# My Fair Lady Trivia

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fair-lady-trivia/981387>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [March 20, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fair-lady-trivia/981387 "2023-03-20T00:48:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Petek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/petek/32/1590_2.png) [@Petek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petek)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fair-lady-trivia/981387/1 "2023-03-20T00:48:03Z")

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In the following screenshot from the movie _My Fair Lady_, who is the man in the portrait behind Higgins, and why is his portrait appropriate?

[![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/aaLyWC4.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/aaLyWC4)

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**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fair-lady-trivia/981387/2 "2023-03-20T01:00:05Z")

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Don’t know for sure, but it does look quite a bit like a young George Bernard Shaw. Which would certainly make sense, but I can’t find that exact portrait.

> **[George Bernard Shaw by Bettmann](https://photos.com/featured/george-bernard-shaw-bettmann.html)**
>
> George Bernard Shaw by Bettmann

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**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fair-lady-trivia/981387/3 "2023-03-20T02:05:33Z")

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“The picture on the wall of Professor Henry Higgins’ library (profile, facing left) is of the famous 19th century explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer, Freemason, and diplomat (not the actor) Richard Francis Burton.” - [My Fair Lady (1964) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058385/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv)

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fair-lady-trivia/981387/4 "2023-03-20T05:36:07Z")

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That’s too many things.

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**Author:** ![Petek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/petek/32/1590_2.png) [@Petek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petek)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fair-lady-trivia/981387/5 "2023-03-20T10:11:46Z")

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Nice find! The portrait is indeed of Richard Francis Burton. Here’s a link to a better version of the image: [NPG 1070; Sir Richard Francis Burton - Portrait - National Portrait Gallery](https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw00960/Sir-Richard-Francis-Burton).