Henabery’s (1888-1976) sympathetic depiction of Lincoln, whom is referred to as “the Great Heart.” [2]

Henaberry got the part when after he saw the actor originally chosen to play Lincoln in full makeup, and went to director D.W. Griffith and told him that the man did not look anything like the president. Griffith challenged Henaberry to do a better job. The next day the actor showed up in his own Lincoln make-up and got the part.[3]

Because he was shorter than the 6’4” Lincoln, Henaberry stood on planks when on camera. He was also a Chief Assistant Director on the film and played 13 other small parts in it.[4]

 

Walter Huston Abraham Lincoln, 1930, United Artist

The first sound film about Lincoln was co-written by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Benet. Director D.W. Griffith read over 150 Lincoln biographies in eight years to prepare for the film.

To match Lincoln’s height, Walter Huston (1884-1950) wore six inch elevator shoes. Though Huston’s performance is generally praised, the film has been panned by modern critics.[5]

 

Frank McGlynn, Sr.  The Littlest Rebel, 1935, 20^th Century-Fox

The racial stereotypes in this film, once one of Shirley Temple’s most popular, has limited its modern-day appeal, though Temple and her co-star, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson were Hollywood’s first interracial dance team. In the movie Temple’s character goes to Washington to ask a very kindly Lincoln (Frank McGlynn) to pardon her father who has been wrongly convicted of spying.[6]

McGlynn (1866-1951) previously played Lincoln in two stage productions, 1915’s The Life of Abraham Lincoln and 1919’s Abraham Lincoln. In addition he played Lincoln nine times in short and feature films. One asset that McGlynn brought to the part is that he was also 6’4”.[7]

Henry Fonda Young Mr. Lincoln, 1939, 20^th Century-Fox

The first of seven films Henry Fonda (1905-1982) made with director John Ford deals with Lincoln’s early adult years as a struggling attorney. Fonda had doubts about playing the president and resisted taking the role. Though the was actor pleased by a screen test with him in full make-up, Fonda still had to be shamed into playing Lincoln by Ford. Fonda received praise for his performance but admitted “I felt as if I were portraying Christ himself on film.”[8]

 

Raymond Massesy Abe Lincoln in Illinois, 1940, RKO Radio

The film adaptation of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize winning play by the same name, which was based on Carl Sandburg’s 1926 biography Abraham Lincoln-The Prairie Years, deals with Lincoln from the first time he sees slavery in New Orleans to his nomination for president.[9]

Raymond Massey (1896-1983) reprised his stage role and became the first actor to be nominated for an Oscar for playing Abraham Lincoln. He created his own make-up which took an hour to put on. Massey again played Lincoln in a radio dramatization, three television productions and a cameo in How the West Was Won. He quipped that he “was the only actor typecast as a president,” though Lincoln was his favorite role.[10]

 

Lee Bergere Star Trek, Season 3, Episode 22, The Savage Curtain 1969, NBC

Lincoln, Capt. James T. Kirk’s personal hero, is brought to life to participate in a battle between good and evil. Lincoln was also a hero to Star Trek’s creator and episode’s co-writer, Gene Roddenberry, who called his merchandising company Lincoln Enterprise. [11]

Lincoln also appears in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as there is a portrait of him in a banquet scene in the movie, while the make-up for David Warner as Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in the same film was designed to resemble Lincoln.[12]

Lee Bergere (1918-2007) was a successful television actor from the 1950s to the 1990s. Coincidently, he played a small role in Sandburg’s Lincoln.[13]

 

Hal Holbrook Sandburg’s Lincoln (six-part mini-series), 1976, NBC. North and South 1985, ABC, North and South: Book II 1986, ABC

The mini-series was based on Sandburg’s Pulitzer Prize winning six-volume biography. Hal Holbrook’s (1925-2021) created his own critically acclaimed make-up which took two hours to apply and wore two inch lifts to match Lincoln’s height. Holbrook won an Emmy Award for his performance and reprised the role in the first two North and South mini-series. He also had a small part in the film Lincoln.[14] 

Gregory Peck The Blue and the Gray, 1982, CBS

Award-winning Civil War historian Bruce Catton is co-credited for the story of the three-part mini-series which was inspired by a Union soldier’s sketchbook. The story revolves around the families of two sisters, one-pro-Union the other pro-Confederate. Gregory Peck’s (1916-2003) portrayal of Lincoln was his first television performance. Peck had always wanted to be in “a giant picture of the Civil War” and playing Lincoln fulfilled a life-long ambition of his.[15]

 

Sam Waterson Lincoln aka Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, 1988, NBC

This mini-series was based on Gore Vidal’s 1984 book, Lincoln-A Novel, a fictionalized account of the president’s time in the White House. Mary Tyler Moore, who played Mary Todd Lincoln, received an Emmy nomination for her performance. Sam Waterson (1940- ), best known as Jack McCoy on Law & Order, played Lincoln again as a voice over in Ken Burns’ 1990 documentary series The Civil War, and in the 1993 Broadway revival of Abe Lincoln in Illinois for which he received a Tony Award nomination.[16]

 

Robert V. Barron Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1989, Orion Pictures

The film deals with two teenage stoners who bring historical figures to their modern day California school so they can pass their history final, and save civilization. Lincoln is the last one presented to their classmates and the 16th President encourages the crowd to “Be Excellent to each other AND PARTY ON DUDES!” Robert Barron (1932-2000) had portrayed Lincoln in the 1972 Love American Style episode, Love and the Ghost. He played him again in the television shows Out of this World in 1989 and Get a Life in 1991.[17]

Benjamin Walker Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, 2012, 20^th Century-Fox

Based on the novel of the same name by Seth Grahame-Smith, the films portrays Lincoln as an axe-wielding killer of slave-owning vampires fighting in the Civil War. This was not Benjamin Walker’s (1982- ) first time playing a president. He played Andrew Jackson in the Broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson in 2007.[18]

 

Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln, 2012, Dreamworks Pictures

Based on historian Doris Kearns’ award winning 2005 book A Team of Rivals, director Steven Spielberg focuses on Lincoln’s efforts to get the 13th Amendment passed through Congress. The film received twelve Oscar nominations including best picture.[19]

Daniel Day-Lewis (1957- ) spent a year reading over 100 books about the president studying Lincoln’s mannerisms. He worked with make-up artists to get the hair and beard right and developed a high pitch voice for Lincoln, and remained in character as long as he was in costume and make-up. His performance, considered the most accurate interpretation of Lincoln ever captured on film, won him an Oscar.[20] 

Gilbert Gottfried A Million Ways to Die in the West, 2014, Universal Studios

Loudmouth actor/comedian Gilbert Gottfried (1955-2022) played Lincoln giving a bizarre commencement speech in a drug induced hallucination. The western comedy was written, directed and starred Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted). [21]

 

Tom Elmore holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from the University of South Carolina. He is the author of five books about South Carolina in the 19^th century, as well as numerous articles in regional and national publications. He lectured across the Mid-Atlantic States and has been a book reviewer for two national magazines. He has also written and lectured on classic Hollywood cinema.

 

Endnotes:

[1] Anderegg, Niles, Abe Lincoln on the Big Screen: The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln, December 17, 2009, www.Lincolncottage.org. Unless otherwise noted, information on the films and the actors come from their respective listings in the Internet Movie Data Base www.imdb.com. (IMDB)

[2] Cassidy, John M., Civil War Cinema – Pictorial History of Hollywood and the War Between the States. Missoula, MT. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company.1986. Pg. 4

[3] IBID, Pg. 9

[4] The Birth of a Nation, IMDB

[5] Walter Huston, IMDB

[6] Cassidy, Pgs. 91-92.

[7] The Littlest Rebel, IMDB, Frank McGlynn IMDB

[8] Young Mr. Lincoln IMDB Cassidy, Pgs. 82-83

[9] Abe Lincoln in Illinois IMDB, AFI

[10] Cassidy, Pgs. 86-87, Raymond Massey, IMDB. Massey also played abolitionist John Brown opposite future president Ronald Reagan, in Santa Fe Trail.

[11] Asherman, Allan, The Star Trek Compendium. New York. Pocket Books.1986. Pgs. 131-132

[12] Reeves-Stevens, Judith and Garfield, The Art of Star Trek. New York. Pocket Books, Pgs. 262-265

[13] Lee Bergere, IMDB

[14] Cassidy, Pgs 151-153, Sandburg’s Lincoln, IMDB

[15] Cassidy, Pgs. 154,156-157, 163, 163

[16] Lincoln (1988) IMBD, Sam Waterson, IMDB

[17] Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, IMDB, Robert Barron, IMDB

[18] Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, IMDB, Benjamin Walker’s IMDB

[19] Lincoln (2012) AFI, IMDB

[20] MacArthur, Greg, How Daniel Day-Lewis Transformed Into Lincoln for Spielberg’s Movie. April 8, 2023, Screen Rant.https://screenrant.com/Lincoln-movie-daniel-day-lewis-transformation-explained.

[21] A Million Ways to Die in the West, IMDB