The "before" painting from the 1945 film
June 22, 1890: Lippincott's Monthly Magazine is published. This issue includes a novella version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. A full-length novel version is published the next year.
The title is often incorrectly listed as "The Portrait of Dorian Gray," but "The Picture" is correct. Nevertheless, the story is about a man and a portrait of him. Dorian Gray is a young Londoner, and a friend of painter Basil Hallward, fascinated by Dorian's appearance -- a metaphor for the gay circles of "underground" Victorian Britain in which Wilde ran. It was an 1890 case of "If you know, you know."
Also among Basil's friends is Lord Henry Watton, a hedonist: He believes that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Knowing that he will lose his beauty with time, Dorian wishes for the portrait, rather than himself, to age and fade.
His wish is granted: While he does what he wants, and never suffers the consequences, though those close to him do -- it starts with him seducing Sybil Vane, the innocent young lady he had fancied, then dumping her for another woman, and Sybil commits suicide -- the painting is affected, beginning with "a hint of cruelty in the mouth."
Twenty years on, Dorian still looks like a handsome university student, but, in his attic, his image in the painting has become grotesquely ugly, and much older than his 40 years. He eventually murders Basil, and the painting gets even worse. Finally, he stabs the painting, and collapses. When the police break in, they discover the painting restored to its original appearance, and a horribly old man on the floor.
Ever since, when someone looks great for their age, they are said to have a nasty-looking painting of themselves in their attic.
The novel was adapted for the stage in 1913. Seven silent film versions were made, including a German and a Hungarian version. In 1945, it was filmed, with Hurd Hatfield as Dorian. American painter Ivan Lorraine Albright painted the portraits, before and after, for this film. Although it was filmed in black & white, the portraits were painted in color.
The 1st color version came in 1970, an Italian version titled The Evils of Dorian Gray, starring German actor Helmut Berger. There have been several made-for-TV versions, including a 1961 version on British network ITV where Jeremy Brett played Dorian, and a 1976 version where Brett played Basil. Episodes of the spy spoof Get Smart and the British science fiction series Blake's 7 were based on the story.
In 1983, ABC aired The Sins of Dorian Gray, with Belinda Bauer playing a woman with the name, a model and actress, whose filmed screen test ages while she doesn't.
The 2003 film flop The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen took a lot of liberties with fictional characters of the late 19th Century. Stuart Townsend plays a version of Dorian, who, upon joining the team, is reunited with his (and Count Dracula's) ex-girlfriend Mina Harker, helps capture Mr. Hyde, and is revealed to be a mole in the group when he shoots Ishmael, the narrator of Moby Dick, who has become Captain Nemo's first mate aboard the submarine Nautilus. Mina ends up killing Dorian by finding the lost painting and stabbing it.
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June 22, 1890 was a Sunday. This was the year of the Players' League, meaning baseball had 3 major leagues. However, the only games played on this day were in the American Association:
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Syracuse Stars, 8-4 at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. These Athletics would fold with the AA after the 1891 season. The A's that would be founded with the American League in 1901 had no connection to them other than name.
* The Brooklyn Gladiators beat the Rochester Broncos, 18-7 at Culver Field in Rochester, New York.
* A doubleheader was split at Recreation Park in Columbus, Ohio. The St. Louis Browns won the 1st game, 5-4. The Columbus Solons won the 2nd game, 7-1. In 1892, the Browns joined the NL. In 1900, they became the St. Louis Cardinals.
* And the Louisville Colonels beat the Toledo Maumees, 3-2 at Speranza Park in Toledo, Ohio. The Colonels would join the NL in 1892, but went out of business after the 1899 season.
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