Can You Guess Who The Real George & Bertha Russell Are On HBO's The Gilded Age?

while the van rein family and the Russell family who are at the center of HBO's The Gilded Age are not real historical families known by those names they do mirror the true social divisions drawn between old money and new money families at that time in the history of New York City according to several reliable sources in the HBO TV series The fictitious Mr and Mrs George Russell are based on the real life power couple Alva Vanderbilt and her husband William kissim Vanderbilt the first William kissim Vanderbilt the first was the son of William Henry Vanderbilt and Grandson of commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt he was an heir to the Vanderbilt fortune and a prominent member of the Vanderbilt family he became the richest man in America after he took over his father's fortune in 1885. this follows the timeline of the Gilded Age TV show which begins its story in 1882 the Vanderbilts were once the wealthiest family in America in the late 19th century their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt and the family expanded into various other areas of Industry to amass even more wealth Cornelius Vanderbilt's descendants went on to build grand mansions on Fifth Avenue in New York City luxurious summer cottages in Newport Rhode Island the palatial Biltmore House in Asheville North Carolina and various other opulent homes the Vanderbilt's prominence lasted until the mid-20th century when the family's great Fifth Avenue Mansion was torn down and most other Vanderbilt houses were sold or turned into museums in what has been referred to as the Fall of the House of Vanderbilt even with all their wealth and opulence the entire Vanderbilt family was considered Nouveau riche during the Gilded Age and looked down upon by the old money families whose wealth came from inheritance and aristocratic ties to Old Europe it is said that the Vanderbilts were not acceptable to the socially Elite old money families due to their Patriarchs Robber Baron image but more on that later right now let me stop here to go over a few of the other families in the series which are based on real-life New York families including some well-known Gilded Age socialites as characters here are some of the real gilded ages New York families from history in the first episode Mrs Bertha Russell played by Carrie mentions a few important New York families whom she would want to invite to her opulent dinner I don't want my old friends I want new friends aside from the van rhines the other families she listed are true and real old money families from the Gilded Age the Livingston's Roosevelts and Vanderbilt's were all real individuals as remaining fish and Caroline and Carrie Astor one of the most powerful families of the Gilded Age was the Astor family particularly Caroline if you want to know a bit more about Caroline Astor aka the Mrs Astor be sure to check out the video I did on her and the weird social constructs of the parties of that period of American history the Aster family name has impacted the names of some well-known New York neighborhoods including Queen's Astoria Caroline Astor played by stage actress Donna Murphy established the 400 a list of important persons she thought the best of High Society New York she had the most impact in determining who was who when it came to who would be included in the 400 Elites along with Caroline Astor Teresa ulrichs known as Tessie and Mamie fish were real historical women identified as members of the 400. in the TV production so far we have seen Mamie fish played by character actress Ashley Atkinson as the fun maker who likes to organize wild parties the real-life Tessie was married to Steamship Tycoon Herman ulrichs as the source of her wealth and prominence after the retirement of Mrs Astor from the social scene of the Gilded Age which won't happen for a few years yet Tessie ruled American society as one of the so-called triumphrit made up of herself Mamie fish and Alpha Vanderbilt the Russell family is the focus of HBO's The Gilded Age as they strive to integrate into New York's Elite Society the Vanderbilt family followed a similar path in real life because unlike old money families the Vanderbilts were not a renowned family before the American Revolution thus they were classified as new money in the mid-19th century the man who started it all Cornelius Vanderbilt the first made a substantial fortune in the shipping and railroad businesses he was dubbed a robber baron a disparaging word for a businessman who accumulates Fortune through deceptive techniques Cornelius is the first American Robber Baron as the phrase was used by the New York Times in 1859 to describe his business methods he was considered rough and uncultured by the upper-class New Yorkers though he was quickly becoming the richest man in the city following his grandfather's death William kissim took over the family's railroad Investments and inherited 55 million dollars from the Vanderbilt Empire his wife Alva was a social climber who aspired to be a part of high society and was determined to spend all of his money in her efforts William and Alva had three children together until William's infidelity brought their marriage to an end alveolator married Oliver Belmont another millionaire and a U.S representative there is some debate as to who is the inspiration behind George Russell with some saying it was his grandfather Cornelius rather than the actual William kissim Vanderbilt in the series George like Cornelius Vanderbilt is himself a robber baron who is making his fortune by buying railroads and building new railroads to out-compete other railroad Barons who won't sell to him others say it was real-life Robber Baron Jason J Gould Jason Gould was an American railroad magnate and financial Speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age his sharp and often and scrupulous business practices made him one of the wealthiest men of the late 19th century and it does seem that he could also be the inspiration for George Russell in the HBO series as for Bertha there is no question she is based upon the real-life Alva Vanderbilt the need for social status by Alva Vanderbilt and her tactics to climb the Gilded Age social ladder is well documented in history so whether George is based upon his grandfather or Jay Gould or a combination we can be sure who birthed the Russell's character is inspired by in real life history the Russell's daughter Gladys Russell played by Tisa Farmiga is also based upon the Vanderbilt's real-life daughter Consuelo the granddaughter of the richest man in America Consuelo Vanderbilt was the prize catch of New York Society but her socially ambitious mother Alva was adamant that her daughter should make a grand marriage and the ninth Duke of Marlborough a cashed poor but pedigree Rich Englishman was just the ticket even though poor Consuelo Loved Someone Else Consuelo Vanderbilt married the ninth Duke of Marlborough at St Thomas Episcopal Church New York City on November 6 1895. they had two sons John Albert William Spencer Churchill who became 10th Duke of Marlborough and Lord Iver Spencer Churchill I will be doing a full video on the life of Consuelo Vanderbilt so please watch for that when you subscribe and hit the alert button you will get notice of all my future videos of The Fabulous Fierce and feisty women in history thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe for more videos on the many fabulous Fierce and feisty women in history

Channel: Fabulous, Fierce & Feisty Women In History

Views: 123,954

Keywords: the gilded age, gilded age, the gilded age hbo, the gilded age season 1, the gilded age carrie coon, the gilded age christine baranski, the gilded age clips, the gilded age george russell, the gilded age vanderbilts, the gilded age vanderbilt family, the gilded age russell family, the gilded age families, the gilded real history

Id: 3b0hnfFcJMc

Length: 9min 53sec (593 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 12 2022