NEED TO KNOW
- The Gilded Age mixes reality and fiction, that includes characters interacting with figures from historical past
- Taissa Farmiga’s Gladys Russell is loosely impressed by Consuelo Vanderbilt
- Oscar Wilde, J.P. Morgan and Mamie Fish are a couple of of the true individuals who have appeared on the HBO historic sequence
The Gilded Age season 3 has viewers — and characters — clutching their pearls because the historic sequence dials up the clock and drama in season 3.
The storylines on the HBO interval piece may appear sensational, however they’re impressed by actual occasions and figures delivered to life week after week by widespread actors from stage and display screen.
In November 2021, Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar, a co-executive producer and historic marketing consultant on the sequence informed Leisure Weekly that “whereas The Gilded Age is a fictional present, it is necessary to floor the storytelling in authenticity.”
“We would like viewers to really feel and see a panorama that’s from the previous but plausible and correct. The present takes place in late nineteenth century America when the nation was shifting into a contemporary period,” Dunbar continued. “We would like viewers to expertise and marvel on the progress of that second however to additionally perceive the very actual hurdles that existed for a lot of Individuals.”
Among the sequence’ essential characters are creations of The Gilded Age author Julian Fellowes however others are precise individuals who rubbed shoulders in New York’s excessive society.
Listed below are The Gilded Age actors side-by-side with the real-life figures they painting on TV.
Taissa Farmiga as Gladys Russell, seems to be impressed by Consuelo Vanderbilt
Taissa Farmiga performs Gladys Russell, a fictional character who appears to be loosely based mostly on Consuelo Vanderbilt.
Like Gladys, Consuelo was the daughter of a railroad baron and a Manhattan socialite. Whereas each had hoped to marry for love, their respective moms organized for them to wed Dukes as an alternative.
In The Gilded Age, Gladys exchanged vows with the Duke of Buckingham, and in actual life, Consuelo married Charles Spencer-Churchill, the ninth Duke of Marlborough. The latter made historical past by being the primary American lady to turn into a Duchess.
Consuelo and the Duke had two sons, however the couple separated in 1906 and divorced in 1921. That very same 12 months, Gladys married her second husband, Jacques Balsan.
Ben Lamb because the Duke of Buckingham, might have been impressed by Charles Spencer-Churchill
English actor Ben Lamb portrays the Duke of Buckingham.
Lamb beforehand starred in movies like Divergent and the Netflix film sequence The Christmas Prince, however on The Gilded Age, he was a part of the marriage century when his character married Gladys Russell.
Gladys being married off to the Duke seems to be impressed by the real-life relationship between Consuelo Vanderbilt and Charles Spencer-Churchill.
That mentioned, The Gilded Age‘s Duke of Buckingham wasn’t an actual individual, however the title has been used all through British historical past.
Ashlie Atkinson as Mamie Fish
Ashlie Atkinson brings levity as Mamie Fish, an actual lady from New York historical past identified for her “depraved wit” and outlandish dinner events.
Mamie was married to railroad tycoon Stuyvesant Fish, and she or he grew to become society’s “enjoyable maker,” in line with Jennifer Wright, per City & Nation, the writer of Glitz, Glam, and a Rattling Good Time: How Mamie Fish, Queen of the Gilded Age, Partied Her Strategy to Energy.
Mamie is a notable and distinctive character in The Gilded Age and historical past, remembered as a rule-breaker who stored the uptight society girls on their toes.
Nathan Lane as Ward McAllister
Nathan Lane is used to portraying campy characters on stage and display screen. In The Gilded Age, he performs Ward McAllister, a mustachioed Southerner, who would possibly appear to be an exaggerated invention from Fellowes, however was based mostly on an actual individual.
The actual Ward acted as a society information for individuals who had come into new cash (just like the character Bertha Russell) whereas being shut associates with established members of New York’s higher class (like Mrs. Astor).
In 1890, Ward printed a guide, Society As I Have Discovered It, which mockingly had him ostracized from the circles he was as soon as a member of.
Donna Murphy as Caroline Schermerhorn Astor
Theater icon Donna Murphy performs Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, higher referred to as Mrs. Astor.
Mrs. Astor was a distinguished member of New York excessive society, throwing lavish events and main what was referred to as the “4 Hundred,” a listing of people that had been thought of the higher crust of the higher class.
The actual-life Ward was as soon as a part of her circle, and he was the writer of the roster shared in The New York Instances.
Bobby Steggert as John Singer Sargent
Bobby Steggert portrays the favored portraitist, John Singer Sargent.
Sargent was the painter behind works like Portrait of Madame X and Girl Agnew of Lochnaw. In The Gilded Age‘s third season, Bertha hires Sargent to color her daughter, Gladys.
“I believe that Sargent was somebody who didn’t see girls as objects.
He noticed them as three-dimensional, difficult, highly effective folks,” Steggert informed Artnet in July 2025.
“I didn’t notice what a likeness I shared with him till I noticed his earliest self-portraits and a few pictures of him across the time that he painted Madame X,” the actor continued.
Invoice Camp as J.P. Morgan
Invoice Camp performs J.P. Morgan, the well-known funding banker and U.S. railroad financier.
Morgan was one of many wealthiest males in America through the Gilded Age, and the real-life mogul was launched in season 3 as a possible enterprise companion for George Russell.
Sullivan Jones as T. Thomas Fortune
Sullivan Jones portrays T. Thomas Fortune, Peggy Scott’s editor.
The actual Fortune was a pioneering Black journalist with an inspiring story. He was born into slavery in Florida and was freed after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Fortune would go on to review legislation and journalism at Howard College, and in line with PBS, he would later turn into the “editor and co-owner of a number of influential New York-based Black newspapers together with The New York Globe.”
Jordan Waller as Oscar Wilde
Jordan Waller appeared as witty author Oscar Wilde in season 2.
The Irish writer, playwright and poet made a visit to New York when his play, Vera; or, The Nihilists, opened the Union Sq. Theater in 1883, per the American Theatre journal.
The play was not well-received and closed after working for just one week.
Linda Emond as Clara Barton
Linda Emond starred as Clara Barton, the founding father of the American Crimson Cross.
In a March 2022 video message to the American Crimson Cross, Linda mentioned it “was an honor to painting this exceptional lady, who in 1881 single-handedly modified the nation and our humanitarian response to disaster.”
“I am grateful for Clara’s energy and keenness,” she continued. “I am grateful for the Crimson Cross, and I am honored to be considered one of solely a handful of ladies to have performed this nice American chief.”