History Main / TheDanza

* Portia da Costa's RomanceNovel ''[[http://www.portiadacosta.com/thestranger.html The Stranger]]'' features an obvious {{expy}} of Creator/PaulMcGann's [[Series/DoctorWho Eighth Doctor]] (so obvious it's WordOfGod), in a sort of reverse BleachedUnderpants.[[note]]Or even [[PlayingWithATrope Zigzagged]] BleachedUnderpants; the [[AscendedFanon heroine merits a mention]] in one Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures novel. [[OhGodWithTheVerbing Oy, with the waving the dirty laundry around already!]][[/note]] Or you could just call it published smut fic. The expy is also named Paul... and the heroine of the novel is named Claudia [[Film/WithnailAndI Marwood]].

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Dan]][[VideoGame/{{Smite}} za]][[{{Tanuki}} burou]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'', Creator/ChristianPotenza as Chris [=McLean=] and [[spoiler: in season five]], Alex House as Alejandro Burromuerto. In season six, Creator/ChristopherJacot as Topher. In the 2023 reboot, Julie Sype as Julia.

* Recurring nurse First Lt. Kealani Kellye (also known as Kellye Yamoto, and in one episode, as Nurse Nakahara) on ''Series/{{MASH}}'' was played by Kellye Nakahara, making this an example of the actress's first name being the character's last name.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'':

* Vanessa Duvelle in ''VideoGame/SpyHunter 2'' (the sequel to the remake, not the arcade game) was based on Vanessa Carlton, who sang the game's theme tune.

* ''Series/OutOfThisWorld1987'': Half the cast would use their own names for their characters; Donna Pescow as Donna Garland, Buzz Belmondo as Buzz, and Peter Petofsky as Peter.

* In the '70s British spy serial [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callan_(TV_series) Callan]] (starring Edward Woodward, later the suspiciously similar [=McCall=] in ''Series/TheEqualizer'') the character Liz was played by Lisa Landon. For about half the four-season run, she was credited only as "Hunter's Secretary".

* ''Film/EffroyablesJardins'' has Creator/JacquesVilleret as Jacques Pouzay, Creator/AndreDussollier as André Designy and Creator/ThierryLhermitte as Thierry Plaisance.

* The playwright Moliere sometimes named characters after the original actors that played them.

** Similarly, Jack Kerouac wrote many novels starring a protagonist named Jack Duluoz.

* A couple of author John Iriving's characters are named John: Johnny Wheelwright, narrator of ''Literature/APrayerForOwenMeany'' and John Berry, narrator of ''Literature/TheHotelNewHampshire''.
* Darren O'Shaughnessy (who usually writes under the penname Darren Shan) is best known for a book series about a young vampire named [[Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan Darren Shan]].

* In Bram Stoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', Abraham Van Helsing. Note that Bram is short for Abraham.

* Zig-zagged in ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', where Mike Brady was played by Robert Reed, while his son Bobby was played by Mike Lookinland.

** Harry Anderson as "Harry the Hat". Anderson had used "Harry the Hat" as a stage name for years before appearing on TV, when he was a stage magician and real-life con man, making it in some ways even ''more'' of a Danza than usual.

** In "Necklace of Glass," Casey Jones, played by Beverly Garland, goes undercover as the socialite Beverly Cazwell.

* Donna Reed's character in ''Series/TheDonnaReedShow'' was a Danza called "Donna Stone".

* Ray Romano as Ray Barone in ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond''. Plus occasional supporting characters played by Kevin James and Andy Kindler.

* Annie Potts as Flatbed Annie in the 1979 Creator/{{CBS}} MadeForTVMovie ''Flatbed Annie & [=Sweetiepie=]: Lady Truckers''.

* ''Series/HappyDays'' had Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio and Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham.
** In an episode arc Heather O'Rourke as Heather Pfizer.

* In ''Make Room For Daddy'' (aka ''The Danny Thomas Show''), Danny Thomas starred as Danny Williams.

* A case of the almost-Danza: The character of Rollin Hand in ''Series/MissionImpossible'' was written for actor Martin Landau, and was almost named "Martin Land". These are something of a fictionalized version of [[AsHimself as themselves]]

* ''Series/TheMonkees'', Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Music/MichaelNesmith, were played by Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith.

** Harry Anderson as Harry Stone is a subversion. According to [[WordOfGod series creator]] Reinhold Weege, the character was already called Harry, already a magician, and already a devoted Mel Tormé fan before Anderson was cast.

* ''Series/ThePartridgeFamily'' stars Shirley Jones[[note]]Who had previously appeared in ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}''[[/note]] as Shirley Partridge, the mother, and features Creator/DannyBonaduce as Danny Partridge, the middle son.

** Speaking of which, Valerie Harper as Valerie Hogan in the early seasons of the same show. In fact, it was her firing and her character being killed off that led the series to its title changes.

* Another especially convoluted example would be Redd Foxx (born John Elroy Sanford), playing Fred Sanford in ''Series/SanfordAndSon''.

** Buffy Sainte-Marie as Buffy in early seasons, probably because she was basically Buffy Sainte-Marie living on Sesame Street. Her then-husband Sheldon Wolfchild and their son Dakota also appeared as Sheldon and Cody.

* Ricky Schroeder as Ricky Stratton and Creator/AlfonsoRibeiro as Alfonso Spears on ''Series/SilverSpoons''.
* Creator/TiaAndTameraMowry as Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell in ''Series/SisterSister'' (in the series, they're twins SeparatedAtBirth and adopted by different people, hence different surnames)

** On ''Anger Management'', his father Creator/MartinSheen plays his father, Martin Goodson.

* Kathryn Janeway in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' who was named Elisabeth Janeway and Nicole Janeway before actress Katherine Kiernan Maria 'Kate' Mulgrew suggested Kathryn.

* Carrying on the tradition from ''Series/{{Stella|US}}'', ''Michael And Michael Have Issues'' stars Michael Showalter and Creator/MichaelIanBlack.
* Creator/SteveHarvey and Cedric the Entertainer's characters on ''Series/TheSteveHarveyShow'' are Steve Hightower and Cedric Jackie Robinson. Also Merlin Santana as Romeo Santana.

* Tracy Morgan plays Tracy Jordan in ''Series/ThirtyRock''. Tracy Jordan is essentially an [[AdamWesting exaggerated, simple-minded caricature]] of Tracy Morgan.

* The entire cast of Korean sit-com ''Series/VampireIdol''.
* ''Series/VeronicaMars'' had a surname Danza appearance by Patty Hearst, playing [[Characters/TheSimpsonsTheSimpsonFamily Selma]] Hearst Rose, the granddaughter of millionaire Mr. Hearst, married to [[Film/CitizenKane Bud]] [[Main/ItWasHisSled Rose]].

* In ''Where's Raymond'', Ray Bolger plays Ray Wallace.

** Ed Begley Jr. guest starred as Ed Begley Jr. on ''Series/DharmaAndGreg''. He was always addressed on-screen by his full name, "Ed Begley Jr.", not Ed or Mr Begley.

*** This created an interesting situation during his run on The Late Show when he wanted to perform segments as his prior character, but they were warned that "Stephen Colbert" was still owned by Comedy Central. In response, rather than having Stephen Colbert's Stephen Colbert appear, Stephen Colbert introduced Stephen Colbert's suspiciously similar cousin, Stephen Colbert. They made it very clear that the character was a coincidentally-identically-named relative of the other, and they were therefore not violating Comedy Central's intellectual property claim.

** Drew Carey in ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow''. (Yes, that includes "[[EmbarrassingMiddleName Alison]]".)

* In the video for "Hello" by Music/LionelRichie, the blind student played by actress Laura Carrington[[note]]Who actually isn't blind[[/note]] who (in the video) makes a sculpture of her drama teacher (played by Lionel)[[note]]It was actually made by a professional artist who never actually met Lionel.[[/note]] is named Laura.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has Inoue, Kento Sugiyama and Nagisa Chiba who are voiced by Creator/KikukoInoue, Creator/NoriakiSugiyama and Creator/SaekoChiba respectively. In their case, the characters were named for their actors. The English dub has a coincidental version with Kallen Stadtfeld (played by [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Karen]] [[Creator/KarenStrassman Strassman]]).

** John Ratzenberger as (SURPRISE!) John from ''WesternAnimation/WallE''.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanReturnOfTheCapedCrusaders'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTwoFace'' sees Commissioner James Gordon voiced by Jim Ward, with Jim simply being a less formal way to say James.
** In a similar vein, he's voiced by Creator/JimMeskimen in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''.

* One of the most well-known versions of the ''[[Series/TheBozoShow Bozo the Clown]]'' franchise is the series made in Chicago. Here, Norbert "Ned" Locke played the show's MC Ringmaster Ned for many, many years (from 1961 to 1976 according to Website/TheOtherWiki).

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' has Creator/BruceGreenwood voicing Franchise/{{Batman}}, whose real name (as many of you know) is Bruce Wayne. Again, a coincidence as the character had been around well before he was cast.

* ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers2023'' has Creator/LouisGarrel as King UsefulNotes/LouisXIII.

* Much of the movies in the ''Film/CarryOnSeries'' had characters that had the same name as the actors. The actor that got this the most was Creator/SidJames, who had six characters named "Sid". ''Film/CarryOnCamping'', meanwhile, had the most with Creator/{{Sid|James}} Boggle, {{Creator/Joan|Sims}} Fussey, [[Creator/BernardBresslaw Bernie]] Lugg, [[Creator/CharlesHawtrey Charlie]] Muggins, [[Creator/BarbaraWindsor Babs]], and Dr. Creator/{{Kenneth|Williams}} Soaper (the latter being confirmed by WordOfGod). Additionally, Jim Tanner (played by Creator/JulianHolloway) was intended to played by Creator/JimDale.

* In ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest: Open Season'', the actress who played Barbie Cann was named Barbara Shannon ("Barbie" is a nickname for Barbara).

* Jill from ''Film/DoctorAtSea'' was played by Jill Adams.