January 5, 1905: "The Scarlet Pimpernel" Premieres

Baroness Orczy

January 5, 1905: The Scarlet Pimpernel premieres at the New Theatre in London's West End. Emma Magdalena Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci, a 39-year-old Hungarian known as Baroness Orczy, had written it. Fred Terry stars in the title role.

She created the character of Sir Percy Blakeney, an English aristocrat living in Paris, seeing his friends being executed during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror in 1792. He leads a double life: Pretending to be a wealthy but mid-mannered fop, while courageously saving his friends' lives with expert swordsmanship. The name "Scarlet Pimpernel" comes from the red flower he draws on the messages he leaves, bragging of his exploits to his friends' would-be executioners.

He is assisted by a group of fellow gentlemen, and they are the only ones who know of his, as would be said later, secret identity, until his wife, the French actress Marguerite St. Just, finds out. She had left him after seeing the change in his attitude, while admiring the Pimpernel. Finding out that his change was a cover for his efforts, she returned to him.

British audiences loved the play, and the subsequent novel made the character and Baroness Orczy known throughout the world. Eventually, there would be 14 novels featuring Sir Percy, published between 1905 and 1940, plus 2 prequels featuring Blakeney ancestors, and one written in 1924, set in the present day, with a Blakeney descendant. Fred Terry lived until 1933, the Baroness until 1947.

There would be 3 silent films, starting in 1917, with Dustin Farnum in the role. The 1st sound version was in 1928, The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Matheson Lang. The character would be played by Leslie Howard in 1934, Barry K. Barnes in 1937, and David Niven in 1950.

Merle Oberon as Marguerite, and Leslie Howard as Sir Percy

On TV, the BBC had productions starring James Carney in 1950 and 1951, and Tony Britton in 1955. ITV had a series based on the character in the 1955-56 season, starring Marius Goring. American TV debuted the Pimpernel in 1960, on CBS, with Michael Rennie. The BBC had a 1969 series with Anton Rodgers. CBS aired a TV-movie in 1982, with Anthony Andrews. BBC One aired a series in 1999 and 2000, with Richard E. Grant.

Someone once joked that the Scarlet Pimpernel had the lamest superhero name ever, despite having "Pimp" in it. But his mild-mannered civilian persona, combined with his courageous costumed heroism, made him an inspiration for such superheroes as Superman and Spider-Man; while his wealthy aristocrat secret identity as a cover for his heroism inspired Zorro, who, with his other attributes, inspired Batman, Green Arrow, Iron Man, and others.

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January 5, 1905 was a Thursday. Baseball and football were out of season. Basketball and hockey were still mostly amateur. So there were no scores on this historic day.