Margaret Brown led a remarkable life even apart from surviving the Titanic
This week’s entry: Margaret Brown
What it’s about: The second-most famous person to come out of Hannibal, Missouri. Born in a two-room log cabin, Margaret Brown ended up a wealthy philanthropist who fought for numerous good causes, but was remembered then and now for one singular event in her life: surviving the sinking of the Titanic, which earned her the nickname the Unsinkable Molly Brown (although it’s unclear where Molly came from, as she went by Maggie throughout her life).
Strangest fact: Brown has been portrayed on stage and screen at least 11 times, and twice by Cloris Leachman. There’s a long list of films about Titanic, and Hollywood jumped on the story immediately, releasing Saved From The Titanic (co-written and starring one of the survivors!) only a month after the event. Joseph Goebbels even commissioned a Nazi propaganda Titanic with a heroic (and fictitious) German First Officer and British villains. Its special effects were impressive enough that some shots were lifted for 1958’s A Night To Remember.
Brown didn’t become a character until 1953’s Titanic, in which Thelma Ritter played Brown in a minor role. Brown was front and center in 1960’s hit musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown, with Tammy Grimes originating the title role, and Debbie Reynolds starring in the 1964 screen version. A 31-year-old Cloris Leachman played Brown in an episode of the anthology TV drama Telephone Time that re-staged the disaster, then returned to the role 22 years later for the TV movie S.O.S. Titanic.