History HistoricalDomainCharacter / LiveActionTV

** UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln famously appeared alongside UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Savage Curtain."
** Perhaps even more famously, Creator/StephenHawking appeared as himself on the Holodeck in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Descent: Part I", playing poker with UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton, UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein and Lt. Cmdr. Data. Hawking is apparently quite the cardsharp. Other historical figures to appear in this series were Creator/MarkTwain and Dr. UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud.

* The Creator/{{Syfy}} original series ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' has UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla and UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper among its regular cast.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': Senator UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy, Roy Cohn and David Schine are supporting characters who appear in the 1950s sequences. UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy also appears briefly, as does Stormé [=DeLarverie=]. Joe Alsop and Cleve Jones briefly appear in episodes 1 and 7, respectively. (Episode 7 also includes archival footage of UsefulNotes/HarveyMilk and Dianne Feinstein.)

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': Senator UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy, Roy Cohn and David Schine are supporting characters who appear in the 1950s sequences. UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy also appears briefly, as does Stormé [=DeLarverie=].

* Creator/{{HBO}} has had several dramas in historical settings that make use of this trope. ''{{Series/Deadwood}}'', ''Series/{{Rome}}'', and ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' are period dramas with many such characters. {{Showtime}} has also mined this territory with ''Series/TheTudors'' and ''Series/TheBorgias''.

* ''{{Series/Underground}}'': [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Still William Still]] was a real abolitionist and much of the series is even based on his writings about the Underground Railroad and the lives of fugitive slaves. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass Frederick Douglass]], the abolitionist and orator, appears a couple times as well. In the second season, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman Harriet Tubman]], the famed abolitionist and badass conductor on the Underground Railroad, has an increasing role.

** In "Ripper", Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride and Mary Jane Kelly, four of UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper's victims, are killed by the alien creature vacating their bodies. It is also mentioned that Inspector Harold Langford's superior is named Sir Charles, a reference to Sir Charles Warren, the Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police at the time of the Ripper murders. Lady Ellen's friend Lady Sophie says that her cousin Charlotte recently visited Dr. UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud in UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}}. When Lady Ellen tries to convince her fiancé Dr. Jack York to give up opium, he counters that Creator/OscarWilde uses it frequently.
** In "Gettysburg", Vince Chance and Andy Larouche briefly see General Robert E. Lee on the outskirts of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863 and again two days later just before Pickett's Charge.

** Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris and [[spoiler:John Wilkes Booth]] all appear in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E49BackThere Back There]]".
** UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln appears briefly in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E69ThePassersby The Passersby]]".
** UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler is used as a character in [[spoiler:"[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E38TheManInTheBottle The Man in the Bottle]]" and "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E106HesAlive He's Alive]]"]].
** UsefulNotes/JesseJames is a major character in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E85ShowdownWithRanceMcGrew Showdown with Rance McGrew]]".
** Creator/WilliamShakespeare is a major character in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E120TheBard The Bard]]". Julius later summons the ghosts of Robert E. Lee, UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, UsefulNotes/{{Pocahontas}}, UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt and Creator/BenjaminFranklin.

** Creator/WilliamShakespeare shows up in "Act Break".

** Music/ElvisPresley is used as a character in "The Once and Future King". The Sun Records producer Sam Phillips, his receptionist Marion Keisker and Elvis' backing musicians Scotty Moore and Bill Black also make brief appearances.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': Senator Joseph [=McCarthy=], Roy Cohn and David Schine are supporting characters who appear in the 1950s sequences. Robert Kennedy also appears briefly, as does Stormé [=DeLarverie=].

* ''Series/FellowTravelers2023'': Senator Joseph [=McCarthy=], Roy Cohn and David Schine are supporting characters who appear in the 1950s sequences. Robert Kennedy also appears briefly, as does Stormé [=DeLarverie=].

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_Roll_Morton Jelly Roll Morton]] was a ragtime/jazz pianist and composer (one of the songs he wrote was the "Wolverine Blues"). He's a background character in the series premiere (he's playing the piano at the Fairplay Saloon just before Louis de Pointe du Lac meets Lestat de Lioncourt for the first time). In the third episode, he works for Louis at the Azalea, and Morton gets into a disagreement with Lestat in front of the audience after the latter criticizes his piano playing for being repetitive.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_Roll_Morton Jelly Roll Morton]] was a ragtime and jazz pianist and composer (one of the songs he wrote was the "Wolverine Blues"). He's a background character in the series premiere (he's playing the piano at the Fairplay Saloon just before Louis de Pointe du Lac meets Lestat de Lioncourt for the first time). In the third episode, he works for Louis at the Azalea, and Morton gets into a disagreement with Lestat in front of the audience after the latter criticizes his piano playing for being repetitive.

* ''Series/HoudiniAndDoyle'' is based on the real-life friendship of the title characters, with a healthy dose of TheyFightCrime, and features cameos by Bram Stoker, Thomas Edison, and then-President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley.

* ''Series/QueenForSevenDays'': [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Dangyeong Chae-gyeong]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungjong_of_Joseon Lee Yeok]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeonsangun_of_Joseon Yeonsangun]] are the most obvious examples, but almost every named character was a real person.

* ''Series/TheGlamorousImperialConcubine'': Several characters are based on real people, including [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Yin Ma Yin]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meng_Zhixiang Meng Zhi Xiang]].

* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'' has Creator/LennyBruce as a recurring one.