Friar Tuck - Portrayals in Other Media

Portrayals in Other Media

In the movie The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) the character Friar Tuck was played by actor Eugene Pallette as a fat individual fond of food but also skilled with a sword. He was also quick to quarrel with any one who slighted him or deprived him of his food.

In the late 1950s British television series The Adventures of Robin Hood he was played by Alexander Gauge as a fat friar a tad too devoted to good eating. He is also clearly devoted to the Church and the poor people he serves, using his wits in order to spare them unjust taxes, provide them education or shelter them from harm. He often uses the power and rights of the Church to good effect against the forces of the Sheriff.

The 1958 Merrie Melodies animated short Robin Hood Daffy featured Porky Pig as a "fat friar", who sought Robin Hood, but refused to believe Daffy Duck was the legendary outlaw. At the end of the cartoon, Daffy becomes "Friar Duck".

In the 1966 television series Rocket Robin Hood, Friar Tuck is again depicted as a traditional fat friar with a tonsure, despite the story taking place in the year 3000. Friar Tuck is memorable for a vignette that played during each episode depicting him in front of a large feast, taking a single bite of each piece of food on the table before throwing it over his shoulder.

In the 1973 Disney animated Robin Hood, Friar Tuck is a badger, voiced by Andy Devine. He is taken to be hanged at the end of the film in a plot of Prince John's to lure Robin Hood out of hiding. He is rescued in time.

In the British Robin of Sherwood TV series of the 1980s Friar Tuck was played by Phil Rose. In this version the character reluctantly served the Sheriff of Nottingham's brother, an evil abbot, and also served as Maid Marian's confessor. He helped Marian escape, and joined the band alongside her.

In Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Tuck was played by Mike McShane, drawing heavily on the overweight, ale-loving interpretation.

The Mel Brooks movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights parodies the character as "Rabbi Tuckman," a self-described "purveyor of sacramental wine and mohel extraordinaire." Brooks, who also plays the character, made Tuckman Jewish (as Brooks himself is Jewish), reprising a gag from Blazing Saddles where Brooks made a cameo as a Jewish Native American.

In the video game Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood, Tuck was once again portrayed as Marian's confessor. He joins the band at her request. His enjoyment of alcohol is in the game as one of his abilities involves leaving beer flasks to intoxicate the guards.

In the 1991 film adaptation Robin Hood, Friar Tuck (played by Jeff Nuttall) is portrayed as an itinerant seller of phony relics, who is first mugged and then adopted by the Merry Men. He also confesses to being on the run for killing the nephew of an abbot.

Friar Tuck appears as "brother Ӻuck" in Angus Donald's Outlaw Chronicles series - so named as "there were no friars in England at that time"; consisting of Outlaw (2009), Holy Warrior (2010) and King's Man (2011).

The first appearance of Tuck (in this case, not an anachronistic Friar) in the BBC show Robin Hood came in 2009 during its third series. After Robin was hurled over a ravine by Guy of Gisbourne, Tuck finds Robin further downstream. Tuck distracts Guy from the cave he is treating Robin in, after Guy is told to look for Robin's body, thus saving Robin's life. He is played by David Harewood, and portrayed as African.

Mark Addy plays Friar Tuck in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood (2010). In the film, his hobby is beekeeping, which he uses to make mead and as a weapon against the French.

Data impersonates Friar Tuck in episode named Qpid (1991) from Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: The Next Generation series (4th season, episode 20).