Cultural depictions of George Washington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Washington has inspired artistic and cultural works for more than two hundred years. The following lists cover various media to include items of historic interest, enduring works of high art, and recent representations in popular culture. The entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalog. Lesser known works are not included.
by Charles Willson Peale, 1779
For purposes of classification, popular culture music is a separate section from operas and oratorios. Television covers live action series, TV movies, miniseries, and North American animation but not Japanese anime, which appears with manga and graphic novels.
Art
Washington is among the historical figures depicted in Our Nation's 200th Birthday, The Telephone's 100th Birthday (1976) by Stanley Meltzoff for Bell System.[1]
In 2004, the Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed a selection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and decorative arts of George Washington from its collection. It was shown as a complement to its exhibit Gilbert Stuart.[2]
Gallery
A ca. 1810–1815 French Empire mantel clock, portraying George Washington. In the drapery swag under the dial can be read the famous quote by Henry Lee.
The United States one-dollar bill has George Washington's face on it.
The statue of Washington outside Federal Hall National Memorial, facing Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange Building in New York City.
Construction on the George Washington portrait at Mount Rushmore, c. 1932.
Quarter with profile of Washington bust. He faces left regally and wears a colonial-style queue in his hair. "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" is at top, "QUARTER DOLLAR" at bottom, "LIBERTY" at left, and "IN GOD WE TRUST" above "P" at right. Just below the bust is "JF uc" in tiny letters.
Documentaries
| Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The American Revolution | Cliff Robertson | USA | Voice role | |
| 2002 | Founding Brothers | Brian Dennehy | USA | Voice role | |
| 2007 | Searching for George Washington | Martin Sheen | USA | Voice role | |
| 2007 | Alexander Hamilton | Richard Easton | USA | Voice role |
Films
Television
| Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Hallmark Hall of Fame The Plot to Kidnap George Washington | Tod Griffin | USA | ||
| 1955 | You Are There Washington Crosses the Delaware (December 25, 1776) CBS | Russ Conway | USA | ||
| 1972 | Bewitched George Washington Zapped Here (Parts 1 and 2) | Will Geer | USA | ||
| 1975 | The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence | Jim Henson | USA | Featured a Muppet version of George Washington | |
| 1989 | A Little Bit Strange | N/a | USA/Canada | ||
| 1998–2001 | Histeria! | N/a | USA | Featured a caricature of Washington modeled after Bob Hope as an occasional guest host. | |
| 1999 | Celebrity DeathMatch | N/a | USA | Faced-off against Abraham Lincoln | |
| 2007 | Masters of Horror "The Washingtonians" | N/a | USA | Washington is portrayed as a cannibal in a fictional account of alternate history. | |
| 2011 | Deadliest Warrior | Nick Schroeder (young) | USA | In the third-season premiere, Washington battled Napoleon. | |
| 2013–2014 | Sleepy Hollow | Louis Herthum | USA | ||
| 2014 | Epic Rap Battles of History | Peter Shukoff | USA | YouTube web series; episode "George Washington vs. William Wallace". | |
| 2014 | Ben 10: Omniverse | David Kaye | USA | Voice role | |
| 2014–2017 | Turn: Washington's Spies | Ian Kahn | USA | ||
| 2015 | Turn: Washington's Spies | Bryan Adrian | USA | ||
| 2016 | Timeless | Damian O'Hare | USA | ||
| 2017 | Legends of Tomorrow | Randall Batinkoff | USA | Two episodes | |
| 2018 | Outlander | Simon Harrison | Scotland/USA | Episode
"Wilmington" |
Television movies
| Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Valley Forge | Richard Basehart | USA | TV movie directed by Fielder Cook | [17] | |
| 1976 | The Patriots | Ralph Clanton | USA | TV movie directed by Bob Hankal and Robert Strane | [18] | |
| 1979 | The Rebels | Peter Graves | USA | TV movie directed by Russ Mayberry | [19] | |
| 1992 | 1775 | Adam West | USA | TV movie directed by David Trainer | [20] | |
| 2000 | The Crossing | Jeff Daniels | USA | TV movie directed by Robert Harmonstarring | [21] | |
| 2003 | Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor | Kelsey Grammer | USA | TV movie directed by Mikael Salomon | [22] |
Miniseries
| Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | George Washington | Barry Bostwick | USA | TV miniseries directed by Buzz Kulik | |
| 1986 | George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation | Barry Bostwick | USA | TV miniseries directed by William A. Graham | |
| 1997 | LIBERTY! The American Revolution | Stephen Lang (voice) | USA | TV miniseries directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer | |
| 2000 | Founding Fathers | Brian Dennehy (voice) | USA | TV miniseries directed by Mark Hufnail and Melissa Jo Peltier | |
| 2000 | The American President | Walter Cronkite (voice) | USA | TV miniseries directed by Philip Kunhardt III, Philip Kunhardt Jr., Peter W. Kunhardt, and James A. Edgar | |
| 2002 | Liberty's Kids | Michael Santo (voice) | USA | TV animated series | |
| 2006 | Washington the Warrior | Jackson Bolt, Shea Patrick (young) | USA | TV miniseries directed by Robert M. Wise | |
| 2006 | The War That Made America | Larry Nehring | USA | TV miniseries directed by Ben Loeterman and Eric Stange | |
| 2008 | John Adams | David Morse | USA | TV miniseries directed by Tom Hooper starring David Morse as Washington | |
| 2015 | Sons of Liberty | Jason O'Mara | USA | TV miniseries | |
| 2020 | Washington | Nicholas Rowe | USA | TV miniseries |
Theatre
| Date | Title | Portrayers | Country | Notes | IMDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | George Washington | Walter Hampden | USA | Ran for 16 performances[23] | |
| 2015 | Hamilton | Christopher Jackson, Nicholas Christopher, Isaiah Johnson | USA | Musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, written by Lin Manuel-Miranda. Washington features as a main character in the musical. A digital recording of the musical is available on Disney+. |
Video games
George Washington is featured in modern video games as a prominent fictionalized character from world history in Age of Empires III, Civilization V and Assassin's Creed III (as himself in game and a counter-history King in DLC). These games are discussed in Winnerling and Kershbaumer's Early Modernity and Video Games explaining that the player manipulating the games' semiotic system of communications thereby "gives insights in his historical consciousness."[24]
| Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure | N/a | USA | One of the historical figures that must be retrieved within the game. | ||
| 1993 | Day of the Tentacle | N/a | USA | A character that travels to the past meets George Washington, and among other things, "converts" a kumquat tree to a cherry tree for George to cut down | ||
| 1993 | Mario's Time Machine | N/a | USA | |||
| 1994 | Liberty or Death | N/a | Japan, USA | [25] | ||
| 2004 | The Political Machine | N/a | USA | |||
| 2005 | Age of Empires III | Daniel Riordan | USA | Voice role | ||
| 2005 | Civilization IV | N/a | USA | |||
| 2007 | Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs | Daniel Riordan | USA | Voice role | ||
| 2008 | The Political Machine 2008 | N/a | USA | |||
| 2008 | Civilization IV: Colonization | N/a | USA | |||
| 2009 | Scribblenauts | N/a | USA | Washington also appears in a similar fashion in all of the sequels to Scribblenauts. | ||
| 2009 | Empire: Total War | N/a | USA | Washington is a selectable general for the United States faction | ||
| 2010 | Civilization V | Marcel Jeanin | USA | Voice role | ||
| 2012 | The Political Machine 2012 | N/a | USA | |||
| 2012 | Assassin's Creed III | Robin Atkin Downes | Canada | Voice role. Ratonhnhaké:ton interacts with Washington during the course of the American Revolution. | [26] | |
| 2012 | Assassin's Creed III: The Tyranny of King Washington | Robin Atkin Downes | Canada | Voice role. Revolves around an alternative history, wherein Washington becomes corrupted by an ancient artifact, and dubs himself King. | [27] | |
| 2013 | BioShock Infinite | N/a | Patriot robots are modeled after George Washington. | [28] | ||
| 2014 | Team Fortress 2 | N/a | USA | George Washington is featured in a comic called A Cold Day in Hell. | [29] | |
| 2014 | Second Chance Heroes | N/a | USA, Canada | George Washington is featured in a comic book introduction to the game. | ||
| 2014 | Assassin's Creed: Rogue | Tod Fennell | Bulgaria | Voice role. A young Washington briefly appears during a party for his half-brother, Lawrence. | ||
| 2016 | The Political Machine 2016 | N/a | USA | |||
| 2018 | The Council | Christian Erickson | France | Voice role | [30] | |
| 2020 | The Political Machine 2020 | N/a | USA | |||
| 2020 | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | Daniel Riordan | USA | Voice role | ||
| 2021 | Funko Pop! Blitz | USA | ||||
| 2025 | Electoral Carnage | N/a | USA |
Internet
| Date | Title | Portrayer | Country | Notes | IMDB | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Epic Rap Battles of History | Peter Shukoff | USA | Washington features in a rap battle against Scottish resistance leader William Wallace. | [31] | |
See also
Wikiquote has quotations related to George Washington.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Washington.