Ichabod Crane Ichabod Crane Ichabod Crane is a fictional character and the protagonist in Washington Irving's short story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", first published in 1820. In popular culture, this story is sometimes retitled as "The Headless Horseman." Crane is invariably portrayed, in the original work and in most adaptations as a tall, lanky individual with a scarecrow affect. Ichabod -- meaning "without glory" -- comes from the biblical name of the grandson of Eli the High Priest and son of Phinehas. Irving might have borrowed the name from that of Ichabod Crane, a colonel in the US Army during the
Sleepy Hollow (film) romance with Katrina. His work went uncredited through the WGA screenwriting credit system. While Johnny Depp was Burton's first choice for the role of Ichabod Crane, Paramount required him to consider Brad Pitt, Liam Neeson and Daniel Day-Lewis. Depp was cast in July 1998 for his third collaboration with Burton. The actor wanted Ichabod to parallel Irving's description of the character in the short story. This included a long prosthetic snipe nose, huge ears, and elongated fingers. Paramount turned down his suggestions, and after Depp read Tom Stoppard's rewrite of the script, he was inspired to take the character even