History NoCelebritiesWereHarmed / Theatre

* ''Theatre/AlisonsHouse'': The posthumous character of Alison Stanhope is a very thinly veiled Creator/EmilyDickinson. Playwright Susan Glaspell actually sought to write a play about Dickinson, for the centenary of her birth in 1930. But Dickinson's works and the rights to her story were still under control of the estate at the time, and the surviving Dickinsons refused Glaspell permission to use Emily Dickinson's name or her poetry. Alison and her RealLife counterpart were both shut-ins for years. Both had an easy rapport with the children of the family despite being socially reclusive. Both wrote reams of poetry that weren't published until after they died. Both had sisters that also never married (Dickinson's sister was named Lavinia) and both asked that sister to destroy her unpublished works after her death. And while it is unknown if Emily Dickinson had a forbidden love of the sort that Alison Stanhope had in the backstory, the "[[http://therumpus.net/2011/05/the-dark-mystery-of-emily-dickinsons-master-letters/ Master letters]]" have often been interpreted in that way.

* In ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'', the Rum Tum Tugger is styled after [[Music/TheRollingStones Mick Jagger]].

* Creator/IraLevin's play ''Critic's Choice'' has a drama critic married to a playwright, like Walter and Jean Kerr were in RealLife. The title of the caustic magazine article Parker is composing, "Don't Write That Play," is similar to that of Walter Kerr's book ''How Not to Write a Play'', a facetious paragraph from which is this plays's acknowledged inspiration.

* Creator/IraLevin's play ''Critic's Choice'' has a drama critic married to a playwright, like Walter and Jean Kerr were in RealLife. The title of the caustic magazine article Parker is composing, "Don't Write That Play," is similar to that of Walter Kerr's book ''How Not to Write a Play''.

* Creator/IraLevin's play ''Critic's Choice'' has a drama critic married to a playwright, like Walter and Jean Kerr were in RealLife.

* Although ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'s'' "fleshly poet", Reginald Bunthorne, is widely thought to represent Creator/OscarWilde, the actor playing Bunthorne is usually made up to resemble Wilde's fellow wit, the American painter, James Abbott [=McNeill=] Whistler of ''Whistler's Mother'' fame.[[note]]Wilde did later become associated with ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'' when Richard D'Oyly Carte persuaded him to lecture in American cities where ''Patience'' was touring so theatergoers would understand what the play was satirizing.[[/note]] Bunthorne's rival, the "idyllic poet" Archibald Grosvenor, is based on and made up to resemble the English poet, Algernon Charles Swinburne, who was born on a street called Grosvenor Place.

* ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance''[='s=] Major-General Stanley was based in part on

* In ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'', [[ModernMajorGeneral Major-General]] Stanley was apparently at least in part based on General (later Field Marshal) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garnet_Wolseley,_1st_Viscount_Wolseley Sir Garnet Wolseley]]. Unlike his fictional counterpart, Sir Garnet was an excellent administrator, good field commander, something of a RenaissanceMan, the author of several important works on military history and one of the main driving forces behind the Cardwell Reforms (the least of which was the abolition of flogging as punishment within the Army). Apparently Sir Garnet found the whole thing ActuallyPrettyFunny and used to sing the [[MajorGeneralSong associated song]] to amuse his friends at parties.

* In ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'', the Pharaoh of Egypt is a parody of Music/ElvisPresley.

* In ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'', Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty,[[note]]a Cabinet-level administrator, and not to be confused with the First Sea Lord, who is an admiral[[/note]] describes his rise in a song emphasizing his complete lack of nautical experience or knowledge.[[note]]Being a bureaucrat, not an admiral, his position did not require such knowledge.[[/note]] Audiences quickly made the connection to W.H. Smith,[[note]]now best known for the chain of stores[[/note]] who was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time and had a background similar to Porter's. As a result, Smith was known for the rest of his life as [[NeverLiveItDown "Pinafore Smith"]].
* Although ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'s'' "fleshly poet", Reginald Bunthorne, is widely thought to represent Creator/OscarWilde, the actor playing Bunthorne is usually made up to resemble Wilde's fellow wit, the American painter, James Abbott [=McNeill=] Whistler of ''Whistler's Mother'' fame.[[note]]Wilde did later become associated with ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'' when Richard D'Oyly Carte persuaded him to lecture in American cities where ''Patience'' was touring so theatergoers would understand what the play was satirizing.[[/note]] Bunthorne's rival, the "idyllic poet" Archibald Grosvenor, is based on and made up to resemble the English poet, Algernon Charles Swinburne, who was born on a street called Grosvenor Place.
* In ''Theatre/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 Creator/NoelCoward.
* Another fictionalized version of Noel Coward is Eric Dare from the little-known Music/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.
* ''Theatre/FiniansRainbow'': It's probably not a coincidence that Woody Mahoney, union organizer, folk singer (whose shame it is that he can't play the guitar he's carrying), and enemy of finance men, has the same first name as Woody Guthrie. (At one point, Woody is supposed to speak "in a 'Talking Union Blues' rhythm.")

* ''Theatre/OfTheeISing'': Apparently, some reviews of the original production noticed a resemblance between John P. Wintergreen (as played by William Gaxton) and Jimmy Walker, then mayor of New York City (and part-time songwriter), which may have been denied. All but openly acknowledged, though, was that all nine Supreme Court Judges were made up like Oliver Wendell Holmes.
* In Arthur Miller's play ''After the Fall'', Maggie has a highly suspicious resemblance to the author's late ex-wife, Creator/MarilynMonroe.
* ''I Just Stopped By To See The Man'' by Stephen Jeffreys consists of a meeting between No Celebrities Were Harmed versions of Music/RobertJohnson (if he'd lived until the sixties), Angela Davis, and [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page]].

* Ethan Kane in ''Sex with Strangers'', who runs the eponymous blog about picking up women in bars, is a thinly veiled version of Tucker Max.

* ''Theatre/AlisonsHouse'': The posthumous character of Alison Stanhope is a very thinly veiled Creator/EmilyDickinson. Playwright Susan Glaspell actually sought to write a play about Dickinson, for the centenary of her birth in 1930. But Dickinson's works and the rights to her story were still under control of the estate at the time, and the surviving Dickinsons refused Glaspell permission to use Emily Dickinson's name or her poetry. Alison and her RealLife counterpart were both shut-ins for years. Both had an easy rapport with the children of the family despite being socially reclusive. Both wrote reams of poetry that weren't published until after they died. Both had sisters that also never married (Dickinson's sister was named Lavinia) and both asked that sister to destroy her unpublished works after her death. And while it is unknown if Emily Dickinson had a forbidden love of the sort that Alison Stanhope had in the backstory, the "[[http://therumpus.net/2011/05/the-dark-mystery-of-emily-dickinsons-master-letters/ Master letters]]" have often been interpreted in that way.
* ''Theatre/{{Fangirls}}'': An insanely popular boy band called [[Music/OneDirection True Connection]] whose lead singer is named [[Music/HarryStyles Harry]]? Nope, not ringing any bells.

* Likewise, Rum Tum Tugger in ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'' is styled after [[Music/TheRollingStones Mick Jagger]].

* Averted with Gary Coleman in ''Theatre/AvenueQ'', who doesn't even get the thin disguise, though Franchise/TheMuppets from ''Series/SesameStreet'' do.

* In Victorian times, W.H. Smith - now best known for the chain of stores - was promoted to First Lord of Britain's Navy, despite knowing little or nothing about ships. When Creator/GilbertAndSullivan were writing ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', Gilbert, setting out the plot for Sullivan, wrote about a song for "the First Lord ? tracing his career as office-boy in [a] cotton-broker's office, clerk, traveller, junior partner and First Lord of Britain's Navy.... Of course there will be no ''personality'' in this - the fact that the First Lord in the Opera is a Radical of the most pronounced type will do away with any suspicion that W. H. Smith is intended." Actually, ''everyone'' presumed Smith was intended (as Gilbert probably knew full well they would), to the point of him living out the rest of his life with the nickname [[NeverLiveItDown "Pinafore Smith"]].

** Another Creator/GilbertAndSullivan example: the fleshly poet Reginald Bunthorne in ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'' was modeled on Oscar Wilde, to the point that D'Oyly Carte had lecture appearances by him in American cities where ''Patience'' was touring so that theatergoers could recognize what the play was parodying.

* Ira Levin's play ''Critic's Choice'' has a drama critic married to a playwright, like Walter and Jean Kerr were in RealLife.

* Freddie Trumper, the JerkAss American chess player in ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'', is supposed to be a Bobby Fischer expy. The Russian player, Anatoly Sergievsky, was initially based on Boris Spassky but the resemblance decreased every time the musical was rewritten.

* The 1950 musical ''Call Me Madam'' starred Ethel Merman as Mrs. Sally Adams, America's ambassador to the small {{Ruritania}}n country of Lichtenburg (famous for its cheese); this was roughly based on Perle Mesta, President Truman's ambassador to Luxembourg. The original program disclaimed that "neither the character of Mrs. Sally Adams nor Miss Ethel Merman resemble[s] any person living or dead," and also played with NoCommunitiesWereHarmed by referring to Lichtenburg and the United States of America as "two mythical countries."

* ''OfTheeISing'': Apparently, some reviews of the original production noticed a resemblance between John P. Wintergreen (as played by William Gaxton) and Jimmy Walker, then mayor of New York City (and part-time songwriter), which may have been denied. All but openly acknowledged, though, was that all nine Supreme Court Judges were made up like Oliver Wendell Holmes.