History Main / NoCelebritiesWereharmed

* Amazing Man of the ''All-Star Squadron'' was basically "Jesse Owens the superhero", as a black man who took home multiple gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

* The 1998 American version of ''Film/{{Godzilla}}'' had the New York City mayor as a Creator/RogerEbert lookalike. Used as a TakeThat by the end of the film when his aide (an {{Expy}} of Siskel) gives his job performance a thumbs down. This was because Siskel and Ebert had criticized Emerich's earlier productions. Ebert was offended not by the portrayal, but that if Emerich hated them so much he [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome didn't have the balls]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny to let Godzilla eat them.]]

* In BeautyQueens, Ladybird Hope is SarahPalin and Agent Harris is GeorgeWBush (he even says misunderestimate). WordOfGod says that Sinjin St. Sinjin is based on DavidLevithan.

* In BeautyQueens, Ladybird Hope is clearly SarahPalin and Agent Harris is GeorgeWBush (he even says misunderestimate). WordOfGod says that Sinjin St. Sinjin is based on DavidLevithan.

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* WalterLantz had a series of "Maw and Paw" shorts in the 1950s, which were based on the live-action "Ma and Pa Kettle" comedies.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/{{Heathers}}'': ChristianSlater spends the entire film doing a creditable impression of Creator/JackNicholson. [[note]]One explanation may be it was inspired by ''TheWitchesOfEastwick'', starring Creator/JackNicholson.[[/note]]
** And kept doing it for the rest of his career.

* ''Film/CitizenKane'' is infamously a not-quite-thickly-veiled-enough version of media titan William Randolph Hearst. Hearst came down upon the movie and everyone associated with it like a sledgehammer. Creator/OrsonWelles' career never quite recovered.
* Green ghost Slimer from ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' is obviously based on JohnBelushi - in particular, his character from ''Film/AnimalHouse''. Creator/DanAykroyd has even joked that Slimer was the ghost of John Belushi.
* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Jack Sparrow is based on both Music/KeithRichards and ErrolFlynn. Richards even makes a cameo in the third movie as Jack Sparrow's father. He's also part WesternAnimation/PepeLePew, with his relentless stupid optimism.
* Creator/JimCarrey's portrayal of "Count Olaf" in ''Lemony Snicket's Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is pretty much entirely based on Creator/OrsonWelles, even the voice.
* In ''Any Given Sunday'', John C. [=McGinley=] plays outspoken sports personality Jack Rose, a take on real-life outspoken sports personality Jim Rome.
** Just about everything in that movie was a case of this trope. The Miami Dolphins versus the Dallas Cowboys? No, instead we have the Miami ''Sharks'' versus the Dallas ''Knights''.
* In ''Film/{{Antitrust}}'', Tim Robbins' "Gary Winston" is Bill Gates, right down to the haircut...except he can't be, because he remarks that Gates' TV is much smaller than his. If Winston isn't Gates, perhaps the TV also signifies something else of Winston's...
* The two {{Musical Assassin}}s in ''Film/KungFuHustle'' bear more than a passing resemblance to Film/TheBluesBrothers. When told that they are the greatest assassins around, they reply, "Technically, we're just musicians."
* In Disney's MadeForTVMovie ''Film/TowerOfTerror'', one of the elevator passengers trapped is a 1930s child movie star named Sally Shine, an obvious Creator/ShirleyTemple analogue.
* The 1980s vampire movie ''Film/FrightNight'' has a character who is an actor/horror show host (played by Roddy [=McDowell=]). His character's name on the horror show ''Fright Night'' is Peter Vincent - a homage to Creator/PeterCushing and Creator/VincentPrice.
* In a rare live-action example, most of the humor if not the entire premise of ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' is lost if you don't realize that Tim Allen is Creator/WilliamShatner (although really, the entire cast qualifies).
* The 2007 ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' film combined this with InvisiblePresident. No name was mentioned and no face was seen, but it was clearly a none-too-flattering parody of GeorgeWBush.
** Other viewers are convinced the unseen president is BillClinton.
*** It might just be [[CompositeCharacter G. B. Clintbush]].
** The 2009 sequel explicitly confirms the president as being BarackObama. This all but confirms the president two years earlier in the first film was, in fact, GeorgeWBush.
* ''Film/VelvetGoldmine''. Music/DavidBowie was [[MemeticMutation very disappointed in them]]. And sued.
* Edie Sedgwick's love interest in ''Factory Girl'' was obviously Music/BobDylan, portrayed as an unnamed character by Hayden Christensen. Music/BobDylan himself threatened legal action over his initial portrayal during production, resulting in the removal of all references to Dylan in the script.

* While doing many straight-up parodies throughout the movie, the shape-shifting Genie in ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' [[TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson explains the rules of bringing people back to life as a zombie Peter Lorre]].

** Somewhat similar case: The German dub of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''. Mr. Huph, Bob's boss, looks like a caricature of the [[GermanHumour German comedian]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Feuerstein Herbert Feuerstein.]], especially because of his shortness. Guess who was chosen for Mr. Huph's German voice actor.
* Vince and Lanny in ''Where the Truth Lies'' are obviously (''very'') fictionalized versions of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

* The government official-bribing company Hariburton in ''Banlieue 13: Ultimatum'' is most definitely not Haliburton.

* Sykes from ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' almost sounds like GilbertGottfried.
** He actually sounds (and looks) exactly like Creator/MartinScorsese, who provided the voice of the character.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The hanging lamp in ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'' is yet another animated Creator/PeterLorre clone. The air conditioner is Creator/JackNicholson. Both were voiced by Phil Hartman. [[NightmareFuel/TheBraveLittleToaster Both haunted the nightmares of children for decades]].
** Radio is Jon Lovitz doing Walter Winchell, down to his CatchPhrase signoff.

* Disney's ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' has Lumiere, who's based on Maurice Chevalier.
** Likewise, Jafar from ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' was based on actor Conrad Veidt, who played the villain from ''Film/TheThiefOfBagdad'' (who, fittingly enough, was named Jaffar). Aladdin himself was drawn to resemble Creator/TomCruise.
** Another Disney example. The vultures in ''Disney/TheJungleBook'' are patterned after Music/TheBeatles. Oddly, while they do have a musical number, it's a barbershop quartet song as opposed to something sounding similar to the Beatles rock tunes. Supposedly it's because Walt didn't think the Beatles actual music had much staying power.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' has Edna Mode, who is based on Edith Head.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' has Lord Farquaad, widely rumoured to be modelled on Disney's then-CEO Michael Eisner, as a TakeThat on the part of the film's executive producer (and former Disney executive) Jeffrey Katzenberg. His kingdom is a parody of [[DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World]].

* In the ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' AdventureGame ''Shadow of the Comet'', many of the character portraits are based on famous folks such as Vincent Price, Jack Nicholson, Tor Johnson, Sean Connery, and even H.P. Lovecraft.

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** Jonas Venture Sr. is a bastardized blend of DocSavage and [[JonnyQuest Benton Quest.]]

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'' featured an ''AmericanIdol''-type talent show where hopefuls audition to be the next star. The so-called "Real Randy Jackson" character of the three judges is a lot similar to 1980s Michael Jackson, and Perchival (voiced by Creator/TimCurry) is a similar to Simon Cowell.

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*** It was a fictional cartoon called "Funny Bunny" where the main character was supposed to be an {{Expy}} of BugsBunny, but same idea.

* ''[[Anime/KirbyOfTheStars Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]]'' gives King Dedede (a fat blue penguin) a slightly off voice and mannerisms that obviously intends to evoke FoghornLeghorn, with occasional lines made to sound like things GeorgeWBush might say. His minion Escargoon is basically Paul Lynde, which is even funnier when you realize that Escargoon is in fact gay.

*** Coffy is modeled after PamGrier and named after one of her films, ''Film/{{Coffy}}''.

*** Asimov is modeled after AntonioBanderas from ''Film/{{Desperado}}''.
*** Katrina is modeled after SalmaHayek's character from the same film.
*** Whitney Hagas Matsumoto is modeled after GeorgeClooney.

* The ''{{Powers}}'' comic that illustrates SmallNameBigEgo: "Ultimate Ego, the Living Planet looks a lot like JohnByrne - but not enough for him to sue us!"

** ''Comicbook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' was rife with these, containing caricatures of Creator/DavidLetterman ("David Endochrine"), Connie Chung ("Lola Chong"), Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and a nameless President that was obviously supposed to be Reagan. [[spoiler: The Joker killed Letterman and Dr. Ruth.]]

** As well as Hugh Grant as [[AmericanIdol a boorish British showrunner/judge of the titular singing competition.]]

* In ''RocknRolla'', there is a Russian millionaire mobster and businessman that is trying to make a huge [[TheBeautifulGame football]] stadium. It's a surprise that Roman Abramovich didn't sue them.

* The 1998 American version of ''Film/{{Godzilla}}'' had the New York City mayor as a Creator/RogerEbert lookalike. Used as a TakeThat by the end of the film when his aide (an {{Expy}} of Siskel) gives his job performance a thumbs down. This was because Siskel and Ebert had criticized Emerich's earlier productions.
** Ebert was offended not by the portrayal, but that if Emerich hated them so much he [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome didn't have the balls]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny to let Godzilla eat them.]]

* In ''Film/MyFavoriteYear'', Peter O'Toole plays washed-up film idol Alan Swann, who is not in any way related to ErrolFlynn. He is appearing on the live variety show of King Kaiser, who is totally not Sid Caesar. And Kaiser is being stalked by the goons of a crooked labor leader who is certainly anyone but Jimmy Hoffa.

* JamesBond

** And fictional leaders: ''{{Film/LiveAndLetDie}}'' stars a Caribbean dictator who dabbles heavily in voodoo, similar to then-President of Haiti François Duvalier, ''{{Film/LicenseToKill}}'' features a "Republic of Isthmus" (Panama) ruled through a puppet president by a major drug dealer (Noriega), while the unnamed female British Prime Minister who appears in 1981's ''{{Film/ForYourEyesOnly}}'' shows every sign of being Margaret Thatcher.

* Nick Hostetler (RussellCrowe) in ''BrokenCity'' is obviously intended to be a more antagonistic version of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

* ''TheDestroyer'': Roxanne Roug-Elephante is Roseanne Barr.

* An episode of ''{{Passions}}'' featured a character called Hanna Nicola Smythe, a female character who was clearly based on Anna Nicole Smith.

* In the ''Series/LasVegas'' episode "Die Fast, Die Furious," JeanClaudeVanDamme plays himself filming a movie at the Montecito hotel, and gets killed in a stunt gone wrong. The episode ends with the disclaimer "No actual Jean-Claude Van Dammes were killed in the filming of this episode."

** Another Creator/DisneyChannel show, ''KickinIt'', has Ricky Weaver who a more obvious parody of Bieber. He also probably counts as a TakeThat to Justin Bieber, since he turns out to secretly be a jerk.

* ''LazyTown'' villain Robbie Rotten is clearly based on Creator/JimCarrey in some way, right down to his mannerisms.

* In ''BostonLegal'', Gracie Jane is a thinly-disguised Nancy Grace.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' loves this. Particularly Uncle Duke, who is just Creator/HunterSThompson. Lampshaded when Duke reads that HunterSThompson has committed suicide and his head explodes, repeatedly. He's got no idea why.

* Wrestling/KevinNash, known as "Diesel" from 1993-1996, and Wrestling/ScottHall, known as "Razor Ramon" from 1992-1996, left Wrestling/{{WWE}} for Wrestling/{{WCW}} in May 1996. In September, announcer Wrestling/JimRoss started talking about "Razor" and "Diesel" returning, which sparked online speculation about the status of their contracts with Wrestling/{{WCW}}, where they, along with the [[FaceHeelTurn heel-turned]] [[Wrestling/HulkHogan "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan]], were at the forefront of the red-hot [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder NWO]] storyline. On the September 23, 1996 ''[[Wrestling/{{WWERaw}} Raw]]'', Ross cut a shoot promo, essentially [[FaceHeelTurn turning heel]] on the company due to how he had been treated a few years earlier after developing [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell%27s_Palsy Bell's Palsy]], and the fans loved it. Then TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot, as Ross brought out "Razor Ramon." Instead of Hall, it was Canadian wrestler Rick Bogner, best known for his work in Wrestling/{{FMW}} in Japan as Big Titan, doing a BAD imitation. "Razor" was followed by "Diesel," real name Glen Jacobs, who had last been seen five months earlier as Wrestling/JerryLawler's evil dentist Dr. Isaac Yankem, DDS. The gimmick -- inspired after [=McMahon=] invoked his rights to retain the characters due to them being trademarked -- was unpopular and was dropped quickly, but not until after wrestling fans expressed how unamused they were by it. "Diesel" and "Razor" disappeared from television after the ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' in January 1997 and were shipped down to Lawler's USWA (United States Wrestling Association) in Memphis, TN for repackaging. Bogner cut a promo where he buried the gimmick and renamed himself "The Free Spirit" Ric Titan. Jacobs went back to his previous Memphis gimmick of Doomsday, even winning the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/uswa/uswa-h.html USWA Heavyweight Title]] under that name. Jacobs returned to WWE on October 5th at ''In Your House: Badd Blood'' as Wrestling/{{Kane}}, Wrestling/TheUndertaker's evil "brother," costing Taker the win in his [[GimmickMatches Hell in a Cell match]] against Wrestling/ShawnMichaels. Bogner likely would have been repackaged as well, but he chose to jump to Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling instead to join [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder NWO Japan]].

* [[Characters/WWEDivas WWE Diva Jillian Hall]]'s last gimmick was a Music/BritneySpears-esque singer (complete with headset mic, outfit, and [[HollywoodToneDeaf monotone "sexy" singing voice]], although [[UpToEleven done to new levels of horrible]]). It's now more seen as a TakeThat against Brooke Hogan, the daughter of Wrestling/HulkHogan, who the WWE had another falling out with after promoting her music on ''[[Wrestling/{{WWERaw}} Raw]]'' around the time of ''Wrestling/{{SummerSlam}}'' in August 2005 (Hogan's last appearance in the company, which was a condition of his return), esp. since the fans did not really care about the musical talents of a Hogan. In a [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hilarious twist]], Jillian Hall's Christmas album outsold Brooke Hogan's latest album, despite the fact Jillian's was not only a joke album, but was also only available through iTunes.

* In the play ''TheManWhoCameToDinner'', the (speaking) character of Banjo is based on [[Creator/MarxBrothers Harpo Marx]] (his Hollywood co-stars are named as Wacko and Sloppo). Sheridan Whiteside was largely modeled on the AlterEgoActing persona of Alexander Woollcott (to whom the play was dedicated by its authors "for reasons that are nobody's business") Lorraine Sheldon represents English actress Gertrude Lawrence, and Beverly Carlton is a thinly veiled pastiche of playwright and wit NoelCoward.
* Another fictionalized version of NoelCoward is Eric Dare from the little-known ColePorter musical ''Jubilee''. In the same show, Eva Standing could practically have been a pseudonym for Elsa Maxwell; Charles "Mowgli" Rausmiller, however, is more a parody of Tarzan than of Johnny Weissmuller.

* The original ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania|1986}}'' for the NES end credits: "Mix Schrecks, Vram Stoker, [[Creator/BelaLugosi Belo Lugosi]], Trance Fischer, {{Boris Karloff}}ice, etc." The hero himself is credited as "Simon [[JeanPaulBelmondo Belmondo]]" instead of the Anglicized spelling of "Simon Belmont" used in the manual.

* The BigBad in ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}'' bears a striking resemblance (both physically ''and'' in voice) to Sir Creator/AnthonyHopkins. In particular, to Hopkins playing [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]]...

*** You are actually referring to the Big Bad from Doom 2.

* ''Photograph Boy'', an obscure PC-Engine side-scroller from 1989. It has lots of NoCelebritiesWereHarmed cameos, including Music/{{Madonna}} and Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger.

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': Liu Kang is Creator/BruceLee. Johnny Cage is JeanClaudeVanDamme. Sonya is Cynthia Rothrock.

* Jennifer Simpson from ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' was modeled after JenniferConnelly, who also starred in the Creator/DarioArgento movie (''Film/{{Phenomena}}'') that inspired the game.

* In ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'', a group that Julie needs to talk to in order to get the [[PlotCoupon item she needs]] are fantasy counterparts to the original judges of AmericanIdol
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', admist mentions of actual celebrities:

* ''WebAnimation/BowsersKingdom'': The Shy Guys are imitations of ChristopherWalken.
* Several gags in LoadingReadyRun's recurrent Rapidfire segment ''Elect Andrew Shepard'' cast Shepard as depraved version of Bill Clinton, such as his claim that "I did not have sexual relations with that woman. I did, however, have sex with that woman, that woman, those two women, and possibly that guy.", or "I did not inhale. I took it rectally, and I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped."

** Many famous crooners of the era, several times each. These have included everyone from BingCrosby and FrankSinatra to ElvisPresley.

** ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' was the basis of many Ralph Kramden/Jackie Gleason parodies. One of the first cartoons to pay homage to the character was "Red Riding Hoodwinked," a TweetyAndSylvester cartoon with the usually cheerful Granny filling the role. An entire series of cartoons, called "The Honeymousers," featured mouse versions of Ralph, Ed, Alice and Trixie (almost always trying to avoid the housecat).

** "Daffy's Inn Trouble": At one point in this 1961 cartoon (which co-stars WesternAnimation/PorkyPig), the duck tries wooing customers to his hotel by doing a MaeWest [[TheVamp vamp]] act. A group of irritated customers are hardly amused, and show their disgust when the record he was playing skips by throwing rotten tomatoes at him.

** BenjaminFranklin was Jay Leno
** NikolaTesla was ChristopherWalken.

** Creator/HankAzaria has claimed that Moe's voice was based on a bad AlPacino impression.

* Jorgen Von Strangle from ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' is likewise another animated Schwarzenegger clone, down to his physique and Teutonic accent. (His name is taken from the similar actor JeanClaudeVanDamme.)

** The Season 8 episode "Hanna Banana" – itself a sendup of teen-aged pop stars – portrays MileyCyrus straight ... until it is revealed she is a robot.

** Brock Samson's trainer and mentor, Col. Hunter Gathers, bears a striking similarity to gonzo journalist HunterSThompson. After his sex change he bears a striking similarity to gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson with a pair of really [[NightmareFuel big fake tits]].

* An episode of MTV's ''The Maxx'' had a cop from out of town who looked (a little) like HumphreyBogart and sounded (a lot) like Creator/WilliamShatner. The cop was Comicbook/TheSavageDragon in the original Maxx comic, but could not be used on the show since Erik Larson held the copyright for the character.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' has several. Their version of Dracula is based on Redd Foxx, Hoss Delgado is a combination of [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake Plissken]] and [[Franchise/EvilDead Ash Williams]], there is an underworld lawyer whose mannerisms are taken from ChristopherWalken and, in one episode, the kids get a helper monkey who sounds and acts like Kevin Spacey. [[ParentalBonus Specifically in the movie]] ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. No, Really.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'''s incarnation of the [[NeilPatrickHarris Music Meister]] seems to be a thinly veiled parody of famous pianists Music/EltonJohn and Liberace.

* TheBatman's version of the Riddler is best described, visually speaking, as Music/MarilynManson wearing a ton of green.

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* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':

** Rufioh's speech is patterned quite closely after that of DanteBasco's Tumblr account following Homestuck, and the character is both based on and named after a character DanteBasco played in ''Film/{{Hook}}''.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' has a Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio substitute. The same episode indicates that Jackie Chan [[CelebrityParadox is not a film actor]] in the show's universe. Conversely, Uncle and Tohru are Creator/JohnWayne fans.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' has a Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio substitute. The same episode indicated that Jackie Chan [[CelebrityParadox is not known as an actor]] in this universe. Conversely, Uncle and Tohru are fans of Creator/JohnWayne.

** The EDA novel ''Mad Dogs and Englishmen'' by Paul Magrs has No Celebrities Were Harmed versions of Creator/JRRTolkien, Creator/CSLewis, Creator/GeorgeLucas, and [[HarryhausenMovie Ray Harryhausen]]. And the actual NoelCoward. Magrs has since used the Smudgelings (his version of the Inklings) in his non-Who work.

** The ''Franchise/{{DCAU}}'' is somewhat peppered with this, particularly for ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''Justice League Unlimited''. Because of the number of voices required with a limited cast, voice actors would break out voice imitations to make a more significant variety. Notably, Michael Rosenbaum's Deadshot was an imitation of KevinSpacey, and Creator/PhilLaMarr's version of Steel was somewhat based on Creator/MorganFreeman. One of the Jokers in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' movie, and an episode of ''Justice League Unlimited'', had the voice of Christopher Walken.

[[/folder]]

* NormMacDonald's title character in the short-lived ''A Minute with Stan Hooper'' is an obvious expy of [[Series/SixtyMinutes Andy Rooney]].