Albert Einstein in popular culture

The children's television show Little Einsteins and the educational toys and videos of the Baby Einstein series both use Einstein's name, though not his image.

Iranian cartoonist and humorist Javad Alizadeh publishes a column titled "4D Humor" in his Persian monthly Humor & Caricature, which features cartoons, caricatures and stories on Einstein-related topics.[10] In 1991 he published in Persian "4D Humor", a comic book on Einstein's life and work, inspired mainly by the Theory of Relativity.[11]

Einstein bequeathed his estate, as well as the use of his image (see personality rights), to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,[12] which from the mid-1980s has sponsored the Einstein Papers Project with the Princeton University Press. Einstein actively supported the university during his life and this support continues with the royalties received from licensing activities. GreenLight licences the commercial use of the name "Albert Einstein" and associated imagery and likenesses of Einstein, as agent for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As head licensee the corporation can control commercial usage of Einstein's name and theoretically ensure compliance with certain standards (e.g., when Einstein's name is used as a trademark, the ™ symbol must be used).[13]

In 2012 Judge Howard Matz of the United States district court found that although a General Motors advertisement featuring Einstein's image was “tasteless” it was not illegal. Judge Matz wrote “the obviously humorous ad for the 2010 Terrain having been published 55 years or more after Einstein’s death, it is unlikely that any viewer of it could reasonably infer that Einstein, or whoever succeeded to any right of publicity that Einstein may have had, was endorsing the GMC Terrain.”

Hebrew University asked that publicity rights be extended to the 70 years associated with copyright protection. Judge Matz declined, stating “the Ninth Circuit recently noted that Marilyn Monroe considered herself to belong 'to the Public and to the world,’ ” Matz wrote. “There is no evidence that Albert Einstein saw himself that way, but he did become the symbol and embodiment of genius. His persona has become thoroughly ingrained in our cultural heritage. Now, nearly 60 years after his death, that persona should be freely available to those who seek to appropriate it as part of their own expression, even in tasteless ads.” [14]

There is a persistent popular belief that Einstein was left-handed,[15] but there is no evidence that he was, and the belief has been called a myth.[16][17] Einstein wrote with his right hand,[18] and authoritative sources state flatly that he was right-handed.[17][19] An autopsy on Einstein's brain showed a symmetry between the two hemispheres, rather than a left-sided dominance as is typical of most right-handed people or a right-sided dominance as found in most left-handed people.[16]

Several schools are named after him.

Einstein has been the subject of or inspiration for many novels, films and plays, such as Steve Martin's comedic play Picasso at the Lapin Agile.[20] He was the subject of Paul Dessau's 1974 opera Einstein and in 1976 in Philip Glass's opera Einstein on the Beach,[21] and his humorous side is the subject of Ed Metzger's one-man play Albert Einstein: The Practical Bohemian.[22] He features prominently in Daniel Kehlmann's play about Kurt Gödel, Ghosts in Princeton (2011).[23]

Einstein was portrayed by Ludwig Stössel in the 1947 film The Beginning or the End.

He was the subject (along with Arthur Eddington) of the BBC Two film Einstein and Eddington, featuring David Tennant as Eddington and Andy Serkis as Einstein, and detailing Einstein's development of his theories and Eddington's attempts to prove them[24] and in Yahoo Serious's intentionally inaccurate biography of Einstein as an Australian in the film Young Einstein, although the movie is fictionalized.[25]

An Einstein-like character appears in Nicolas Roeg's 1985 film Insignificance. Set in New York in 1953, the film includes a scene in which "The Professor" (played by Michael Emil), the character evidently representing Albert Einstein, discusses Relativity with "The Actress" (Theresa Russell), a Marilyn Monroe-like character.[26]

Einstein was portrayed by Walter Matthau in the 1994 romantic comedy I.Q.[27]

In the 2001 film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, he was portrayed as a holographic personality called Dr. Know (voiced by Robin Williams).[28]

The 2009 film The Nutcracker in 3D includes a character named Uncle Albert who resembles Einstein, speaks with a German accent, and recites Albert Einstein quotes, but is never explicitly identified as Einstein.[29]

The Star Wars character Yoda's wrinkles were modeled after Einstein's, to give the impression of exceptional intelligence.[30]

In the movie Back to the Future, the character of Dr. Emmett 'Doc' Brown, played by actor Christopher Lloyd and portrayed as a brilliant scientist, time traveler and inventor, has a dog called "Einstein", named after Brown's favorite scientist, as well as bearing a superficial resemblance to him. Lloyd also credited Einstein as being his inspiration for the character.[31][32]

In the 2011 film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the Autobot character known as Que sports an Einstein-inspired head design, including his wild hairstyle, dapper mustache, and eyes. However, his accent is often confused for being German because of these similarities. Like his G1 counterpart and Einstein alike, he is one of the most intelligent members of his team, and is an accomplished scientist and inventor. However, his onscreen name "Que" was derived from Professor Q, a James Bond character, who also inspired Wheeljack/Que's overall character.

Einstein was portrayed by David Shackleton in the 2018 comedy Holmes & Watson.

A holographic representation of Einstein, played by Jim Norton, appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He first appears to debate physics with Reginald Barclay in "The Nth Degree". Norton returns in the first part of "Descent". The episode starts on the Enterprise with a game of poker being played by holodeck representations of Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, and Stephen Hawking (portrayed by himself). All are programmed by Lt. Commander Data, playing as the fourth person in the game.[33]

In the television series Voyagers!, in an episode titled, "The Travels of Marco...and Friends," the story begins with Bogg and Jeff landing in New York, 1930, and saving Einstein from a potentially-fatal accident.

In the television series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Einstein was played by Ed Metzger.

In the television series Touched by an Angel, Einstein was played by Harold Gould.

In the television series Eureka, the town of Eureka was established when President Harry S. Truman commissioned development of a top-secret lab, staffed by Albert Einstein, after World War II and it became home to the scientists and their families working there.[34]

In the Rick and Morty episode, "A Rickle in Time", time-traveling monsters beat up Einstein, whom they had mistaken for Rick Sanchez.[35]

Einstein is portrayed in the 2017 National Geographic period drama television series, Genius, by Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn, as the elder and younger Einstein, respectively.

Einstein is portrayed in DC's Legends of Tomorrow by John Rubinstein in the episode "Out of Time" and was mentioned in latter in "The Curse of the Earth Totem" when he trapped in the ice age due to being displaced.

German Netflix series Dark begins a with a quote about the perception of time by Einstein.

He is one of the main characters in the webseries Super Science Friends.