History Bites - Actors

Actors

Regulars on the show (along with the characters they played/parodied) include:

  • Ron Pardo: David Letterman, Ed Sullivan, Howard Stern, Dennis Miller, Don Cherry, Tom Brokaw, Ted Koppel, Ivan the Terrible, Larry King, Regis Philbin, Julius Caesar, Justinian I, William Shakespeare, Henry Hudson, Bill Maher, Dating Game contestant, Jerry Seinfeld, Jerry Springer, interviewed merchant, Woody Allen, Archie Bunker, Paul 'Pegleg' Begala, Neil Diamond, Gene Siskel, Bill Clinton, Sir Isaac Newton.
  • Rick Green: Ron MacLean, Hugh Downs, Timmy the Jeopardy! contestant, Dating Game contestant, interviewed monk.
  • Bob Bainborough: period newscaster, game show host, infomercial lawyer, Andy Rooney, Tamerlane, Galileo Galilei, Nostradamus, John Calvin, Oliver Cromwell, Pythagoras, Neolithic doctor, Shakespearean actor, Samurai, Vlad the Impaler, Alexander the Great's general.
  • Janet van de Graaf: Martha Stewart, Bev Downer, Barbara Walters, Greta Van Susteren, Anne Robinson, Empress Theodora, period on-location newscaster, interviewed noblewoman.
  • Teresa Pavlinek: period newscaster, Cleopatra, Neolithic nurse, interviewed Valley girl peasant, interviewed Puritan woman, Hatshepsut.
  • Peter Oldring: Children's show host, Cheng Ho, Alexander the Great, Bill Maher, George Costanza (Seinfeld), Dating Game contestant, dating infomercial host, interviewed rebellious teenager.
  • Sarah Lafleur: video show host, Elaine Benes (Seinfeld), dating game contestant, Joan of Arc.
  • Sam Kalilieh: Throk (Neolithic farmer), Sostratos of Sycion (Olympic Pankration champion), Thutmoses III, Sargon of Akkad, Tom Green, Pistachio the gladiator, interviewed common man.

As well, members of the show's writing staff were frequently used as extras or in bit roles, and as the series progressed, the writers (especially Danny DiTata) began to be featured in larger roles:

  • Danny DiTata (writer): Steve Irwin, Wyatt Earp, Jesus, Richard Simmons, George Costanza (Seinfeld), leper.
  • Jeremy Winkels (writer): Paul Shaffer, common man.
  • Eric Lunsky (writer): Charles the Simple, Native American, Egyptian architect, interviewed merchant, interviewed peasant.
  • Amy McKenzie (writer): Judge Judy, Shakespearean actor (not actress), interviewed peasant.
  • Duncan McKenzie (writer): Abraham Lincoln, William Farel, Leonard the Jeopardy! contestant.

Notable guest stars include:

  • Patrick McKenna
  • Wayne Robson
  • Jessica Holmes
  • Bob Martin
  • Mag Ruffman

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Famous quotes containing the word actors:

    “Modern tourist guides have helped raised tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives—from Kaiser Wilhelm down to the villagers of Chichacestenango—with a detailed and itemized list of what is expected of them and when. These are the up-to- date scripts for actors on the tourists’ stage.”
    —Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)

    “The great actors are the luminous ones. They are the great conductors of the stage.”
    —Minnie Maddern Fiske (1865–1932)

    “Today the young actors regard their environment with rage and disgust. They regard their Master not as disciples regard their Master, but as slaves regard their Master.”
    —Judith Malina (b. 1926)