King Edward IV c. 1540, National Portrait Gallery
Edward IV was king of England from 1461-70, then again from 1471-83. He’s the Yorkist king who deposed Henry VI in the Wars of the Roses, and who married commoner Elizabeth Woodville. His reign was mostly marked by civil war, and he was briefly deposed by Henry from 1470-71. His sons were the Princes in the Tower, probably killed by Richard III, and his daughter was Elizabeth of York, who married Henry Tudor/King Henry VII.
As always, there are several productions for which I can’t find photos of the Edward IV character:
- Robert Gemp in Richard III (1912)
- Roy Travers in Jane Shore (1915)
- Benno Sterzenbach in König Richard III (1964)
- József Gáti in III. Richárd (1973)
- Marc Betton in Richard III (1986)
- Philip Bowen in The Wars of the Roses (1989)
- Harris Yulin in Looking for Richard (1996)
- Walter Williamson in Richard III (2007)
Alfred Brydone in Richard III (1911)
A silent short film adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Ian Hunter in The Tower of London (1939)
“In the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King Edward IV of England” per IMDB.
Cedric Hardwicke in Richard III (1955)
The feature film adaptation of the Shakespeare play starring Laurence Olivier.
Julian Glover in An Age of Kings (1960)
BBC Shakespeare adaptation series.
Justice Watson in Tower of London (1962)
The Vincent Price remake of the 1939 film.
Brian Protheroe in BBC Shakespeare: “Henry VI, Part 2”; “Henry VI, Part 3”; “The Tragedy of Richard the Third” (1983)
More BBC Shakespeare adaptations!
John Wood in Richard III (1995)
The 1930s-set adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Max Irons in The White Queen (2013)
The TV miniseries adaptation of the Philippa Fucking Gregory novel about Elizabeth Woodville.
Geoffrey Streatfeild in The Hollow Crown (2016)
Yet More BBC TV Shakespeare Adaptations!
Which is your favorite depiction of Edward IV on screen?
There is much evidence to indicate that Richard did not kill the princes in the tower. No need to as they were found to be illegitimate. Edward had never divorced his first wife so his marriage to Elizabeth was not valid.
The Ricardian scholarship certainly makes that much plain and I’m sure His Late Majesty would be delighted to see you honour his vision for the history of England.
Meanwhile the rest of us have our suspicions and will draw our own conclusions.
Agreed, but I’m a member of the R3 Society, and therefore biased. Getting back to E4, Ian Hunter (minus the Brylcreem) looks like a good physical match for Edward, who was 6’3″, built and gorgeous, not to mention charming, shrewd and arguably the best warrior king England produced. (Hedonism did him in.) Max Irons is a dim frat rat by comparison.
There’s a lot of evidence that he did, too, and it outweighs all the suppositions. No good evidence that he didn’t kill them has ever been discovered, so the “probably” is reasonable, since it’s more probable that he or one of his allies had them killed.
Yes thank you. Of course we never can know for sure, but Richard had learned from the times he lived in that one shouldn’t leave ex-kings hanging around to become rivals. To leave the two princes alive and to let them grow up and become focal points for rebellions and insurrections would be foolish. And Richard was not a fool.
When you are responsible for two kids and they go missing in a country you are currently running in a castle filled with your men, you are responsible for it even if you didn’t suffocate them yourself. Even if it was a Thomas Beckett type situation, why was the man who took the initiative punished publicly? That would have been great PR.
Furthermore, we know now that Thomas More personally knew the sons of one of the guys who supposedly killed the boys and that the man he said ordered it’s sister in law had a necklace that belonged little Edward decades later. Thomas More was not a liar or a butt-kisser. What he said was the truth.
I am deeply, deeply sad to see that – at least to date – nobody seems to have had the good sense and good taste to cast an actor who can and/or has played King Henry VIII as his lookalike grandad.
Amazing how few times he’s been played by a young man. He was only 40 when he died!
Max Irons for the win. Woof!
The puffy-haired guy in the still from the 1962 TOWER OF LONDON was Robert Brown (best known for the late ’60s TV series HERE COME THE BRIDES) as “Sir Justin”– whoever that was.
Justice Watson was a nondescript older man who did occasional TV bit parts; this portrayal of Edward IV was his last role. Vincent Price was playing Richard III under Roger Corman’s direction in a spooked-up film as a slight variation on their their Poe films for a rival studio.
And that’s Vincent Price as the Duke of Clarence in the shots with Ian Hunter as Edward in the 1939 TOWER OF LONDON. Since the “club-footed executioner” in that one was Boris Karloff, both versions actually wound up on TV in “Shock Theater” packages in the 1960s.