Cultural depictions of George III of the United Kingdom

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

Literature

George's insanity is the subject of the 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.

In Douglas Adams's book, Life, the Universe and Everything, the character Arthur Dent refers to trees as "those things people think you're mad if you talk to? Like George the Third".^[1] He is also referenced in the Dirk Gently series by Douglas Adams as being interested in time-travel.

King George III appears in the novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

The Flood Tide, Volume 9 of The Morland Dynasty, a series of historical novels by author Cynthia Harrod-Eagles covers this period of history, seen through the eyes of the fictional Morland family.

In Naomi Novik's Victory of Eagles, the fifth Temeraire novel, George is encountered by William Laurence, the protagonist, while on an errand in Edinburgh Castle. Laurence initially fails to recognize the ailing monarch in his sleeping gown, confused and walking alone at night in the snow.

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
• Robin Soans in the Spanish comedy Sabotage! (2000)
• Dave Reitze in the American video Kidz History: The Revolutionary War (2003)

Television

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)
• Tom Hollander in the HBO miniseries John Adams (2008)

Other

The 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.

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.^[2] 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).

George III is also a key character is several episodes of the anime Le Chevalier D'Eon.

Footnotes

1. ^ Adams, Douglas (1982). Life, the Universe and Everything. London: Pan Books Ltd. pp. 14. ISBN 0330267388. 
2. ^ National Register of Archives. Papers of George, III (1738–1820) King of Great Britain and Ireland. GB/NNAF/P136128