TIFF 2012: Here comes King George VI again
Queen Elizabeth’s dad is portrayed in film again this year in ‘Hyde Park on the Hudson,” starring Bill Murray
(FILE PHOTO) In this composite image a comparison has been made between King George VI (L) and Actor Colin Firth. Oscar hype begins this week with the announcement of the nominations for the 69th annual Golden Globes and the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Luise Rainer became the first actress to receive an Academy Award for her role in the 1936 biopic ‘The Great Ziegfeld,’ playing stage performer Anna Held. Over half of the last ten Oscars for best actor or actress have been for performances in a biopic. The trend continues this year with the nominations for actors Michelle Williams, Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio for their roles in ‘My Week With Marilyn.’ ‘The Iron Lady,’ ‘A Dangerous Method’ and ‘J Edgar.’ Please refer to the following event on Getty Images Archival for further composite imagery of various actors who have been nominated for a biopic role at www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=135361196&EditorialProduct=Archival
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When Albert Fredrick Arthur George was born on December 14, 1895, few suspected that he would one day be king. But when his older brother Prince Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David abdicated in 1936 after only 326 days on the throne–and went from being King Edward VIII to the Duke of Windsor–the younger brother, also known as Bertie (and Queen Elizabeth’s dad) became King George VI.
And it’s been a big couple of years for him at TIFF: The King’s Speech won over just about everyone in 2009 and last year Madonna held her North American premiere of W.E.–about Wallace Simpson and the Duke of Windsor (George VI’s brother)–at the festival.
This year, audiences will see him portrayed on the big screen on September 10 at TIFF in Hyde Park on the Hudson: a film based on a week in the summer of 1939 when President Roosevelt (Bill Murray) and his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams) host the king (Samuel West) and queen (Olivia Colman) in upstate New York.
Here’s a round-up of the actors who’ve portrayed King George VI in film:
1. Hyde Park on the Hudson (2012), played by Samuel West
2. The King Speak (2011), played by Nicholas Hosting
3. W.E. (2011), played by Laurence Fox
4. The King’s Speech (2010), played by Colin Firth
5. Churchill, the Hollywood Years (2004), played by Harry Enfield
6. Sekret Enigmy (1979), played by Andrzej Mrozewski
