As the new feature film Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale opens worldwide, we see for the final time the elegant, glamorous and always dramatic world of Lord and Lady Grantham and their family. We also have a chance to look back at the evolving fashion and hairstyles of Downton's characters as they have evolved from the series debut set in 1912 up to this final film set in 1930. Joining The Gilded Gentleman table to trace this fashion history is listener favorite Dr. Elizabeth L. Block, who takes us from the high Edwardian style we saw with Violet, the Dowager Countess, to the body hugging slinky styles of Coco Chanel we see on Lady Mary in this latest film. We also explore the flapper look, the influence of war years on fashion and how the great cultural forces such as the Ballets Russes all influence the styles of the Crawley sisters. And we even take a look downstairs and talk about how styles for domestic staff were shifting as well. This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon.
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The Butler Speaks! Simon Jones (Bannister from HBO's The Gilded Age)
Butlers, it seems, know everything. They are privy to the goings-on above and below stairs, and, of course, they keep it - mostly - to themselves. Agnes van Rhijn's very British butler Bannister has become a show favorite as he manages the downstairs staff and to a certain degree life above stairs as well. Simon Jones, who plays the role of Bannister, is a veteran actor with an astonishingly impressive list of credits from stage, film and television. Jones has played roles in such productions as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Brideshead Revisited and Downton Abbey. His past co-stars include Sir Laurence Olivier, Dame Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Lauren Bacall, among so many others.In this special episode, Simon Jones sits with Carl to talk about those roles, and of course that of Bannister on The Gilded Age. This interview first ran in December of 2023.
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Gay in the Gilded Age with Claybourne Elder
One of the most anxiously followed storylines in HBO's "The Gilded Age" has been the love story between Oscar van Rhijn and John Adams. Adams (Claybourne Elder), who was born into a prestigious New York family as the descendant of a Founding Father, became a fan favorite as the couple navigated their complex relationship out of society's glaring view. Following the dramatic events of Season 3, actor Claybourne Elder joins The Gilded Gentleman, along with Greg Young of the Bowery Boys Podcast, to discuss his role and character, what filming the series was like and what the life of a gay man in the Gilded Age might have been like.
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Alva Vanderbilt: The Real Bertha Russell?
Ever since the premiere episode of HBO's "The Gilded Age", viewers and historians have discussed just how close the fictitious character of Bertha Russell (played by Carrie Coon) may be to the real-life socialite steamroller Alva Vanderbilt. There certainly seems to be similarities from Bertha and Alva's mutual unrelenting drive to claw a place in society - and then there was, after all, the fact that both women married their daughters off to British dukes. The Gilded Gentleman takes a look at Alva's own story -- we have so far, been given little of Bertha's -- in an attempt to understand just why she made the choices and had the attitudes to social structure that she did. Alva Vanderbilt was complex, complicated, conflicted and endlessly fascinating as she navigated her life from a loveless marriage to a new role as a divorced woman and suffragette. Join us for this look at Alva's early life to see how it all began. An earlier version of this show ran in early 2022.
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The Gilded Age's Kelley Curran: Playing Mrs. Winterton
We all have our favorite characters on HBO's "The Gilded Age," and one fan favorite is certainly the maid-turned-social climber, the former Enid Turner -- now Mrs. Joshua Winterton. It's hard to forget her great entrance in Season 2 when she arrives on the arm of her much older (and very wealthy) husband to Bertha's jaw dropping disbelief. Actor Kelley Curran, who plays the role of Mrs. Winterton, joins The Gilded Gentleman to talk about how she created the role of Enid, what her backstory likely could be, and what it was like filming some of Enid's most dramatic scenes. This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon.
The Gilded Gentleman history podcast takes listeners on a cultural and social journey into the mansions, salons, dining rooms, libraries and theatres including the worlds above as well as below stairs of America's Gilded Age, France's Belle Epoque and late Victorian and Edwardian England.
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