There have been approximately 62 actors who have played the character of Santa Claus on TV and film, and that number jumps to the hundreds if you count characters who have dressed as Santa. The formula is pretty simple: Find an older, lovable male actor who is a little chubby and very jolly, cast him as your Santa, and boom — Hollywood gold. However, studio execs are always looking to mix it up and find something new that audiences will enjoy. This even pertains to Kris Kringle, and that is how you end up with the oddest movie Santa Clauses of all time.
This 1994 family comedy is responsible for me always wanting to add an E to the end of Santa’s last name. Allen, the grunting star of “Home Improvement” at the time, didn’t really seem to fit the Santa mold, and people like my mother were concerned about an actor with drug charges in his past playing Saint Nick. But, shows what they know, because the film was a success and Allen went on to play the role in two sequels in 2002 and 2006, as well.
It’s not that there’s anything glaringly odd about Giamatti as Santa, it just seems like there were so many better options for this 2007 comedy about Santa’s black sheep of a brother, Fred (played by Vince Vaughn). It probably didn’t matter too much, though, as this movie is pretty bad and forgettable.
We know, Thornton doesn’t play the “real” Santa in this 2003 dark comedy, but we had to include him because his womanizing, conman character is so awesome. You would have never thought of Billy Bob as Kris Kringle before this movie came out, but now, how can you not?
Probably best known for playing the paranoid, overweight coworker in “Office Space” who has the idea for the “Jump to Conclusions” Mat, Riehle actually has well over 300 acting credits. Among those are at least five gigs playing Santa Claus, but most notably in the 2011 Harold & Kumar comedy.
At the height of his “Naked Gun” fame, Nielsen played Santa in the 1991 family film “All I Want For Christmas.” Nearly ten years later, he stepped into the Santa suit again for a TV movie about Santa Claus getting amnesia (which won’t be the only amnesia-related storyline on this list). Nielsen was a legendary comedic actor, but other than his hair color, he doesn’t have much in common with Father Christmas.
The actual Santa Claus in this 1996 TV movie is Charles Durning, who you can barely see pictured in the bottom right of this cover photo. But the theme of this Christmas flick is that Mrs. Claus, played by Lansbury, is fed up with being neglected by her husband during the holiday season so she takes his reindeer and sleigh out for a joyride. That’s pretty crappy of her, and if she wants all the attention, she’s going to get it.
Seven years before he made his onscreen appearance as Walter White, Cranston was the voice of Santa Claus in this 2001 animated TV movie. I don’t know anything about it, but it would be awesome to listen to a Santa who sounds like notorious meth king, Heisenberg. Oh, and as an added bonus, Cranston also once played a Santa represented by Matlock (which means he was probably innocent).
Remember how I said that amnesia storyline would be back? Well here it is. In 1996, a well-past-his-prime Hogan (going by “Hollywood Hogan” at that time) played an evil millionaire named Blake who got amnesia and believed he was Santa Claus. It was the last time he was the main star of a movie. However, a fun fact is that Mila Kunis was also in this Christmas movie disaster.
We all know that The Stonecutters made Steve Guttenberg a star, and in 2005 that was enough to land him in the Santa role of this TV movie. But he had to work for it, as he played Santa’s son Nick first in the 2004 TV film “Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus,” but eventually took over the family business in the sequel “Meet the Santas.” Good lord, are there actually people out there who watched both of these movies?
Did you know that Santa is actually a demon who lost a bet with an angel, so that is why he has to deliver toys and happiness? That’s the premise of this 2005 holiday horror film, and former wrestling star Goldberg plays the evil Santa. However, once the bet is over, jolly old Saint Nick returns to his murderous ways, and Christmas cheer is replaced by Christmas … I think you get the idea.
