Characters / Airplane!

The characters from the films Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel.

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Recurring characters

Ted Striker

Ted Striker

Played By: Robert Hays^{Foreign V As} Akio Nojima (Japanese), Salvador Najar (Latin American Spanish)

• Aside Glance: "What a pisser."
• The Bore: Whenever he comes out of one of the Flashbacks into his past, the people he's sitting next to are dousing themselves in gasoline, hanging themselves, et cetera....
• Closest Thing We Got:
  • He's a pilot... a military pilot with no experience flying airliners. Still, he's the only person on board who has flying experience and isn't too sick to fly the plane, so it's up to him.
  • Inverted in the sequel, where he was the test pilot of the shuttle and knows exactly how to fly it. The problem is with the computers all going haywire.
• Crew of One: When push comes to shove, he flies (and lands) a modern jet airliner by himself.
• Exact Words: He has a drinking problem...in that whenever he tries to drink, he always involuntarily splashes it into his face.
• Falling into the Cockpit: Ted's the only person on board with flying experience after the crew is incapacitated, and so he has no choice but to attempt to land the airliner.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: He's still recovering from his experiences from "the war". Half his squadron died on a mission he commanded, and he's suffering from a combination of wondering if they would have lived had he made a different call, and guilt over the fact that he didn't die as well.

Elaine Dickinson

Elaine Dickinson

Played By: Julie Hagerty^{Foreign V As} Gara Takashima (Japanese), Alma Nuri (Latin American Spanish)

• Even the Girls Want Her: Elaine is such a Head-Turning Beauty that even an old lady can't help but to make intimate details about her.

• Hypocrite: Her oblivious complaints about Ted about not laying down roots in place and still living in the past, despite herself reminiscing about the past.

Captain Clarence Oveur

Captain Clarence Oveur

Played By: Peter Graves^{Foreign V As} Genzo Wakayama (Japanese), Carlos Magaña (Latin American Spanish)

• Ambiguously Gay: He's married to his wife Mrs. Ovuer but he reads "Modern Sperm" and hits on little boys during his job as an airplane captain.
• Karma Houdini: Hits on a little boy and gets away with it, due to it being Played for Laughs. Though the fact he's the unfortunate victim to experience all the embarrassing symptoms of the disease affecting the plane might be Laser-Guided Karma.
• Transparent Closet: He's quite obviously a closet pedophile who reads "Modern Sperm" magazine from the section marked "wacking material" and hits on little boys like Joey by asking them inappropriate questions.
  "Have you ever seen a grown man naked?"

Steve McCroskey

Steve McCroskey

Played By: Lloyd Bridges^{Foreign V As} Mikio Terashima (Japanese), Victor Guajardo (Latin American Spanish)

• Addled Addict: When times get tough, he states that he's "picked the wrong week to quit smoking/drinking/taking amphetamines/sniffing glue".
• Droste Image: McCroskey stands in front of a framed photograph of himself, striking the exact same pose as in the photograph, which itself contains the same framed photograph in its background.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: He "picked the wrong week to quit [insert drug here]."
• Undiscriminating Addict: He smokes, he drinks, he uses amphetamines, he sniffs glue...

Air Traffic Controller Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs

Air Traffic Controller Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs

Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs

Played By: Stephen Stucker^{Foreign V As} Masaru Ikeda (Japanese)

• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Johnny laughs at the audience after he jokingly unplugs the runway lights.
• Camp Gay: Johnny is exaggeratedly camp in mannerisms and speech, Played for Laughs because nobody else seems to notice. Actor Stephen Stucker, who played Johnny, was actually like that in real life. He once described himself as being "so flamingly gay" that one could light cigarettes off of him.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Johnny always has a... different... take on the action than the people around him. He's the only character who seems to realize that he's in a comedy.
• For the Evulz: The runway lights abruptly go out during the landing attempt. It turns out to be Johnny messing with the equipment.
• For the Funnyz: Near the end of the movie, he turns off the runway lights only to immediately turn them back on. Why? Because he thought it would be amusing.
  Johnny: [Looks at the camera] Just kidding! Ha!
• Genre Refugee: Johnny comes across as a character from an absurd screwball comedy with lots of mugging and silly performances, rather than the straight-laced, highly deadpan spoof that the film actually is. (Though at least he's more on the mark than everyone else is.)
• Large Ham: As made clear by the other entries, Johnny is silly as hell and overacts accordingly, in a sharp contrast to how stone-faced everyone else is.
• Must Have Caffeine: Defied.
  McCroskey (requesting in the form of a polite rhetorical question): How about some coffee, Johnny?
  Johnny: No thanks!
• Plucky Comic Relief: Essentially, he's the comic relief in a movie that is already a comedy. The way this manifests is that he acts in a distinctly "wacky" sense (capering around, mugging for the camera, using silly voices) while everyone else is The Comically Serious.

Introduced in Airplane!

Flight Crew

Roger Murdock

Roger Murdock

Played By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar^{Foreign V As} Tesshō Genda (Japanese), Eduardo Borja (Latin American Spanish)

• Actor Allusion: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays a pilot mistaken for Kareem who actually is Abdul-Jabbar, and admits as much when a young passenger talks about how his father criticizes him for his supposed lack of effort in the NBA. As he is later dragged unconscious from the cockpit, he's wearing Kareem's goggles, Lakers shorts and sneakers.
• As Himself: One of the weirdest examples ever put to film, as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is actually playing co-pilot Roger Murdoch, but the boy touring the cockpit recognizes him, leading to his Identity Denial.
• Berserk Button: Whatever you do, don't tell Roger Murdock that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar doesn't play his best in every basketball game.
• Celebrity Paradox: Roger Murdock with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who keeps insisting to Joey that he's not Jabbar. He's Roger Murdock. Until...
  Joey: I think you're the greatest, but my dad says you don't work hard enough on defense. And he says that lots of times, you don't even run down court. And that you don't really try... except during the playoffs.
  Roger Murdock: The hell I don't! (pulls Joey close and angrily mutters) Listen kid, I've been hearing that crap ever since I was at UCLA. I'm out there busting my buns every night! Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes!
  • Topped off by his wearing Lakers shorts, sneakers and his trademark goggles when being dragged out of the cockpit.
• Identity Denial: Roger Murdock (played by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) spends much of a scene denying that he's actually Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — until Joey repeats some insulting things that his father said, at which point Roger/Kareem drops the act.
• Insistent Terminology: He insists that he is not Kareem-Abdul Jabarr, he is Roger Murdock.

Victor Basta

Victor Basta

Played By: Frank Ashmore^{Foreign V As} Yosuke Akimoto (Japanese)

• Aside Glance: He smiles sweetly at the camera when Randy sings "River of Jordan".

Randy

Randy

Played By: Lorna Patterson^{Foreign V As} Yoshiko Sakakibara (Japanese), Sylvia Garcel (Latin American Spanish)

• Gender-Blender Name: Her name is Randy but the masculine spelling is used instead of the feminine spelling, which is "Randi".
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's a blonde woman who cares for the passengers on board and tries to make everyone safe and calm.
• Old Maid: She cries not just because the plane is in peril but because she's "26 and not married".

Otto the Autopilot

Otto the Autopilot

Played By: Himself

• Aside Glance: In the last scene, after Otto the Autopilot gets a female companion he turns to the audience and winks.
• And Starring: Parodied in the ending credits: "And introducing Otto [the autopilot] as himself." It's a joke considering he's a balloon but still gets credits with the other actors.
• As Himself: Otto the autopilot is credited as himself.
• Character as Himself: "And introducing Otto [the autopilot] as himself." It's a joke considering he's a balloon but still gets credits with the other actors.
• Companion Cube: Otto the automatic pilot, who's a inflatable blow-up doll.
• Covert Pervert: Otto clearly enjoyed Elaine blowing on his inflation nozzle, and also grabs her from behind and gropes her breasts in the scene where he's disengaged.
• Creepy Changing Painting: A comedic version in the inflatable "Otto" pilot doll. Although the face of an inflatable doll receiving a blowjob is still fairly creepy.
• Pair the Spares: After crushing on Elaine, he's last seen with a female air balloon companion for himself.
• Punny Name: Otto the Autopilot.

Dr. Rumack

Dr. Rumack

Played by: Leslie Nielsen^{Foreign V As} Dominique Paturel (European French), Tadashi Nakamura (Japanese), Maynardo Zavala (Latin American Spanish)

• Blatant Lies: Dr. Rumack's "reassurances" to the passengers about the health of the pilots.
• Captain Obvious: When Elaine asks Dr. Rumack if he's a doctor, the camera cuts to him answering her while wearing a visible stethoscope on his wardrobe.
• Comically Serious: Remains serious even in the most hilarious times. This is apparently one of the reasons Leslie Nielsen got the role even though prior to this he hadn't done any notable comedic acting, he was one of the only ones able to always keep a straight face on set no matter what.
• The Determinator: He won't rest until he's treated the ill passengers, even when the plane suffers from turbulence.
• Dressed to Heal: Dr. Rumack is introduced wearing a stethoscope for no reason, first shown right after he's asked if he's a doctor. In a later scene, he's giving an OB-GYN exam for no apparent reason - yes, in flight. With stirrups. And holding a vaginal speculum at the ready.
• Pinocchio Nose: His nose grows as he lies to the passengers in an attempt to keep everyone calm.

Captain Rex Kramer

Captain Rex Kramer

Played By: Robert Stack^{Foreign V As} Kiyoshi Kobayashi (Japanese), Alberto Pedret (Latin American Spanish)

Captain Rex Kramer

• Foe-Tossing Charge: When Kramer arrives at the airport he's accosted by donation-seekers, much like Ted and Elaine confront earlier. He proceeds to beat the crap out of every single one of them.
• Glasses Pull: Captain Rex Kramer has his sunglasses. Two pairs, that is.
• It's Personal: Delayed emergency landing of the Trans American plane due to his feuding with Ted from the war days.

Air Control Neubauer

Air Controller Neubauer

Played By: Kenneth Tobey^{Foreign V As} Jesús Barrero (Latin American Spanish)

Mrs. Linda Oveur

Mrs. Linda Oveur

Mrs. Linda Oveur

Played By: Lee Terri ^{Foreign V As} Carmen Donna-Dio (Latin American Spanish)

• Bedmate Reveal: Mrs. Linda Oveur's lover, which is a horse.
• Bestiality Is Depraved: When her husband is away at work, she's having an affair with a horse.
• Covert Pervert: You never would've guessed just by looking at her that she has certain kinks. And she can't resist feeling up Kramer as he gives the orders to lower the plane for its emergency landing.
• Extreme Libido: Just had a liaison with a horse and yet she can't resist feeling up Rex Kramer as he gives the orders to land the plane.

The Passengers

Hanging Lady

Hanging Lady

Played By: Ann Nelson

• Ambiguously Bi: Takes quite a liking to Elaine, even going into intimate detail about her body to Ted.
• Blind Without 'Em: Needs reading glasses to read a Jewish sports leaflet.
• Driven to Suicide: After listening to Ted's stories of how he and Elaine met, she's last seen hanging herself with a noose.
• Even the Girls Want Her: As Ted reminisces about his relationship with Elaine, the old lady gets rather intimate in her appraisal.
• Shipper on Deck: She roots for Ted to get back together with Elaine while also voicing how physically attractive Elaine is.
• Straight Gay: She doesn't look stereotypically LGBT+, and she expresses her attraction toward Elaine.

Mrs. Hammen

Mrs. Hammen

Mrs. Hammen

Played By: Lee Bryant^{Foreign V As} Mariko Nakagawa (Japanese)

• Butt-Monkey: Gets slapped continually for being hysterical by Randy, Dr. Rumack, nuns, various passengers waiting in line and so on.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: An Exaggerated Trope. Everyone lines up to slap/punch/club/shoot a hysterical woman, with increasingly lethal weapons as the camera pans down the line.
• Hysterical Woman: When Mrs. Hammen starts to freak out, a guy tries slapping sense into her, but she still panics. This results in a line of people to slap her.
• Inner Monologue: When her husband orders a second cup of coffee. "Jim never has a second cup of coffee at home."
• Innocently Insensitive: When she remarks to Dr. Rumack that she was afraid but "at least I have a husband". This makes the unmarried young stewardess Randy cry.
• Made of Iron: Somehow survives being slapped for her hysterics by various people in line who are equipped with guns, a sledgehammer, a baseball bat and a wrench.
• You Never Did That for Me: Played for Laughs. When her husband has a second cup of coffee, we hear the thoughts of the wife (listed in the credits as "Mrs. Hammen") echoing in her head: "Jim never has a second cup of coffee at home." Later, when he's sick and hurling into the barf bag, she thinks, "Jim never vomits at home..." This was a parody of a Yuban coffee commercial from the late 1970s.

Jim Hammen

Jim Hammen

Played By: Nicholas Pryor

Joey Hammen

Joey Hammen

Played By: Ross Harris

• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: In a Played for Laughs example, he's first seen reading a Nun's Life magazine.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: In Zero Hour, Joey is Ted and Elaine's son, but not in Airplane!.

First Krishna

First Krishna

Played By: David Leisure

• Deadpan Snarker: In response to a member from the Church of Religious Consciousness asking for a donation: "No, thanks. We already gave at the office."
• Not So Above It All: Is one of the many passengers relaxing to Randy performing "River Of Jordan".

Japanese General

Japanese General

Played By: James Hong

• Driven to Suicide: He is seen committing seppuku due to listening to Ted's stories.

Jive Lady

Jive Lady

Played By: Barbara Billingsley^{Foreign V As} Carmen Donna-Dio (Latin American Spanish)

• Cool Old Lady: She speaks jive and helps translate for when two of the passengers have trouble explaining their symptoms to Randy. Made even cooler by the fact she's played by Barbara Billingsley.
• Hidden Depths: Who knew the sweet old lady could translate and speak jive talk?
• Jive Turkey: The lady can communicate by speaking jive.
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy: For an old white lady, she sure knows how to speak jive.
• Sassy Black Woman: She adopts this tone of voice for her translation.
  "Cut me some slack, Jack! Chump don't want no help, chump don't GET no help!"

1st Jive Dude

1st Jive Dude

Played By: Norman Alexander Gibbs

2nd Jive Dude

2nd Jive Dude

Played By: Al White

Little Cancer Patient Girl

Lisa Davis (Little Cancer Patient Girl)

Played By: Jill Whelan

• Butt-Monkey: Gets her IV knocked out by Randy. Twice. And almost nobody notices the near-fatal mistake except her worried mother.
• Delicate and Sickly: She's a cancer patient in need of a heart transplant.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: She's last seen exiting the plane and being boarded onto an ambulance, which then crashes off-screen. Whether she survives or not is left for interpretation.

Nun

Nun

Played By: Maureen Mc Govern

• Brown Note: When she tries to cheer up the sick passengers to pass the time, she's a terrible singer, enough to cause one person to start vomiting.^note In real life, McGovern has had a long distinguished career as a pop vocalist, including major hit singles with “The Morning After”(from The Poseidon Adventure) and “Different Worlds" (from the TV series Angie, which co-starred Robert Hays).
• Pedo Hunt: In a Played for Laughs example, she is first seen reading a "Boy's Life" magazine.

The Young Boy With Coffee

The Young Boy With Coffee (Milton)

Played By: David Hollander

• Likes Older Women: He ogles an older woman's backside while he's reading an atlas on politics.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: He checks out an older female passenger next to him while reading a magazine about politics.

The Young Girl With Coffee

The Young Girl With Coffee (Bernice)

Played By: Michelle Stacy

• From the Mouths of Babes: When a well-dressed young girl and boy strike up a well-mannered, adult conversation in their seats, it seems charming, until we learn something unchildlike.
• Race Fetish: The little girl prefers her coffee like her men: black.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: The little girl prefers to take her coffee black "like her men".
• Where da White Women At?: The little girl has an unchildlike preference for black men. Provides the trope quotation.

Others

P.A Announcers

P.A announcers (Vernon and Betty)

• As Himself: A surprising example: both of them were voiced by the real-life male and female then-announcers at LAX (who were actually married in real life!).
• Good Girls Avoid Abortion: The reason for the "Red zone/white zone" escalating argument between Vernon and Betty: he wants her to gave an abortion while she wants to keep the baby.
• Insane Troll Logic: Why are they arguing? Apparently, he wants her to have an abortion.
• Running Gag: Their argument over the P.A system, which nobody seems to notice.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: When Betty accuses him of wanting her to get an abortion, Vernon insists that it's the safest thing to do.

Lieutenant Hurwitz

Lieutenant Hurwitz

Played By: Ethel Merman

• As Himself: This is a soldier experiencing psychotic episodes because "he" thinks he's Ethel Merman, even to getting out of bed and bursting into the song "Everything's Coming Up Roses." Of course, he's actually played by Ethel Merman.
• Chewing the Scenery: Goes into a great overly dramatic vocal performance from severe shell-shock and delusion before being put back to bed.
• Cross-Cast Role: Lieutenant Hurwitz thinks he's Ethel Merman. Bonus points for being played by Ethel Merman.
• Discount Lesbians: Lieutenant Hurwitz (portrayed by Ethel Merman) and his wife. But since they're a cross-cast role, it doesn't count.
• Large Ham: Sings in a great loud dramatic voice before being restrained by the hospital orderlies. Due to being played Ethel Merman.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Hilariously averted. He thinks he's Ethel Merman... but of course, it actually IS Ethel Merman.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: As Ted puts it, he's going through severe shell-shock.

The Man In The Taxi

The Man in the Taxi

Played By: Howard Jarvis

• Brick Joke: Ted's cab's passenger, who is left with the meter running at the beginning of the film, shows up again after the credits.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The ending's stinger shows him still waiting for Ted to return to the taxi, vowing to give it another 20 minutes.

Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts

Played By:

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• Accidental Dance Craze: The two girl scouts fighting each other. One of them accidentally goes crashing into a jukebox that starts playing "Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees, which gets everyone in the tough-guy bar dancing.
• Bar Brawl: Between the card-playing Girl Scouts...but nobody pays them any attention.
• Bar Slide: During the Bar Brawl, a Girl Scout is thrown down the bar and crashes headfirst into a jukebox, which starts playing "Stayin' Alive".
• Brick Joke: The Girl Scouts are still fighting long after the disco bar has closed.
• Close Up On Head: The camera pulls back to reveal that the players are Girl Scouts.
• Cross-Cast Role: The girl scouts were portrayed by male stunt actors for physical comedy.
• Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: The brawl between the girl scouts started because one of them attempted to cheat their way out of a poker game.
• Gambling Brawl: Parodied (of course). During Striker's first flashback, there's a close-up of two people playing poker, with only their hands visible. Suddenly one of them pulls out a knife and they start fighting.
• Girl Scouts Are Evil: During the Bar Brawl two girl scouts fight each other, which nobody else seems to care about.
• Made of Iron: The girl scouts endure punches, strangulation, being hit with furniture and thrown into a jukebox and still keep on fighting each other.

Soldier and Solder's Girl

Soldier and Soldier's Girl

Played By: Cyril O'Reilly (Bill) and Amy Gibson (Soldier's Girl)

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• Acoustic License: Bill and his girlfriend continue to have a perfectly audible conversation as one is standing in the doorway of a plane in the midst of takeoff and the other is running along on the ground beside it (and knocking over the steel towers in her way).
• No Name Given: The Soldier is only known by his given name Bill while is girlfriend is only addressed to as "darling".

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