The "Real" Rose Calvert from Titanic

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the first and last voyage of Titanic.

When I was doing some research for one of my Titanic hubs, I came across some interesting information. I learned of Beatrice Wood. Beatrice Wood is the person James Cameron modeled Rose Dewitt Bukater Calvert after in the mega box office hit, Titanic.

When I sat down to research Beatrice Wood, I found her to be an exceptional person and wanted to share her story with you. Her biography on her own website is 3 pages long. I will attempt to sum up her rather eventful life which is rather difficult to do when she lived to be 105 years old.

When asked what her secret to longevity was, she said, "art books, chocolates, and young men".

Beatrice Wood was born in San Francisco, California in 1893 to wealthy and socially conscious parents. At the age of 5, her family moved her to New York City. Her mother immediately began to prepare Beatrice for her eventual coming out party. She sent her to Paris for a year in a convent. She was enrolled in finishing school and she enjoyed summer holidays in Europe. While in Europe, she was exposed to art galleries, museums and theatre.

In 1912, when she was supposed to be having her much planned coming out party, she rejected the idea and defiantly told her mother that she wanted to become a painter. As you can imagine, her mother once again set out to do things properly and sent her to France with a 30-something year old chaperone to study painting. She wasn't impressed with the school and moved to Giverny, the hometown of Monet, where many aspiring artists seemed to flock. She got in a fight with her chaperone and took up residence in an attic. Her mother got wind of it and came to Giverny to check on her. She found the conditions in the attic not to her liking and promptly took Beatrice back to Paris.

Back in Paris, she shifted her focus to theatre. She took private lessons, but with the onset of World War I, her parents thought it best to bring her back to New York. Her mother tried her best to prepare Beatrice for the New York Stage, but she joined the French National Repertory Theatre. She played in over 60 roles under the stage name "Mademoiselle Patricia".

While working at the theater she was told about a Frenchman who was in the hospital who was lonely and it was suggested that she go visit him since she spoke French. At her second visit to the man, she was introduced to his friend Marcel Duchamp. Marcel Duchamp was best known for his painting "Nude Descending a Staircase". She and Marcel hit it off immediately. Marcel would go on to introduce Beatrice to Walter and Louise Arensberg who held artsy parties at their contemporary home that exposed Beatrice to a movement called "Dada" which is best described as an anti-art movement. He also introduced her to Henri-Pierre Roche'. Roche' would become her first love interest. The three of them seemed to have some sort of love triangle going on and are thought to be the inspiration for Roche's Jules et Jim. Roche' was the first man to also break her heart.

In 1918, Beatrice left New York and ran off to Montreal. Of course, her mother tracked her down with a private detective. Her good friend, Paul, who was the theater manager that she was sharing an apartment with, convinced her that the only way to be out from under her mother's thumb was to marry him. So, she did. It was a marriage of convenience, mostly for Paul, who managed to use her and her friends to support his gambling habit. Beatrice's parents saw to it that the marriage was dissolved years later.

When Beatrice returned to New York, she found that the "dada" movement had died down with Marcel traveling in Europe, the Arensberg's had moved to Los Angeles, and Roche' had gone back to Paris. Beatrice then fell in love with the British actor and director Reginald Pole. But Pole too, would end up breaking her heart. Beatrice decided to move to Los Angeles to be near the Arensbergs.

On one of Beatrice's trips, she purchased a set of baroque dessert plates with a stunning luster glaze. When she couldn't find a matching teapot, she decided that she would just simply figure out how to make one herself. She enrolled in a ceramic course at Hollywood High School in 1933. She soon figured out it wasn't as easy as it looked. But she was intrigued with the glaze chemistry and still practiced at throwing pots. She eventually began to sell some of her pieces to support herself.

She later trained under Glen Lukens, and Gertrud and Otto Natzler.

By 1947, Beatrice Wood's career as a potter was established enough that she decided to build a home in Ojai, California.

She had been included in major exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Major department stores like Neiman Marcus, Gumps and Marshall Fields placed order with her.

She began teaching ceramics for the Happy Valley School (now called the Besant Hill School) and operating her studio and showroom.

Her house was across the street from Krishnamurti. She was a fan of his and had even travelled to Europe to hear him speak. According to her biography, she had "always embraced a life that combined the wisdom of the East, positive thinking, a strong work ethic, a Dadaist sense of humor and a romantic view of life"

In 1974, Beatrice Wood she moved to another location on a 450-acre parcel of land in the beautiful upper Ojai Valley owned by the Happy Valley Foundation, with the understanding that the home would be gifted to the Happy Valley Foundation upon her death.

Beatrice Wood was also known for her sculptures.

Then, in her late 80s, she published her first book called The Angel Who Wore Black Tights. Only a few years later, she published her autobiography, I Shock Myself. She went on to publish Pinching Spaniards and 33rd Wife of a Maharajah: A Love Affair in India.She even wrote books under the pen-name of Countess Lola Screwvinsky.

When James Cameron was working on his character, "Rose Dewitt Bukater Calvert" in the film, Titanic, he had already envisioned a feisty character with a dominating mother. Bill Paxton's wife was reading Beatrice's Wood's autobiography and James Cameron then discovered the perfect real-life version of the character he was creating.

James Cameron invited Beatrice Wood to the premiere of Titanic, but she declined due her health at the time. Bear in mind, she was a mere 104 years old at the time. So, James Cameron and Gloria Stuart (who plays the older woman, Rose) dined with Beatrice in her home and presented her with a video of the movie. She vehemently declined to watch it saying that she knew it would be a sad movie and that it was too late in life to be sad. She died only a few days later, at the age of 105.

It might be noted that actress Gloria Stuart celebrated her 100th birthday on July 4, 2010. Is sounds like she's very much like Beatrice Wood. Sadly, actress Gloria Stuart passed away Sunday, September 26, 2010.

I am so intrigued by this woman and all she accomplished. I must read more about her. I urge you to do the same because I have not done her life justice in the abbreviated version I have given you here. Please visit the links I'm providing to learn more about this incredible lady.

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