Celebs Who’ve Played Santa Claus: Photos of Stars Who Played St. Nick

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December 17, 2023 11:00AM EST
Tim Allen
Attila Dory/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

It’s not easy being Santa, but these actors have played him well. See all the stars who played St. Nick, here.

Ho, ho, ho! Santa Claus is basically Christmas embodied, so it’s no surprise that he’s popped up at so many points in pop culture. It takes a particular talent to play Santa Claus, but a select few actors (and even some actresses!) have taken on the role.

Ready to learn about more actors who played Santa Claus on TV or in movies? Check out our gallery right here.

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Tim Allen in ‘The Santa Clause’

Tim Allen in ‘The Santa Clause’
©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy

One of the big screen’s most memorable Santas is Tim Allen in The Santa Clause films and TV series. In the movies, he plays a man who has to take on the mantle of Saint Nick after witnessing the demise of another Santa. After decades away from the role, Tim put the red suit back on for 2022’s The Santa Clauses on Disney+.

December 14, 2020, 10:16PM
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Anna Kendrick in ‘Noelle’

Anna Kendrick in ‘Noelle’
©Disney+/Courtesy Everett Colle

2019’s Noelle gave Santa a gender twist with Anna Kendrick as Kris Kringle’s daughter. In the film, she has to take over the family business when her father retires and her brother gets cold feet.

December 14, 2022, 3:02PM
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Charles Durning in ‘Elmo Saves Christmas’

Charles Durning in ‘Elmo Saves Christmas’
photo: Richard Termine/©CTW/Cou

Charles Durning teamed up with Elmo for 1996’s Elmo Saves Christmas. The movie was about what happens when Elmo wishes it was Christmas every day. 

Charles was a pro at playing Santa. He also put on the beard for It Nearly Wasn’t Christmas (1989,) Mrs. Santa Claus (1996,) Mr. St. Nick (2002,) and A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004.) He passed away in 2012.

December 14, 2022, 3:02PM
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Leslie Nielsen in ‘All I Want For Christmas’

Leslie Nielsen in ‘All I Want For Christmas’
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Col

Leslie Nielson was quite the wacky Santa in 1991’s All I Want For Christmas, with Ethan Embry and Thora Birch. He played the Santa that puts the story into action after Thora wishes for her divorced parents to get back together. The kooky comic would return to the role of St. Nick in 2000’s Santa Who?

December 14, 2022, 3:02PM
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Ed Asner in ‘Elf’

Ed Asner in ‘Elf’
©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Evere

Elf (2003) is a bonafide Christmas classic. Everyone loves Will Ferrell as Buddy The Elf and Ed Asner is just an awesome Santa. The comedy is about Buddy’s journey from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs.

December 14, 2020, 10:16PM
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John Goodman in ‘The Year Without a Santa Claus’

John Goodman in ‘The Year Without a Santa Claus’
©NBC/Courtesy Everett Collectio

John Goodman was super jolly in the 2006 live action adaptation of The Year Without A Santa Claus. The movie followed what happens when a taken-for-granted Santa decides to skip town.

December 14, 2022, 3:02PM
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Nigel Hawthorne in ‘Call Me Claus’

Nigel Hawthorne in ‘Call Me Claus’
©TNT/Courtesy Everett Collectio

Whoopi Goldberg got to act opposite Nigel Hawthorne as Santa in 2001’s Call Me Claus. The TV movie was about what happens after a TV producer hires the real Santa for her home shopping show.

December 14, 2022, 3:02PM
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Billy Bob Thornton in ‘Bad Santa’

Billy Bob Thornton in ‘Bad Santa’
©Dimension Films/Courtesy Evere

Bad to the bone. Billy Bob Thornton was wickedly funny in 2003’s Bad Santa. The flick was about a con-man who poses as Saint Nick while casing a department store.

December 14, 2020, 10:16PM
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Edmund Gwenn in ‘Miracle on 34th Street’

Edmund Gwenn in ‘Miracle on 34th Street’
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett C

Miracle On 34th Street is a classic, remade many times. The original 1947 flick starred Edmund Gwenn as a department store Santa who just might be the real deal.

December 14, 2022, 3:02PM
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Charles Durning & Angela Lansbury in ‘Mrs. Santa Claus’

Charles Durning & Angela Lansbury in ‘Mrs. Santa Claus’
©Hallmark Entertainment/courtes

Double trouble! Charles Durning played Santa Claus with Angela Lansbury as his wife in the 1996 movie Mrs. Santa Claus. The film follows Mrs. Claus after she ends up stranded in the multicultural neighborhood of Manhattan’s Lower East Side of the early 1900s.

December 14, 2022, 3:02PM
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Charles Durning in ‘A Boyfriend For Christmas’

Charles Durning in ‘A Boyfriend For Christmas’
©Hallmark Entertainment/Courtes

Charles Durning really was a pro Santa. He appeared with Kelli Williams (left) and Patrick Muldoon in 2004’s Boyfriend For Christmas, a Hallmark film about the drama that happens when Santa brings two lonely people together.

December 14, 2022, 3:02PM
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Richard Attenborough in ‘Miracle On 34th Street’

Richard Attenborough in ‘Miracle On 34th Street’
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett C

Richard Attenborough played Santa in the 1994 version of Miracle On 34th Street. The Jurassic Park actor gave the movie a modern, but still classic feeling.

December 14, 2020, 10:16PM
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Paul Giamatti in ‘Fred Claus’

Paul Giamatti in ‘Fred Claus’
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett C

Paul Giamatti (here with Kevin Spacey) took on the role of Santa in 2007’s Fred Claus. The movie, starring Vince Vaughn, was about Santa’s bitter older brother.

December 14, 2020, 10:16PM
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Kurt Russell in ‘The Christmas Chronicles’

Kurt Russell in ‘The Christmas Chronicles’
JOSEPH LEDERER/NETFLIX

Kurt Russell was quite the handsome Santa in Netflix’s 2018 The Christmas Chronicles and its 2020 follow-up. The movie was about sister and brother Kate and Teddy Pierce and what happens after their Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus on camera takes a wild turn.

December 14, 2020, 10:16PM