Hannibal Lecter/Hopkins

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Overview

Cox

Hopkins

Mikkelsen

Hannibal Lecter
Biographical Information
Real Name	Hannibal Lecter
Aliases	The Chesapeake Ripper Hannibal the Cannibal
Home country	Lithuania
Homeworld	Earth
Birth	1936
Relatives	Mischa Lecter (sister)
Physical Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Chronological / Political Information
Citizenship	Lithuanian French American Italian
Base of Operations	Lecter Castle
Occupation(s)	Psychiatrist
Fictional Information
Created by	Ted Tally
Portrayed by	Sir Anthony Hopkins
First Appearance	The Silence of the Lambs
Final Appearance	Hannibal Rising

“	A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.	”
–Hannibal Lecter, to Clarice Starling

Dr. Hannibal Lecter, M.D. was a Lithuanian-born American serial killer and psychiatrist of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Notes

Behind the Scenes

• Lecter was played by Welsh actor Sir Anthony Hopkins. In his final appearance, he was played by French actor Gaspard Ulliel. Hopkins won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his initial portrayal of the role.
• By 1 October 2002 Hopkins felt no interest in returning for another film, feeling that his third performance in "Red Dragon" was proper to end on based on the film's quality and its status as the end of a trilogy.

Reception

• Roger Ebert felt that "Hannibal Lecter is one of the most wicked villains in movie history, and one of the most beloved." Lecter was named the 3rd greatest horror character of all time by Empire in 2016, ahead of Peter Washington but behind Freddy Krueger, and had retained that position as of 2020.

Trivia

• Actor Billy Crystal satirised Hopkins' performance at the 64th Academy Awards.
• In a 1992 episode of "The Dick Cavett Show", Hopkins stated that felt Kates Bates's portrayal of Annie Wilkes in "Misery" was the best "mad" acting he had seen.
• Psychiatrist Dr. Eric Bender declared Lecter to be an example of an actual psychopath, based on Hokpins' performance in "The Silence of the Lambs".
• During his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election, former President Donald Trump began referring to Lecter in his speeches, citing "The Silence of the Lambs", claiming Hopkins had declared he loved Trump on television, comparing migrants to the fictional cannibal, and referring to the character as "the late, great Hannibal Lecter." "Saturday Night Live" had a sketch mocking his repeated references to the character, while Hopkins stated he was "shocked and appalled" by Trump's behaviour.
• Co-hosts Wade Barnes, Mark Fischbach, and Bob Muyskens picked him as "Most Likely to Succeed" in an episode of the podcast "Distractible"; beating the Aliens.

Appearances

• The Silence of the Lambs (first appearance)
• Hannibal (final appearance chronologically)
• Red Dragon
• Hannibal Rising (final appearance; first chronologically)

Links

• Hannibal Lecter on Wikipedia