OFF THE RECORD
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The rise of celebrity Tracy Borman ponders the nature of fame in the past and today
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n 18th century commentator once wrote: “The journalists have constructed for themselves a little wooden chapel, which they also call the Temple of Fame, in which they put up and take down portraits all day long and make such a hammering you can’t hear yourself speak.” His words could just as easily apply to today’s journalists and paparazzi. Yet it is only in recent times that fame has become so fickle. Until 50 years ago, if one had scaled the dizzy heights of national – or even international – acclaim, one could be reasonably sure this was a condition that could be enjoyed (or in some cases endured) for the rest of one’s life at least. The origins of fame are rather difficult to determine. Since records began there have always been figures whom chroniclers and antiquaries have thought worthy of note – from the semi-legendary outlaw Robin Hood to William Shakespeare – while being of blood royal has more or less guaranteed everlasting renown. Perhaps a more useful exercise is to trace the beginnings of celebrity as we understand it today. That is, the phenomenon created and driven by the media, and marked by a fascination with the subject’s life that borders on the obsessive. For that we must look back to Charles II. In the early 1660s the King commissioned Sir Peter Lely, one of the greatest painters of the age, to immortalise the most beautiful women at court in a series of portraits. The Windsor Beauties, as they became known, captivated the people of Stuart England as much as they did the King
A publicity shot for Ellen Terry (1847-1928), the most famous actress of the late Victorian period. The wedding ring prominently displayed is no indication of her marital status. Apart from a short-lived marriage when she was in her teens, she remained single.
himself. They were alluring, enigmatic and at the height of fashion. Yet while the role of portrait painters in igniting the public’s interest in men and women at the heart of high society cannot be denied, it was the rise of the popular press in the early 18th century that really sparked the phenomenon of celebrity as we know it today. A staggering array of newspapers, magazines and pamphlets sprang up almost overnight, and with them a new breed of journalist, whose pen could both create and destroy reputations. Suddenly, people whose fame had been confined to the rather insular world of the social and intellectual elite became household names. Ordinary citizens were afforded a tantalising glimpse into the lives of
Georgian England’s most glamorous individuals, from the poet Alexander Pope to the political hostess Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Unlike today, however, fame was not created by the media alone; to gain lasting renown one had to have an extraordinary talent or ability that set one apart from the rest of society. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, for example, did not become a household name in the 18th century simply because of her knack for being seen in all the right places. A fiercely intelligent and outspoken feminist, she also wrote some of the most influential political tracts of her day. At the other end of the social scale criminals, such as Jack Shepherd and Dick Turpin, had their exploits immortalised in works like the Newgate Calendar. In fact, it was not until the 1950s and 1960s that celebrity became easier to attain. How, then, are historians to know who from among the swathes of modern celebrities will have lasting significance? They could follow the example set by London’s Blue Plaque scheme, refusing to consider anyone until they have been dead for at least 20 years – and even then rigorously scrutinising their talents and careers. Or perhaps they should view today’s fleeting celebrities as a phenomenon which, collectively, says more about the society that created them than the worth of the individuals themselves. Tracy Borman is Learning Director at English Heritage. She is also an early modern historian and author of a book on Henrietta Howard, the mistress of George II, due to be published in Autumn 2007.