what other roles?

[rielle]

if we've done this thread before, I apologize and it can be deleted or merged.
another discussion put it into my mind to talk about other roles we'd like to see Ross or Robert take on [ or would have liked to see at some point]

I'd start with Ross, for a couple of reasons, we all know he had so much more to give and to do when we lost him. He was only 61 for peets sake and having reached that age, I know just how 'young' it is.

I could see Ross remaking just about any of the roles of one of my 1930s-40s favorites - Ronald Colman

so imo we could have Ross as Sidney Carton,
as Rassendyll, the Englishman and Rudolph the King in Prisoner of Zenda,
as 'Smithy' in Random Harvest...
the British diplomat in Lost Horizon,
the doctor/researcher in Arrowsmith...
and a lot more that don't come as easily to mind -

I could also sooooo see Ross as Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre, but not so much as Wuthering Heights 'Heathcliff'... maybe Olivier impressed me too much in that part. and I'm sure there are lots of others.

Robert clearly HAS taken on a lot of roles and done great work in them, always - he may be the hardest working actor of his generation, from the States, anyhow... and he surely proved he's got the 'chops' as they say-- just to start with his understated portrayal of Jim West, and his mesmerizing star turn as Pasquinel...

but roles he didn't take on and I think might have/could have done a fantastic job with -

if anyone had the pure nerve to remake Jimmy Cagney's movies... surely Robert could take those on, and yes, I"m including Yankee Doodle Dandy,

and honestly, I think just about any of the more modern Westerns --
Red River,
Cheyenne Autumn [Widmark's part, maybe], which makes me say pretty much any of Widmark's roles as well,
The Searchers,
and ABSOLUTELY 3:10 to Yuma [if you haven't seen the original with Van Heflin and Glenn Ford... catch it, rent it, but DO SEE IT] In fact, it just occurred to me that 3:10 would have been an amazing vehicle for Robert and Ross together... Robert would more likely take up the 'bad guy's' role [played by Ford and later umm... yeah that Rusty fellow]
Ross would take the role played by Van Heflin, of a struggling rancher... taking a desperate mission --- makes me grin just to think about it!



Maybe ... yes, he could have done one of the main roles in 'The Man who Killed Liberty Valance'...
Robert imo could also have done Paint Your Wagon with a whole lot of style and that wonderful wry humor...

so there's my short list... who's going next?

[Nydiva]

This is sort of within parameters and sort of outside them.

My list consists of roles I would have liked to see Ross tackle with the assumption he was an appropriate age for the role - regardless of the actual time frame when the role was portrayed.

I could see him as:

Colonel Potter OR Charles Winchester (M*A*S*H)
Gandalf (Lord of the Rings)
Colombo
Cmmdr McHale (McHale's Navy)
Sgt O'Rourke (F Troop)
Ben Cartwright (Bonanza)
Sherlock Holmes (or Watson for that matter)

on the theatrical side:

Oscar Jaffee (On the Twentieth Century)
Father Brendan Flynn (Doubt)
John Proctor (The Crucible) - I would be crying buckets!!
Willy Loman (Death of a Salesman)
Salieri (Amadeus) - more buckets
Professor Higgins (My Fair Lady)

I've never really been much into movies, so none from that category - except to say I could see him in Basil Rathbone and Clifton Webb type roles.

Heck - there are very few roles that Ross couldn't tackle!

I haven't spent much time fantasizing about roles for RC (since I'm unabashedly focused on Ross), but one that comes to mind immediately is Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H. Wouldn't THAT have been a great reunion!!

[Nydiva]

Okay, one more for a double header - Robert and Ross in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Make that a triple - with Michael Dunn as Mr. Waverly!

[Nydiva]

And one more triple that I had to come back online and post:

RC - James Kirk
RM - McCoy (gee, another McCoy!)
and Michael Dunn as Spock

It could work - I think!

[Nydiva]

I'm surprised there have been no other "takers", but just thought of more roles:

Ross - Fagin in Oliver and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof

Robert - Captain Jack Sparrow!!!!!

[Apple]

No one, not even Robert, can do a better Jack Sparrow than Johnny Depp. Sorry ;D

I would have loved to see Ross in the role of the mom in Hairspray...he could so do it! Barefoot in the Park (if he were the right age), he could have been Blackbeard the Pirate in the Disney movie (wish he had been), all sorts of roles. I have to think about this a little more.

Oh! Men in Black...that would have been good, to have them team up when they were young for those roles, with Ross playing the older more seasoned agent.

[omega]

Jul 23, 2012 19:24:30 GMT -8 Apple said:

No one, not even Robert, can do a better Jack Sparrow than Johnny Depp. Sorry ;D

I'd have to agree with Apple on that one, Johnny Depp did an excellent Jack Sparrow and I don't think there is anyone, but him, that could have pulled it off so well. Good call Apple! ;D

Johnny Depp is cool!

[Paradox Eyes]

Me too! Another vote for only Johnny as Capt'n Jack Sparrow!

But Robert Conrad could have easily done a magnificent job as Captain Ahab in the last Moby Dick movie!

[omega]

Yes! Paradox I could see Robert Conrad as Captain Ahab!!!




"Then tossing both arms, with measureless imprecations he shouted out: "Aye, aye! and I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up." Ahab- Moby--Dick

"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. " Ahab-- Moby-Dick

[Nydiva]

Jul 23, 2012 19:24:30 GMT -8 Apple said:

No one, not even Robert, can do a better Jack Sparrow than Johnny Depp. Sorry ;D

No problem. My suggestion presupposed that Depp had never done the role. He wouldn't be a hard act to follow - he'd be an impossible one! ;D Still think that RC could have put his own spin on the role of a flamboyant pirate. - and probably would have had a lot of fun doing it.

Speaking of Depp roles - Michael Dunn as Willy Wonka (but more like the Gene Wilder version). I don't think Wonka was Depp's finest hour! My favorite Depp role is Edward Scissorhands.

I would have loved to see Ross in the role of the mom in Hairspray...he could so do it!

Edna Turnblad (and I didn't even have to look that up)! Ross woulld have been a thousand times (at least) better than Travolta. IMO, He smirked his way through. Ugh! I'm glad I saw Harvey Fierstein in the role on Broadway, so I know what the character is really like.

Barefoot in the Park (if he were the right age), he could have been Blackbeard the Pirate in the Disney movie (wish he had been), all sorts of roles. I have to think about this a little more.

Not quite familiar with those two properties, though I must have seen Barefoot shown on TV ages ago. Never saw the Disney film. My movie repertoire is somewhat limited.

Oh! Men in Black...that would have been good, to have them team up when they were young for those roles, with Ross playing the older more seasoned agent.

Okay, now that I've seen on tv and agree! ;D

Oh - and how about RC as Curly in Oklahoma! (Okay, I need to pop the Hugh Jackman DVD in the player now! It's too much of a classic for anyone to be definitive in the role, but sigh...)

[Nydiva]

As long as we're using our imagination...

Ross as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha - IF his singing voice was of the caliber this particular role calls for. In reality, it simply wasn't. But, lordy!, he would have done a magnificent job on the acting.

Mind you, I adored the original - Richard Kiley - and was privileged to have seen him in a revival of the show in the early 70's. Unforgettable! www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXDG3LYh4p0

[California gal]

I agree that Robert could have done Sparrow before Depp made it his signature mugging role.

How about Robert as the Lone Ranger and Ross as Tonto?

[Nydiva]

Jul 24, 2012 7:49:25 GMT -8 California gal said:

How about Robert as the Lone Ranger and Ross as Tonto?

Why not? Ross certainly had plenty of experience playing a Native American! And tons of other ethnicities.

Oh - a little far out, but Ross as Inspector Clousseau!

And RC as Sam Malone in Cheers.

[artiesniecewannabe]

I have that pic in my wallpaper rotation, Yw. ;D

I have struggled with responding to this thread; I just haven't thought of any roles until now. And when I finally did come up with some, I remembered having mentioned them in some other thread here long ago.

Anyway: Ross as Cyrano - especially opposite Mala Powers who really did play Roxane, and Ross as most any of the patter roles in Gilbert & Sullivan.

[Nydiva]

Of course Cyrano - Ross had such panache! Love that play. Have seen it with Christopher Plummer, Kevin Kline and Derek Jacobi. Jacobi, though the least physically suitable, made me weep buckets. Amazing performance.

And Ross would be the very model of a Modern Major General!

[Nydiva]

Dang - how could I forget to list a role I actually DREAMED I saw Ross playing. The play is "The Dresser"; and (in my dream) I remember thinking they did an amazing job on the makeup for him as "Sir", then I turned my head and he was playing Norman (and he covertly winked at my stunned reaction).

Actually, depending on his age, Ross could have done both roles.

There's an excellent film version with Albert Finney and Tom Courtney.

[artiesniecewannabe]

Jul 24, 2012 15:42:34 GMT -8 Nydiva said:

Of course Cyrano - Ross had such panache! Love that play. Have seen it with Christopher Plummer, Kevin Kline and Derek Jacobi. Jacobi, though the least physically suitable, made me weep buckets. Amazing performance.

And Ross would be the very model of a Modern Major General!

Or Koko. Oo, and maybe Agnes Moorhead for his Katisha.

[rielle]

dang, how could I forget I've always thought Ross would be perfect as Cyrano... just perfect! And of course when they were 'seeing each other' it would have been such fun to have Mala reprise Roxanne. I love that play a lot, and in fact have at times had yet another plot-ling rattling around in the back of my head around that basic story.

if we're gonna talk about musicals though, I have to say that I believe Robert could have handled any number of lead roles -- and that Ross could as well, even now, because as I'm sure 'diva knows B'way show casts are fully miked now so that no one has to be able to throw their voice so that 'the deaf little old lady in the back row can hear you'... And that was the maxim back in the day -- until the 70s I think.

imo Ross could have done Kiss Me Kate without breaking a sweat and with just that mischievous manner I think Cole Porter intended for 'Fred Graham' [the role Howard Keel had in the film]

so now I'm gonna go out on a limb and add musical roles to my list:
Ross - Emile deBeque [sp?] - South Pacific
Robert - Joe Cable - South Pacific

mentioned before as 'diva noted, Ross played Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls and
I think Robert could easily have taken on 'Sky Masterson'

Ross - King Arthur - Camelot

Robert- Billy Bigelow - Carousel

either one - Gaylord Ravenal the gambler in 'Show Boat' [don't pay attention to the character's name the novel its based on was written in the WWI era, about the post Civil War south]

Robert - the title role in Pal Joey

either one - 'Daddy Warbucks' in Annie LOL

... okay, that's about it, cause I'm not as familiar with the musicals from 1980 onwards...

[Nydiva]

So we're talking musicals? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Again, assuming vocal abilities match the role:

Phantom of the Opera - Ross as the Phantom and Robert as Raoul.

Les Miz - Ross would been great fun as Thenardier. Valjean too, I guess, but Thenardier is way more fun.

LaCage Aux Folles - Ross as Albin (Zaza) and Robert as Georges

A Little Night Music - Ross as Frederick and Robert as Carl Magnus

Sweeney Todd - Ross as Sweeney or Judge Turpin (one of my best friends played Tobias in the original production!!). A very young Robert would have made a lovely Anthony Hope (who has one of the most gorgeous songs in the show).

I'm sure I'll think of more, but chores call and then bed!

Into the Woods - Ross as the Narrator/Mysterious Man and Robert as Cinderella's Prince/The Wolf. I can SO picture him doing "Hello Little Girl" www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NAuqQ-h7vA