CHRISTOPHER WALKEN. Batman Returns. October 26, 1992 (negative)
Father’s Day Gets Mixed Messages From Showbiz
June 9, 2025
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By Tim Gray
Fathers have been around since time began, and films and TV have offered a wide range of dads, from role models to horrors.
Worst fathers:
Noah Cross, Chinatown (John Huston) Folksy charm and fatherly “affection” take a weird turn for Cross and daughter Evelyn.
Frank Gallagher, Shameless (David Threlfall in the U.K., William H. Macy in the U.S.) He’s a survivor, making sure he gets what he wants, no matter who he has to run over.
Bull Meecham, The Great Santini (Robert Duvall) A Marine who treats his family like they’re idiotic grunts; he goes ballistic when he loses a basketball game to his son.
Tywin Lannister, Game of Thrones (Charles Dance) He’s a master manipulator, which is an asset when he’s trying to gain power, but a nightmare if you’re part of his family, particularly son Tyrion (Peter Dinklage).
Lucius Malfoy, Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets” (Jason Isaacs) Even Voldemort learns to hate this guy.
Dr. Austin Sloper, The Heiress (Ralph Richardson) He brainwashes his daughter into believing he’s acting in her best interests but she slowly learns he just wants control.
Jack Torrance, The Shining (Jack Nicholson) Danny has visions of terrible things, but the worst horror, he discovers, is dealing with your father.
Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back (James Earl Jones, David Prowse) Does he belong on this list? He claims to be father of the twins, but do we trust him? There was never a DNA test.
Best Dads
Jim Anderson, Father Knows Best (Robert Young)
Ray Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond (Ray Romano)
Phil Dunphy, Modern Family (Ty Burrell)
Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird (Gregory Peck)
Judge James Hardy, the Andy Hardy movies (Lewis Stone)
James Evans, Good Times (John Amos)
If you’ve seen them, no explanation is necessary
Mixed Reviews
When you scour the internet, some names pop up on lists of both best and worst dads.
Al Bundy, Married With Children (Ed O’Neill)
Homer Simpson The Simpsons (voice by Dan Castellanetta)
Tony Soprano, The Sopranos (James Gandolfini)
Walter White, Breaking Bad (Bryan Cranston)
The Golden Globes Archives is filled with stories centered around fathers in film and television.
They include Christopher Walken discussing the fathers he’s played in film and television, though he has no children of his own. Walken and Georgianne Thon have been married since 1969, happily without children. “I do like to work as much as I can because I don’t have children, I don’t have hobbies, I don’t do anything else. And I’m glad that I don’t have children.” He explained that he’s had many reminders over the years why that was the right decision. So he addresses the many dads he’s played, always with a unique perspective.
The Golden Globes Archives also includes a 2022 roundup of dads in film in the article Celebrating Father’s Day by focusing on Andy Garcia and Other Fathers of the Brides
The story describes Father of the Bride (all three versions). Steel Magnolias, Bill Nighy in the 2020 version of Emma, and Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents, so protective of his daughter that he is somewhere between touching and scary.
When talking paternity, one has to include Anthony Hopkins in his multidimensional and emotionally wrenching performance in the 2020 drama The Father. In a nominee profile, Hopkins spoke with the Golden Globes about his thoughts on aging, memory and his connection between the character and his own father.