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Greek actor George Roussakis. Part of a commissioned photo shoot for the actor's portfolio and promotion.
Strobist info: 1 speedlight 1 meter away right and a little above the model.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3159/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Gertrud Munckel, Berlin.
German actor Charles Willy Kayser (1881-1942) had a remarkable career in the silent cinema. However, today he is little known, while many of his films are considered lost now and there is little information about his work.
Charles Wilhelm Kaiser was born in 1881, in Metz, part of the German Empire (now Moselle, France). He was the son of an officer, who served in the French army and grew up with her sister Martel. At the age of 17, he went to the Conservatory of the Musikverein (Society of Friends of the Music) in Vienna against the wishes of his parents. There he had a vocal training. The 18-year-old had his stage debut in 1898 at the Hamburger Opera Ensemble as a lyric baritone in The Bivouac of Granada In 1899 the jeune premier made his stage debut in Berlin. In Vienna, he was a guest actor at the opera house, and a company member of the Raimund Theater. He also performed in Karlsbad, Breslau, New York and Amsterdam. Between 1911 and 1914 Kayser worked at the renowned Burgtheater in Vienna. In 1914, he moved to Riga, at the time part of the Russian Empire (now Latvia), where he became the head of the German Lustspielhaus. The outbreak of World War 1 at the end of July 1914 was a turning point in Kayser’s career. In August 1914 he was arrested by the Russian authorities for alleged espionage activities and together with his wife Betty abducted to Siberia in the Vyatka Governorate. Only after four years of suffering he managed to escape with help of the Swedish Red Cross. Kayser made his way back to Germany and arrived in Berlin completely without funds. There he received a commitment at the Lustspielhaus. About the same time the film career of the now over 35-year-old actor began. Among his first films were the silent dramas Sei getreu bis in den Tod/ Be true to death (Josef Stein, 1918) with Hanni Weisse, and Der siebente Kuß/The Seventh Kiss (Marie Luise Droop, 1918) with Hilde Woerner. He also directed a few films, Die Autofahrt unter der Erde/The car ride under the ground (1920), Tschetschensen-Rache/Chechen Revenge (1920), Im Fasching der Sinne/In the carnival of the senses (1920) and Tanz der Leidenschaften/Dance of passions (1921).
Charles Wilhelm Kaiser became a highly diverse, multi-faceted film actor. He appeared in such genres as the crime film and the melodrama which were very popular in these years. He often played people of rank, including officers, princes, or counts, but among his characters are also villagers and detectives. His early films include the Mia May vehicle Fräulein Zahnarzt/Miss Dentist (Joe May, 1919), as the fiancé of the heroine. With Mia May he also appeared in the comedy Der Amönenhof/The Amönenhof (Uwe Jens Krafft, 1920) as Count Leo von Zimburg. In the melodrama Va banque/The Winner (Léo Lasko, 1920) he played a gambler, and in the drama Der ewige Fluch/The eternal curse (Fritz Wendhausen, 1921) he was sailor Jan Graat. Especially in the years 1920-1924 Kayser appeared in countless silent films. He played officers in Die elf schillschen Offiziere /Eleven Who Were Loyal (Rudolf Meinert, 1926) and Unsere Emden/Our Emden (Louis Ralph, 1926). He played at the side of Asta Nielsen in the drugs drama Laster der Menschheit/Vices of mankind (Rudolf Meinert 1927). He also appeared in Karl Grunes monumental historical film Waterloo (1927) as King Friedrich Wilhelm III opposite Charles Vanel as Napoleon. One of his last silent films was the thriller Masken/Masks (Rudolf Meinert, 1929) from the Stuart Webbs crime film series. Alongside Karl Ludwig Diehl as Stuart Webbs), Kayser appeared as banker Clifford, who is involved in a mysterious attack. After the arrival of sound film, Kayser played mainly small supporting roles. His last screen appearances were in the propaganda films Venus vor Gericht/Venus in court (Hans H. Zerlett, 1941) and Kameraden/Comrades (Hans Schweikart, 1941). Despite his poor health - he suffered from hypertension - he had been forced by the Nazis to continue to work as an actor. After an appearance in the Baltic Sea resort Ahlbeck he broke down, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died the following day in a hospital in Berlin. Charles Willy Kaiser was married to Betty Szalok, an opera singer from Hungary, with whom he had a daughter, Vera. Shortly after the death of Betty Szalok in 1938, Kayser gave the yes-word to 30-years-younger artist Ruth Sersen. Their daughter Gabriella, named Gaby, had already been born in Munich in 1929.
Sources: Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-line - German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.
Roman copy of Greek original from post 4th century BC. Made c100AD, Rome, Quirinal Hill. It shows an actor wearing the woollen costume of Silenus from an Attic satyr play of the classical period. Antikensammlung, Berlin.
Actress and fight coordinator Katie Warner
Sword by Rogue Steel
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Actor head shots. Thanks for the inspiration from Shineylewis, Regina Pagles.
Lighting: AB800 in medium softbox CR, AB800 with grid, fill with 64" PLM with cover for fill.
.... Paul Muni (October 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967) was an American stage and film actor who grew up in Chicago. Muni was a five-time Academy Award nominee, with one win. He started his acting career in the Yiddish theater. During the 1930s, he was considered one of the most prestigious actors at the Warner Bros. studio, and was given the rare privilege of choosing which parts he wanted. He made 22 films and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1936 film 'The Story of Louis Pasteur'. He also starred in numerous Broadway plays and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a play for his role in the 1955 production of 'Inherit the Wind' ....
.... Actor Ewan McGregor & actress Julianne Nicholson, at screen premiere of their film "August : Osage County" at TIFF
Warner Bros Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter
Warner Bros Studio, Aerodrome Way, Leavesden, Watford, Herts, WD25 7LS
A great day out for every fan of the boy wizard.
The Making of Harry Potter studio tour, covering 150,000 square foot, on two soundstages opened on the 31st March 2012, with stars galore at the red carpet launch at the Leavesden Studios where all eight movies were produced.
The home for many film productions, including several James Bond features, before a relatively new production company arrived there to make a film about a young boy who on his 11th birthday discovers he is a wizard.
Over the next ten years, the cast and crew of over 4,000 in total used more and more of the studios as the popularity of the books and films grew. The three young stars lived, grew up, went to school and turned into adults there on those stages.
Your tour begins in the foyer, with a flying Ford Anglia hanging from the ceiling and the walls adorned with huge photos of the cast, along with a few props.
Passing by the set of the cupboard under the stairs, you enter a room with a number of vertical TV screens showing Potter movie posters from around the world, followed by a short video sequence showing the rise of Harry’s popularity, the production teams discovery of the stories and the enormous worldwide success of the books and films.
Moving into the cinema, a short film introduced by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, talking about their experiences growing up on a film set for ten years, with clips from all eight films. The film ends with them standing in front of the main doors to the Great Hall and they walk in through the doors and invite you to follow them.
The screen at this point slowly rises to reveal the actual main doors to the Great Hall, surrounded with stone statues and carvings. What a wizard way to start the tour.
Walking through into the Great Hall we are told that we were now walking on the actual stone floor used in the films and seeing the actual tables where the actors ate their feasts. Dummies down each side of the hall wear the actual costumes used in the films. At the far end of the hall is the teachers’ table area, with more amazing costumes worn by Professors Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Moody, Trelawney and Flitwick, as well as Hagrid and Filch too.
Leaving the Great Hall you enter the first of two vast sound stages. This includes sets for the Gryffindor Common Room and Dormitory, Dumbledore’s Office, Potions Classroom, Hagrid’s Hut, Burrow’s Kitchen and parts of the Ministry of Magic, also Umbridge’s gaudy pink, feline office. Each filled to the brim with props and costumes.
Props can be seen everywhere, with a massive cage in the centre, chock-a-block with goblets, chandeliers, wands and armour. A huge glass case contains the wands of 24 of the major characters – less than 1 percent of the total number of wands made for the films. The ornate doors to a Gringott’s vault and to the Chamber of Secrets are seen after passing a wall dedicated to the paintings produced to decorate the walls of Hogwarts.
Below the giant swinging pendulum of the Hogwarts castle clock there are several huge touch screens containing an interactive Marauders Map.
There are sections of the soundstage dedicated to various movie-making crafts. The hair and makeup section, costumes section, animal department, graphic design and production.
The final section in this first soundstage is dedicated to the Special Effects department with three huge video screens showing all the tricks and techniques, including greenscreen footage and CGI. Props attached to their motion rigs, include the Gringott’s Vault Cart and Mad-Eye Moody’s Recumbent Broomstick.
In separate room you can have a go on a broomstick or drive the Ford Anglia yourself, using the greenscreen technology.
The Backlot about half way round the tour is an open air section between the two soundstages where refreshments are available, including Butterbeer the popular wizarding beverage.
Also featured on the backlot are the Knight Bus, another Ford Anglia, Hagrid’s motorbike/sidecar, the Riddle family tombstone, a section of the rickety wooden Hogwarts Bridge, Potter’s burnt out cottage from Godric’s Hollow and Number 4 Privet Drive.
Entering the second soundstage you pass some of the giant chess pieces from the first movie. A number of video screens here progressively show what it was like to work in the creature shop, cleverly leading you from one screen to the next, past models of Fawkes, a snapping Monster Book of Monsters and a giant animatronic head of Hagrid. The next room has the life size (i.e., ENORMOUS!) model of Aragog the spider and one of three animatronic Buckbeak models.
Walking around the corner (WOW) you are transported into another world entirely. The dark lighting and cobbled street can only mean one thing – you have entered Diagon Alley. The shops using the original sets have been rebuilt– Flourish & Blotts, Eeylops Owl Emporium, Potage’s Cauldron Shop and of course Ollivander’s Wand Shop, each and every one them is crammed full of detail. At the other end of the street is Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, with the bright orange shopfront standing out from the crowd of blackness and featuring a moving model of one of the red-haired twins doffing his hat.
At the end of Diagon Alley you move onto the Art and Design department with walls covered with architectural drawings and detailed plans, accurate down to the millimetre, for many of the props and sets already seen. A draftsman’s table serves as a projection screen for another video about the work of the art department.
Moving on, up the ascending path are walls full of concept paintings and artwork, also intricate cardboard models of Hogsmead and the Hogwarts.
You are only looking at a model of the model though, as entering the next room, there, spread over at least 15 square metres is the most amazing, complex and elaborate model built to a 1:24 scale. It has a bigger footprint than the average house.
The last part of the tour is a fitting tribute to the crew and cast of the most popular film franchise of all time. A much tidier recreation of the interior of Ollivander’s Wand shop, with over 4,000 wand boxes lining its shelves – one for every single person who worked on the films.
Exit through the Gift Shop.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2698/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Tobis.
Austrian actor Norbert Rohringer (1927-2009) was a child star in the Third Reich.
Norbert Rohringer was born in 1927 in Vienna, Austria. According to Wikipedia, Rohringer made his film debut at the side of Hans Moser in the comedy Anton der Letzte/Anton, the last (E.W. Emo. 1939). However, Wikipedia also mentions he had already appeared as a six-year-old in Madame wünscht keine Kinder/Madame Wants No Children (Hans Steinhoff, 1933) with Liane Haid, Sonnenstrahl/Ray of Sunshine (Paul Fejos a.k.a. Pál Fejös, 1933) with Annabella, and Seine Tochter ist der Peter (Heinz Helbig, Willy Schmidt-Gentner, 1936). In the latter his scne was cut. In Der Sündenbock/The Scapegoat (Hans Deppe, 1940), Norbert played his first leading role. He was also the main actor in the propagandistic NS youth film Jakko (Fritz Peter Buch, 1941). The blonde, dapper looking boy played a troubled young circus boy who joins the Hitler Naval Youth, where he finds meaning and purpose in his life. After the end of the Second World War, this film was classified as a 'conditional film' because of the Nazi propaganda contained in it. The public screenings of the film have been limited since then. He also appeared in a small part in the Nazi propaganda film Mein Leben für Irland/My Life for Ireland (Max W. Kimmich, 1941) with Anna Dammann. The film tells a story of Irish heroism and martyrdom over two generations of British occupation. The film was produced for Nazi-occupied Europe with the intent of challenging pro-British allegiances; yet in some cases it had the unintended effect of making audiences identify the Irish struggle with their own resistance against the Nazis
Norbert Rohringer was then constantly used in mostly smaller roles in films. In Symphonie eines Lebens/Symphony of a life (Hans Bertram, 1942), he played the son of Harry Baur and Henny Porten. By the end of the war in 1945 he had participated in a total of 13 films. His final film was Wir beide liebten Katharina/We both loved Katharina (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1946) with Angelika Hauff. Thre romantic comedy was filmed in the final days of World War Two. When Germany surrendered the film was to 20% completed. After the war this lavish Agfacolor production was not continued, and the already filmed material disappeared. After the war Rohringer ended his film career and studied music at the Hochschule für Musik (University of Music and Performing Arts) in Vienna. He earned his money as a pianist and went on tour through France, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Until his death in 2009, Norbert Rohringer lived in Hamburg. He was 82. He is interred at the local Ohlsdorfer Friedhof (Ohlsdorf cemetery).
Sources: Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-Line. de), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Nique sa mere le Hollywood des années 60, les reconstitutions à la mad men, et les bars fakeplastic-vintage.
Photoshoot with Matthew Raetz
Actor/Model
Learn more about Matt here
and here
Lake Vista
New Orleans, Louisiana
An actor in costume dons a lion head mask during a Victorian era street play demonstration
iancrean.photodeck.com/-/galleries/encountered/-/medias/5...
Mock advertisement with an image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960s British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.
Tony Award-winning actor Annaleigh Ashford joined fellow Broadway Coloradans Beth Malone ("Fun Home") and Mara Davi ("Dames at Sea" for "United in Love," a special concert event benefiting the Denver Actors Fund on April 30 at the Lone Tree Arts Center. The three were "back to give back," joined by powerhouse singer, actor and First Lady of Denver Mary Louise; Broadway’s Jodie Langel ("Les Misérables"); composer Denise Gentilini ("I Am Alive") and Denver performers Jimmy Bruenger, Eugene Ebner, Becca Fletcher, Clarissa Fugazzotto, Robert Johnson, Daniel Langhoff, Susannah McLeod, Chloe McLeod, Sarah Rex, Jeremy Rill, Kristen Samu, Willow Samu, Thaddeus Valdez, and the casts of both "The Jerseys" (Klint Rudolph, Brian Smith, Paul Dwyer and Randy St. Pierre), and the all-student cast of the upcoming "13 the Musical" (Rylee Vogel, Josh Cellar, Hannah Meg Weinraub, Hannah Katz, Lorenzo Giovannetti, Maddie Kee, Kaden Hinkle, Darrow Klein, Evan Gibley, Conrad Eck and Macy Friday). The purpose of the evening was to spread a message of love and hope while raising funds for the Denver Actors Fund, which has made $90,000 available to local theatre artists facing situational medical need. The concert was presented by presented by Ebner-Page Productions. Photos by RDG Photography, Gary Duff and DCPA Senior Arts Journalist John Moore, also the founder of the Denver Actors Fund. For more information, go to www.denveractorsfund.org
Creature Shop
A number of video screens here progressively show what it was like to work in the creature shop, cleverly leading you from one screen to the next.
Makeup Effects
Creature Shop artisans transformed many cast members into magical beings like goblins, werewolves and even the Dark Lord himself, using applied makeup pieces called prosthetics.
Design
The Art Department provided the Creature Shop with initial sketches and drawings of each creature and character. From there artists transformed the images into three-dimensional models called maquettes.
Moulding
Once the designs were approved, makeup appliances were sculpted to fit the performers. Models of actors' mouthes, heads, arms or entire bodies were cast which artists used to create and test new prosthetic pieces.
Application
Multiple copies of each prosthetic were made from silicone or foam. Then, makeup artists carefully glued each piece to cast members' heads and bodies, a process that took just a few minutes for Voldemort's eyebrows and up to three hours for a Gringotts goblin.
Filming
Because of the hot lights in the studio and actor movement, makeup artsits were standing by on set to touch up smeared lightning bolt scars, broken goblin ears or crooked teeth.
People the world-over have been enchanted by the Harry Potter films for nearly a decade. The wonderful special effects and amazing creatures have made this iconic series beloved to both young and old - and now, for the first time, the doors are going to be opened for everyone at the studio where it first began. You'll have the chance to go behind-the-scenes and see many things the camera never showed. From breathtakingly detailed sets to stunning costumes, props and animatronics, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London provides a unique showcase of the extraordinary British artistry, technology and talent that went into making the most successful film series of all time. Secrets will be revealed.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London provides an amazing new opportunity to explore the magic of the Harry Potter films - the most successful film series of all time. This unique walking tour takes you behind-the-scenes and showcases a huge array of beautiful sets, costumes and props. It also reveals some closely guarded secrets, including facts about the special effects and animatronics that made these films so hugely popular all over the world.
Here are just some of the things you can expect to see and do:
- Step inside and discover the actual Great Hall.
- Explore Dumbledore’s office and discover never-before-seen treasures.
- Step onto the famous cobbles of Diagon Alley, featuring the shop fronts of Ollivanders wand shop, Flourish and Blotts, the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Eeylops Owl Emporium.
- See iconic props from the films, including Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorcycle.
- Learn how creatures were brought to life with green screen effects, animatronics and life-sized models.
- Rediscover other memorable sets from the film series, including the Gryffindor common room, the boys’ dormitory, Hagrid’s hut, Potion’s classroom and Professor Umbridge’s office at the Ministry of Magic.
Located just 20 miles from the heart of London at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, the very place where it all began and where all eight of the Harry Potter films were brought to life. The Studio Tour is accessible to everyone and promises to be a truly memorable experience - whether you’re an avid Harry Potter fan, an all-round movie buff or you just want to try something that’s a little bit different.
The tour is estimated to take approximately three hours (I was in there for 5 hours!), however, as the tour is mostly self guided, you are free to explore the attraction at your own pace. During this time you will be able to see many of the best-loved sets and exhibits from the films. Unique and precious items from the films will also be on display, alongside some exciting hands-on interactive exhibits that will make you feel like you’re actually there.
The magic also continues in the Gift Shop, which is full of exciting souvenirs and official merchandise, designed to create an everlasting memory of your day at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.
Hogwarts Castle Model - Get a 360 degree view of the incredible, hand sculpted 1:24 scale construction that features within the Studio Tour. The Hogwarts castle model is the jewel of the Art Department having been built for the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It took 86 artists and crew members to construct the first version which was then rebuilt and altered many times over for the next seven films. The work was so extensive that if one was to add all the man hours that have gone into building and reworking the model, it would come to over 74 years. The model was used for aerial photography, and was digitally scanned for CGI scenes.
The model, which sits at nearly 50 feet in diameter, has over 2,500 fibre optic lights that simulate lanterns and torches and even gave the illusion of students passing through hallways in the films. To show off the lighting to full effect a day-to-night cycle will take place every four minutes so you can experience its full beauty.
An amazing amount of detail went into the making of the model: all the doors are hinged, real plants are used for landscaping and miniature birds are housed in the Owlery. To make the model appear even more realistic, artists rebuilt miniature versions of the courtyards from Alnwick Castle and Durham Cathedral, where scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone were shot.
I had unfinished business here.
Jools and I were here at the end of October, since then I have regretted leaving early before having taken more shots. So, when Jools said she had a course in Deal, rather than kick my heels at home, I said I would like to go back to London. I asked a fellow Flickrite, Graham, if he fancied meeting up.
He did.
So, just before ten we meet outside, and once inside we split up as it was his firs time, and I wanted to go straight to the Lady Chapel.
Not many people about, so I could get the shots I wanted, making my way all the time further east.
Its funny, I thought I'd recorded it well on my first visit, but I see many more details and views opening up.
Into the Lady Chapel, the light is glorious, pouting in through plain and stained glass, ranks of banners hanging down, and seats in the quire adorned with figures of brightly coloured animals, castles and bolts of lightning.
Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots slumber on still, separated by the steps leading to the Lady Chapel, surrounded by the tombs of their courtiers.
After going round with the 50mm lens, I went round the other way with the big lens, snapping details unseen for the most part.
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Some three months ago, Jools and I went up to London to visit Westminster Abbey, where I took a lots of shots, but got "curched out". Two weeks ago we were to meet a friend, Graham when we went to the Tate, then he tested positive for COVID the morning of the trip, so couldn't go.
I promised him we would return soon, to London.
Sooner than I thought, as it turned out. As Jools had a class in Deal on Saturday afternoon, so I could go up to London on the train, go tot he Abbey, take another load of shots, meet Graham and then we could go to the pub.
Brilliant.
Even better when Graham said he could make it, so the plan was made; meet outside the Abbey at ten. Take shots. Walk to pub. Drink beer. Come home.
Simple plan with clear goals.
Jools did shopping on Friday afternoon so all we had to do was get up and be at the station for ten to eight.
We got up, had a coffee, fed the cats and so on. I dodged breakfast planning on getting something out.
Jools dropped me off at half seven, just before sunrise. Frosty but clear, so I went onto the platform to take some shots before mine was due at ten to.
Not many people about, most waiting to go to Ramsgate, or stations between there and Dover, I snapped their train come in, pause to pick them up, then wait for the road to be clear.
The train doesn't really fill up that much, I guess about 50%, for a train getting into London at about nine on a Saturday, should be packed. Still early days, I guess.
Anyway, it was light so I could look out of the large windows, andmark our progress through Folkestone, Ashford to Ebbsfleet then under the river into Essex. Away on the left, Canary Wharf stand bathed in warm sunlight, still 15 miles away, like some 21st century version of Mordor.
I leave the train at Stratford, and instead of walking through Westfield, I take the DLR to Stratford. Or would have done only to see on pull out of the station as I come down the escalator, leaving me with ten minutes to wait. No matter, I have time.
I get out at Stratford and cross to the Jubilee Line, where in the train, most are wearing masks, and people keeping their distances.
A half hour run across the East End to London Bridge, Waterloo and into Westminster, where I get out and go to street level, taking off my mask once safely outside and breath in the fresh air.
I walk round Parliament Square, past the Houses of Parliament with Big Ben (I know not its real name) now partially revealed having had its scaffolding removed, the repainted face and new guilding glistened in the sunlight, though the west face was ten minutes behind the north one.
As I walked towards the entrance to the Abbey, I saw my friend, Graham on the other side fo the road waiting to cross, I hail him and once he's safely over we shake hands.
After taking some exterior shots, we go in and spit up, as its his first time and my second.
I have a list of targets, mainly redoing Henry VII's Lady Chapel as I only did that with the wide angle last time, then going around with the big lens for details of the windows and tombs.
After an hours and a half, we were both done. On the way out I point out some other details, including the Chapter House and pass what we see i s labelled "the oldest door in Brit dating to AD1060!
What shall we do?
Walk along the river to the Black Friar.
Good idea.
Though we stop for a coffee at the van outside, and was really good coffee indeed.
-------------------------------------------
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and a burial site for English and, later, British monarchs.
The building itself was originally a Catholic Benedictine monastic church until the monastery was dissolved in 1539. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral and seat of the catholic bishop. After 1560 the building was no longer an abbey or a cathedral, after the Catholics had been driven out by King Henry VIII, having instead was granted the status of a Church of England "Royal Peculiar"—a church responsible directly to the sovereign—by Queen Elizabeth I.
According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a church was founded at the site (then known as Thorn Ey (Thorn Island)) in the seventh century at the time of Mellitus, a Bishop of London. Construction of the present church began in 1245 on the orders of King Henry III.[4]
Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey.[4][5] Sixteen royal weddings have occurred at the Abbey since 1100.[6]
The Abbey is the burial site of more than 3300 persons, usually of prominence in British history: at least 16 monarchs, 8 Prime Ministers, poets laureate, actors, scientists, military leaders, and the Unknown Warrior. As such, Westminster Abbey is sometimes described as "Britain's Valhalla", after the iconic hall of the chosen heroes in Norse mythology.
Between 1042 and 1052, King Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St Peter's Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church. It was the first church in England built in the Romanesque style. The building was completed around 1060 and was consecrated on 28 December 1065, only a week before Edward's death on 5 January 1066.[9] A week later, he was buried in the church; and, nine years later, his wife Edith was buried alongside him.[10] His successor, Harold II, was probably crowned in the abbey, although the first documented coronation is that of William the Conqueror later the same year.[11]
The only extant depiction of Edward's abbey, together with the adjacent Palace of Westminster, is in the Bayeux Tapestry. Some of the lower parts of the monastic dormitory, an extension of the South Transept, survive in the Norman Undercroft of the Great School, including a door said to come from the previous Saxon abbey. Increased endowments supported a community that increased from a dozen monks in Dunstan's original foundation, up to a maximum of about eighty monks.
The abbot and monks, in proximity to the royal Palace of Westminster, the seat of government from the later 13th century, became a powerful force in the centuries after the Norman Conquest. The Abbot of Westminster often was employed on royal service and in due course took his place in the House of Lords as of right. Released from the burdens of spiritual leadership, which passed to the reformed Cluniac movement after the mid-10th century, and occupied with the administration of great landed properties, some of which lay far from Westminster, "the Benedictines achieved a remarkable degree of identification with the secular life of their times, and particularly with upper-class life", Barbara Harvey concludes, to the extent that her depiction of daily life provides a wider view of the concerns of the English gentry in the High and Late Middle Ages.[13]
The proximity of the Palace of Westminster did not extend to providing monks or abbots with high royal connections; in social origin the Benedictines of Westminster were as modest as most of the order. The abbot remained Lord of the Manor of Westminster as a town of two to three thousand persons grew around it: as a consumer and employer on a grand scale the monastery helped fuel the town economy, and relations with the town remained unusually cordial, but no enfranchising charter was issued during the Middle Ages.[14]
The abbey became the coronation site of Norman kings. None were buried there until Henry III, intensely devoted to the cult of the Confessor, rebuilt the abbey in Anglo-French Gothic style as a shrine to venerate King Edward the Confessor and as a suitably regal setting for Henry's own tomb, under the highest Gothic nave in England. The Confessor's shrine subsequently played a great part in his canonization.
The following English, Scottish and British monarchs and their consorts are buried in the Abbey:
Sæberht of Essex (d. c. 616) [possibly]
Edward the Confessor (d. 1066) and Edith of Wessex (d. 1075)
Henry III of England (d. 1272) [his wife, Eleanor of Provence, is buried at Amesbury Priory]
Edward I of England (d. 1307) and Eleanor of Castile (d. 1290)
Edward III of England (d. 1377) and Philippa of Hainault (d. 1369)
Richard II of England (d. 1400) and Anne of Bohemia (d. 1394)
Henry V of England (d. 1422) and Catherine of Valois (d. 1437)
Edward V of England (d. c. 1483) and his brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York (d. c. 1483) [possibly]
Also known as the Princes in the Tower. In 1674, the remains of two boys were exhumed from the Tower of London and at the orders of Charles II, they were interred in the wall of the Henry VII Lady Chapel.
Anne Neville (d. 1485), wife of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales [m. 1470–71; buried at Tewkesbury Abbey] and of Richard III [m. 1472–85; buried at Leicester Cathedral]
Henry VII of England (d. 1509) and Elizabeth of York (d. 1503)
Edward VI of England (d. 1553)
Anne of Cleves (d. 1557), former wife of Henry VIII [buried at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle]
Mary I of England (d. 1558)
Elizabeth I of England as shown on her tomb
Mary, Queen of Scots (d. 1542), mother of James VI & I of England and Scotland [brought from Peterborough Cathedral in 1612]
Elizabeth I of England (d. 1603)
In the 19th century, researchers looking for the tomb of James I partially opened the underground vault containing the remains of Elizabeth I and Mary I of England. The lead coffins were stacked, with Elizabeth's resting on top of her half-sister's.[9]
James VI & I of England and Scotland (d. 1625) and Anne of Denmark (d. 1619)
The position of the tomb of King James was lost for two and a half centuries. In the 19th century, following an excavation of many of the vaults beneath the floor, the lead coffin was found in the Henry VII vault.[9]
Charles II of England and Scotland (d. 1685)
Mary II of England and Scotland (d. 1694) and William III of England and II of Scotland (d. 1702)
Anne, Queen of Great Britain (d. 1714) and Prince George of Denmark, Duke of Cumberland (d. 1708)
George II of Great Britain (d. 1760) and Caroline of Ansbach (d. 1737)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burials_and_memorials_in_Westminste...