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The Danza: Difference between revisions
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Another common reason for doing this is that if an actor is famous enough, people will always refer to him/her by his/her real name even when discussing him/her as a fictional character (unless, of course, [[Big Star Is Main Character|the character he/she is portraying is even]] ''[[Big Star Is Main Character|more]]'' [[Big Star Is Main Character|iconic]], with the exception of [[The Other Darrin|said character being played by different actors and/or in multiple media]]). To avoid the annoyance or awkwardness of this character being constantly referred to as "[Famous name's] character", it's often best to just give them the same first name.
Sometimes this is used for child actors, to make things a little less confusing around the set. Also sometimes used for token ethnic minority characters, where it seemed that the program's staff were frightened to think up an original name and just used the name of the actor.
Or sometimes it's just a coincidence.
It's not a Danza if the character already has the name from an adaptation; in such a case the character is not being named for the actor.
Not to be confused with an actor or celebrity actually playing themselves. That's [[As Himself]] (if they're a main character) or [[Special Guest]] (if they show up for a single episode). How to differentiate? Is Bob the Actor playing Bob the Actor? Or does he just happen to be playing a character that's also named Bob? The second one is [[The Danza]].
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* Maya in ''[[Burn Up|Burn-Up! W & Burn-Up! Excess]]'' is voiced by [[Maya Okamoto]].
* ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' did this for some of the kids' parents' first names.
* In the English version of ''[[Project
* Aya Stanford from ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula]] SIN'' is voiced by [[Aya Hisakawa]].
* In ''[[Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko]]'', [[Kana Hanazawa]] provides the voice of a minor character named Hanazawa.
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* Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in ''A Cock and Bull Story'', as well as playing Tristram Shandy and his brother, also play "Steve Coogan" and "Rob Brydon".
* David Della Rocco in ''[[The Boondock Saints]].'' The role was written specifically for him, but then again he was friends with the writer before they even started.
* David Hewlett as David Worth in ''[[Cube]]''. This might be chalked down to coincidence if not for the fact that Hewlett and Natali have been good friends since high school - because of this he probably had some input in choosing his character's full name.
* In ''[[Desperado]],'' [[Steve Buscemi]] plays a character called "Buscemi".
* Subverted in ''[[Zack and Miri Make a Porno]]'', with two gay lovers with the name of one being a play on the name of the actor playing another: Bobby ''Long'' played by ''Brandon'' Routh and ''Brandon'' St. Randy played by Justin ''Long''.
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** Considering his birth name was Sing, his characters in ''[[Shaolin Soccer]]'' and ''[[Kung Fu Hustle]]'' are also [[The Danza]].
* Rudy Del Campo plays a character named simply "Del Campo" in the film version of ''[[West Side Story]]''.
* ''China Strike Force''. In the English dub, at least three characters are named for the actor: Coolio plays Coolio, Norika Fujiwara plays Norika, and Ken Lo plays Ken Lo.
* Stella Stevens as Stella Purdy in [[Jerry Lewis]]'s ''[[The Nutty Professor]]''.
* Done backwards in [[Kenneth Branagh]]'s ''[[Henry V]]'', where Michael Williams plays "Michael Williams".
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* [[The Three Stooges]] were almost always this in their films. The names were a bit of a change situation, but were their main professional ones. The Horowitz boys were Moses ('Moe'), Jerome (nicknamed 'Curly' for his hair after his then-current nickname 'Babe' was taken), and Samuel (their mother's attempts to say it ended up as 'Shemp', and it stuck). Louis Feinberg had already taken the name 'Larry Fine' before joining the act. Joe Besser was the only one who didn't have to change anything at all. Joseph Wardell had used 'Joe DeRita' well before meeting the Stooges. Emil Sitka would've been the only one to make a name out of whole cloth ('Harry'), but the act died (with Moe) before any films could be made. RARE exceptions include ''Woman Haters'' (the first short, and part of another lineup of films Columbia was doing; they had character names) and the rare time when they would play actual others (opposite themselves), especially in drag.
* [[Sleazy Politician|Corrupt town councilman]] Bill Heslop in ''[[Muriel's Wedding|Muriels Wedding]]'' is played by the veteran Australian actor Bill Hunter.
* ''[[Silent Movie (film)|Silent Movie]]'' features [[Mel Brooks]] as Mel Funn, [[Young Frankenstein|Marty Feldman]] as Marty Eggs, and [[An American Tail|Dom De Luise]] as Dom Bell.
* Norman Wisdom played characters called Norman in a total of 13 films during the '50s and '60s. He is probably best remembered playing Norman Pitkin, opposite Edward Chapman as [[Phrase Catcher|Mr. Grimsdale]].
* Glenn Morshower as "General Morshower" in the second and third ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'' films.
* Reggae singer Willi One Blood plays a henchman in ''[[The Professional]]''. Stansfield calls him "Blood", and another character calls him "Willi".
* In ''[[Starter for Ten]]'' Alice Eve plays Alice and Rebecca Hall plays Rebecca.
* In ''[[Moonraker]]'', French actress Corrine Clery portrays Corrine Dufour.
* British wartime comedian George Formby played a character named George in 18 of his 21 starring roles, including several where he is name-checked in the title (''Come On George!'', ''Let George Do It!'').
* In ''[[Bad Boys]]'', Theresa Randle plays Theresa Burnett
* In ''[[Four Weddings and a Funeral]]'', David is played by David Bower.
* In ''[[True Lies]]'', Jean-Claude Parachino plays a bit part as...Jean-Claude. He's the guy who records the lines Harry plays back when Helen poses as a prostitute in the suite.
* [[John Malkovich]] as John Malkovich in ''[[Being John Malkovich]]'', obviously. He isn't ''quite'' playing himself, since the character's middle name is different from his own.
* In Brazilian film ''[[The Elite Squad]]'' André Ramiro plays André Matias (though the first name rarely shows up due to [[Last-Name Basis]]).
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* Author self-insertion characters tend to follow this naming convention (i.e. "Herald Myste," who represents [[Mercedes Lackey|Mercedes "Misty" Lackey]] in the [[Heralds of Valdemar|Valdemar series]]). This can (further) blur the line between simple author insertion and a [[Mary Sue]] character.
* The playwright Moliere sometimes named characters after the original actors that played them.
* The novel ''[[The Bone People]]'' by Keri Hulme has a protagonist named Kerewin Holmes.
* This editor believes that the name of an Austrian emperor indicates a use of this in Kafka's ''The Trial'' -- compare [[Franz Kafka]] with (Franz) Josef K{afka); the protagonist of another novel, ''The Castle,'' is called simply "K".
* [[Philip K. Dick]]'s protagonist "Horselover Fat" in ''[[VALIS]]''. This story proceeds as a first-person framing of a third-person narrative, until a character [[No Fourth Wall|actually calls him out]] and shows how "Horselover" is a [[Lampshade Hanging|thinly-veiled translation]] of Dick's own name, and the two men are really the same person.
* David Wong, main character of ''[[John Dies at the End]]'', by David Wong. Not necessarily, as David Wong is just a pen name.
* Possibly the earliest example of this trope in literature would be ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'' by Dante Aligheri featuring a protagonist named Dante Aligheri.
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* In ''[[Danis House]]'', Max is played by Sebastian Applewhite. His ''middle'' name is Sebastian ([[S 4 E 7]].)
* In the [[Nickelodeon]] sitcom ''[[Victorious]]'', [[Victoria Justice]] plays Victoria "Tori" Vega.
* While we're mentioning [[Idol Singer|musically gifted actresses with their own sitcom]], China Anne Mcclain plays Chyna Parks on ''[[ANT Farm]]''. Different spelling but it still counts, although in real-life she goes by China Anne instead just China, similar to Mary-Kate Olsen not going by just Mary.
* Some of the supporting officemates in ''[[The Office]]'' share their character's first names. This is because many of then are [[Ascended Extra|Ascended Extras]]. Also, Michael screens a movie starring himself as Michael Scarn, an obvious [[Mary Sue]] [[Author Avatar]].
* [[Norm MacDonald]] plays Norm Henderson on ''[[The Norm Show]]''. An early commercial showed Norm not responding to his character's original name, forcing the showrunner to change it to his real name to avoid confusion.
* Fred Willard played a bartender named Fred (Or Freddie, as the Nixon puppet would refer to him) on ''[[D.C. Follies]]''.
* Mayko Tran on ''[[Regenesis]]'' is played by Mayko Ngyuen.
* Bob Newhart as Bob Hartley on ''[[The Bob Newhart Show]]'', and Bob McKay on ''[[Bob]]''. His other show was named ''Newhart'', but the character's name was Dick Loudon. In ''George & Leo'', his character was George, the actor's actual birth name.
* Ray Romano as Ray Barone in ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]''.
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* ''[[Cheers]]''
** Harry Anderson as "Harry the Hat". Anderson had used "Harry the Hat" as a stage name for years before appearing on TV, when he was a stage magician and real-life con man, making it in some ways even ''more'' of a Danza than usual). Anderson also played Judge Harry Stone on [[Night Court]].
** Selma Diamond as Baliff Selma Hacker and her replacement Bailiff Florence Kleiner played by Florence Halop.
** Charles Robinson shares the same last name as his character Mac Robinson.
** One could also argue Yakov Smirnoff as Yakov Korplenko.
** Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd looks like this, but it's a coincidence: the character was named Woody before Harrelson was cast.
* [[Miley Cyrus]] as Miley Stewart in ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' -- this also counts as [[Alter Ego Acting]] because Miley is seen performing as Hannah onstage in real life too. More so since she legally changed her name to "Miley" from her birth name of "Destiny Hope Cyrus". ("Smiley Miley" was a nickname her father gave her as an infant.) The character was named ''Chloe Stewart''. [[Word of God]] says the writers changed it to "Miley" as there were too many names for a 12-year old to remember.
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* Jim Belushi as Jim in ''[[According to Jim]]''.
* Victoria Jackson as Victoria in the failed 1984 ''[[M*A*S*H|Mash]]'' spinoff, ''W* A* L* T* E* R''.
* Rare last-name Danza: Mackenzie Phillips as Molly Phillips in ''[[So Weird]]''.
* Another especially convoluted example would be Redd Foxx (born John Elroy Sanford), playing Fred Sanford in ''[[Sanford and Son]]''.
* Tracy Morgan plays Tracy Jordan in ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]''. Tracy Jordan is essentially an [[Adam Westing|exaggerated, simple-minded caricature]] of Tracy Morgan.
* Full-name Danzas include:
** Jerry Seinfeld in ''[[Seinfeld]]''. Estelle Costanza fits the trope too, though her real life surname is Harris.
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* Delores Hall as Nurse Delores Mitchell in ''[[Diagnosis: Murder]]''
* Yasuko Nagazami as Yasko and Alibe Parsons as Alibe in ''[[Space: 1999]]''.
* Tia and Tamera Mowry as Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell in ''[[Sister, Sister]]'' (In the series, they're twins separated at birth and adopted by different people, hence different surnames)
* [[Reba McEntire]] as Reba Hart in ''[[Reba]]''. This is a clear case of [[The Danza]]: the character was originally named Sally, until Reba was signed to play the part.
* ''[[Drake and Josh]]'', starring Drake Bell and Josh Peck as Drake Parker and Josh Nichols, respectively.
* ''[[UFO]]'' had several first-name Danzas: Ed Bishop played Ed Straker, Gabrielle Drake played Gay Ellis and Peter Gordeno played Peter Carlin.
* In ''[[The Pretender]]'', Andrea Parker plays female lead character Miss Parker, but this is apparently a genuine coincidence. On the other hand, her [[Mooks]] are first-name Danzas (with [[No Name Given|no last name]]) to a man, apparently as an acknowledgement that it's not worth the effort of giving them real names.
* Matthew Perry's character Matt in ''[[Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip]]''. Sorkin has actually stated that he called the character "Matt" because when he was writing he couldn't think of another actor to play the part.
* Many of the supporting cast on the U.S. version of ''[[The Office]]'' share first names with their characters, including Phyllis, Angela, and Oscar. Creed Bratton plays a fictionalized version of himself, so he skirts into [[As Himself]] territory.
* [[Charlie Sheen]] has played characters named Charlie on several occasions, notably on ''[[Spin City]]'' and ''[[Two and A Half Men]]''. He even played "Charlie" in the sequel to ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]''.
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* On ''[[Gilmore Girls]],'' Sookie's husband Jackson is played by Jackson Douglas. His real-life girlfriend almost played Sookie.
* Long time ago now, but the [[Britcom]] ''Terry and June'' starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield as Terry and June Medford. They ''also'' starred as Terry and June ''Fletcher'' in an earlier [[Britcom]] ''Happy Ever After'' - the same couple in a different house with a troublesome aunt and her mynah bird. ([[Captain Ersatz|This was not accidental.]])
* Even older, ''Bless This House'' featured Sid James (of [[Carry On]] fame) as Sid Abbot, and Sally Gleeson as Sally Abbot. Plus, the 1972 feature film version contains a meta-''aversion'' (by virtue of the fact that it became a notable example later): Terry Scott and June Whitfield played new neighbours Ronald and Vera Baines -- the first outing of (and virtually identical to) the on-screen couple that would later make them a Britcom cliché (see ''Terry and June'' above).
* Comedian Joel Hodgson as Joel Robinson (from ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'') in ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''. The last name was only changed because Hodgson was considered hard to pronounce. Michael J. Nelson, his replacement... played Mike Nelson. And "TV's Frank" was played by Frank Conniff.
* In ''[[News Radio]]'', Dave Nelson was played by Dave Foley and Joe Garelli was played by Joe Rogan. Phil Hartman's character Bill McNeal was intentionally named to be ''almost'' a Danza. In the episode "Chock", Dave's old a cappella singing group stops by, the other three members being named David, Bob, and Brian. They were played by ''Mr. Show'' alums [[David Cross]], Bob Odenkirk, and Brian Posehn.
* In addition to the Tracy Jordan/Morgan example, ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]'' features Grizz Chapman as Grizz Griswold, one half of Tracy's loyal "entourage".
* ''[[Baywatch]]'': A great many one-shot guests kept their actors' full names. One such character goes on to become a regular (Michael Newman, aka Michael "Newmie" Newman.)
* Both members of ''[[Flight of the Conchords]]'': Jemaine Clement plays Jemaine Clemaine; Bret McKenzie plays Bret McClegnie. Additionally, a few guest characters have been Danzas: Demetri (Demetri Martin), Todd (Todd Barry), and Jim (Jim Gaffigan).
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* [[Playboy]] Playmate Julie McCullough as Mike's girlfriend Julie Costello on ''[[Growing Pains (TV)|Growing Pains]]'' in the 1989-1990 season.
* Bob McGrath as Bob Johnson and Linda Bove as Linda in ''[[Sesame Street]]''.
** In a roundabout way, the character Gordon's last name in ''[[Sesame Street]]'' was eventually revealed to be Robinson. This was long after Matt Robinson's term as the character, and this is thus more of a [[Mythology Gag]] (Gordon is currently played by Roscoe Orman). Miles Orman (who was also Roscoe Orman's [[Real Life Relative|real-life son]]) was Miles Robinson.
* Cybill Shephard as Cybill Sheridan in... ''[[Cybill]]''.
* In ''[[The Tomorrow People]]'' Elizabeth was played by Elizabeth Adare and Mike by Michaul Holloway.
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* Comedian Mark Curry as Mark Cooper in ''[[Hanginwith Mr. Cooper]]''.
* ''Get a Life'' had Chris Elliott as Chris Peterson.
* Carrying on the tradition from ''[[Stella]]'', ''Michael And Michael Have Issues'' stars Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black.
* Fran Drescher played Fran Fine on ''[[The Nanny]]''. In addition, her character's parents, Morty and Sylvia Fine, were named after her parents, Morty and Silvia Drescher.
** And again as Fran Reeves on ''[[Living With Fran]]''
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* [[Jennifer Love Hewitt]] guest-starred in an episode of ''[[Boy Meets World]]'', "And Then There was Shawn", as Jennifer Love Fefferman
* In many episodes of ''[[El Chapulin Colorado]]'', the supporting cast is named after the actors who play them: therefore, we have Carlos Villagrán as Carlos, Ramón Valdés as Ramón, Rubén Aguirre as Rubén and so on. Roberto Gomez Bolaños (a.k.a. Chespirito) once explained he did this to allow the actors to form a bond with their characters (even though they were mostly just innocent bystanders).
** Conversely, in ''[[El Chavo
* Most of the main characters of ''[[The Sarah Silverman Program]]''.
* ''[[Coronation Street]]'' has long-running star Betty Driver as Betty Williams.
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* ''[[Coupling]]'' has a variant: characters Steve and Susan share the names of ''writer'' [[Steven Moffat]] and ''producer'' Sue Vertue, on whom they're [[Dramatization|loosely modeled]].
* Another variant on ''[[Glee]]''-- The character Kurt Hummel is so named because the actor who plays him, Chris Colfer, once played Kurt Von Trapp in ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' and looks like a Hummel figurine.
** Brad [[The Piano Player]] is played by Brad Ellis.
* Ron Glass (AKA Shepherd Book from ''[[Firefly]]'') played Detective Ron Harris in ''[[Barney Miller]]''
* The French series ''Hénaut Président'' is made of this trope; of the 7 main characters SIX are playing characters with whom they share a first name - every major character other than the lead (the eponymous Hénaut).
* Subverted on the UPN show ''Eve'', where the rapper Eve's character was named...Shelley. (The series was originally called ''The Opposite Sex'' until the title change.)
* A case of the almost-Danza: The character of Rollin Hand in ''[[Mission Impossible (TV series)|Mission Impossible]]'' was written for actor Martin Landau, and was almost named "Martin Land".
* Almost every single bloody sketch on ''[[French and Saunders (TV)|French and Saunders]]'' has Dawn and Jennifer as... Dawn and Jennifer. Even in the film spoofs.
** Oh, and also Jen in ''Girls on Top''.
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* Miranda Hart as the title character of ''[[Miranda]]''.
** These are something of a fictionalized version of [[As Himself|as themselves]]
* Simon Anstell as Simon in ''[[Grandma's House|Grandmas House]]'' takes this [[Up to Eleven]]; his first major writing and acting gig since leaving ''[[Never Mind the Buzzcocks]]'', the fictional Simon is a TV presenter who just left a [[Panel Game]] and is looking for something else to do with his life.
* Derek Van Der Lint as Derek Raine in ''[[Poltergeist: The Legacy]]''.
* [[Whitney Blake]] played Dorothy Baxter on ''[[Hazel]]'', and was a former "Mrs. Baxter" in real life ([[Meredith Baxter]] of ''[[Family Ties]]'' fame is her daughter).
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** There's also Chris the builder, played by Chris Neill.
* Ben Lyon, his wife Bebe Daniels and their children in ''Life With The Lyons'', also a fictionalised version of the actors.
* And Jeremy Hardy and Kit Hollerbach as Jeremy and Kit in ''Unnatural Acts'' (later retitled ''At Home With The Hardys'' in parody of ''Life With The Lyons'').
* The Golden Age of Radio (1920-1950) was filled with shows like this, mostly comedy sitcoms: Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Fred Allen, Abbott and Costello, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and many others.
* Justin Moorhouse as Justin in ''Everybody Quite Likes Justin''.
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* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' stage play "Seven Keys to Doomsday", the companions were going to be called Dave and Jenny; but when James Mathews was cast, his character was renamed to Jimmy. Later stage revivals reverted to "Dave", but in the [[Big Finish]] audio version he's "Jimmy" again.
* The short lived yet wildly popular Broadway musical ''[[Title of Show]]''. In fact, the show takes it up a notch with it being "a musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical" (guess how many guys wrote this musical?) and the song "I Am Playing Me."
* In ''[[American Idiot]]'', the rock opera featuring [[Green Day]]'s music, the main character Johnny was named after the actor who plays him -- John Gallagher Jr. (who uses the name 'Johnny Gallager' in his music career).
* Most [[Cirque Du Soleil]] clowns use their own names for their characters, and occasionally more serious character roles get the same treatment, in which case the name may stick with the character after the original performer leaves. Notable examples:
** ''[[Mystere]]'': Brian Le Petit (Dewhurst) and Bebe Francois (Dupuis).
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* [[Jennifer Hale]] was Jennifer Mui in ''[[Mercenaries]]''.
* In ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|Golden Eye 1997]]'', Dr. Doak was named and modeled after developer David Doak.
* One of the models to portray Lara Croft during publicity for the ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' games was named Lara Weller. Her friends suggested that she try out for the part partially because she shared the character's first name.
* In ''[[Resident Evil (video game)|Resident Evil]]'' Barry Gjerde was the voice of Barry Burton.
* In ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'', Saika Magoichi's real name is revealed to be Sayaka. In the original Japanese, she is voiced by [[Sayaka Ohara]].
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* [[John Candy]] in ''Camp Candy''.
* Arianna Huffington as ''[[The Cleveland Show]]'''s Arianna the Bear
* One Danza that is not the main character (and isn't their biggest part in the show) is Cree Lincoln from ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' who is voiced by [[Cree Summer]], [[Talking to Himself|who also voices her little sister, Abby/Numbah 5]]).
** Another minor character Numbuh 362 is given the name Rachel, her voice actor? [[Rachael MacFarlane]] ([[Seth MacFarlane|yes, that MacFarlane]])
* Minor character example -- in several episodes of ''[[Kim Possible]]'', [[Tara Strong]] has played a character named "Tara". But then, [[Man of a Thousand Voices|she's played]] ''[[Talking to Himself|so]]'' [[Hey, It's That Voice!|many roles]] that it was bound to happen eventually.
* Also Julie Brown as Julie [[Stealth Pun|Bruin]] in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]''. In this case, she's effectively [[Adam Westing|parodying herself]].
* ''[[Kappa Mikey]]'' has its main characters playing characters with the same name in the [[Show Within a Show]]. As a bonus, Mikey Simon's voice actor is Michael Sinterniklaas, setting up a recursive Danza.
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* Of all shows, there's one in ''[[Chowder]]''. Rueben is voiced by Paul Ruebens.
* Lisa Lougheed as Lisa on ''[[The Raccoons]]''. She also sang the better-known version of the [[Ending Theme]].
* Salli Richardson voices Elisa Maza in ''[[Gargoyles]]'', and also a minor character named Salli.
** Amusingly, in ''Turf'', Elisa goes undercover with the fake name Salli.
* Guy Hadley as Guy Graham on Disney's version of ''[[Doug]]''.
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