A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.^[1]

In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together. Prior to the Renaissance, courtesans served to convey information untrusted to servants to visiting dignitaries. In Renaissance Europe, courtiers played an extremely important role in upper-class society. As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives — commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances — men and women would often seek gratification and companionship from people living at court. In fact, the verb "to court" originally meant "to be or reside at court", and later came to mean "to behave as a courtier" and then "to pay amorous attention to somebody".^[2] The most intimate companion of a ruler was called the favourite.

In Renaissance usage, the Italian word "cortigiana", feminine of "cortigiano" (courtier) came to refer to "the ruler's mistress", and then to a well-educated and independent woman of loose morals, eventually a trained artisan of dance and singing, especially one associated with wealthy, powerful, or upper-class men who provided luxuries and status in exchange for companionship.^[3] The word was borrowed by English from Italian through the French form "courtisane" during the 16th century, especially associated to the meaning of "court-mistress" and "prostitute".^[1]

A male figure comparable to the courtesan was the Italian cicisbeo, the French chevalier servant, the Spanish cortejo or estrecho. It actually seems that the figure of the chevalier servant (French, lit. serving cavalier, lady's escort) of a married lady was quite common in Europe up to the 18th century.^[4]

The courtesans of East Asia, particularly those of the Japanese empire, held a different social role than that of their European counterparts. Examples of Japanese courtesans included the Oiran class, who were more focused on the aspect of entertainment in comparison with European courtesans.^[5]

Today, the term courtesan has become a euphemism to designate an escort or a prostitute, especially one who attracts wealthy clients.

Categories[link]

Veronica Franco, famous Venetian poet and courtesan. Portrait by Paolo Veronese.

There were two types of courtesan. In one category was a type of courtesan known (in Italy) as the cortigiana onesta, or the honest courtesan, who was cast as an intellectual. In the other was the cortigiana di lume, a lower class of courtesan. Although the latter was still considered better than an average prostitute, the former was the sort most often romanticized and treated more-or-less equal to women of the nobility. It is with this type of courtesan that the art of "courtisanerie" is best associated.

The cortigiane oneste were usually well-educated and worldly (sometimes even more so than the average upper-class woman), and often held simultaneous careers as performers or artists. They were typically chosen on the basis of their "breeding"—social and conversational skills, intelligence, common-sense, and companionship—as well as their physical attributes. It was usually their wit and personality that set them apart from regular women. They were prostitutes in the sense that sex was one of their obligations, but unlike the average prostitute, sex constituted only a facet of the courtesan's array of services. For example, they were expected to be well-dressed and ready to engage in a variety of topics ranging from art to music to politics.

In some cases, courtesans were from well-to-do backgrounds, and were even married—but to husbands lower on the social ladder than their clients. In these cases, their relationships with those of high social status had the potential to improve their spouses' status—and so, more often than not, the husband was aware of his wife's profession and dealings.^[6]

Differences in status[link]

As primary employment[link]

Courtesans from non-wealthy backgrounds were expected to provide charming companionship for extended periods, no matter what their own feelings or commitments might have been at the time, and had to be prepared to do so on short notice. They were also subject to lower social status, and often religious disapproval, because of the perceived immoral aspects of their profession and their reliance upon courtisanerie as a primary source of income. In cases like this, a courtesan was solely dependent on her benefactor or benefactors financially, making her vulnerable; Cora Pearl is a good example.

Often, courtesans serving in this capacity began their career as a prostitute, or were passed from one benefactor to another, thereby resulting in them being viewed in society circles as lower than both their benefactor and those of wealth and power with whom they would socialize. Often, in instances of this sort, if the courtesan had satisfactorily served a benefactor, that benefactor would, when ending the affair, pass them on to another benefactor of wealth as a favor to the courtesan, or set them up in an arranged marriage to a semi-wealthy benefactor. In the event that the courtesan had angered or dissatisfied a benefactor, they would often find themselves cast out of wealthy circles, returning more often than not to street prostitution.

For social or political benefits[link]

Those from wealthy backgrounds, either by birth or marriage, and who were acting as courtesans only for the social or political advancement of themselves and/or their spouses were generally treated as equals. They were more respected by their extramarital companions, both placing one another's family obligations ahead of the relationship and planning their own liaisons or social engagements around the lovers' marital obligations.

Affairs of this sort would often be short-lived, ending when either the courtesan or the courtesan's spouse received the status or political position desired, or when the benefactor chose the company of another courtesan, and compensated the former companion financially. In instances like this, it was often viewed simply as a business agreement by both parties involved. The benefactor was aware of the political or social favors expected by the courtesan, the courtesan was aware of the price expected from them for those favors being carried out, and the two met one another's demands, an example being Madame de Pompadour.

This was generally a safe affair, as both the benefactor's spouse and the courtesan's spouse usually were fully aware of the arrangement, and the courtesan was not solely dependent on the benefactor. It, rather, was simply an affair of benefits gained for both those involved. Publicly and socially, affairs of this sort were common during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, as well as the early 20th century, and were generally accepted in wealthy circles.^[6]

Intrigues[link]

Prior to the Victorian era, courtesans were sometimes limited in their apparel by various sumptuary laws and were restricted in where they could appear at social functions. Periods of overt religious piety in a city would often lead to persecution of the courtesans, up to and including accusations of witchcraft. In many cases prior to the 18th century, women leading the life of a courtesan in a royal court, with romantic relationships with kings, achieved wealth and status, but eventually it would lead to many of them being executed following very public trials that often left them appearing to have been evil, or power-hungry, when in fact they more often than not were nothing more than a lover and mistress to the king.^{[citation needed]}

Very often, courtesans would betray one another in acts of political intrigue in attempts to climb into higher positions of power within royal courts. There are many cases throughout history where one courtesan would attempt (sometimes successfully) to supplant the mistress to a king or emperor. This was typically preceded by her discrediting the ruler's companion, often by divulging secrets that could lead to her rival being cast aside and replaced by her. However, this was a delicate process, and if a courtesan of lower status attempted to replace a courtesan who wielded a substantial amount of power within the court, it would often result in the lower courtesan being exiled from the royal court, or married off to a lesser noble in an arranged marriage, or even murdered. There are also many examples of courtesans who took advantage of their involvement with powerful individuals, which usually ended in their downfall.^{[citation needed]}

Career length[link]

In later centuries, from the mid-18th century on, courtesans would often find themselves cast aside by their benefactors, but the days of public execution or imprisonment based on their promiscuous lifestyle were over. There are many examples of courtesans who, by remaining discreet and respectful to their benefactors, were able to extend their careers into or past middle age and retire financially secure; Catherine Walters is a good example. By the late 19th century, and for a brief period in the early 20th century, courtesans had reached a level of social acceptance in many circles and settings, often even to the extent of becoming a friend and confidant to the wife of their benefactor.^[6]

More often than not, a woman serving as a courtesan would last in that field only as long as she could prove herself useful to her companion, or companions. This, of course, excludes those who served as courtesans but who were already married into high society. When referring to those who made their service as a courtesan as their main source of income, success was based solely on financial management and longevity. Many climbed through the ranks of royalty, serving as mistress to lesser nobles first, eventually reaching the role of mistress to a king or prince. Others were able to obtain such a high position early on, but few lasted long, and after serving a prince or king there was nowhere to go but down.

Pietro Aretino, an Italian Renaissance writer, wrote a series of dialogues (Capricciosi ragionamenti) in which a mother teaches her daughter what options are available to women and how to be an effective courtesan. The French novelist Balzac wrote about a courtesan in his Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (1838–47). Emile Zola likewise wrote a novel, Nana (1880), about a courtesan in nineteenth-century France.

Famous courtesans in history[link]

17th century and before[link]

Lais of Corinth by Hans Holbein the Younger, Kunstmuseum Basel

• Lais of Corinth
• Lais of Hyccara (killed 340 BC)
• Thaïs
• Aspasia (469 BC-409 BC), lover of the Athenian statesman Pericles
• Phryne (4th century BC)
• Diaochan (born 169 AD, the lover of warlord Dong Zhuo and warrior Lü Bu during the Chinese Three Kingdoms)
• Su Xiaoxiao (late 5th century)
• Theodora (6th century) (c. 500–June 28, 548), wife of Emperor Justinian I of the Byzantine Empire
• Agnès Sorel (1421–1450): mistress to King Charles VII of France, first official royal mistress in France
• Jane Shore (1445–1527): mistress of King Edward IV of England
• Margaret Drummond (Mistress) (1475–1502): mistress to King James IV of Scotland
• Françoise de Foix (1495–1537): first official mistress of King Francis I of France
• Diane de Poitiers (1499–1566): official mistress of King Henry II of France
• Mary Boleyn (1499–1543): mistress of King Henry VIII of England and (allegedly) lover of King Francis I of France
• Hwang Jin-i (1550): legendary gisaeng of the Joseon Dynasty
• Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly (1508–1580): last official mistress of King Francis I of France
• Tullia d'Aragona (c. 1510–1556): top courtesan in several Italian cities, and published poet
• Veronica Franco (1546–1591): a Venetian courtesan who was once lover to King Henry III of France
• Marie Touchet (1549–1638): the only mistress of King Charles IX of France
• Marion Delorme (circa 1613–1650): lover of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the Prince of Condé, and Cardinal Richelieu
• Ninon de l'Enclos (1615–1705): lover of the Prince of Condé and Gaspard de Coligny
• Lucy Walter (1630–1658): mistress to King Charles II of England during his exile
• Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland (1640–1709): first official mistress at the court of King Charles II of England
• Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan (1641–1707): mistress to King Louis XIV of France
• Louise de la Vallière (1644–1710): mistress to King Louis XIV of France
• Nell Gwyn (1650–1687): actress, mistress to King Charles II of England

18th and 19th centuries[link]

Madame de Pompadour, by Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Louvre Museum, Paris

• Claudine Alexandrine Guérin de Tencin (1681–1749)
• Louise Julie, Comtesse de Mailly (1710–1751)
• Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de Châteauroux (1717–1744)
• Kitty Fisher (died 1767)
• Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764): the famous mistress and long time favorite of King Louis XV
• Marie-Louise O'Murphy (1737–1814)
• Madame du Barry (1743–1793)
• Sophia Baddeley (1745–1786)
• Støvlet-Cathrine (1745-1805)
• Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey (1753–1821)
• Grace Elliott (1754? – 1823)
• Dorothy Jordan (1761–1816)
• Harriette Wilson (1786–1846)
• Umrao Jaan (1804–1875) Lucknow, India
• La Païva (1819–1884)
• Lola Montez (1821–1861)
• Marie Duplessis (1824–1847)
• Cora Pearl (1835–1886)
• Virginia Oldoini, Countess di Castiglione (1837–1899)
• Catherine Walters (1839–1920)
• Blanche d'Antigny (1840–1874)
• Lillie Langtry (1853–1929)
• Katharina Schratt (1853–1940), companion of Emperor Franz Josef
• Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick (1861–1938)
• La Belle Otero (1868–1965)
• Alice Keppel (1869–1947)
• Liane de Pougy (1869–1950)
• Clara Ward, Princesse de Caraman-Chimay (1873–1916)
• "Klondike Kate" Rockwell (1873–1957)
• Mata Hari (1876-1917)

In addition to the list above, the term "courtesan" has often been used in a political context in an attempt to damage the reputation of a powerful woman, or disparage her importance. Because of this, there is still much historical debate over whether certain women in history can be referred to as courtesans. For example the title was applied to the Byzantine empress Theodora, who had started life as an erotic actress but later became the wife of the Emperor Justinian and, after her death, an Orthodox saint. The term has also been applied to influential women like Anne Boleyn, Madaline Bishop, Diane de Poitiers, Mathilde Kschessinska, Pamela Harriman, Eva Perón and Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. The attempt to define such women as courtesans is often intended to draw attention to certain perceived qualities, ambitions or conduct which are held to be courtesan-like.

Famous courtesans in fiction[link]

• Madame Gabrielle from Dora Levy Mossanen. Courtesan: A Novel. Touchstone, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-4678-0
• Odette Swann from Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is a courtesan of the French Belle Epoque, she gains a notorious reputation from cavorting with Aristocrats, artists, Bourgeois, and both sexes.
• The Lady of the Camellias was a novel about a courtesan by French author Alexandre Dumas, fils that was turned into the opera La Traviata by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. In the novel, the courtesan's name is Marguerite Gautier; in the opera, it is "Violetta Valéry". "La Traviata" in Italian translates "The Wayward One".
• Satine played by Nicole Kidman, an actress/courtesan who falls in love with a penniless poet/writer played by Ewan McGregor, in the movie Moulin Rouge!.
• The movie Dangerous Beauty, starring Catherine McCormack, tells the story of Veronica Franco, a Venetian courtesan.
• Angellica Bianca in Aphra Behn's 1677 play The Rover.
• Vittoria Corombona in John Webster's play The White Devil. She is described in the alternative title of the play as 'the famous Venetian Curtizan'.
• Nana, in Emile Zola's eponymous novel of 1880 is a courtesan.
• In Sarah Dunant's In the Company of the Courtesan, Fiammetta Bianchini, a renowned courtesan of Rome, and her sharp-witted dwarf rise to success among the intrigue and secrets of Renaissance Venice.
• In John Cleland's Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, Fanny goes from poor orphaned country girl to wealthy skilled courtesan eventually finding her one true love and retiring to marriage. Her history is told in the first person through several letters to friends detailing her life as a courtesan.
• In the book A Great and Terrible Beauty, Pippa accuses Felicity of having a mother who is a courtesan and a consort, and who ran away to France not only to run a salon but to be with her lover, a Frenchman.
• Inara Serra is a 26th century Alliance companion in Joss Whedon's TV series Firefly.
• Phèdre nó Delaunay, the premier courtesan of Terre D'Ange in Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy novels.
• The Broadway plays, musicals, and movies based upon the book Gigi are about a young Parisian girl who is being trained to be a courtesan by her great-aunt, a retired career courtesan herself.
• Bianca, who appears in Anne Rice's The Vampire Armand, is a courtesan.
• Bianca in William Shakespeare's Othello, is considered a courtesan to Cassio.
• Many examples in Indian Literature and Bollywood films: Sahibjaan in Pakeezah, Umrao Jaan in the film of the same name, Chandramukhi in Devdas.
• Mira Nair's 1996 film Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love highlights the profession of courtesans in 16th-century India, featuring Rasa Devi (Rekha) and Maya (Indira Varma)..
• Ulla Winblad, in the famous 18th-century poems of Bellman^{[disambiguation needed ]}.
• Kamala, in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.
• Sha'ira, an asari "Consort" from the Mass Effect computer game series.
• Paola and Sister Teodora were the leaders of the courtesans of Florence and Venice (respectively) in the video game Assassin's Creed II. In its sequel, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Madame Solari is shown to be the leader of the courtesans in Rome. Courtesans also provide a gameplay mechanic in the two games, main character Ezio Auditore can hire small groups of courtesans that can be used to escort the assassin without being noticed, and to distract hostile guards.
• Komagata Yumi in the anime Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Roumantan.
• Sayuri in "Memoirs of a Geisha", as well as Hatsumomo and Mameha

See also[link]

• Grisette (French)
• Hetaera
• Religious prostitution
• Kisaeng
• Nagarvadhu
• Kanhopatra—an Indian courtesan, who is venerated as a saint
• Oiran
• Geisha
• Pilegesh
• Sing-song girls
• Sycophant
• Tawaif
• Yiji
• Prostitute

Notes[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2008)

References[link]

• Dalby, Liza. "Geisha, 25th Anniversary Edition, Updated Edition". Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008. Print.
• Gaite, Carmen Martín. Love Customs in Eighteenth-Century Spain. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
• Griffin, Susan (2001). The Book of the Courtesans: a Catalogue of Their Virtues. New York: Broadway Books
• Hickman, Katie (2003). Courtesans: Money, Sex, and Fame in the Nineteenth Century. New York: HarperCollins
• Lawnes, Lynne (1987). Lives of the Courtesans: Portraits of the Renaissance. New York: Rizzoli
• Peletz, Michael G. "Gender, Sexuality, and Body Politics in Modern Asia". Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian Studies, 2007. Print.
• Rounding, Virginia (2003). Grandes Horizontales: The Lives and Legends of Four Nineteenth-Century Courtesans. London: Bloomsbury

Further reading[link]

• Martha Feldman, Bonnie Gordon. The courtesan's arts: cross-cultural perspectives. pp. 312–352.

External links[link]

• About Courtesans: By Vatsayayana in Kamasutra

• What is a Courtesan?By Rhia Charles

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (March 2009)

Cora Pearl
Born	Emma Elizabeth Crouch 1835 (probable) London, United Kingdom
Died	8 July 1886 (aged about 51) Paris, France
Occupation	Courtesan
Parents	Frederick Nicholls Crouch

Cora Pearl (1835–8 July 1886) was a famous courtesan of the 19th century French demimonde, born Emma Elizabeth Crouch.

Early life[link]

Her date and place of birth are disputed, as she was believed to have forged her birth certificate, giving the date as 23 February 1842, and the place as Caroline Place, East Stonehouse, Plymouth, though it is more likely that she was born in London in 1835, and the family moved to Plymouth about 1837.

Her father was the cellist and composer Frederick Nicholls Crouch. In 1849 he left his family and emigrated permanently to the United States. Her mother sent Emma to a convent school in Boulogne where she stayed for eight years and learned passable French, among other things. It appears she had inherited enough musical talent from her father to later perform the role of Cupid in an 1867 production of Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.

Life as a courtesan[link]

While she was still trying to find her way in London, she became a prostitute, and happened to meet several reasonably wealthy men who were interested in becoming involved with her for more than just an evening's amusement. These men needed little convincing, as their main concern was an involvement with a woman who was pretty, and who could be socially acceptable, intelligent, witty and discreet. This was her doorway into life as a courtesan.

She became the mistress of Robert Bignell, the proprietor of the Argyll Rooms and together they visited Paris, a place she fell in love with so much that she refused to return to London with Bignell. In Paris she adopted the name of Cora Pearl, and embarked on a theatrical career, but was more successful for the sex appeal she exhibited than any other talents. Cora had learned excellent manners at the convent school she had attended in her youth, which helped her appeal to wealthy men. Cora's theatrical reputation quickly began to spread, and it was not long before several rich and powerful men in France were involved with her romantically. Although she had little money, she began wearing dresses by Charles Frederick Worth and Laferrière with the idea that her appearance of wealth would attract wealthy men to her, and she was right.

Francois Victor Massena, 2nd Duke of Rivoli became her first major benefactor around this time. However, while with him, she developed a serious gambling habit, and after bailing her out financially one too many times, the Duke ended their affair. But she was cultivating new benefactors, including some of the richest, most powerful men in Europe.

A skilled craftsman of the time earned between two and four francs a day; she earned 5,000 a night. This relatively huge income allowed her to perform acts such as dancing nude on a carpet of orchids and then bathing before her dinner guests in a silver tub full of champagne. No one seemed bothered by her Cockney French, or her frank self interest. According to the Duke of Grammont-Caderousse, "If the Frères Provençaux served an omlette with diamonds in it, Cora would be there every night."

One copy of an early version of Cora's memoirs was discovered in 1982 in the hands of a German collector and re-published by Granada in 1983, under the title The Memoirs of Cora Pearl: The Erotic Reminiscences of a Flamboyant 19th Century Courtesan. She discusses in graphic detail her introduction to sexual pleasure at the Boulogne convent and the prowess and tastes of her later lovers, both famous and humble. Possibly the most titillating (and telling) scene describes her presentation at dinner, naked and decked in cream, as a final dish.

Her lovers included Prince Willem of Orange, son of King William III of the Netherlands; Prince Achille Murat, grandson of Joachim Murat; and the Duke of Morny, Napoleon III's half-brother. Morny, described by one historian as "a taller, handsomer edition of the Emperor", has been said to be the most intelligent and distinguished of her lovers, with an insatiable sexual appetite.

As mistress of the Emperor's brother, she felt important enough to rent the little Chateau de Beausejour^[1][2] on the banks of the Loiret outside Orléans in 1864, where she spent a small fortune entertaining. A few years after Morny's premature death in 1865, Cora became the mistress to Prince Napoleon, cousin to Emperor Napoleon III. He bought her two homes in Paris and supported her financially until 1874.

Gambling, scandal and downfall[link]

Pearl's activities had earned her great wealth. By the late 1860s, she owned several houses, stables, the finest wardrobe and extravagant jewelry. British accounts reported that one bill for lingerie from a supplier in Paris came to more than £18,000.

Pearl's lifestyle did have a cost. One wealthy man, Alexandre Duval, harassed her constantly, never ceasing in his attempts to manipulate her. He threw large sums of money at her, and was extremely jealous of her involvement with other men. Her attempts at ending the relationship were unsuccessful. When she finally was able to end the affair, he came to her home, produced a gun and shot himself on her doorstep. (Duval was severely injured, but survived.) Pearl did not summon for help, nor contact the authorities. Instead, she retreated into her house, and went to sleep. Rumours of the incident spread quickly, and abruptly ended her theatre career. She fled to London, thinking that a change of scene might improve her spirits and her reputation, only to find that rumour had traveled faster than her ship.

Her attempts at continuing her career as a courtesan in London were unsuccessful, as few men of wealth wanted to have her as an acquaintance. Returning to Paris, Pearl was dismayed to find that much had changed. The admirers of the past were gone. A new conservatism prevailed, and no wealthy men would take her on.

Her gambling habit continued, and she soon learned that shopkeepers and casinos expected to be paid promptly, one of the life skills Pearl had never mastered. However, she no longer had a wealthy benefactor to pick up the tab. In desperation, around 1876 she began to sell her possessions, first slowly, then ever faster, and returned from time to time to prostitution. She lived in relative comfort for ten years despite her rising debt. "Memoires de Cora Pearl" was published in French in the spring of 1886 and according to William Blatchford, transcriber of "Grand Horizontal," "proved extraordinarily dull," to the extent that neither it nor its English translation were ever reprinted. In the same year, desperately ill with intestinal cancer, she was forced to move to a first floor flat (Holden says "The various accounts of Cora spending her last days in dire poverty in one squalid room are very much exaggerated") where she died. Obituary notices appeared in the London and Paris papers and her remaining possessions were disposed of in a two-day sale in October 1886. She is buried in a grave (no 10, row 4) with no tombstone at Batignolles cemetery.

Sources[link]

• Holden, W.H., (1950) The pearl from Plymouth, British Technical and General Press
• Frayser, Suzanne G. & Whitby, Thomas J. (1995) Studies in Human Sexuality: a Selected Guide, Libraries Unlimited ISBN 1-56308-131-8
• Hickman, Katie (2003). Courtesans: Money, Sex, and Fame in the Nineteenth Century. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-9657930-8-7
• Rounding, Virginia (2003). Les Grandes Horizontales: The Lives and Legends of Four Nineteenth-Century Courtesans. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-6221-0
• Pearl, Cora (1983). Memoirs of Cora Pearl. Granada ISBN 978-0-586-05705-6
• Tanahill, Reay (1992). Sex in History. Scarborough House ISBN 0-8128-8540-6
• Pearl, Cora (1983) Grand Horizontal, Stein and Day ISBN 0-8128-2917-4

Craddock, Jill (2012) "Pearl", playwright www.pearlmusical.com

References[link]

1. ^ See a picture of Chateau de Beausejour on Google Earth: set pointer at :47deg.,52mins.,18.00secs N & 1deg.,51mins.,32.23secs E)
2. ^ Image of Chateau de Beausejour

External links[link]

• The Memoirs of Cora Pearl at Google Books

Claudia Dain is an American author of romance novels. She is a two-time Rita finalist, and a USA Today Bestselling author.

Biography[link]

Claudia Dain attended the University of Southern California as an English major.^[1]

Bibliography[link]

^[2]

Regency[link]

• The Courtesan's Daughter
• The Courtesan's Secret
• Wish List (Anthology)
• Private Places (Anthology)
• The Courtesan's Wager
• How to Dazzle a Duke
• Daring a Duke

Medieval[link]

• The Holding
• The Marriage Bed
• The Willing Wife
• The Temptation
• The Fall

Western[link]

• A Kiss to Die For

Colonial America[link]

• Tell Me Lies

Roman Britain[link]

• To Burn

References[link]

1. ^ "Claudia Dain: About Claudia". http://www.claudiadain.com/about_claudia.html. Retrieved 2007-08-28. 
2. ^ "Claudia Dain: Bookshelf". http://www.claudiadain.com/bookshelf.html. Retrieved 2007-08-28. 

External links[link]

• Claudia Dain Official Website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

George Fenton (born 19 October 1950) is a British composer best known for his work writing film scores and music for television, although he also writes music for the theatre. His real name is George Howe but he is better known by his pseudonym of George Fenton.

Selected film and television credits[link]

Fenton has composed the score for over seventy feature films. This is a small selection of his film and television credits.

• You've Got Mail
• Hitch
• Memphis Belle
• 84 Charing Cross Road
• Entropy
• Gandhi
• The Wind That Shakes the Barley
• The History Boys
• Dangerous Liaisons
• The Fisher King
• The Madness of King George
• Shadowlands
• Groundhog Day
• Cry Freedom
• Mrs Henderson Presents
• Land and Freedom
• A Handful of Dust
• We're No Angels
• Clockwise
• The Crucible
• Bewitched
• Bergerac
• Talking Heads
• The Jewel in the Crown
• The Blue Planet
• Planet Earth
• Dangerous Beauty
• Ever After: A Cinderella Story
• It's a Free World...
• Love and Death In Shanghai (TV movie)
• Fool's Gold
• Looking for Eric
• Life (BBC TV series)
• The Bounty Hunter (2010)
• A Handful of Dust (1988)
• Frozen Planet

For a comprehensive filmography see the George Fenton's Internet Movie Database (IMDb) entry link in External links.

Early career[link]

Fenton was born George Richard Ian Howe in London, and attended St Edward's School in Oxford, starting in 1963. He has credited the school's Deputy Director of Music at the time, the late Peter Whitehouse, as an early influence. Fenton is now a Governor of the School.^[1]

Initially Fenton worked as an actor, getting an early break with a part in Alan Bennett's play Forty Years On. He had some minor success appearing in the film Private Road, the soap opera Emmerdale Farm and in Alan Bennett's first television play A Day Out directed by Stephen Frears and broadcast in 1972.

Often asked to play a musical instrument in productions, Fenton also tried his hand as a recording artist (taking the Beatles' Maxwell's Silver Hammer into the Swedish charts) and dabbled in band management, before deciding on an early career switch to composition. In 1974 he got his first major commission, as composer and musical director for Peter Gill's theatre production of Twelfth Night by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. This led to further work in British theatre, composing for productions at: The National Theatre, The Royal Exchange Theatre, The Royal Court, The Riverside Studios, and further compositions for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He was the founder and is a member of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA),^[2]

Television[link]

In 1976, Fenton wrote his first television score, continuing his collaboration with Peter Gill, composing for Gill's production of Hitting Town written by Stephen Poliakoff.

By the late 1970s, Fenton was working regularly in television, becoming a popular choice for dozens of television productions, including Shoestring, a BBC police drama which ran for 21 episodes in 1979-1980.

He composed the music for all six of the Six Plays by Alan Bennett which were broadcast during 1978 and 1979. Their collaboration continued with the TV series Objects of Affection in 1982. A year later he composed the score of Bennett's TV film An Englishman Abroad (1983) which was directed by John Schlesinger. Fenton also composed for all of the episodes of Bennett's highly acclaimed Talking Heads series in 1987 and, a decade later, Talking Heads 2 in 1998.

Fenton also collaborated regularly with the director Stephen Frears, composing for his television productions of Bloody Kids (1979), Going Gently (1981), Saigon: Year of the Cat (1983), and Walter and June (1983).

By the mid 1980s, Fenton was composing for big budget TV series including the multi BAFTA winning The Jewel in the Crown (1984) and The Monocled Mutineer (1986).

Perhaps the TV series with which Fenton reached the widest audience was Bergerac which ran for ten years between 1981 and 1991, and for which Fenton composed the much-loved theme tune. He received his first major award for this, a BAFTA in 1982.

Television and wildlife[link]

Fenton has composed for a number of notable wildlife television programmes, often for wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough. He started on the BBC's long running series Wildlife on One and Natural World, and continued with one-off specials such as Polar Bear.

Since 1990, he has written the music for a number of acclaimed big budget wildlife series:

• The Trials of Life (1990)
• Life in the Freezer (1993)
• The Blue Planet (2001)
• Deep Blue (2003) (feature length version of The Blue Planet)
• Planet Earth (2006)
• Earth (2007) (feature length version of Planet Earth)
• Frozen Planet (2011)

His track record in this genre has placed him firmly as the BBC's composer of choice for its flagship wildlife documentaries.

Television and jingles[link]

Fenton has composed the jingles or theme music to dozens of British television and radio programs, mostly for the BBC. Some of these are; the BBC's One O'Clock News, Six O'Clock News, and Nine O'Clock News, Newsnight and Newsnight Review, On the Record, Omnibus, Breakfast Time, BBC World Service Television News, Westminster - In The House, Reporting Scotland, London Plus, The Midday News and Telly Addicts.

Films[link]

George Fenton is best known as a composer of film scores. He has written the music for over seventy feature films and has collaborated with some of the most influential film makers of the late 20th century.

Together with Michael Feast and David Dundas he co-wrote the music for Private Road (1971), a film he and Feast also starred in.

His transition from television to film scoring began in 1982 with Richard Attenborough's biopic Gandhi for which he was nominated — with his collaborator, Ravi Shankar — for the Original Music Score Academy Award.

Fenton has regularly written further film scores for Attenborough's movies including: Shadowlands, Cry Freedom, In Love and War, and Grey Owl.

His longstanding collaboration with Stephen Frears has not been limited to television productions. Fenton has scored four of Frear's feature films: Dangerous Liaisons, Hero, Mary Reilly, and Mrs Henderson Presents.

Fenton has scored more feature films for Ken Loach than for any other director; by March 2009, a total of ten. This started in 1994 with Ladybird, Ladybird; then, in chronological order: Land and Freedom, Carla's Song, My Name Is Joe, Bread and Roses, The Navigators, Sweet Sixteen, Ae Fond Kiss, The Wind That Shakes the Barley which won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and, most recently, It's a Free World....

Fenton has developed other long-standing collaborations with film makers, scoring several films each for directors as diverse as: Harold Ramis, Neil Jordan, Nora Ephron, Nicholas Hytner, Phil Joanou, and Andy Tennant. Other influential film makers with whom he has worked include: Terry Gilliam, Pedro Almodóvar, Alan Clarke, Michael Radford, Michael Caton-Jones, Wayne Wang, Richard Eyre, Christopher Hampton, and Charles Sturridge.

His 2012 film projects include: The Angels' Share and Byzantium.

Awards and nominations[link]

Academy Awards[link]

• 1983 Nominated Best Original Score for: Gandhi
• 1988 Nominated Best Original Score for: Cry Freedom
• 1988 Nominated Best Original Song for: Cry Freedom
• 1989 Nominated Best Original Score for: Dangerous Liaisons
• 1992 Nominated Best Original Score for: The Fisher King

BAFTA Awards[link]

• 1981 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for: Shoestring (Also for: Bloody Kids, Fox)
• 1982 Won BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for: Bergerac (Also for: The History Man, Going Gently, the BBC news theme)
• 1983 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Score for: Gandhi
• 1985 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for: The Jewel in the Crown
• 1987 Won BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for: The Monocled Mutineer
• 1988 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Score for: Cry Freedom
• 1989 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for: Talking Heads
• 1990 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Original Film Score for: Dangerous Liaisons
• 1991 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Original Film Score for: Memphis Belle
• 1991 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for: The Trials of Life
• 1994 Nominated BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for: Life in the Freezer
• 1996 Nominated Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for: The Madness of King George
• 2002 Won BAFTA TV Award Best Original Television Music for: The Blue Planet
• 2006 Nominated Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for: Mrs Henderson Presents

Emmy Awards[link]

• 2002 Won Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for: The Blue Planet -Seas of Life: Ocean World
• 2005 Nominated Primetime Emmy Outstanding Music Composition for: Pride
• 2007 Won Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for: Planet Earth - From Pole to Pole

Golden Globes[link]

• 1988 Nominated Golden Globe Best Original Score - Motion Picture for: Cry Freedom
• 2000 Nominated Golden Globe Best Original Score - Motion Picture for: Anna and the King
• 2000 Nominated Golden Globe Best Original Song - Motion Picture for: Anna and the King

Grammy Awards[link]

• 1984 Nominated Grammy Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special for: Gandhi
• 1989 Nominated Grammy Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television for: Cry Freedom

Ivor Novello Awards[link]

• Nominated Best Film Score for: Anna and the King
• Nominated Best Film Score for: Ever After
• Won Best Film Score for: Shadowlands
• Nominated Best Film Score for: Final Analysis
• Won Best Film Score for: Cry Freedom
• Nominated Best Film Score for: The Company of Wolves
• Won Best Film Score for: Gandhi
• Nominated Best Original TV Music for: The Blue Planet
• Won Best Original TV Music for: The Monocled Mutineer
• Won Best Original TV Music for: The Jewel in the Crown
• Nominated Best Original TV Music for: No Country for Old Men
• Nominated Best Original TV Music for: Omnibus
• Nominated Best Original TV Music for: Fox
• Nominated Best Original TV Music for: Shoestring

Film & TV Music Awards[link]

• 2007 Won Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Documentary Film or Television Program (Planet Earth)
• In 2007 Fenton was awarded a fellowship of the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters, which presents the Ivor Novello awards.

Miscellaneous[link]

Fenton founded the Association of Professional Composers which later amalgamated with the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and with the Composers' Guild of Great Britain to become the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Music and is a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music and the University of Nottingham.

References[link]

External links[link]

• George Fenton at the Internet Movie Database
• George Fenton at Allmusic
• George Fenton discography at Discogs
• George Fenton discography at MusicBrainz
• British Film Institute, Film and TV credits
• British Academy of Composers and Songwriters
• The Gorfaine / Schwartz Agency PDF file
• Desert Island Discs
• George Fenton's The Blue Planet Live!