Cultural depictions of Henry VIII of England

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Henry VIII of England has been depicted many times in popular culture.

Contents 1 Literature 2 Film 3 Television 4 Music

[edit] Literature

• Henry is the central character in Henry VIII, a play by William Shakespeare.
• Henry is a character in the novel The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain
• Henry is a character in the novel When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major, telling the story of Henry's sister Mary.
• Henry is also a central character in the play A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, which tells the story of the relationship between Henry and Sir Thomas More. Keith Baxter was the first to play the role on Broadway.
• Henry is a central character in the novel The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, telling the story of Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister.

[edit] Film

Henry has been portrayed on film many times. He was played by:

• Arthur Bourchier in the silent short Henry VIII (1911), dramatising a part of Shakespeare's play
• Emil Jannings in the German silent film Anna Boleyn (1920)
• Albert Schreiber in the Austrian silent film Prinz und Bettelknabe (1920), a version of The Prince and the Pauper
• Lyn Harding in the silent adaptation of When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922) and in the French film Les Perles de la couronne (1937)
• Shep Camp in the silent film Hampton Court Palace (1926)
• Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), for which he won an Academy Award, and Young Bess (1953), about the early days of Elizabeth I
• Frank Cellier in Tudor Rose (1936), about Lady Jane Grey
• Montagu Love in The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
• Arthur Dibbs in the short We Do Believe in Ghosts (1947), playing Henry's ghost
• James Robertson Justice in The Sword and the Rose (1953), an adaptation of When Knighthood Was in Flower
• Douglas Campbell in The Prince and the Pauper (1957)
• Robert Shaw in A Man for All Seasons (1966)
• Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award
• Sid James in the comedic Carry On Henry (1971)
• Keith Michell in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1972), reprising his TV role
• Charlton Heston in Crossed Swords (1977), an adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper
• Keith Barron in God's Outlaw (1986), about the Protestant reformer William Tyndale
• Eric Bana in The Other Boleyn Girl (2007)

[edit] Television

Henry has also made many television appearances. He has been played by:

• Rex Harrison in "The Trial of Anne Boleyn" episode of the American educational series Omnibus (1952)
• Paul Rogers in The Prince and the Pauper (1962), part of the American series Disneyland
• Jack Fife in the "The Girl Who Never Had a Birthday" episode of the American sitcom I Dream of Jeannie (1966)
• Keith Michell in the BBC series The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and The Prince and the Pauper (1996)
• Ronald Long in the two-part story "How Not to Lose Your Head to Henry VIII" in the American sitcom Bewitched (1971)
• Manoel da Nóbrega in O Príncipe E o Mendigo (1972), a Brazilian adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper
• John Stride in the BBC Shakespeare version of Henry VIII (1979)
• Martin Chamberlain in the TV film A Man for All Seasons (1988)
• Philippe Rouillon in a French version of the Shakespeare play Henry VIII (1991)
• Brian Blessed in the humorous BBC film The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything (1999)
• Alan Bates in the British drama The Prince and the Pauper (2000)
• Jared Harris in the BBC adaptation of The Other Boleyn Girl (2003)
• Ray Winstone in the Granada Television serial Henry VIII (2003). Winstone portrayed Henry with an East End accent. Sid Mitchell played Henry as a young man
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the series The Tudors (2006), dramatising Henry's early reign
• Henry is portrayed in the new Snickers campaign.

[edit] Music

In 1910, Fred Murray and R. P. Weston wrote a music hall song, "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am", which plays off Henry VIII's numerous wives, although the lyrics make it clear that it is actually about a man named Henry who is the eighth with that name to have married the woman alluded to in the song. It became a signature song of Harry Champion, and became a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States when it was revived in 1965 by British rock band Herman's Hermits.

In 1973, Rick Wakeman of progressive rock band Yes released The Six Wives of Henry VIII, a concept album with six instrumental tracks dedicated to each of Henry's wives. The track listing is not chronologically correct, as the album lists the wives in the following order:

• Catherine of Aragon
• Anne of Cleves
• Catherine Howard
• Jane Seymour
• Anne Boleyn
• Catherine Parr

In the liner notes Wakeman explained: "This album is based around my interpretations of the musical characteristics of the wives of Henry VIII. Although the style may not always be in keeping with their individual history, it is my personal conception of their characters in relation to keyboard instruments."

A widely believed legend is that the song "Greensleeves" was written by Henry. It is said that he composed it for his lover and future Queen, Anne Boleyn. However, there is no evidence that he was the author and the song is written in a style which was not known in England until after Henry died.