The Story of the Characters Who Were Both in the Movie and Actually Were on the Real RMS Titanic


Molly Brown. J.J. Astor and his wife, Madeline. Benjamin Guggenheim. J. Bruce Ismay. Captain E.J. Smith. You all know them as played by Kathy Bates, Eric Braeden, Bernard Hill, etc. But all of those people that I mentioned above were, in fact, real people that sailed on the real Titanic. Some survived to tell their story and to tell of the horrible night when Titanic left them in small lifeboats on the ocean; and some would not survive.

I have created this page to hope that you would get a better undestanding of these real people, and why they were so important to the movie we all love.

Molly Brown

Molly had spent the time before sailing on Titanic touring a lot of the world- hitting places like Paris and even Egypt. For her return trip home, she "luckily" was able to book tickets on the grandest ship in the World's maiden voyage. She was portrayed in the movie by Kathy Bates. It was true that most of the high- class society shunned her for thinking and acting slightly different than expected to. Really, she just thought on her own, and, like in the movie, obviously wasn't as stiff as the rest of the high society.
When Titanic went down, Molly Brown did not. That's how she earned the nickname as the Unsinkable Molly Brown. (Actually, she did not earn this name until after arriving in America. I believe she was referred as the "Unsinkable" in the movie. Oh, no, a blooper!) In a scene James Cameron cut from Titanic, Molly Brown tries to go back to the ship to pick up more people because there was lot's more room in her lifeboat, number six. This was very true to what really happened, as history tells us. Molly Brown even went as far to have threatened Quartermaster Robert Hichens to go back, but he refused because he was afraid they would swampthe boat. Molly Brown did not win that battle, but she certainly did much to help other survivors of Titanic, for one, she raised funds to help poor survivors. Later, she fought for women's suffrage. She died in 1932, but holds a definite place in history.
Picture: Molly sits in her lifeboat, staring up at Titanic in horror. She tried to convince the man in charge of the boat to rowback and get more people, but he refused and she was helpless in that situation.

Madeline and John Jacob Astor

"...and over there is John Jacob Astor- the richest man on the ship. His little wifey over there, Madeline, is my age and in delicate condition. See how she's hiding it?" -Rose introducing Jack to high society.

With an $87 million dollar fortune made from his family's fur trading industry, he certainly was the richest man on the ship. In addition to his wife, who was 18 and he was 45, he was traveling with his dog, a manservant, a maid, and a nurse. When Titanic hit the iceberg, he helped his wife into the lifeboat and asked if he could get in, too. The officer told himno, and he accepted that. His body was found days after the sinking, battered and dirty. Historians say he was probably hit by a smokestack. In the movie, he was portrayed by Eric Braeden, and Madeline was played by Charlotte Chatton.


Picture: The table of first-class passengers that were actually on the real ship. From bottom going clockwise: Molly Brown, Jack Dawson*, Countess of Rothes, J. Bruce Ismay, Colonel Archibald Gracie, Madame Aubert, Benjamin Guggenheim, Lady Duff- Gordon, Sir Duff Gordon, Caledon Hockley*, Ruth DeWitt Bukater*, Rose DeWitt Bukater*, Thomas Andrews. (*=Fictional characters.)

Isidor and Ida Straus

Played by Lew Palter and Elsa Raven We see the two towards the end of the movie, embracing on a bed as water rushes under them, Titanic sinking rapidly. We are crying harder than they are as "Nearer, My God To Thee" is being played. The story of these two is truly sad... it gives a whole new meaning to "nothig on Earth could come between them." Ida had refused to get into a lifeboat several times that night, but she couldn't go away from the man she had loved for so long. Instead, she insisted that her maid could have the seat in her lifeboat, and even gave her her fur coat because she "wouldn't need it anymore." There was a memorial held in their honor at Carnegie Hall after the sinking of Titanic.

Benjamin Guggenheim

"We are dressed in our best and prepaired to go down like gentlemen."
Benjamin Guggenheim, played by Michael Ensign, really did go down nobily with Titanic. "Tell my wife in new York I did my best in doing my duty," he told a steward in real life after refusing a lifejacket.

Captain E.J. Smith

Captain Smith was one of the most experieced and honored Captain of the time. In fact, the crossing of Tianic's maiden voyage was to be his last voyage before he retired. No one knows what happened to him. In the movie, played by Bernard Hill, he was shown as going back to his office. Historians say this was probably what happened. And they would never know why he steered the ship full speed ahead when he knew a field of ice lay directly ahead.
Picture: Captain Smith (center) posing with his crew. (Movie Picture.)

Other people that were really on Titanic and in the movie...

J. Bruce Ismay... played by Jonathan Hyde, was blamed responisble because he had supposively convinced the Captain to speed up when an ice field lay ahead, as shown in the movie.

Frederick Fleet... played by Martin East. It was his last hour of his shift as lookout. There were no binoculars, but when he noticed the iceberg he was the one to phone the bridge. "Iceberg, right ahead!"

Wallace Hartley... played by Jonathan Evans-Jones. He was the brave violinist who led the band that played until the very end.