Cultural depictions of George III of the United Kingdom

George III of the United Kingdom has featured in many examples of popular culture.

Theatre and opera

The 1969 music theatre piece Eight Songs for a Mad King by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies depicts the increasing madness and eventual death of the king as he talks to birds. George's insanity is the subject of the 1991 play The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett. The role was created by Nigel Hawthorne, who received the Laurence Olivier Award for his role. The play concerns George's second bout of insanity in late 1788 and early 1789, which those in the royal court, including his own son, use as a way to sidestep regal authority. Hawthorne reprised his role in the film version of the play. He also briefly appears as a character in the Broadway musical Hamilton (as of 2015 being played by Jonathan Groff^[1]), which is set in 1776 but refers to his later illness with the line "When you’re gone, I’ll go mad".^[2] He also appears as Prince of Wales and later king in the play Mr Foote's Other Leg by Ian Kelly (who played George in the play's premiere production in 2015).

Literature

King George III appears in the following novels:

• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (2004) by Susanna Clarke, where the character of Jonathan Strange attempts to cure him
• Victory of Eagles (2008) by Naomi Novik, where he is encountered by William Laurence, the protagonist, while on an errand in Edinburgh Castle
• The Dirk Gently series and Life, the Universe and Everything (1982) by Douglas Adams; in the latter, the character Arthur Dent refers to trees as "those things people think you're mad if you talk to? Like George the Third".^[3]
• A Darker Shade of Magic (2015) by V. E. Schwab and its sequel A Gathering of Shadows (2016) when the Antari Kell visits him (and George IV of the United Kingdom) while in Gray London

Film

On film, George has been portrayed by:

• John Storm in the Australian silent film The Mutiny of the Bounty (1916)
• Jack Cosgrave in the silent film The Spirit of '76 (1917)
• Arthur Donaldson in the D. W. Griffith silent film America (1924)
• Raymond Lovell in The Young Mr Pitt (1942)
• Frederick Valk in Mrs. Fitzherbert (1947), based on the novel by Winifred Carter
• Robert Morley in Beau Brummell (1954), based on a play by Clyde Fitch
• Eric Pohlmann in John Paul Jones (1959)
• Roger Booth in Barry Lyndon (1975), based on the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
• Nigel Hawthorne in The Madness of King George (1994), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, based on the play The Madness of George III, in the premiere production of which George was also played by Hawthorne
• Robin Soans in the Spanish comedy Sabotage! (2000)
• Dave Reitze in the American video Kidz History: The Revolutionary War (2003)

Television

Portrayals

On television, George has been portrayed by:

• Albert Lieven in the British drama Rake's Progress (1939)
• Eric Pohlmann in the drama The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1963), part of the Disneyland series, based on the novel by Russell Thorndike
• Jean Muselli in the French children's drama Le matelot de nulle part, based on the novel Israel Potter by Herman Melville
• Graham Chapman in the BBC comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus, in the episode "The Golden Age of Ballooning" (1974)
• John Tillinger in the American drama series The Adams Chronicles (1976)
• Nigel Davenport in the BBC drama series Prince Regent (1979)
• Rhys McConnochie in the ABC miniseries Captain James Cook (1987)
• Gertan Klauber as a complete madman with a German accent in the final episode of the BBC comedy series Blackadder the Third (1987)
• David Warner in the drama documentary The American Revolution (1994)
• Nicholas Rowe in the miniseries Longitude (2000)
• Mark Hadlow in the comedy/action series Jack of All Trades, in the episode "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Opera" (2000)
• Charles Shaughnessy (voice) in the animated series Liberty's Kids: Est. 1776 (2002)
• Anthony Cochrane in the miniseries Benjamin Franklin (2002)
• Geoffrey Streatfeild in the drama documentary Timewatch - How Mad Was King George?^[4] (2004)
• Yoshihisa Kawahara (Japanese - voice) / Blake McMahon (British - voice) in Le Chevalier D'Eon (2006-2007)
• Tom Hollander in the HBO miniseries John Adams (2008)
• Simon Farnaby in the British children's sketchshow Horrible Histories (2009 - 2015)
• Edward Petherbridge in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, a TV adaptation of the novel of the same name (2015)

Other

The popular 1970s U.S. children's educational series Schoolhouse Rock features a song entitled "No More Kings" which paints George III as a tyrant reluctant to allow the colonies out from under his boot.

George III's papers do not include a diary.^[5] The TV series The X-Files uses a fictional anecdote that George III's diary entry on July 4, 1776 read: "Nothing important happened today", as a plot device and as the title of the ninth season premiere. (In fact, George could anyway not have been notified of transatlantic events until weeks later).

Radio

George appeared in the final episode of the British radio comedy Revolting People in 2006, played by Timothy West, where he is almost convinced into calling off the American Revolutionary War.^[6]

Sculpture

There are several extant statues of the king, not only in London (at the junction of Pall Mall and Cockspur Street, near Trafalgar Square, and in the courtyard of Somerset House) but also elsewhere - on London Street in Liverpool, on the BargateSouthampton, at one end of the Long Walk in Windsor Great Park and the painted King's Statue in Weymouth, Dorset.

Footnotes