re: Which historical figures deserve a biopic?

Marie Laveau - The real flesh and blood Laveau is one of the most fascinating characters in American history. She first enters the historical record at 13 years old when Pere Antoine praised her skill in treating fevers and infections. All the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the lack of quality roles for minority women and this story continues to go untold. Slam dunk Oscar bait.


Joachim Murat - Napoleon's most flamboyant general and King of Naples for a brief time. Napoleon probably promoted him beyond his competence but on his horse out in front of a cavalry charge he might have been the best ever. I'm sure he'll be prominent in the upcoming film but there's enough story there for a film of his own.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius - Their rivalry and later enmity is a great tale. Two all-time historical badasses who loathed one another. Marius' obsession with his prophesied 7th consulship ended up in a macabre hellscape according to all accounts.

Paracelsus - Inspiration behind Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein and considered by many to be the father of modern chemistry and toxicology. He was a rude and belligerent drunk, an opium user, alchemist, occultist, and ferocious debunker of myriad longtime medical fallacies. And there are many contemporary accounts of his possessed sword Azoth.

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A couple of the craziest Medal of Honor guys from Vietnam. I think a guy named Benvadiaz would make a great film

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I don't think anyone would believe a biopic of Roy Benvadiaz.

He makes Rambo look like a light weight bitch.

Vlad Lenin

George Floyd

Betsy Ross

A movie on the wartime exploits of Joseph Beyrle would make a pretty amazing movie.

His biography “Behind Hitler’s Lines” by Thomas H. Taylor is a helluva read.

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Constantine the Great. The bastard son of a Roman officer from a provincial backwater, he rose through the ranks to win the throne & unify the Roman empire. Constantine made Christianity the dominant religion of the empire, which became the foundation of western civilization.

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Which reminds me of something I meant to post



Julian The Apostate became emperor and attempted to restore the Roman Empire to Paganism

He failed, the Empire remained Christian, and an epoch ended.

Vidal insisted he did not mean the novel to be a metaphor for the decline and fall of western civilization, but it's difficult not to see it that way, especially nowadays.

William Marshal the greatest Knight ever in history (this includes El Cid) was still fighting in combat in hand-to-hand fighting at the age of 70.