Line #30 Characters/CatOnAHotTinRoof


1	Character page for the play ''Theatre/CatOnAHotTinRoof'' and its adaptations.
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3	[[foldercontrol]]
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5	[[folder:Margaret "Maggie" Pollitt]]
6	!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/ElizabethTaylor (1958 film), Creator/NatalieWood (1976 TV film), Creator/JessicaLange (1984 TV film)
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9	* AnimalMotifs: "Maggie the Cat". Works for her gracefulness and notably "catty" demeanor.
10	* BeneathTheMask: One moment when Maggie is alone onstage sees her look at herself in the mirror and ask "who are you?".
11	* DeadpanSnarker: Mae is frequently on the receiving end of Maggie's sharp wit and snide jabs.
12	* DefrostingIceQueen: An interesting variation. She's charming, for an Ice Queen, but certainly as poised, aloof, and guarded as one: privately, she's [[DesperatelyCravesAffection desperate for Brick's affections]].
13	* DesperatelyCravesAffection: Specifically, Brick's. He knows it, and uses it to punish her.
14	* FakePregnancy: "I've got life in me!"
15	* {{Foil}}: With Big Daddy. Both of them are charming, manipulative, self-made people who grew up poor and work hard to get what they want. It's why they earn each other's respect.
16	* GoldDigger: Subverted, because Maggie is actually in love with Brick. But money is also important to her because she grew up poor and really doesn't want to be poor again.
17	* HeadTurningBeauty: Alludes to being one (nearly by the trope name) in her first-act speeches to Brick- and likely true, given her {{MsFanservice}} status. However, given the play's limited cast involves two married men and her indifferent husband, we don't see this trope in action much.
18	* LikeParentLikeSpouse: A tragic example. Maggie's father was an alcoholic who took advantage of his wife's hard work and generosity. The situation reflects Maggie's own.
19	* LoveMartyr: Invoked half-sarcastically: she calls her situation with Brick "The Martyrdom of Saint Maggie".
20	* MsFanservice: She's a sexy, curvaceous seductress who's been played by such famed beauties as Creator/ElizabethTaylor and Creator/ScarlettJohansson.
21	** In the very first scene of the play, she [[LingerieScene strips down to a slip]]. She doesn't redress until halfway through Act One.
22	* NeverASelfMadeWoman: Maggie must marry into wealth, rather than making her own like her {{Foil}} Big Daddy. Granted, this is the 1950s.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Brick Pollitt]]
26	!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/PaulNewman (1958 film), Creator/RobertWagner (1976 TV film), Creator/TommyLeeJones (1984 TV film)
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29	* TheAlcoholic: Became one after Skipper's death. Overlaps AddledAddict.
30	* AmbiguouslyBi: At one point, he and Maggie had a healthy, ''loving'' relationship. There's also some heavy implications he may have harbored romantic feelings for his best friend, Skipper.
31	* BeautyIsBad: Brick's good looks are alluded to by nearly every character in the play. He's also bitter, [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]], and antagonistic.
32	* BrutalHonesty: He's incredibly up-front with Maggie about where she stands with him, and is disgusted with lies and falsehoods. He is also the one to tell Big Daddy about his cancer... albeit half by accident.
33	* DrowningMySorrows
34	--> '''Brick:''' It's like a switch, clickin' off in my head. Turns the hot light off and the cool one on, and all of a sudden there's peace.
35	* {{Hunk}}: A former football star who has kept his good looks despite turning to drink. It's lampshaded by Maggie when she remarks that most men become uglier when they start drinking, but somehow Brick looks even better than before.
36	* JerkassWoobie: He's an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] and borders on a {{Domestic Abuse}}r, though he wasn't always this way: [[spoiler: [[ItsAllMyFault his guilt over potentially contributing to the suicide of his best friend]]]] sent him into a spiral of addiction and depression.
37	* MrFanservice: Chiseled football player, most famously played by Paul Newman.
38	** He first appears coming out of the shower. Usually, this means very little clothing.
39	* SourOutsideSadInside
40	* UptownGirl: Gender-inverted. He's rich, Maggie's "as poor as Job's turkey."
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Harvey "Big Daddy" Pollitt]]
44	!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/BurlIves (1958 film), Creator/LaurenceOlivier (1976 TV film), Creator/RipTorn (1984 TV film)
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47	* BigEater: He loves traditional Southern cuisine, and helps himself to massive portions during his birthday party.
48	* BrutalHonesty: He lacks the manners and tact that might have been taught in school, instead outright telling people what he thinks of them and using coarse language to voice his thoughts, whatever they may be. Fitting, as he's "new money" who came from nothing.
49	* ChildHater: A variation--he is far more interested in the ''idea'' of having children than actually dealing with them. When Mae repeatedly has her kids perform tricks and sing songs at his birthday party, he's more annoyed than entertained and snaps "Don't we ever get an intermission?" Though this may be more down to those particular kids and the fact that Mae is clearly trying to use them to gain his money.
50	* CoolOldGuy: For all his faults, Big Daddy is extremely charismatic and likable, especially with how fearlessly he's willing to face his own death.
51	* DirtyOldMan: Maggie notes that he shamelessly admires her figure. In the film version, after being duped into thinking that his cancer test came back negative, he quite literally salivates as he describes what he plans to do:
52	-->'''Big Daddy''': You know what I'm contemplatin' now? ''Pleasure.'' I'm gonna pick me a choice woman, and I'm gonna smother her in minks, and choke her with diamonds. Yessir, I'm gonna have me a ''ball.''
53	* DomesticAbuse: Verbally abusive to Big Mama.
54	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: His given name, Harvey, is almost never spoken in the play, and ''everyone'', from his employees to his children to his own wife, calls him "Big Daddy." The latter is especially painful: though everyone else refers to her as "Big Mama", Big Daddy only uses "Ida" when talking to her, suggesting that he doesn't see her as his equal.
55	* FaceDeathWithDignity: After learning the truth of his cancer diagnosis and getting over the initial shock, he ultimately comes to terms with the news and begins to prepare as best he can. In the film, he remarks "I've got the guts to die."
56	* Fiction500: He has ten million dollars in cash and "blue chip," or expensive, stock, [[note]] Adjusted for inflation and associated interest, this would be more than 100 million dollars in today's money. [[/note]] as well as 28,000 acres [[note]] A USDA study in 2021 determined the average cost of an acre of land was 3,380 dollars. If you multiply that by 28,000, then the net worth of Big Daddy's land holdings come out to 94 million dollars. Big Daddy is living large to say the least. [[/note]] of extremely fertile and profitable land. By 1950's Southern standards, he's essentially a king.
57	* {{Foil}}: With Maggie. Both of them are charming, manipulative, self-made people who grew up poor and work hard to get what they want. It's why they earn each other's respect.
58	* IWantGrandkids: Never explicitly stated, and he technically already has several from Gooper and Mae, but he clearly wants at least one from his favorite son and beloved daughter-in-law before he goes.
59	* LargeAndInCharge: It's not just because of his wealth or power that he's called ''Big'' Daddy. He's always played by an actor both physically large and with a massive, domineering personality to match; famous examples include Burl Ives, John Goodman, and, in an all-black production, James Earl Jones.
60	* NouveauRiche: He made his money by working his tail off for years, as opposed to being a Southern aristocrat from the "old" classes.
61	* ThePatriarch: Despite only having two children, he's clearly the head of the Pollitt clan, and never lets anyone forget it.
62	* SelfMadeMan: Went from [[RagsToRiches poor anonymity to wealth, class, and respect]] through hard work and smart networking.
63	* SouthernFriedGenius: Despite his humble roots and lack of formal education, he's an extremely intelligent businessman--he didn't acquire ten million dollars and 28,000 acres of land by being stupid. At one point it's mentioned that he's negotiating a deal to build his own mills on his property, thereby cutting out the middleman and making himself even more money than before.
64	* SouthernGentleman: Courteous, polite, and well-connected in town.
65	* WellDoneSonGuy: Only to Gooper.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Ida "Big Mama" Pollitt]]
69	!!!'''Played by:''' Judith Anderson (1958 film), Creator/MaureenStapleton (1976 TV film), Kim Stanley (1984 TV film)
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72	* ButtMonkey: Her maladroit antics are entertaining, but rather painfully, as Big Daddy highlights them to verbally abuse her.
73	* ExtremeDoormat: She'll bend over backwards to prevent conflict, to the point of sacrificing her own happiness to make others feel better.
74	* FatAndProud: She knows she's large and isn't afraid to mention it for the sake of a joke.
75	* HiddenDepths: She's a lot shrewder and more perceptive than she lets on, especially regarding marital matters. She correctly infers that Maggie and Brick's relationship is in shambles because of sexual incompatibility (she gestures to their bed and says "When a marriage is on the rocks, the rocks are ''here''. Right here!") and sees through Gooper and Mae's "plan" for its true intention of seizing control of the estate.
76	* LoveMartyr: For Big Daddy. As she puts it, she's always loved everything about him: "I even loved your hate. And your hardness."
77	* ObfuscatingStupidity: It's implied that part of the reason she acts so clueless is that Big Daddy doesn't like her acting smart; he snaps "''I'm'' the only boss around here!" when he suspects her of trying to take over when he was sick. She thus hides her perceptive mind behind an aura of foolishness.
78	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Twice. First, when bumbling, friendly, maternal Big Mama bursts into tears after the latest in decades of rejection by her husband, and second, when she finally GrewASpine to tell off the meddling Gooper-Mae duo.
79	* SadClown: Her antics and attempts at jokes come across as this, as she's clearly devastated by what's happening around her and using humor as a coping mechanism.
80	* SelectiveObliviousness: She pretends Brick is still is former youthful golden boy self, acts like her relationship with Big Daddy is healthy, and refuses to acknowledge the idea that he's fatally ill. She's not just an idiot, though; she picks up on the cracks in Brick and Maggie's marriage and [[TookALevelInBadass shuts down Mae and Gooper's plot]] to take over the family empire. Heartbreakingly, she even shows a comprehension that Big Daddy doesn't really love her at one point.
81	* StepfordSmiler: Big Mama swears up and down that everything's fine, and that she's happy...even though Big Daddy ''outright admits'' he's disgusted by and hates her.
82	* TookALevelInBadass
83	--> '''Big Mama:''' I'm talking in Big Daddy's language now. I'm his wife, not his widow. I'm still his wife!
84	--> '''Gooper:''' What we've got here...
85	--> '''Mae:''' What Gooper's saying is just a plan, a basis.
86	--> '''Big Mama:''' I'll tell you what your plan is. Margaret, what is it Big Daddy always says when he's disgusted?
87	--> '''Maggie:''' He says bull when he's disgusted.
88	--> '''Big Mama:''' Yes, that's right. I say bull too, like Big Daddy.
89	--> '''Mae:''' Well, coarse language don't seem called for to me.
90	--> '''Big Mama:''' Bull!
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Gooper]]
94	!!!'''Played by:''' Jack Carson (1958 film), Jack Hedley (1976 TV film), David Dukes (1984 TV film)
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97	* AmoralAttorney: We don't get to see him in court, but outside of it he certainly isn't the most upstanding citizen.
98	* CallingTheOldManOut: When his attempt to inherit Big Daddy's fortune, company, and legacy falls through, he does this.
99	* TheDutifulSon: Responsible and professionally successful, Gooper exemplifies this. That is, until he tries to swindle his way out of a PassedOverInheritance.
100	* InadequateInheritor: Viewed as such by his father, and he's painfully aware of it.
101	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Unlike Mae, who comes across as more of a social climber and schemer, Gooper clearly just wants Big Daddy's respect. He remarks that he's spent his entire life doing everything his father asked of him (becoming a lawyer, marrying well, having many children) to please him, and it still hasn't been enough. It's more apparent in the film version, when even he seems to be rooting for Maggie and Brick to reconcile and believes the former when she claims she's pregnant.
102	* TheUnFavourite: And how.
103	[[/folder]]
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105	[[folder:Mae]]
106	!!!'''Played by:''' Madeleine Sherwood (1958 film), Mary Peach (1976 TV film), Creator/PennyFuller (1984 TV film)
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109	* BabyFactory: With five kids and one on the way, there's a reason Big Daddy dubs her a "good breeder."
110	* ImpoverishedPatrician: We find out through Maggie that though Mae comes from BlueBlood, her family had lost all of their money before she married into the Pollitts.
111	* LadyMacbeth: Gooper and Mae serve as the villains of the play, and Mae is certainly the [[VicariouslyAmbitious driving force of ambition]] for her mild-mannered husband, who mostly just wants to impress his father.
112	* RichBitch
113	[[/folder]]
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115	[[folder:Dr. Baugh]]
116	!!!'''Played by:''' Larry Gates (1958 film), David Healy (1976 TV film), Thomas Hill (1984 TV film)
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122	[[folder:Reverend Tooker]]
123	!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/MaconMcCalman (1984 TV film)
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126	* NoSocialSkills: Can't take the hint and leave even as the atmosphere become more and more tense. Even when he does exit, he's awkward.
127	* PreacherMan
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Skipper]]
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133	* GayngstInducedSuicide: Skipper commits suicide after a disastrous, aborted attempt to come out to Brick.
134	* TheGhost: He's dead before the play begins, but his presence haunts everyone, especially Brick.
135	* ManlyGay
136	[[/folder]]

Context Characters / CatOnAHotTinRoof