10 prototype characters of famous films

Starting to read another book or deciding to watch a movie about the adventures of our favorite heroes, we are all well aware that we are talking about fictional events and characters. However, writers are often inspired by ordinary people.

Many famous heroes have prototypes that few people know about.

10 Michael Llewellyn Davis – Peter Pan

The creator of the story about Peter Pan never wrote for children, although he was a fairly well-known person in literary circles. In 1897 he lived in London. Walking his St. Bernard in Kensington Gardens, he met the Llewelyn Davies family. He was fascinated by 3 of their babies: George, who was 5 years old, Jack at the age of 3, and baby Peter. Later, Michael and Nicholas were born.

The writer became very friendly with the boys and their parents, especially with the elder George and Michael. It was the latter that became the prototype of Peter Pan. But some researchers believe that the image of the hero was written off from the writer’s brother, David. He died when James was 6 years old.

Or the prototype was James Matthew Barry himself, who admitted more than once that as a child he was afraid that he would have to give up games. He didn’t know how he could do it.

9. John Nettleship – Severus Snape

In the books of J.K. Rowling dedicated to Harry Potter, we meet Severus Snape. He teaches Potions at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

It is believed that the prototype of this character was a chemistry teacher who taught this subject at the Rowling School. His name was John Nettleship, nickname – Sting. He was not her favorite teacher, on the contrary, not the most pleasant memories were associated with him.

John himself remembered her as a quiet but promising girl. He died in March 2011 at age 71.

8. Joaquin Murieta – Zorro

Murieta was often called the Mexican Robin Hood. Some were sure that he was a bandit, others spoke of him as a patriot. It was Joaquin Murieta Carrillo who became the prototype of Zorro.

He became famous in the 1850s, but his name was overgrown with so many rumors that it is difficult to determine where the truth is, where the fiction is. He arrived in California in 1849, like many others, attracted by the gold rush.

According to the surviving documents, he had his own gang, consisting of relatives and friends. They attacked the settlers, stealing horses and gold. Murieta is believed to have been captured and killed. But there were rumors that he survived, and the rangers caught the wrong person.

7. Joseph Bell – Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the Sherlock Holmes series of stories, knew the surgeon Joseph Bell. He was famous for his ability to guess the character and past of any person, based on small details.

Bell was also a professor at the University of Edinburgh and encouraged students to use not only the brain, but also their eyes, hearing, and smell. So, he could easily determine that in front of him was a left-handed shoemaker by the tears in his trousers, and by the smell he could recognize the varnisher.

He was occasionally consulted by Scotland Yard when a doctor’s opinion was required. The writer met him in 1877. He worked as his assistant, so he could watch the professor every day. Conan Doyle never hid that it was his mentor who became the prototype of the hero.

6. Mehran Karimi Nasseri – Victor Navorsky

In 2004, the film “Terminal” was released. It’s about Victor Navorsky, who arrives in New York. During the flight, his visa is canceled, because. there was a coup in his country, and it ceased to exist. Victor is forced to stay at the airport, although not everyone likes it.

The film was based on the autobiography of a real person, Mehran Karimi Naseri. He lived in the terminal of one of the airports from 1988 to 2006. He was expelled from Iran and was going to stay in Glasgow. But on the way, documents were stolen from the Iranian.

Naseri remained at the airport. The authorities could not let him into France, and also force him to leave the terminal. It was difficult for him to issue new documents. And the Iranian stayed at the airport.

Later, journalists found out about him, interviewed him. In 1998, lawyers helped him restore the documents, but Naseri did not want to leave the airport. He left there only in 2006 due to health problems.

5. Hiram Bingham III – Indiana Jones

This character has been the main character in a number of adventure films. The creators of the paintings never directly said who exactly was the prototype of their hero. They could be paleontologist Roy Champen Andrews, German archaeologist Otto Rahn, or American archaeologist Hyrum Bingham. Indiana Jones knew the history of South America well.

Bingham became famous for his expeditions, which found the lost cities of the Incas. Risking his life, he discovered archaeological sites, about which he later wrote several books. Indiana Jones was a teacher at a college in Connecticut. Bingham also taught at a university in Connecticut in 1907.

4. Gozo Shioda – Master Yoda

Yoda is one of the main characters in Star Wars, the strongest and wisest. It is believed that 2 Japanese martial artists became its prototype. It could have been Sokaku Takeda, a short man dedicated to military combat.

According to another version, it was Gozo Shiodu, the founder of Yoshinkan Aikido. He was fluent in martial arts, was a born teacher, and, like a famous character, was not tall (his height is 154 cm).

3. Keith Richards – Jack Sparrow

The role of Jack Sparrow went to Johnny Depp. He prepared for it, studied the life of pirates of the XVIII century. Depp decided that they were close in spirit to rock stars and created his character as a resemblance to British guitarist Keith Richards.

The producers were embarrassed by such a Jack Sparrow, they felt that he looked like a drunk or gay. Michael Eisner was sure that the actor was destroying the whole film. But critics praised Depp’s work.

2. Jeff Dowd – Jeffrey Lebowski

In 1998, the film The Big Lebowski was released. He did not bring his creators a lot of money and was not critically acclaimed, but he gained a lot of fans. They were attracted by the abundance of humor. Now many of the lines from the picture have become catchphrases.

The prototype of the main character of the film, Dude, was Jeff Dowd. It was an acquaintance of directors, the Coen brothers, an independent film promoter. His friends also called him “Dude”, he loved the White Russian cocktail. There were other similarities as well.

1. Albert Einstein – Dr. Brown

The protagonist of the Back to the Future trilogy is Dr. Brown. Incredibly smart, eccentric scientist with messy hair. If you look closely, you can determine that he resembles Albert Einstein. In addition to this scientist, the creators of Doc were also inspired by the conductor Leopold Stokowski.