One of the most famous characters from literature of all time, A Christmas Carol’s Ebenezer Scrooge stands among the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Dracula as one of the most prolifically portrayed characters to have ever been written. Lionel Barrymore famously acted the part on a number of radio productions for decades while Charles Dickens’ himself was said to be brilliant when he slipped into character during his 150+ readings of his novella for the stage.
For the better part of a century though, the character has been made famous to new generations through the many Hollywood adaptations of Dickens’ legendary story. From timeless classics which have endured for decades to more recent iterations of the story which have re-imagined the character in interesting ways, these portrayals of the renowned miser stand as some of the best to have graced our screens.
Albert Finney – ‘Scrooge’ (1970)
A five-time Oscar nominee, Albert Finney enjoyed an illustrious career spanning over 50 years earning acclaim for his performances in Murder on the Orient Express, Tom Jones, and Erin Brockovich. He also provided one of the more unique portrayals of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1970 holiday musical, Scrooge.
Bringing the character’s ugliness to light in the most jarring of fashions, Finney played the part as a slack-jawed brute who slobbered his seasonal spite to the masses. The intense physicality of the performance certainly made Finney’s depiction of Scrooge his own and, while it may not be the most faithful to Dickens’ story, it gave audiences a different take on the iconic character.
Guy Pearce – ‘A Christmas Carol’ (2019)
The most recent entry on this list, Guy Pearce’s Ebenezer Scrooge comes from Steven Knight’s A Christmas Carol miniseries which re-imagines the classic tale as a gothic dark fantasy. It’s definitely one of the story’s more imaginative adaptations, and Pearce excels at leaning into the genre while maintaining the core of the character.
The miniseries garnered mixed reviews, with the drastic tonal shift robbing a lot of the story’s inherent charm, but Pearce earned wide praise for his haunting performance. The series also starred Andy Serkis, Joe Alwyn, Charlotte Riley, and Jason Flemyng and, while its criticisms are fair, is worth a watch for people who like fresh takes on old stories.
Patrick Stewart – ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1999)
Renowned for his iconic portrayals of Professor Charles Xavier and Captain Picard, Sir Patrick Stewart is no stranger to making the most of an iconic role. His iteration of Ebenezer Scrooge in 1999’s made-for-television film A Christmas Carol realizes the character as a cunning, blunt, and bitter man.
The calculating miser excels at seeing through people and picking at their insecurities with a cold ruthlessness. Even his eventual turn at the end of the story presents more cynical take on the character, with Stewart imbuing the emotional shift with an awkwardness that feels true to the character while remaining a charming end to the story.
Jim Carrey – ‘A Christmas Carol’ (2009)
While it’s not Jim Carrey’s best performance of a holiday grouch (that honor goes to his role in How the Grinch Stole Christmas), his take on Ebenezer Scrooge is still a worthy showing of his talent. It was by far the best part of Robert Zemeckis’ animated take on the Christmas classic, with motion capture technology allowing the ever-emotive comedian ample space to make the part his own.
He portrayed the three ghosts of Christmas in addition to the part of Scrooge and, in the midst of the occasionally distracting animation, put in an earnest performance in all his roles. While the film itself garnered mixed reviews, it has proven to be worth a watch for Carrey’s performance alone.
Michael Caine – ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ (1992)
A lot of the renditions of A Christmas Carol targeted at children have seen Ebenezer Scrooge lose a lot of what makes him such a compelling character. That can’t be said of Michael Caine’s performance in The Muppet Christmas Carol where he maintains an emotional depth you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a Muppets adaptation.
Not only is his hostility towards Christmas on point, but when his eventual realization of the error of his ways finally occurs, Caine plays it with a tragic pathos which brings an inflection of time lost to the redemption arc. All that put alongside one of the most slapstick, goofy, and utterly hilarious versions of the story probably shouldn’t work, but somehow it just does.
Christopher Plummer – ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ (2017)
The Man Who Invented Christmas opts not to re-tell Dickens’ story but rather tells the story of Dickens’ struggles while writing A Christmas Carol. Appearing as an imaginary figure the author interacts with, Christopher Plummer’s Scrooge is truly one of the more unique and creative appearances of the character in film.
As such, the character exists as a different entity in the film, occupying more of a representation of Dickens’ own doubts and insecurities, but that’s not to say he doesn’t show glimpses of being the Scrooge we know and love. In fact, the film will probably leave you wishing Plummer had played the role in an adaptation of the novella as well.
Seymour Hicks – ‘Scrooge’ (1935)
In what was his second film appearance as Ebenezer Scrooge, Seymour Hicks’ performance in the 1935 adaptation of the novella brought a remarkable depth to the character which has seldom been repeated. Playing the part with a genuine feebleness, Hicks’ performance evokes pity from the audience even as he carries out his misdeeds and wrongdoings.
The overwhelming sense that the character knows he is fundamentally wrong makes for a compelling viewing while his interactions of the ghosts exhibit Hicks’ phenomenal acting talent. While the film’s visual quality is quite poor, it’s still worth watching as one of the most emotionally loaded iterations of the story.
Scrooge McDuck – ‘Mickey’s Christmas Carol’ (1983)
Created as a greedy miser defined by his frugality, Scrooge McDuck first appeared in 1947. Over the years the character was altered to the point where he eventually became a heroic adventurer of sorts in Disney’s stories. Mickey’s Christmas Carol however saw the character return to his roots, portraying Dickens’ famous fiend who he was based on.
As an origin point for young children to be introduced to the story, Mickey’s Christmas Carol is a delightful re-invention which pairs the company’s gorgeous animation with Dickens’ charming story. The 26-minute short has become a hallmark of many family Christmases with Scrooge McDuck (voiced by Alan Young) the best animated depiction of the character ever put to screen.
George C. Scott – ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1984)
Renowned for his gripping screen presence throughout his career, George C. Scott is an undisputed legend of American cinema. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that his interpretation of Ebenezer Scrooge has come to be viewed as one of the greatest of all time.
Interestingly, he decided not to play the character as a Grinch with an explosive temper, but as an unsentimental, apathetic realist who remains composed even when face-to-face with the story’s ghosts. His reserved emotional performance allows plenty to simmer away beneath the surface – especially as the tragedy of his life is revealed – and makes the scenes where his façade does collapse all the more resonant.
Alistair Sim – ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1951)
Universally viewed as the best adaptation of the classic novella, 1951’s A Christmas Carol brought Dickens’ timeless tale to life with tremendous heart and a pure festive charm. A lot of that can be attributed to Alistair Sim’s flawless portrayal of the crotchety old Ebenezer Scrooge which is undeniably the greatest take on the character the screen has ever seen.
A common trend for many performances of Scrooge is actors tend to excel at making him a reprehensible figure but aren’t able to realize his eventual redemption quite so convincingly. Sim not only masters to grouchiness of the mean-spirited miser, but his jolliness at the film’s climax bears a heartfelt warmth which makes us go from ruing the character to loving him.