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Did Any Historical Love Stories Inspire the Movie “Titanic”?

Last Modified Date: February 18, 2024

Sometimes art imitates death as well as life. A famous example is the tragic fate of Ida Straus, a first-class passenger on the RMS Titanic who gave up her seat in a lifeboat to stay behind with her husband of over 40 years, Macy's co-owner Isidor Straus. As one of the wealthiest men on the ship and a former U.S. congressman, Isidor could have taken a lifeboat seat for himself, but refused as there were women and children still onboard.

James Cameron's Oscar-winning film Titanic features a brief but memorable scene of an elderly couple holding each other in bed as the ship goes down – an apparent reference to Isidor and Ida Straus. Cameron took artistic liberty with the truth (no one knows how they spent their final moments), but the gist of the story – not giving up on the one you love – remained intact.

Giving up a lifeboat seat, Ida Straus chose to stay on the sinking Titanic with her husband of over 40 years, Macy’s co-owner Isidor Straus.

Paul A. Kurzman, a great-grandson of Isidor and Ida Straus, told Today that "(Ida) basically said, 'We have lived our whole life together and if you are going to remain on the boat and to die as the boat sinks, I will remain on the boat with you. We will not leave one another after our long and wonderful marriage together.'"

Some Titanic movie truths:

According to some sources, Jack and Rose were almost played by Matthew McConaughey and Gwyneth Paltrow, instead of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

The film's Jack Dawson was a fictional character, but it turns out that there really was someone named J. Dawson onboard the ship; his grave is now very popular.

Titanic fans have long questioned why Jack didn't climb on the floating door with Rose, in order to stay out of the icy water. Research found that while they could have both fit on the door, his added weight would have been too much to keep it afloat.