Who Was Rose Dewitt Bukater?
It’s been well over 100 years since the first and last voyage of the RMS Titanic in April 1912. When I was doing research, I learned of Beatrice Wood, the person that director James Cameron used as a model for Kate Winslet’s character, Rose Dewitt Bukater .
When I sat down to research Wood, I found her to be an exceptional person. I will attempt to sum up her rather eventful life, which is rather difficult to do when she lived to be 105 years old. But, to give you an idea of who Beatrice Wood was, when asked what her secret to longevity was, she said, “Art, books, chocolates, and young men.”
Fact and Fiction About Rose from Titanic
Rose’s character was based upon a real woman, Beatrice Wood.
Both the character and the real person were artists.
The real person did not travel on the Titanic.
The screenwriter was inspired by Beatrice’s humor, charm, and creativity.
Beatrice Wood’s Early Life
Beatrice Wood was born in San Francisco, California in 1893 to wealthy and socially conscious parents. At the age of five, 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 theaters.
In 1912, the year the Titanic sank without Beatrice aboard, she was supposed to throw her much-planned coming out party. However, she canceled the plans 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 in high style.
Moves to France to Study Painting
She sent her to France with a chaperone to study painting. Beatrice 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 this and came to Giverny to check on her. She found the conditions in the attic not to her liking and promptly took her back to Paris.
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 Theater. She played in over 60 roles under the stage name Mademoiselle Patricia.
Marcel Duchamp
While working at the theater, she was told about a Frenchman who was in the hospital and lonely. Someone suggested that she go visit him since she spoke French. During her second visit, she was introduced to the man’s friend, Marcel Duchamp.
Duchamp was best-known for his painting Nude Descending a Staircase. She and Duchamp hit it off immediately and he would go on to introduce her to Walter and Louise Arnsberg, who held artsy parties at their contemporary home. Beatrice was exposed to the dada movement, which is best described as an anti-art movement.
Henri-Pierre Roche (Jules et Jim)
Duchamp also introduced her to the writer Henri-Pierre Roche, who would become her first love interest. Duchamp, Roche, and Beatrice seemed to have some sort of love triangle; it is thought that this was the inspiration for Roche’s book, Jules et Jim. He was the first man to 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 with whom she shared an apartment, 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. Duchamp was traveling in Europe, the Arensbergs had moved to Los Angeles, and Roche had gone back to Paris. She then fell in love with the British actor and director Reginald Pole. But Pole will also end up breaking her heart. She decided to move to Los Angeles to be near the Arensbergs.
