Fame in the 20th Century

The Close-up Stakes Its Claim 1900-1927

The way fame was created

• Dissemination of fame• Through the press -

newspapers, journals, and other publications

• William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951)

• His New York Journal was a phenomenal success with many pictures and sensationalism

The way fame was created

• Hearst bought up newspapers in every corner of US. At the peak of his fortune, he owned 28 major newspapers, 18 magazines, radio stations, a movie company, news service.

• Marion Davies, his mistress appeared in films.• Extravagance - Heast built a grandiose castle i

n California (97,000 hectors)• Ambition - Hearst served for the House of Repr

esentatives and stood for New York governor.

The way fame was created• Movies were the next

medium through which fame was created, but at the turn of the century, they were still in the experimental stage.

• Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

• Inventor of motion pictures and sound recording.

The first fame in the 20th Century

• Victoria - Queen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India (1819-1901)

• One of the best known name and face till the very early 20th century.

• Her empire spread over one third of the world.

The first fame in the 20th Century• Leo Tolstoy (1828-

1910) • A master of realistic

fiction and one of the greatest novelists.

• War and Peace• Anna Karenina• Tolstoy was renowned

as a moral and religious teacher.

The first fame in the 20th Century

• Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) - Scottish writer, best known for the creation of Sharlock Holmes.

• Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) - English novelist and poet and best known for his celebration of British Imperialism.

The first fame in the 20th Century

• Marie Curie (1867-1934) - Polish-born French physicist famous for her work on radioactivity. Twice nobel-laureate.

• French national heroine but her fame came after a biographical film was made with Greer Garson

Fame through Publicity

• Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) - 26th US president, writer, naturalist and soldier.

• He expanded the powers of presidency and the parliament.

Fame through Publicity

• Teddy Roosevelt changed the styles in political activities - more performance, more media exposure and more personality.

The Close-up Makes Actors Stars

• Film camera’s capacity to make the face large and desirable.

• New erotic relationship between the performer on the screen and the audience - the audience knows the performer so well that the former cannot believe the latter cannot know you.

The Close-up Makes Actors Stars

• The close-up changed acting.

• Acting ability is less important and good looks are essential in cinema.

National Fame

• Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) - British naval officer and explorer who died in 1912 before reaching the South Pole.

National Fame

Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. . . . We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.

From the diary of Robert Scott, found with his body near the South Pole.

National Fame• Roald Amundsen (182

7-1928?) - Norwegian explorer, the first to reach the South Pole and the first to cross the arctic by air. He lost his life while rescuing Umberto Nobile, an Italian aeronautical engineer from the air balloon crash.

International Fame

• Jack Johnson (1878-1947) - the first African-American to hold the world heavyweight boxing champion.

• He won the title in Sydney, Dec., 1908 and defended it three times in Paris only to lose it in Cuba. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUo9gIp3cRg

European Fame

• Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) - German field marshal and second president of Weimar Republic. He appointed Adorf Hitler chancellor in 1933.

• Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929) - Marshall of France and the commander of the Allied Forces, considered the leader most responsible for their victory.

European Fame

• George V (1865-1936) - King of United Kingdom from 1910-1936. Everybody knew his name but nobody saw him.

• Lloyd George (1863-1945) - British prime minister (1916-22) and the major political figure in the latter half of the WWI.

European Fame

• Manfred, baron von Richthofen (1892-1918) - Germany’s top air fighter.

• He became a hero for the Germans and a devil for the Allied. He was credited with shooting down 80 enemy planes.

National Fame• T(homas) E(dward) Lawre

nce (1888-1935) - British archaeological scholar, military strategist and writer, best know for his military activities in the Middle East during the WWI.

• T.E. Lawrence organized Arab uprisings and inspired guerilla wars against the Turks.

National Fame

• T.E. Lawrence masterminded the liberation of the large area of the Middle East from Palestine and Syria to the Arabian Peninsula.

• He was a mysterious figure and immortalized by his own book, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom and David Lean’s film, Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

International Fame• Vladimir Ilich Lenin (1870-1

924) - founder of the Russian Communist Party(Bolsheviks), the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), the first head of the Soviet State, architect, and builder.

• Lenin founded the Comintern (Communist International) and his doctrine became ‘Leninism’ after his death.

International Fame

• The Bolshevik Revolution was arguably the most significant event in the twentieth century and Lenin was considered as the greatest political leader, revolutionary and revolutionary thinker.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soDVWAoeZ4E

International Fame• Henry Ford (1863-1947) -

American industrialist who revolutionized factory production with automation-line method.

• He was celebrated as a industrial genius and folk hero.

• He created an industry of unprecedented size and wealth (car industry)

International Fame• His assembly-line, automation method and e

fficiency (Fordism) permanently changed the industrial scenes in the United States and made it the greatest industrial nation in the world.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M3pBIssr-A&feature=related

• When Henry Ford left his father’s farm in 1879 only two out of eight Americans lived in cities but when he died its proportion wasfive out of eight. He was responsible for creating industrial cities.

International Fame• Douglas Fairbanks (1883-

1939) - motion picture actor and producer.

• He was one of the first and the greatest swashbuckling heroes on the screen. ‘The King of Hollywood’ during the 1920s.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaBud6ii5Wk

International Fame

• Mary Pickford (1893-1979) - motion picture actress, one of the first silver screen stars.

• At the height of her career, she was one of the most famous and the richest women in the world.

• She was generally known as ‘America’s sweetheart.’

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ti-dZuM5r4

International Fame• Rudolph Valentino (1895-

1926) - Italian-born motion picture actor.

• He was adored as ‘great lover’ and a male ‘sex symbol’ in the 20s.

• Immigrated from Italy at the age of 18 and worked as a gardener, dishwasher and vaudeville dancer.

International Fame

• He mainly appeared in romantic dramas and his popularity was carefully managed by press agents.

• His sudden death at the age of 31 caused a worldwide hysteria, several suicides and a riot at his funeral, which attracted a crowd stretching 11 blocs.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OAlbfZRCvY

International Fame

• Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) - British comedian, motion picture actor, director, producer and composer.

• Generally regarded as the greatest comic actor of the screen and the most important figure in cinema history.

International Fame• Chaplin appeared as an

immortal ‘little tramp’ in a large number of films.

• At the peak of his career Chaplin was the best paid movie star.

• Chaplin’s off-screen activities caused controversies - twice married teenager, illegitimate relationships with actresses.

International Fame

• His outspoken liberalism lead to a suspect that he might be a communist sympathizer.

International Fame

• Greta Garbo (1905-1990) - Swedish-born motion picture actress that swirled America and the world as the most glamourous and mysterious star.

• She played many roles of strong-willed women.