#William Luker I | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

broadwaydivastournament · 4 days

Text

Bebe Neuwirth in Caricature

I didn't plan it like this, but Bebe's caricature showcase just so happens to coincide on my schedule with Cabaret's opening night. So while she's glamming it up on the red carpet and readying for her soon-to-be-Tony-nominated performance, allow me to present beloved Diva Bebe Neuwirth in Caricature.

"Bebe Neuwirth," Sweet Charity, Published June 20, 1986 - Al Hirschfeld

"Cheers," Published December 11, 1990 - Al Hirschfeld

CHEERS: TED DANSON, KIRSTIE ALLEY, NICK COLASANTO, RHEA PERLMAN, GEORGE WENDT, JOHN RATZENBERGER, WOODY HARRELSON, BEBE NEUWIRTH, KELSEY GRAMMER, SHELLY LONG, AND ROGER REES, 1990

"Damn Yankees", Published February 27, 1994 - Al Hirschfeld

Pictured: Bebe Neuwirth with Victor Garber, Jerrod Emick, and George Abbott.

"Chicago," Published November 24, 1996 - Al Hirschfeld

Pictured: Joel Grey, Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, James Naughton

"Toasts Of The Town," Published June 1, 1997 - Al Hirschfeld

Pictured: Frank Langella, Julie Harris, Christopher Plummer, Brian Bradford, Michael Hayden, Bebe Neuwirth, Rebecca Luker, Fiona Shaw, Lillias White, David Morse, Angie Phillips, Donal McCann, Michael Gambon, David Rasche, Lia Williams, Janet McTeer, Anthony Sher, etc.

By 1986, Bebe had a Tony Award and a solo Hirschfeld drawing to her name, and by 1997, she had another Tony and three more Hirschfelds from both stage and screen work. Hirschfeld had a sprawling collection of art not limited just to Broadway. And of course, the feature Hirschfeld most prominently exaggerated (though not by much) were her award-winning gams.

Bebe Neuwirth for Sardis, 1997 | Unrelated: Bebe Neuwirth and Donna Murphy for the 2010 Drama League Nominations

Bebe's Sardis portrait is, of course, her in character as Velma Kelly in Chicago. The style of her caricature seemed to bridge the change between the old-school exaggeration and comic features that made the drawings so distinctive, and the blander, homogenous styles of today. Bebe's portrait came a few years before the true shift began, and frankly, she's better off for it.

"Bebe Neuwirth," The Lights of Broadway, Autumn 2017 - Squigs

I've neglected to mention it so far, but each Squigs trading card comes equipped with a little "fun fact" section on the back. Most cards include a few biographical points, show credits, and a special "did you know?" With Bebe's return to Broadway this season, we can only hope we'll get another Squigs illustration to add to the list.

#bebe neuwirth #al hirschfeld #sardis #squigs #caricature

12 notes · View notes

droughtofapathy · 5 months

Note

thoughts on a possible a little night music dream cast? 🫡

Okay, so I lied. I don't have a realistic A Little Night Music dream cast locked and loaded because I've spent too much time watching "A Weekend in the Country" from the Sondheim 75th birthday concert where Rebecca Luker is like forty-five and singing Anne, so my concept of realistic age casting is poisoned. But who's to say we can't have a concert version where Anne is a middle-aged soprano and it's just...understood?

So, here's my too-old concert dream cast.

Desiree: Donna Murphy (she can do anything--however if Jan Maxwell was still alive...) Fredrik: Brian Stokes Mitchell (*the* leading man of Broadway) Anne: Kelli O'Hara (the aging ingenue) Henrik: gonna be honest, I don't know or care about any male actor under like fifty so, I don't even know who's in the running Petra: Victoria Clark (let me have this) Fredrika: Samantha Williams or Anna Zavelson (it took everything in me not to seriously put Celia Keenan-Bolger) Madame Armfeldt: Mary Beth Peil (she's done it once, let her do it again) Charlotte (I have a Charlotte for any occasion): Bebe Neuwirth; Luba Mason; Carolee Carmello; Debra Monk; Mary Testa; Harriet Harris; Tracie Bennett; Beth Leavel; basically any Diva over fifty Carl-Magnus: Michael Cerveris (yeah, he can stay) The Quintet: Marquee Five (my favorite cabaret group)

Trust me, my Follies dream cast is much more grounded in reality (it's not, but I have the dream one *and* the real one ready to go).

2 notes · View notes

oldisnewradio · 2 years

Text

Tonight’s Broadcast offers The Penthouse audience A “Brand New” All DUETS Show. Tune in 9PM(ET) to www.thepenthouse.fm

Some of the singers that will be part of the mix:

Rosemary Clooney (Official) & Frank Sinatra, Ann Hampton Callaway & Liz Callaway, Jimmy Webb & Glen Campbell (Official), Ann Osmond & Dennis Yerry, Jazz Cabaret Duo, STEVE LAWRENCE & EYDIE GORME, Eric Comstock + Barbara Fasano, MICHAEL HAYDEN & SALLY MURPHY, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Chita Rivera & MARY McCARTY, LAUREN BECALL & MARILYN COOPER, Liza Minnelli & Billy Stritch, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, LOUISE CARLYLE & BOB SHAVER, Margaret Whiting & TED THURSTON, Jessica Molaskey & John Pizzarelli, REBECCA LUKER & RYAN SILVERMAN, LOUIS PRIMA & KEELY SMITH, Jane Scheckter & Tony DeSare, Linda Purl & Tom Wopat, Julie Wilson & WILLIAM ROY, Judy Garland & ETHEL MERMAN & More!

And some of the Songs:  

“Let’s Take A Walk Around The Block”, “Peach Tree Street”, “These Boots Are Made For Walking”, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, “You’ll Never Get Away From Me”, “We Got Us”, “As Long As I Live”, “I Want To Be Happy / Sometimes I’m Happy”, “I Didn’t Know About You”, “Oh Me, Oh My / Cheerful Little Earful”, “That Smile”, “Love Is Here To Stay”, “It Still Isn’t Over”, “Happiness”, “Love Story”, “If I Loved You”, “Money, Money, Money”, ”Class”, “The Grass Is Greener”, Here’s To Us / Little Me”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Friendship Medley” & More!

0 notes

popentertainment-moviereviews · 2 years

Photo

JOCKEY (2021)

Starring Clifton Collins Jr., Molly Parker, Moises Arias, Logan Cormier, Colleen Hartnett, Daniel Adams, Vincent Francia, Marlon St. Julien, Danny Garcia, Ryan Barber, Martin Bourdieu, Aki Kato, Richard Lull, Scott Stevens, Carl 'The Truth' Williams , Michael Ybarra, Joe Johnson, Daillon Luker, Oscar Quiroz, John Shumaker, Willie Whitehouse, Stacey Nottingham, Bryce Donaldson and Colleen Hartnett.

Screenplay by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar.

Directed by Clint Bentley.

Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. 95 minutes. Rated R.

There is a certain amount of cosmic synergy in the fact that long-time character actor Clifton Collins Jr. may finally reach some level of stardom for playing the lead character in the melancholy drama Jockey.

After all, his character, Jackson Silva is an aging journeyman horseman who has been on the circuit for years. He’s reached some minor levels of success and occasional high points in his career, but mostly he’s had to scramble for a buck and to survive. Now, finally, the potential of a huge win is within his grasp, if only he can hang on to it and perform to the best of his abilities. Unfortunately, his body, which he has been neglecting for years, is starting to break down.

With the exception of the deteriorating body (I assume), it is pretty much a parallel story to Collins’ own acting career. He’s had occasional high points – playing killer Perry Smith in Capote and appearing in such acclaimed films as Babel and Sunshine Cleaning and having a substantial role on the HBO series Westworld. However, he’s rarely had the opportunity to carry a film, and in recent years he’s worked steadily, but mostly in small roles in barely noticed films. (Other than Jockey, his 2021 output included After Yang, Breaking News in Yuba County and a bit part in the critically acclaimed Nightmare Alley.)

And now he has the opportunity for that big winner which has eluded him for so long.

On the plus side, Jockey is a triumph for him, the type of lived-experience performance which will make award nomination committees stand up and take notice. (He’s got almost no shot to win Best Actor, but I’d be shocked if he isn’t at least nominated.) On the negative, Jockey is a bit too morose and cynical to become anything other than a cult arthouse favorite. Which is fine, it was never expected to be anything else, I imagine.

Plus, it is a film about the sport of horse racing in which barely any actual racing is shown. And yet, it exudes a bittersweet elegiac quality which is surprisingly effective.

Jockey tells the story of an older man who is nearly at the end of his career ride, and yet he wants to stay in the saddle a bit longer. At the very moment that he is handed what may very well be his last chance for the gold ring, a young man enters his life. Gabriel (Moises Arias) is a groom and aspiring jockey – and he may just be Jackson’s son from a long-ago relationship. Jackson must decide whether to take the youngster under his wing or to save him from the life which has been so hard and often disappointing – and yet addictive to Jackson – before he is also pulled down the rabbit hole.

Jockey does not sugarcoat the world of horseracing. It shows it as a physically and emotionally taxing lifestyle in which the few victories are mitigated by a constant barrage of defeats. It is a dirty, sordid way of life which breaks more people than it creates. Yet it is fascinating for the hold it has on them.

Jockey is visually poetic – it almost feels like a long-lost Terrence Mallick film – at the same time it is often emotionally devastating. And riding on Collins’ hard-earned performance, it deserves its time in the winner’s circle.

Jay S. Jacobs

youtube

#Jockey #2022 #Movie Reviews #Clifton Collins Jr.#Jay S. Jacobs #PFF30 #Philadelphia Film Festival

3 notes · View notes

thediaryofatheatrekid · 5 years

Note

Casting goals for Rebecca Luker?

Casting Goals:

Anna Leonowens in The King and I

Aunt March in Little Women

Carlotta Giudicelli in The Phantom of the Opera

Elizabeth Arden in War Paint

Once Upon a December:

Irene Molloy in Hello, Dolly!

Emma Carew in Jekyll & Hyde

Lilli Vanessi/Katharine in Kiss Me, Kate

Cosette in Les Miserables

Natasha Rostova in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Laurey Williams in Oklahoma!

#What's the Buzz?#Casting Goals #Once Upon A December #The Phantom of the Opera #War Paint #Hello Dolly!#Jekyll & Hyde #Kiss Me Kate #Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 #The King and I #Little Women #Les Miserables #Oklahoma!#Rebecca Luker

2 notes · View notes

tabloidtoc · 5 years

Text

People, July 22

Cover: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are raising baby Archie their way

Page 1: Chatter -- Kevin Costner on Princess Diana, Kim Kardashian-West, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Taye Diggs, Miranda Lambert

Page 2: 5 Things We’re Talking About This Week -- Maya Hawke breaks out with Stranger Things 3, Amazon sells a chicken leash, celebs take the Bottle Cap Challenge, Disney finds its new Ariel Halle Bailey, PBR releases hard coffee

Page 4: Contents

Page 6: StarTracks -- The U.S. women’s soccer team including Abby Dahlkemper, Rose Lavelle, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Crystal Dunn, Megan Rapinoe, Kelly O’Hara, Julie Ertz and Alyssa Naeher celebrate their win in the World Cup final

Page 8: First look at the A-list moms of Otherwood -- Angela Bassett and Felicity Huffman and Patricia Arquette, pregnant Christina Anstead, Meg Ryan and daughter Daisy True Ryan

Page 9: Andy Murray and Serena Williams play mixed doubles at Wimbledon, Venus Williams, Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet and daughter Lola

Page 10: Stars in the Sun -- Scott Eastwood, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Katy Perry, Kendall Jenner

Page 13: Essence Festival -- Michelle Obama and Gayle King, Mary J. Blige, Pharrell Williams, StyleTracks -- dramatic capes -- Taylor Hill, Mandy Moore, Elle Fanning, Julianne Moore, Avril Lavigne

Page 15: Taylor Swift goes to battle against Scooter Braun

Page 16: How Jeff Bezos is moving on after $38 billion divorce

Page 18: Heart Monitor -- Bob Harper and Anton Gutierrez engaged, Julia Roberts and Danny Moder 17 years strong, Cory Booker and Rosario Dawson showing support, David and Victoria Beckham 20th anniversary

Page 20: Chris Pratt joins the Kennedy family, are Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello more than friends

Page 23: Michael Douglas and current wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and ex-wife Diandra Luker are selling their 250-acre property in Mallorca, Spain, Loretta Devine’s dream career

Page 25: Jessica Simpson’s new baby and first book, Lil Nas X reveals he’s gay

Page 26: Stories to Make You Smile

Page 29: Passages, Why I Care -- Holly Robinson Peete after her son RJ was diagnosed with autism she began helping other families through her HollyRod Foundation

Page 31: Weddings -- Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor

Page 35: People Picks -- Fleabag

Page 36: Queer Eye, Pearson, YouTube is restoring vintage pop and rock clips from all the way back to the ‘80s -- look for #remastered -- All Night Long and Free Fallin’ and Bad Romace, Q&A -- Alan Cumming

Page 38: The Farewell, Stuber, Grantchester, One to Watch -- Arturo Castro

Page 41: Books

Page 42: Cover Story -- The Sussex family of three -- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and baby Archie -- Archie’s modern royal life

Page 48: Cameron Boyce -- a Disney stars’s shocking death at 20

Page 51: What’s next for Jeopardy! James Holzhauer

Page 52: Why was Linda Collins killed?

Page 54: Whoopi Goldberg’s health crisis -- I’m grateful to be alive

Page 57: The unstoppable Ali Stroker

Page 60: The Prince only I knew by Prince’s longtime photographer

Page 62: Raising my 5 siblings myself

Page 68: Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner look back as When Harry Met Sally turns 30

Page 73: Hollywood at Home -- Soleil Moon Frye’s California farmhouse

Page 76: Danielle Brooks’ Brooklyn townhouse

Page 80: La La Anthony’s Manhattan loft

Page 82: Style -- summer’s hottest sunglasses -- Lupita Nyong’o, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Julianne Moore

Page 87: Second Look -- Celine Dion

Page 88: One Last Thing -- Jesse Eisenberg

#tabloid #prince harry #meghan markle #duchess meghan #baby archie #archie harrison #archie harrison mountbatten-windsor #taylor swift #scooter braun #team taylor #team scooter #halsey #todrick hall #taylor and todrick #cara delevingne #demi lovato #justin bieber #yael cohen braun

5 notes · View notes

makistar2018 · 5 years

Link

Taylor Swift gives surprise Pride Month performance at the Stonewall Inn

By David Williams June 15, 2019

(CNN)Taylor Swift gave a surprise performance Friday night at the Stonewall Inn and wished the crowd at the site of the LGBTQ rights landmark a happy Pride Month.

The gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village was holding an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprising, which was a catalyst for the gay rights movement.

."I was totally shocked because it's such a small space. Everyone went crazy!" said Kyle Luker, who shot video of the Grammy-winning singer playing "Shake It Off."

He'd been at the club for about 90 minutes when Swift came on stage.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kyle Luker (@princesskylenyc) on Jun 15, 2019 at 6:54am PDT

Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson emceed the event and joined Swift on stage to dance and sing along.

The "Modern Family" star thanked Swift on Twitter.

"I'm so happy I don't have to keep this secret any longer. Look who came to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall at the Stonewall Inn. @taylorswift13, you are a gem. Thank you for everything you do for the LGBTQ community. We (heart emoji) you!" he wrote, ending the tweet with a rainbow emoji

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Variety (@variety) on Jun 14, 2019 at 5:35pm PDT

Friday was a busy day for Swift.

She also released a new single from her upcoming album, "Lover," which is scheduled to come out August 23.

A video for the song "You Need to Calm Down" drops Monday.

The song's lyrics challenge internet bullies and express support for the LGBTQ community.

In April, Swift donated $113,000 to the Tennessee Equality Project, a pro-LGBTQ advocacy group.

CNN

#taylor swift #jesse tyler ferguson #stonewall50 #2019.06.14

5 notes · View notes

gam916 · 6 years

Text

Women’s Jewellery Company Produces Loyality Procedure Force

The Women’s Jewellery Company (WJA) has announced regarding its first-ever Loyality Procedure Power, intended to “explore and consequently create useful resources, coaching, information, workplace coaching, and support that can be used by WJA affiliates to improve women’s positions in the jewellery market workplace,” according to an argument from WJA.

The process energy has been charged with “defining the ability and objectives of WJA’s loyality projects toward enhancing useful females, men, and companies to get smarter on gender-related issues,” the declaration keeps on.

Topics the team will find out are the number of qualified females in professional control positions and ladies ideas for valentines day for her providing as directors on jewelry market boards in the industry; gender-related propensities in the jewellery market workplace, such as “policies associated with caregiving, growth, and compensation”; and other gender-based jewelry market workplace issues, such as beauty and sex-related harrassing.

Bernadette McGovern Mack, WJA professional home, said in the creating, “Though our purpose has always been to promote the professional interests of females in the jewellery and indulge in locations, hopefully to become a much better source to our affiliates by providing focused growth on professional growth and work-related subjects. Gradually, our purpose is to promote local to the isle, long-term enhancement in the locations of control and representation.”

The process energy is contains existing WJA affiliates Ashley Chan of Lei Lee Jewels; Jen Cullen Williams of High-class Product Group; author Peggy Jo Donahue; An - Martin of the Gemological Company of America; Ann Posnock of Investors of America; Maren Rosen of Stuller; Laurie H of Mayer & Watt; WJA primary professional Brandee Dallow; WJA president-elect This summer Luker; and Cecilia Gardner, former primary professional, CEO, and customary guidance of the Investors Careful Board.

The organization applications to set up a team of opinions to its affiliates, as well as to market at large.

“My most sincere wish is that by discovering, referring to to, and knowing the disadvantages impacted by our affiliates these days, WJA could create a road map that will help companies get the value of absolutely developing females,” said Brandee Dallow, WJA primary professional. “I am incredibly extremely incredibly satisfied to be a part of a business that has, and will keep having, such the perfect impact on women’s positions in the jewellery and indulge in locations.”

13 notes · View notes

antiqueanimals · 1 year

Text

Through the Coverts of the Deer. William Luker I (1828-1905)

via

#cervids #deer #fallow deer #William Luker I

186 notes · View notes

husheduphistory · 3 years

Text

Broken, Stuck, and Astounding Luck: The Dodged Demise of John Lee and Joseph Samuel

John Henry George Lee led a life full of accusations. Born in Abbotskerswell, Devon, England in 1864 he was in and out of trouble early on and left school to work for an elderly woman named Emma Anne Whitehead Keyse at her beachside estate called “The Glen.” He left the home to join the Royal Navy but trouble followed him there and he quickly became known as a thief. When his bad habits caught up with him in 1883 he was taken to court, convicted of robbery, and sentenced to hard labor at Exeter. Upon his release he returned to The Glen. Keyse opened her door to him once again, not realizing what lay ahead.

The Glen. Image via bbc.com/uk.

An illustration of The Glen. Image via http://murderresearch.com/

On November 15th 1884 Keyse’s home in Babbacombe Bay transformed into a grisly murder scene when the old woman was found with her throat slit, multiple wounds to her head, and a number of burns that seemed to point to an unsuccessful attempt to burn the body. The only people living at The Glen at the time of the murder was the now deceased Keyse, servants Jane and Eliza Neck, the cook Elizabeth Harris, and John Lee. All eyes immediately turned to Lee, not only because he had a cut on his arm he could not explain, but also because he was the only man in the house at the time of the murder. Although totally circumstantial, this was enough “evidence” to arrest him. The accusations were thin, that Keyse was disappointed in his behavior and threatened to cut his wages so he murdered her in cold blood, something that the prosecution argued was in line with his previous life of theft in the Royal Navy. The verdict was harsh, he was quickly convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. He was oddly calm throughout the trial, stating to the judge “The reason I am so calm is that I trust in the Lord and he knows I am innocent."

John Henry George Lee. Image via murderpedia.com

Lee’s execution date was scheduled for February 23rd 1885 at Exeter and he never wavered in claiming his innocence. He approached the scaffolding where executioner James Berry and a priest waited for him. The final prayers were said, Lee took his final breaths, and Berry pulled the lever to drop the trap door beneath Lee’s feet ending his life. Except nothing happened. The trap door never opened. Berry had tested the door and lever before the execution and reported that everything was in working order but now, despite the lever being moved back and forth and the trap door being stomped on, it refused to open. Lee’s still very much alive body was carried away from the gallows and a carpenter was brought in to examine the door. Finding nothing wrong with it, he sanded down the edges of the opening to prevent anything from being in the way of the trap door dropping. A large weight was fastened to a rope to test the trap door and it worked perfectly, dropping the weight through with one pull of the lever. Lee was brought back, the prayers were once again recited, the lever pulled, and again nothing happened. The door and the convict both remained in place. Lee was again moved from the gallows and this time he was taken back to his cell for twenty minutes while the entire system was looked over, oiled, and tested by workmen. Unable to find anything wrong, Lee was brought out to the gallows to meet his end for a third time. Again the prayers were said, the prisoner positioned, the lever pulled…and nothing happened.

With no clear explanation to what was keeping Lee from what should have been certain death, he was again taken back to a cell. But, the execution would not resume. Within hours Home Secretary Sir William Harcourt commuted the sentence to penal servitude for life stating "It would shock the feeling of anyone if a man had twice to pay the pangs of imminent death."

Lee served twenty-two years of his sentence and was released in 1907. He quickly took advantage of his new reputation of “The Man They Could Not Hang”, supporting himself by giving lectures about his life and becoming the subject of silent films and songs.

Newspaper discussing The Man They Could Not Hang. Image via bbc.com/uk.

Amazingly, John Henry George Lee is not the only man in history who can claim they were denied death by the gallows three times. In fact, he was not even the first to earn the bizarre title. That honor belongs to Joseph Samuel who defied death over fifty years earlier.

Joseph Samuel was born in England in 1780 and quickly found himself enveloped in a life of crime. At the age of fifteen Samuel was convicted of robbery and in 1801 he found himself among 297 other convicts making their way from England to the penal settlement at Sydney Cove in Australia. The prisons in Australia at the time were not heavily guarded due to their isolation. Situated far from any other form of civilization, if any prisoner was able to escape they would be faced with miles of harsh terrain and it was greatly assumed the wilderness would kill them. However, there are always exceptions to every rule, and Samuel was one of them. He successfully jumped the fence, ran out into the wilderness, and succeeded in coming out the other end of it alive.

Sydney From the West Side of the Cove painted by George Evans in 1802. Image via sydneylivingmuseums.com.au.

Samuel beat the odds with his escape, but the victory was short lived. On August 26th 1803 he and a gang of fellow thieves broke into the home of a wealthy woman named Mary Breeze and attempted to steal a desk with money hidden inside of it. Breeze was able to alert the police and an off duty officer Constable Joseph Luker went to investigate the scene, but instead of apprehending the culprits, he walked into an unfortunate end. Before sunrise his corpse was found in the back of Breeze’s home, brutally beaten to death. Laying near his body was the desk and a bloody wheel.

The murder of Constable Luker shocked the community and the military was called in to sweep the area in search of the murderers. Before long the house where Samuel and the rest of the gang of robbers was searched. In Samuel’s pockets were some of the stolen gold and silver coins and a barrow without its wheel was found inside the house. Everyone was arrested but due to a lack of evidence they were all eventually released, except for Samuel. A woman came forward and claimed she saw him near Breeze’s garden the night of the murder and after being interrogated Samuel finally admitted to the robbery but steadfastly insisted that he did not kill the officer. His confession combined with the coins and the broken barrow added up to enough to charge him with murder. He was brought into court and sentenced to hang in Brickfield Hill.

On September 26th 1803 twenty-three year old Joseph Samuel was led to the gallows to meet his end. Alongside him was another criminal, arrested and sentenced for an unrelated charge. A huge crowd had gathered to watch the execution and among them was Isaac Simmonds, one of the men arrested with Samuel and subsequently released. Reverend Samuel Marsden and Australia’s future first rabbi Joseph Marcus were on hand and when they asked the men for confession Samuel unleashed, stating that Simmonds had privately confessed to him that he was the murderer. Simmonds adamantly denied the charge but the crowd quickly turned on him, forcing the military to hold them back so the execution could proceed.

Painting of Brickfield Hill. Image via National Library of Australia.

When one pictures a scene of a hanging it will typically involve a scaffold and a trap door that opens up forcing the prisoner to drop to their death. As Joseph Samuel stood condemned to die, that form of hanging was still many years from being invented. In 1803 the convict would have a noose placed around their necks and they would be stood in the back of a horse-drawn cart. When the time came the horse would be startled or slapped making it pull the cart away from under the convict’s feet leaving them hanging and facing a slow, agonizing death. Samuel stood now in the back of a cart, head bent in prayer during his last few moments, and the cart was pulled away. But instead of Samuel being left to hang, the thick hemp rope around his neck snapped. He fell into the dirt below and sprained his ankle. The executioner quickly gathered up the prisoner and prepared to repeat the whole process. The hemp noose used at the time should have been able to hold over 1,000 pounds before breaking but a new one was quickly placed over his neck, the cart was returned, and again pulled away from under his feet. This time, the rope unraveled, leaving Samuel to hit the ground on his feet. Exasperated and certain of the integrity of the nooses, the executioner called the cart back again and set Samuel up for death a third time amid the large crowd growing louder and louder with some yelling that this was a sign of innocence from God. The third time the cart pulled away Samuel’s rope again snapped sending him into the dirt with his heart still racing. The crowd roared for the Governor to grant a reprieve and the Provost Marshal rode off to get his word. Before long the Governor was on site inspecting the ropes. After finding no evidence of tampering and without any explanation as to how they could have all broken, he declared his official ruling, Joseph Samuel would be spared from the sentence of death due to divine intervention.

Although pardoned from death Samuel was not given back his freedom and he was sent to Kings Town to work in the mines and fulfil a sentence of hard labor. In the years after his seemingly miraculous pardon from death, Samuel again tried to press his luck. In 1806 he and seven other prisoners escaped the settlement in a boat. But, his luck had indeed run out and the vessel was never seen again. All the men on board were declared drowned.

While there are many stories through time of people surviving botched executions, John Henry George Lee and Joseph Samuel are the only two known members of a very specific club, men who were each hanged three times in one day and lived to tell their tales.

0 notes