Abraham Lincoln was first depicted onscreen in 1911, only 46 years after his assassination.
(He was then, by coincidence, as recent a historical figure as John Kennedy is to us — JFK was assassinated not quite 46 years ago, in 1963.)
Among his other honors, Lincoln has gone on to become the president most often portrayed in movies and television.
Here are five highlights:
“Young Mr. Lincoln” (1939): Henry Fonda plays Lincoln as a young man, from his origins up through his early successes as a lawyer in Springfield, Ill. Beautifully acted and filmed, it’s one of director John Ford’s most evocative pieces of Hollywood Americana.
“The Savage Curtain” episode of “Star Trek” (1969): Lee Bergere played Lincoln, but actually he wasn’t really Lincoln but an idealized projection from Capt. James T. Kirk’s mind, the creation of evil space aliens trying to control the Enterprise. They’ll stoop to anything, these space aliens.
“They’ve Killed President Lincoln” (1971): Joseph Leisch Jr. played Lincoln in this Robert Guenette production, which uses then-modern documentary techniques and simulated interviews to propound a conspiracy theory about Lincoln’s death, implicating Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Fascinating and eerie.
“Gore Vidal’s Lincoln” (1988): Nice portrayal of Lincoln by Sam Waterston in this made-for-TV miniseries, the only blight being Waterston’s insistence on emphasizing “the people” rather than the “of,” “by” and “for” in the Gettysburg Address, thus launching an unfortunate trend that continues to this day.
“CSA: The Confederate States of America” (2004): In Kevin Wilmott’s speculative history, the Union is defeated, and Lincoln lives to become a bitter old man.
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