Circa 1970, during an episode of The Odd Couple, Felix Unger appeared in a commercial and said "I am a dramatization of a Doctor".

Between the headline and the story, I guessed Mark Harmon. The memories are not what they used to be!

It only gets worse! But with age, those memories become more precious.

Somebody once asked me if I was an actor, and I replied that I wasn't, but I played one on TV.

Some one asked me if I was a doctor, and I told them I was an OBGYN online.

I thought it was the actor who played Marcus Welby - Robert Young I believe.

Seconding that, Dawn. I remember ads with him as well.

dawn totally nailed it!

Robert Young was the first one I thought of. Don't remember what was being advertised, though.

Robert Young, who had played Dr. Welby in "Marcus Welby, M.D." did commercials for Sanka non-caffeinated coffee as early as 1974 -- 10 years earlier than the Vicks commercial -- in which he said "Well, I'm not a doctor, although I play one on TV" in response to an associate who complained of being jittery and nervous from too much coffee. I worked on a satire film in high school, in which we satirized the "I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV", and I graduated in 1979, so there you go. The Robert Young Sanka ads were also parodied on Thicke of the Night in their "Flick of the Night" feature in 1983. I'm 52 years old, and all of my life, my friends and I have always known the Sanka commercial as the source of the catchphrase.

I just spent the last half-hour watching old Robert Young Sanka commercials on YouTube. (VERY productive day here.) He probably did more Sanka ads that didn't make it to YouTube, but he doesn't say that line in any of the ones I watched. And here's a discussion about why people (mistakenly?) believe Young was the source of that line: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~...

Robert Young never appeared in his Marcus Welby white coat on Sanka commercials, nor did he ever refer to his role as the venerable doctor in any of the commercials. "Marcus Welby MD" had just left the airwaves when Young was signed for the Sanka campaign, so he would not have said "but I play one on TV. In 1981 Gerald Miller, creative director for Y&R told the Los Angeles Times that "Young had been chosen as the Sanka spokesman because he represented "deliberate, mature, seasonsed advice." The Sanka folks were obviously hoping that viewers would remember Young as Dr. Welby, but there was no on-camera mention/tie-in to Young playing a doctor in any of the commercials. http://www.nytimes.com/1982...

Darn, no "edit" feature.... Anyway, Young first signed on with Sanka in 1976, the same year "Marcus Welby" ended. And there should've been a close quote after "on TV" in my above reply.

Darn. I've spent the better part of 2 hours of my workday hunting this stuff down, only to come up empty-handed for confirmation. I found numerous other citations from other old dudes like me who were actually there in 1974 to see the ads, saying that indeed, Robert Young says "I'm not a doctor, although I play [played?] one on TV" in at least one Sanka ad. But without any solid confirmation, I think I must accept the idea that the notion of "phantom memories" or false memories created by the mixing of real ones is a real thing. Still, the idea that so many people that are my age, from coast to coast, are POSITIVE that we saw Robert Young say those words with our own eyes and ears, and that for years afterward, we used it as a catchphrase, frankly without ever once questioning that it was of course Robert Young until seeing this article today, makes me pause and think that such a universal mistake doesn't pass the common sense test. There has to have been something behind it. So, yes, I'll eat my crow at this time, but I'll probably spend 1000 hours hunting over the next few months!

It happens all the time, like with Carl Sagan and billions and billions

We're the same age. I bet we went to different schools together! :)

The rest of the world has no idea what you're talking about.

Robert Young was the 1st to say it: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~...

Well, actually, that phrase began some 20 years earlier in California, as part of Gov. Edmond G. "Pat" Brown's unsuccessful bid to retain his job as Governor. Many Hollywood supporters came out against his opponent, Ronald Reagan, claiming that Reagan's being an actor did not qualify him to hold public office. The pitch was, essentially, "I'm not a real doctor, but I play one on TV. I am not qualified to operate on you. California needs a REAL governor, not an actor! That's why I support Pat Brown for Governor." Similar ads were aired with other actors, like Dan Blocker (TV's Bonanza series' Hoss Cartright), telling people that he was not a real cowboy but he played one on TV, etc. The campaign backfired because a lot of people resented the idea that a person's career DISQUALIFIES him or her from public service. The rest is history.