Cultural depictions of George Washington

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.

George Washington at Princeton,
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]

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
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

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes	Ref.
1909	Washington Under the American Flag	Joseph Kilgour	USA	Directed by J. Stuart Blackton	[2]
1909	Washington Under the British Flag			Directed by J. Stuart Blackton	[2]
1915	The Battle Cry of Peace			Directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Wilfrid North	[3]
1916	The Dawn of Freedom			Directed by Theodore Marston and Paul Scardon	[4]
1917	The Spirit of '76	William Beery		Directed by Frank Montgomery	[5]
1924	Yorktown	George Nash		Black and white silent film directed by Webster Campbell
1924	America	Arthur Dewey		Directed by D.W. Griffith
1927	The Flag	Francis X. Bushman		Directed by Arthur Maude
1931	Alexander Hamilton	Alan Mowbray		Directed by John G. Adolfi
1932	The Phantom President	Alan Mowbray		Directed by Norman Taurog
1936	Give Me Liberty	Robert Warwick		Directed by B. Reeves Eason
1939	Sons of Liberty	Montagu Love		Directed by Michael Curtiz
1940	The Howards of Virginia	George Houston		Directed by Frank Lloyd
1942	The Remarkable Andrew	Montagu Love		Directed by Stuart Heisler
1945	Where Do We Go from Here?	Alan Mowbray		Directed by Gregory Ratoff
1946	Monsieur Beaucaire	Douglass Dumbrille		Directed by George Marshall
1947	Unconquered	Richard Gaines		Directed by Cecil B. DeMille	[6]
1951	When the Redskins Rode	James Seay		Directed by Lew Landers	[7]
1959	John Paul Jones	John Crawford	USA / Spain	Directed by John Farrow	[8]
1961	La Fayette	Howard St. John	France / Italy	Directed by Jean Dréville	[9]
1976	Independence	Patrick O'Neal	USA	Directed by John Huston	[10]
2000	The Patriot	Terry Layman	USA	Directed by Roland Emmerich	[11]
2006	We Fight to Be Free	Sebastian Roché	USA	Directed by Kees Van Oostrum
2008	An American Carol	Jon Voight	USA	Directed by David Zucker	[12]
2014	Mr. Peabody & Sherman	Jess Harnell	USA	Directed by Rob Minkoff
2015	Beyond the Mask	John Arden McClure	USA	Directed by Chad Burns	[13]
2021	America: The Motion Picture	Channing Tatum (voice)	USA	Directed by Matt Thompson	[14]
	The General		USA
	The Virginian		USA	Directed by Jason Hall

Television

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes
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
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	Ref.
1975	Valley Forge	Richard Basehart	USA	TV movie directed by Fielder Cook	[15]
1976	The Patriots	Ralph Clanton	USA	TV movie directed by Bob Hankal and Robert Strane	[16]
1979	The Rebels	Peter Graves	USA	TV movie directed by Russ Mayberry	[17]
1992	1775	Adam West	USA	TV movie directed by David Trainer	[18]
2000	The Crossing	Jeff Daniels	USA	TV movie directed by Robert Harmonstarring	[19]
2003	Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor	Kelsey Grammer	USA	TV movie directed by Mikael Salomon	[20]

Miniseries

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes
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	Portrayer	Country	Notes	IMDB
1920	George Washington	Walter Hampden	USA	Ran for 16 performances[21]
2015	Hamilton	Christopher Jackson	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

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes	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		[22]
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. The assassin ancestor Ratonhnhaké:ton interacts with Washington during the course of the American Revolution.	[23]
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.	[24]
2013	BioShock Infinite	N/A		Patriot robots are modeled after George Washington.	[25]
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	[26]
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

Internet

Date	Title	Portrayer	Country	Notes	IMDB	Ref.
2014	Epic Rap Battles of History	Lloyd Ahlquist	USA	Washington features in a rap battle against Scottish resistance leader William Wallace.		[27]

References

"Stanley Meltzoff Archives: The 1976 Bell System Telephone Book Cover" JKL Museum of Telephony (December 19, 2015); retrieved March 16, 2021
Pencak, William (2010). Pennsylvania's Revolution. Penn State Press. p. 337. ISBN 9780271035796.
"The Battle Cry of Peace (1915)". Stanford University. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
Bolam, Sarah Miles; Bolam, Thomas J. (2007). The Presidents on Film: A Comprehensive Filmography of Portrayals from George Washington to George W. Bush. McFarland & Company. p. 392. ISBN 9780786424818.
Robertson, Patrick (1991). Guinness Movie Facts & Feats. Guinness Publishing. p. 49. ISBN 9780851129082.
Reinhart, Mark S. (1 January 2009). Abraham Lincoln on Screen: Fictional and Documentary Portrayals on Film and Television. McFarland Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 9780786452613.
Hilger, Michael (16 October 2015). Native Americans in the Movies: Portrayals from Silent Films to the Present. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 332. ISBN 9781442240025.
Rollins, Peter C. (24 March 2004). The Columbia Companion to American History on Film: How the Movies Have Portrayed the American Past. Columbia University Press. p. 201. ISBN 9780231508391.
Nowlan, Robert A. (10 January 2014). The American Presidents, Washington to Tyler: What They Did, What They Said, What Was Said About Them, with Full Source Notes. McFarland Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 9781476601182.
Oliver, Myrna (15 September 1994). "Patrick O'Neal; Versatile Actor, Restaurateur". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
Sommerlad, Joe (18 February 2019). "President's Day: How the 'leader of the free world' has been played on screen, from conflicted statesmen to heroic action heroes". Independent. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
Scheck, Frank (10 February 2008). "An American Carol". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
Tucker, Justin (17 September 2015). "Beyond the Mask – REVIEWS". UR Chicago. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
Kang, Inkoo (June 30, 2021). "A beefy George Washington avenges Lincoln's death in this cheekily inaccurate and dumb animated comedy". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
Henniger, Paul (30 November 1975). "Richard Basehart to star in 'Valley Forg' special". The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 50. Retrieved 19 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
"Goodson attacks "gimmickry"". Salina Journal. 26 May 1976. p. 15. Retrieved 19 February 2019 – via Newspaperarchive.
Coyne, Michael (30 September 2008). Hollywood Goes to Washington: American Politics on Screen. Reaktion Books. p. 60. ISBN 9781861895776.
Roberts, J. F. (11 October 2012). The True History of the Blackadder: The Unadulterated Tale of the Creation of a Comedy Legend. Random House. p. 258. ISBN 9781409051718.
Speier, Michael (3 January 2001). "The Crossing". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
Wertheimer, Ron (13 January 2003). "TELEVISION REVIEW; Is That You, Mr. W., or a Dream Sequence from 'Frasier'?". The New York Times. p. 5. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
"George Washington".
Weiss, Brett (9 July 2018). Classic Home Video Games, 1989–1990: A Complete Guide to Sega Genesis, Neo Geo and TurboGrafx-16 Games. McFarland Publishing. p. 132. ISBN 9780786492312.
Tamburro, Paul (8 June 2015). "New Prince of Persia Game to be Revealed at E3, According to Voice Actor". Mandatory.com. Evolve Media LLC. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
Grubb, Jeff (3 October 2012). "George Washington stars as the villain in Assassin's Creed III extra content". Venture Beat. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
McCaffrey, Ryan (22 March 2013). "BioShock Infinite PC Review". IGN. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
Rouner, Jef (3 September 2018). "The Historically Inaccurate George Washington in The Council". Houston Press. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
"George Washington vs William Wallace. Epic Rap Battles of History". Epic Rap Battles of History. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

External links

The Internet Movie Database – Most of the information for the films, video games, and television works are derived from information from this site

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Stanley Meltzoff Archives: The 1976 Bell System Telephone Book Cover" JKL Museum of Telephony (December 19, 2015); retrieved March 16, 2021

[2] Pencak, William (2010). Pennsylvania's Revolution. Penn State Press. p. 337. ISBN 9780271035796.

[3] "The Battle Cry of Peace (1915)". Stanford University. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2019.

[4] Bolam, Sarah Miles; Bolam, Thomas J. (2007). The Presidents on Film: A Comprehensive Filmography of Portrayals from George Washington to George W. Bush. McFarland & Company. p. 392. ISBN 9780786424818.

[5] Robertson, Patrick (1991). Guinness Movie Facts & Feats. Guinness Publishing. p. 49. ISBN 9780851129082.

[6] Reinhart, Mark S. (1 January 2009). Abraham Lincoln on Screen: Fictional and Documentary Portrayals on Film and Television. McFarland Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 9780786452613.

[7] Hilger, Michael (16 October 2015). Native Americans in the Movies: Portrayals from Silent Films to the Present. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 332. ISBN 9781442240025.

[8] Rollins, Peter C. (24 March 2004). The Columbia Companion to American History on Film: How the Movies Have Portrayed the American Past. Columbia University Press. p. 201. ISBN 9780231508391.

[9] Nowlan, Robert A. (10 January 2014). The American Presidents, Washington to Tyler: What They Did, What They Said, What Was Said About Them, with Full Source Notes. McFarland Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 9781476601182.

[10] Oliver, Myrna (15 September 1994). "Patrick O'Neal; Versatile Actor, Restaurateur". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2019.

[11] Sommerlad, Joe (18 February 2019). "President's Day: How the 'leader of the free world' has been played on screen, from conflicted statesmen to heroic action heroes". Independent. Retrieved 19 February 2019.

[12] Scheck, Frank (10 February 2008). "An American Carol". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 February 2019.

[13] Tucker, Justin (17 September 2015). "Beyond the Mask – REVIEWS". UR Chicago. Retrieved 19 February 2019.

[14] Kang, Inkoo (June 30, 2021). "A beefy George Washington avenges Lincoln's death in this cheekily inaccurate and dumb animated comedy". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 25, 2021.

[15] Henniger, Paul (30 November 1975). "Richard Basehart to star in 'Valley Forg' special". The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 50. Retrieved 19 February 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

[16] "Goodson attacks "gimmickry"". Salina Journal. 26 May 1976. p. 15. Retrieved 19 February 2019 – via Newspaperarchive.

[17] Coyne, Michael (30 September 2008). Hollywood Goes to Washington: American Politics on Screen. Reaktion Books. p. 60. ISBN 9781861895776.

[18] Roberts, J. F. (11 October 2012). The True History of the Blackadder: The Unadulterated Tale of the Creation of a Comedy Legend. Random House. p. 258. ISBN 9781409051718.

[19] Speier, Michael (3 January 2001). "The Crossing". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 19 February 2019.

[20] Wertheimer, Ron (13 January 2003). "TELEVISION REVIEW; Is That You, Mr. W., or a Dream Sequence from 'Frasier'?". The New York Times. p. 5. Retrieved 19 February 2019.

[21] "George Washington".

[22] Weiss, Brett (9 July 2018). Classic Home Video Games, 1989–1990: A Complete Guide to Sega Genesis, Neo Geo and TurboGrafx-16 Games. McFarland Publishing. p. 132. ISBN 9780786492312.

[23] Tamburro, Paul (8 June 2015). "New Prince of Persia Game to be Revealed at E3, According to Voice Actor". Mandatory.com. Evolve Media LLC. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

[24] Grubb, Jeff (3 October 2012). "George Washington stars as the villain in Assassin's Creed III extra content". Venture Beat. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

[25] McCaffrey, Ryan (22 March 2013). "BioShock Infinite PC Review". IGN. Retrieved 27 January 2022.

[26] Rouner, Jef (3 September 2018). "The Historically Inaccurate George Washington in The Council". Houston Press. Retrieved 27 November 2019.

[27] "George Washington vs William Wallace. Epic Rap Battles of History". Epic Rap Battles of History. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

George Washington
1st President of the United States (1789–1797) Senior Officer of the Army (1798–1799) Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army (1775–1783) Second Continental Congress (1775) First Continental Congress (1774)
Military career Revolutionary War	Military career French and Indian War Jumonville Glen Battle of Fort Necessity Battle of the Monongahela Forbes Expedition Washington and the American Revolution Commander-in-chief, Continental Army Aides-de-camp Washington's headquarters office and sleeping tent Boston campaign Siege of Boston New York and New Jersey campaign Delaware River crossing Battle of Trenton Battle of the Assunpink Creek Battle of Princeton Philadelphia campaign Battle of Brandywine Battle of Germantown Battle of White Marsh Valley Forge Battle of Monmouth Battles of Saratoga Sullivan Expedition Yorktown campaign Siege of Yorktown Culper Spy Ring Newburgh Conspiracy Newburgh letter Resignation as commander-in-chief Badge of Military Merit Purple Heart Washington Before Boston Medal Horses: Nelson and Blueskin
Other U.S. founding events	Initiated, 1769 Virginia Association Continental Association 1774 Fairfax Resolves Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture 1785 Mount Vernon Conference Chairman, 1787 Constitutional Convention George Washington's political evolution
Presidency	1788–89 United States presidential election Reception at Trenton 1792 inaugural bible Title of "Mr. President" Cabinet of the United States Secretary of State Attorney General Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of War Judiciary Act of 1789 Nonintercourse Act Whiskey Rebellion Militia Acts of 1792 Coinage Act of 1792 United States Mint Proclamation of Neutrality Neutrality Act of 1794 Jay Treaty Pinckney's Treaty Slave Trade Act of 1794 Residence Act Thanksgiving Proclamation Farewell Address State of the Union Address 1790 1791 1792 1793 1796 Cabinet Federal judicial appointments John Rutledge Supreme Court nominations
Views and public image	Presidential library The Washington Papers Religious views Washington and slavery Town Destroyer Legacy
Life and homes	Early life Birthplace Ferry Farm boyhood home Mount Vernon Gristmill Woodlawn Plantation Samuel Osgood House (First Presidential Mansion) Alexander Macomb House (Second Presidential Mansion) President's House, Philadelphia Germantown White House Custis estate Potomac Company James River and Kanawha Canal Mountain Road Lottery Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress President General of the Society of the Cincinnati Washington College Washington and Lee University Electoral history of George Washington
Memorials and depictions	Washington, D.C. Washington state Washington Monument Mount Rushmore Washington's Birthday Purple Heart The Apotheosis of Washington George Washington (Houdon) George Washington (Ceracchi) George Washington (Canova) George Washington (Greenough) George Washington (Trumbull) Washington Crossing the Delaware The Passage of the Delaware General George Washington at Trenton Washington at Verplanck's Point General George Washington Resigning His Commission Surrender of Lord Cornwallis Unfinished portrait Lansdowne portrait The Washington Family portrait Washington at Princeton paintings Reception at Trenton painting Princeton Battle Monument Point of View sculpture Austin statue Baltimore statue Boston statue Newark statue Philadelphia statue Portland statue Washington, D.C. statue West Point monument Mexico City statue George Washington University Washington University Washington Masonic National Memorial George Washington Memorial Parkway George Washington Bridge Washington and Jefferson National Forests Washington Monument, Baltimore Washington Square Park Arch List of memorials U.S. Postage stamps Washington-Franklin Issues 1932 bicentennial Currency Washington quarter 50 State Quarters D.C. and territories quarters America the Beautiful quarters American Women quarters Washington dollar Lafayette dollar Silver bullion coins Washington nickel 250th Anniversary half dollar Mount Washington Cultural depictions George Washington (1984 miniseries 1986 sequel) A More Perfect Union (1989 film) The Crossing (2000 film) We Fight to Be Free (2006 film) Turn: Washington's Spies (2014–2017 series) The War that Made America (2006 miniseries) Washington (2020 miniseries) Hamilton (film)
Related	Bibliography List of articles Founders Online Founding Fathers of the United States Republicanism Federalist Party Federalist Era Virginia dynasty Coat of arms Cherry-tree anecdote River Farm Washington's Crossing Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route 1751 Barbados trip Category Syng inkstand General of the Armies Conway Cabal American Philosophical Society American Revolution patriots Betsy Ross flag Mount Vernon Ladies' Association Mount Vernon replicas
Ancestry and family	Martha Washington (wife) John Parke Custis (stepson) George Washington Parke Custis (step-grandson, adopted son) Eleanor Parke Custis (step-granddaughter, adopted daughter) Augustine Washington (father) Mary Ball Washington (mother) Lawrence Washington (half-brother) Augustine Washington Jr. (half-brother) Betty Washington Lewis (sister) Samuel Washington (brother) John A. Washington (brother) Charles Washington (brother) Lawrence Washington (grandfather) John Washington (great-grandfather) Bushrod Washington (nephew)
John Adams → Category