Johnny Depp in a snuff film in exchange for money for his family. Depp was a fan and friend of writer Hunter S. Thompson, and played his alter ego Raoul Duke in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998), Terry Gilliam's film adaptation of Thompson's pseudobiographical novel of the same name. Depp's next venture with Burton was the period film "Sleepy Hollow" (1999), in which he played Ichabod Crane opposite Christina Ricci and Christopher Walken. For his performance, Depp took inspiration from Angela Lansbury, Roddy McDowall and Basil Rathbone. He stated that he "always thought of Ichabod as a very delicate, fragile
Ichabod Crane War of 1812 whom he had met in 1814 in Sackets Harbor, New York. According to a notation by Irving and a certification written in long hand by Martin Van Buren, the 'pattern' (Van Buren's words) for the character of Ichabod Crane was based on the original Kinderhook schoolmaster named Jesse Merwin—born in Connecticut—whom Irving became friends with in Kinderhook, New York, in 1809. The two friends continued a pen-pal correspondence for thirty years. The Columbia County Historical Society (New York) owns the original Kinderhook Schoolhouse named after the Irving character based on Jesse Merwin, the town's first schoolteacher. The