What the Passengers of The Titanic Looked Like in Real Life

Most people know that James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster “Titanic” was based on real events. On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic was headed to New York when it hit an iceberg and sank, leading to massive casualties.

But there were a few survivors of the terrible wreck, and they were able to share the story of what happened on the ship when they got back to dry land.

Although the characters Jack and Rose were made up for the film, some of the over 2,000 passengers seen in the film actually existed in real life.

Many of them were some of the wealthiest people alive in the early 20th century, and a few of them were the folks who worked on the ship and saw its demise. Let’s see how the onscreen characters compared to their real-life counterparts.

Margaret Brown in the Film

Margaret Brown was played by actress Kathy Bates. As moviegoers might recall, Rose’s mom referred to Margaret as “new blood,” meaning that she had recently come into her vast fortune rather than inheriting the wealth from her family.

Margaret Brown in Real Life

In real life, Margaret Brown had earned the nickname the Unsinkable Molly Brown. The reason behind this was that she had begged the crewman on her lifeboat to go back to where the ship sank to rescue other passengers. Some say the lifeboat did return while others claim it didn’t.

But regardless of how events unfolded, Brown’s story became a musical in 1960 called “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

Captain Edward Smith in the Film

Long before actor Bernard Hill took on the role of Theoden in “The Lord of the Rings,” he put on a captain’s hat and took command of the Titanic’s bridge as Captain Edward James Smith. But did his real-life counterpart suffer the same fate as the character?

Captain Edward Smith in Real Life

Captain Edward Smith did exist in real life and he did captain the RMS Titanic. Sadly, he upheld the old sea faring tradition of going down with the ship when the Titanic sank. But he did have a wife and a daughter who were alive and well after the incident.