Longest-Played Roles in History

[Slimybug]

I made up a list of the longest gaps between the first time an actor played a character and the last time.

I thought about adding everyone who's played a role 30 years or longer, but The Simpsons really ruined that. There's too many of them. So here are merely the top 50, with the shortest being 38 years.

I decided to display it here in parts. Before I show #1, I want to hear what people think it will be, and what the time gap will be. But here are #50-41.

50. Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca
38 years, 6 months, 23 days
FA: Star Wars May 25, 1977
LA: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Dec. 18, 2015

49. Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
38 years, 8 months
FA: The Transformers 1.1 - “More Than Meets the Eye” Sept. 17, 1984
LA: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Jun. 09, 2023

47. Dave Goelz as Boober Fraggle
Dave Goelz as Uncle Travelling Matt
39 years, 11 days
FA: Fraggle Rock - “Beginnings” Jan. 10, 1983
LA: Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock - “All of Us” Jan. 21, 2022

46. James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
39 years, 6 months, 21 days
FA: Star Wars May 25, 1977
LA: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Dec. 16, 2016

45. Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian
39 years, 6 months, 30 days
FA: The Empire Strikes Back May 21, 1980
LA: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Dec. 20, 2019

44. Jerry Nelson as Count Von Count
39 years, 11 months, 11 days
FA: Sesame Street - “Big Bird on the Street” Nov. 13, 1972
LA: Sesame Street - “Practice Makes Proud” Oct. 24, 2012

43. John Laroquette as Dan Fielding (ongoing)
Ca 40 years
FA: Night Court (1984) 1.1 - “All You Need is Love” Jan. 04, 1984
LA: Night Court (2023), season 2 2024

42. Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane (ongoing)
Ca 40 years
FA: Cheers - “Rebound, Part 1” Sept. 27, 1984
LA: Frasier reboot CA 2024

41. Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers
Ca 40 years
FA: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! - “What a Night for a Knight!” Sept. 13, 1969
LA: ?? Possibly Peter Kay’s Animated All-Star Band 2009

[Malvolio]

Casey Kasem died several years ago. Matthew Lillard has been doing the voice of Shaggy in several animated projects since Kasem's death.

[Slimybug]

Casey Kasem died several years ago. Matthew Lillard has been doing the voice of Shaggy in several animated projects since Kasem's death.

Correct. That was a misprint. I will correct it.

[caj]

I hope the list includes daytime soap actors because there are several that did the same role for 45-50 years or more.

[Slimybug]

Oh snap, that never even occurred to me! Oh well, consider this the longest-played roles outside of daytime TV then! And #1 will still have them all beat!

[Catlady in training]

This is interesting, thanks for the list. So many actors returning to their famous roles nowadays, I wonder if the top one might be just some cameo.

This one didn't make the cut but I still find it cool: John Hurt played the real-live Quentin Crisp in two movies with 34 years between them: The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and An Englishman in New York (2009).

I hope you included Peter Davison playing the Fifth Doctor with his 42 years (1981-2023). William Russell, who played one of the first companions in 1963 and appeared in a cameo in 2022 (59 years) will hopefully be quite high on the list.

[Aahz]

I guess we will see more Star Wars, some Star Trek and if the animated movies count some Barman 66 actors on the list.

[caj]

At one time, actress Helen Wagner was in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing As The World Turns ' Nancy Hughes for 54 years.

[Alan2099]

If we want to count animation, the entire main Simpsons cast has been playing the same characters for 35 years.