- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWinston Leonard Spencer Churchill
- Nicknames
- Winnie
- The British Bulldog
- The Father of Europe
- Height5′ 6½″ (1.69 m)
- Born in Blenheim Palace, the residence of his grandfather, the 7th Duke of Marlborough. His father was the Duke's third son, Lord Randolph Churchill. His mother, Jennie Jerome, was the daughter of an American financier.
After passing through famous English public schools such as Harrow, he went on to fulfill his ambition for a life in the army. He fought in various parts of the British Empire until in 1900 when he won the Conservative seat in Oldham in the general election. From here until 1929 he held various offices in British Parliament.
The 1930s saw fascism grow in strength throughout Europe with dictators such as Italy's Benito Mussolini, Germany's Adolf Hitler and Spain's Francisco Franco. When the UK and France declared war on Germany in 1939, Neville Chamberlain was British Prime Minister. On May 10, 1940 Hitler's forces invaded Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg in order to invade France. Chamberlain was widely blamed for the failed British invasion of Norway, although realistically Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty was largely to blame for the failure of the Norwegian Campaign. Chamberlain recommended the King should ask Churchill to succeed him as Prime Minister. He made a speech on 13 May: "You ask: 'What is our policy?' I will say: 'It is to wage war by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalog of human crime.' That is our policy. You ask: 'What is our aim?' I can answer in one word: 'Victory! Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.'"
The United States officially entered the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The US's participation was excellent news to Churchill and after success on D-Day and as the Nazi forces were gradually forced back, the war in Europe gradually drew to a close. He lost the 1945 General Election by a landslide, lost again in 1950, but was re-elected as Prime Minister in 1951 despite receiving fewer votes than Labour. Due to deteriorating health he retired in 1955. He died at Hyde Park Gate, London, on January 24, 1965 at the age of 90. He had succeeded in the uniting of thought and deed. He had succeeded in uniting everyone in the common purpose, inspiring them with fortitude and strength to face whatever hardships that would have to be incurred in the process of first surviving and ultimately winning the war. His daughter Mary wrote to him on his death bed: "I owe you what every Englishman, woman, and child owes you - liberty itself."
As one of the most significant British politicians of the 20th century, Churchill remains one of the country's most widely recognized figures. He has been played by an almost incalculable number of actors on screen, but three of the most notable and acclaimed screen portrayals were by Robert Hardy in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981) (which covers Churchill's life from 1929 to 1939), Albert Finney in The Gathering Storm (2002) (also set in the 1930s before he became Prime Minister) and Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour (2017) (set in May 1940).
As well as a politician, Churchill was also an author and a prolific artist, who painted over 500 canvases, exhibited at the Royal Academy and at Paris, and sold paintings.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Matthew Stephenson <[email protected]>
- SpouseClementine Churchill(September 12, 1908 - January 24, 1965) (his death, 5 children)
- ChildrenMarigold Churchill (died at age 2)
- ParentsRandolph Henry Spencer-ChurchillJeanette (Jennie) Jerome
- RelativesEdwina Sandys(Grandchild)Celia Sandys(Grandchild)Winston Churchill(Grandchild)Arabella Churchill(Grandchild)Nicholas Soames(Grandchild)Emma Soames(Grandchild)Rupert Soames(Grandchild)Clarissa Spencer-Churchill(Niece or Nephew)
- Top hat and Cigar
- Low speaking voice
- Fiercely energetic public speeches with heavy emphasis on determination
- Dry sarcastic wit
- Always (deliberately) mispronounced the word "Nazi" in his wartime speeches.
- Nancy Astor once said to him, "If I was your wife I'd poison your coffee!" He replied, "If I was your husband I'd drink it".
- Credited with this exchange with Bessie Braddock: "Winston, you are drunk, and what's more, you are disgustingly drunk"; "Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what's more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober, and you will still be disgustingly ugly".
- Early in his life, he briefly worked as a greeting card designer for Hallmark.
- Almost missed proposing to Clementine Ogilvy. He had promised to take her for a walk around the Blenheim Palace grounds, then overslept. His cousin Charles took Clementine for a carriage ride to prevent her from leaving, and sent a servant to roust Churchill out of bed.
- All members of the Churchill family had animal nicknames. Wife Clementine was "Cat", son Randolph was "Rabbit", daughter Mary was "Mouse".
- [commenting on the Battle of Britain] Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
- We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.
- [(speech, 30 March 1940)] Although the fate of Poland stares them in the face, there are thoughtless dilettanti or purblind wordlings who sometimes ask us, "What is it that Britain and France are fighting for?" To this I answer, "If we left off fighting you would soon find out!"
- Golf is a game whose aim it is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose.
- History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
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