11 Real People Who Inspired Famous Movie Characters

Ever wonder how the creators of your favorite movies and tv shows come up with their characters? Well, they usually just draw from personal experiences and real-life people. Here are a few of your favorite characters and the people who inspired them. 1. JABBA THE HUTT Sydney Greenstreet was famous for playing selfish and greedy gangsters (like in "The Maltese Falcon") — just like a certain space worm from "Star Wars." George Lucas actually told his designers to make Jabba the Hutt look "more alien and grotesque, just like Sydney Greenstreet." universeguide.com 2. URSULA The evil sea witch from "The Little Mermaid" was pretty accurately based off a popular drag-queen from the 70s. Harris Milstead (better known as Divine) dressed in drag for the film "Pink Flamingos" (along with several others during his career). flavorwire.com 3. SEVERUS SNAPE Teachers often leave lasting impressions on students, and John Nettleship was no different. J.K. Rowling had Nettleship for a chemistry class in her youth and he inspired her to create Professor Severus Snape when writing the "Harry Potter" series. cnet.com 4. TRAVIS BICKLE The crazy Robert De Niro character from "Taxi Driver" was based off of Arthur Bremer. Bremer was an awkward loner (just like Travis Bickle) who tried to gain attention by assassinating George Wallace. Just like Bickle, he ultimately failed and was sentenced to 53 years in prison. timeout.com 5. SHREK Before Mike Meyers voiced the character on the big screen, there was a real-life "Shrek" who walked the earth. Maurice Tillet was a French wrestler who was nicknamed "the freak ogre of the ring" because of his abnormal appearance. He suffered from acromegaly (which causes thickening of the bones). imdb.com 6. ROCKO When the producers of "Rocko's Modern Life" were pitching the idea to networks, they used a phrase that perfectly fit the character's persona. Rocko was described as "a young anthropomorphic Woody Allen who just moved away from his home into a surrealistic adult world." hellogiggles.com 7. THE DUDE The Coen brothers didn't have to look too far for their main character in "The Big Lebowski." Jeff Dowd (a friend of the two brothers) basically was "the dude" before the script came out — his attitude, drink of choice, nickname and even parts of his own biography were used when putting this iconic character together. imdb.com 8. COSMO KRAMER "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David based Jerry's friend off of his personal experience with a neighbor. Kenny Kramer lived next door to David and his eccentric behavior and unique style led to the birth of Cosmo Kramer. github.com 9. DON DRAPER Draper "Dan" Daniels was an ad legend in Chicago at the Leo Burnett agency in the 60s. He was known for creating the Marlboro Man ad campaign. Sadly we just learned the original Marlboro Man, Robert Norris passed away today, November 9th, 2019. He was 90 years old. The Mad Men character Don Draper is almost an identical image of Daniels (except his wife doesn't believe the show portrays his lifestyle correctly). clipd.com 10. DIRTY HARRY Clint Eastwood's character (Harry Callahan) was inspired by inspector Dave Toschi, who famously hunted the Zodiac Killer in San Francisco during the '70s. screencrush.com 11. EDNA MODE Edna Mode is the costume designer for the Incredibles in the movie, but she was based off the real designer Edith Head. Head actually won 8 Oscars for her wardrobe designs throughout her career. She was famous for her unique look (huge round glasses and short dark hair) imdb.com Credits: hypertomb.com

9. DON DRAPER

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10. DIRTY HARRY

11. EDNA MODE