馃攳
Can You Guess Who The Real George & Bertha Russell Are On HBO's The Gilded Age? - YouTube
Channel: Fabulous, Fierce & Feisty Women In History
[0]
welcome to the fabulous fierce and
[2]
feisty women in history
[5]
please don't forget to subscribe and be
[7]
sure to give us likes and your comments
[9]
too
[11]
it's all greatly appreciated and helps
[13]
our channel to grow
[16]
now on to today's video meet the real
[18]
russell family
[23]
while the van ryan family and the
[25]
russell family who are at the center of
[28]
hbo's the gilded age are not real
[30]
historical families known by those names
[33]
they do mirror the true social divisions
[35]
drawn between old money and new money
[37]
families at that time in the history of
[39]
new york city
[42]
according to several reliable sources in
[44]
the hbo tv series the fictitious mister
[47]
and mrs george russell are based on the
[49]
real-life power couple alva vanderbilt
[52]
and her husband william kisem vanderbilt
[55]
the first
[63]
william kissam vanderbilt the first was
[66]
the son of william henry vanderbilt and
[68]
grandson of commodore cornelius
[70]
vanderbilt
[72]
he was an heir to the vanderbilt fortune
[74]
and a prominent member of the vanderbilt
[76]
family
[78]
he became the richest man in america
[81]
after he took over his father's fortune
[83]
in 1885.
[86]
this follows the timeline of the gilded
[88]
age tv show which begins its story in
[90]
1882
[93]
the vanderbilts were once the wealthiest
[95]
family in america in the late 19th
[97]
century
[99]
their success began with the shipping
[101]
and railroad empires of cornelius
[103]
vanderbilt and the family expanded into
[106]
various other areas of industry to amass
[109]
even more wealth
[111]
cornelius vanderbilt's descendants went
[113]
on to build grand mansions on fifth
[115]
avenue in new york city luxurious summer
[118]
cottages in newport rhode island the
[121]
palatial biltmore house in asheville
[123]
north carolina and various other opulent
[126]
homes
[128]
the vanderbilt's prominence lasted until
[130]
the mid 20th century when the family's
[132]
great fifth avenue mansion was torn down
[135]
and most other vanderbilt houses were
[138]
sold or turned into museums in what has
[140]
been referred to as the fall of the
[142]
house of vanderbilt
[144]
even with all their wealth and opulence
[147]
the entire vanderbilt family was
[149]
considered nouveau riche during the
[150]
gilded age and looked down upon by the
[153]
old money families whose wealth came
[155]
from inheritance and aristocratic ties
[158]
to old europe
[160]
it is said that the vanderbilts were not
[162]
acceptable to the socially elite old
[164]
money families due to their patriarchs
[166]
robber baron image
[169]
more on that later
[171]
right now let me stop here to go over a
[174]
few of the other families in the series
[176]
which are based on real-life new york
[178]
families including some well-known
[180]
gilded age socialites as characters
[184]
here are some of the real gilded ages
[186]
new york families from history
[190]
in the first episode mrs bertha russell
[193]
played by carrie mentions a few
[196]
important new york families whom she
[198]
would want to invite to her opulent
[199]
dinner
[202]
i don't want my old friends i want new
[204]
friends
[205]
aside from the van rinds the other
[208]
families she listed are true and real
[210]
old money families from the gilded age
[214]
the livingstons roosevelts and
[216]
vanderbilts were all real individuals as
[219]
were mamie fish and caroline and carrie
[221]
astor
[223]
one of the most powerful families of the
[225]
gilded age was the astor family
[227]
particularly caroline
[230]
if you want to know a bit more about
[232]
caroline astor aka the mrs astor be sure
[236]
to check out the video i did on her and
[238]
the weird social constructs of the
[240]
parties of that period of american
[242]
history
[250]
the astor family name has impacted the
[252]
names of some well-known new york
[254]
neighborhoods including queens astoria
[257]
caroline astor played by stage actress
[260]
donna murphy established the 400 a list
[263]
of important persons she thought the
[265]
best of high society new york
[268]
she had the most impact in determining
[270]
who was who when it came to who would be
[273]
included in the 400 elites
[277]
along with caroline astor teresa
[279]
ulrich's known as tessie and mamie fish
[282]
were real historical women identified as
[285]
members of the 400
[287]
in the tv production so far we have seen
[290]
mamie fish played by character actress
[293]
ashley atkinson as the fun maker who
[295]
likes to organize wild parties
[299]
the real life tessie was married to
[300]
steamship tycoon hermann ulrichs as the
[303]
source of her wealth and
[308]
prominence after the retirement of mrs
[311]
astor from the social scene of the
[313]
gilded age which won't happen for a few
[315]
years yet tessie ruled american society
[318]
as one of the so-called triumphant made
[321]
up of herself mamie fish and alva
[323]
vanderbilt
[333]
the russell family is the focus of hbo's
[335]
the gilded age as they strive to
[338]
integrate into new york's elite society
[341]
the vanderbilt family followed a similar
[344]
path in real life because unlike old
[346]
money families the vanderbilts were not
[349]
a renowned family before the american
[351]
revolution
[352]
thus they were classified as new money
[356]
in the mid 19th century the man who
[359]
started it all cornelius vanderbilt the
[361]
first made a substantial fortune in the
[364]
shipping and railroad businesses
[367]
he was dubbed a robber baron a
[369]
disparaging word for a businessman who
[372]
accumulates fortune through deceptive
[374]
techniques
[376]
cornelius is the first american robber
[378]
baron as the phrase was used by the new
[381]
york times in 1859 to describe his
[384]
business methods
[386]
he was considered rough and uncultured
[388]
by the upper class new yorkers though he
[390]
was quickly becoming the richest man in
[393]
the city
[400]
following his grandfather's death
[402]
william kissam took over the family's
[404]
railroad investments and inherited 55
[407]
million dollars from the vanderbilt
[409]
empire
[411]
his wife alva was a social climber who
[414]
aspired to be a part of high society and
[416]
was determined to spend all of his money
[418]
in her efforts
[421]
william and alva had three children
[423]
together until williams infidelity
[425]
brought their marriage to an end
[428]
alva later married oliver belmont
[431]
another millionaire and a u.s
[433]
representative
[440]
there is some debate as to who is the
[442]
inspiration behind george russell with
[445]
some saying it was his grandfather
[446]
cornelius rather than the actual william
[449]
kissam vanderbilt
[451]
in the series george like cornelius
[454]
vanderbilt is himself a robber baron who
[456]
is making his fortune by buying
[458]
railroads and building new railroads to
[461]
out-compete other railroad barons who
[463]
won't sell to him
[465]
others say it was real-life robber baron
[467]
jason j gould
[470]
jason gould was an american railroad
[472]
magnate and financial speculator who is
[475]
generally identified as one of the
[477]
robber barons of the gilded age
[480]
his sharp and often unscrupulous
[483]
business practices made him one of the
[485]
wealthiest men of the late 19th century
[487]
and it does seem that he could also be
[489]
the inspiration for george russell in
[491]
the hbo series
[494]
as for bertha there is no question she
[497]
is based upon the real life alva
[499]
vanderbilt
[501]
the need for social status by alva
[503]
vanderbilt and her tactics to climb the
[506]
gilded age social ladder is well
[508]
documented in history
[511]
so whether george is based upon his
[513]
grandfather or jay gould or a
[515]
combination we can be sure who bertha
[517]
russell's character is inspired by in
[520]
real life history
[528]
the russell's daughter gladys russell
[530]
played by tisa farmiga is also based
[533]
upon the vanderbilt's real-life daughter
[535]
consuelo
[537]
the granddaughter of the richest man in
[539]
america consuelo vanderbilt was the
[542]
prize catch of new york society
[545]
but her socially ambitious mother alva
[547]
was adamant that her daughter should
[549]
make a grand marriage
[552]
and the ninth duke of marlborough a cash
[554]
poor but pedigree-rich englishman was
[557]
just the ticket even though poor
[559]
consuela loved someone else
[562]
consuelo vanderbilt married the 9th duke
[564]
of marlborough at st thomas episcopal
[567]
church new york city on november 6
[570]
1895.
[573]
they had two sons john albert william
[575]
spencer churchill who became 10th duke
[578]
of marlborough and lord ivor spencer
[580]
churchill
[584]
i will be doing a full video on the life
[586]
of consuelo vanderbilt so please watch
[589]
for that when you subscribe and hit the
[591]
alert button you will get notice of all
[594]
my future videos of the fabulous fierce
[596]
and feisty women in history
[603]
thanks for watching and don't forget to
[605]
subscribe for more videos on the many
[608]
fabulous fierce and feisty women in
[610]
history
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage