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Walter Raleigh in popular culture

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Walter Raleigh in popular culture

Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1554 – 29 October 1618) was an English gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer, well known for popularising tobacco in England.

Contents

Films

  • Vincent Price portrayed Sir Walter Raleigh in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939). The cast also included Bette Davis and Errol Flynn.
  • Raleigh was portrayed by Richard Todd in the film, The Virgin Queen (1955).
  • The Historie of the World, of which only the first volume was completed before Raleigh's execution, is the source of the title of the Mel Brooks comedy film History of the World, Part I (1981).
  • He is portrayed by Clive Owen in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton, portrayed by Abbie Cornish, was also a featured character in this sequel to Elizabeth (1998), which focuses on the relationships of Elizabeth I (portrayed by Cate Blanchett) and Bess with Raleigh, and shows Bess and Raleigh marrying prior to the Spanish Armada (1588), though in fact the couple married in 1591.

    • In The_Rock_(film) the character John Mason played by Sean Connery mentions Sir Walter Raleigh in a conversation with Stanley Goodspeed played by Nicolas Cage

    Games

  • According to 1066 and All That, James I, with his "logical and tidy mind" had Raleigh executed "for being left over from the previous reign."
  • Raleigh is a playable character in the video game Jamestown.
  • Raleigh is the default character of England in the Microprose game Sid Meier's Colonization. Bob Newhart's monologue "Introducing Tobacco to Civilisation" takes the form of a telephone conversation between "Nutty Walt" Raleigh and a sceptical business associate.

    • Literature

  • He is one of the principal characters in Winston Graham's historical novel The Grove of Eagles (1963).
  • He is a character in Gloriana's Torch (2003), Patricia Finney's third novel in the Elizabethan spy thriller David Becket and Simon Ames Series.
  • He is the main character in Robert Nye's historical novel The Voyage of the Destiny (1982)
  • In The Loss of El Dorado: A Colonial History by V. S. Naipaul

    • Music

  • John Lennon of The Beatles describes Raleigh as "a stupid git" due to his popularization of smoking in the song "I'm So Tired" on The White Album (1968).
  • Raleigh is mentioned in the second "commercial" on P. D. Q. Bach's Report from Hoople: P. D. Q. Bach on the Air (1967), and credited with providing the composer with a recipe for a special blend of tobacco that will "give no end of reason to be jolly".

    • Operas

  • Raleigh is a main character in Edward German's comic opera Merrie England (1902);
  • Raleigh appears as a character in Benjamin Britten's opera Gloriana, Op. 53 (1953).

    • Stage plays

  • In late 1940s to early 1950s, actor and comedian Andy Griffith appeared as Sir Walter Raleigh, alongside other cast members in the stage play The Lost Colony.

    • Television

  • Simon Jones portrayed Raleigh in the "Potato" (1986) episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II.
  • Simon Farnaby / Mathew Baynton portrayed Raleigh in the educational comedy TV series Horrible Histories.

    • Brands and enterprises

  • Raleigh Cigarettes were a popular brand during the 1950s and 1960s as was Sir Walter Raleigh Tobacco during the 20th century.

    • Myths

    Raleigh allegedly laid his cloak over a puddle so Queen Elizabeth I would not get her feet wet. The story is generally considered to be apocryphal.

    References

    Walter Raleigh in popular culture Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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