M. A. Wetherell: Difference between revisions

'''Marmaduke Arundel "Duke" Wetherell''' (1883<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=YbEp4kDTfqqC8lTfhUm75w&scan=1|title=Wetherell, Marmaduke Arundel|accessdate=25 August 2023|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref> – 25 February 1939) was a British–[[South Africa]]n actor, screenwriter, producer, film director and big-game hunter.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/17097|title=M.A. Wetherell|work=BFI|access-date=2018-09-06|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023194959/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/17097|archive-date=23 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was responsible for the hoax "[[surgeon's photograph]]" of the [[Loch Ness Monster]].

Born in [[Bodmin, Cornwall]], Wetherell acted in both British and South African films during the silent era. In the 1920s he branched out to producing and directing films but they were not a success.<ref>Low p.155</ref>

He produced, directed and played the lead role in his productions of ''[[Livingstone (film)|Livingstone]]'' (1925) and ''[[Robinson Crusoe (1927 film)|Robinson Crusoe]]'' (1927). A planned biography of [[Lawrence of Arabia]] called ''Revolt in the Desert'' to be photographed by [[Freddie Young]] who had photographed his war films ''[[The Somme (film)|The Somme]]'' (1927) and ''[[Victory (1928 film)|Victory]]'' (1928) did not eventuate.<ref>p. 12 Morris, L. Robert & Raskin, Lawrence ''Lawrence of Arabia: The 30th Anniversary Pictorial History'' Doubleday, 1 Oct 1992</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crawleyscastingcalls.com/index.php/component/movies/?id=60&lettre=ALL|title = All the Movies in Tony Crawley's Casting Calls}}</ref> Wetherell was the father of actor [[Ian Colin]].

In the 1930s, Marmaduke went to [[Loch Ness]] to look for the [[Loch Ness Monster]]. Wetherell claimed to have found footprints, but when casts of the footprints were sent to scientists for analysis they turned out to be from a hippopotamus; a prankster had used a hippopotamus-foot umbrella stand.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lochness/legend.html |title=Birth of a legend: Famous Photo Falsified? |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=28 May 2009 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604144704/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lochness/legend.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result, Wetherell was publicly ridiculed by his employer, the ''Daily Mail''. To get revenge on the ''Mail'', Wetherell perpetrated the hoax "[[surgeon's photograph]]" of the Loch Ness Monster with his son [[Ian Colin|Ian]] (who bought the material for the fake and took the photos), son-in-law Christian Spurling (a sculpture specialist), and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent), taking a picture of a toy submarine made of plastic wood and passing it off as the monster.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unmuseum.org/nesshoax.htm |title=Loch Ness Hoax Photo |publisher=The UnMuseum |access-date=28 May 2009 |archive-date=8 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508042212/http://www.unmuseum.org/nesshoax.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Chambers gave the photographic plates to [[surgeon]] [[Robert Kenneth Wilson]], a friend of his who enjoyed "a good practical joke". Wilson had the plates developed and sold the first photo to the ''Daily Mail'';<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.yowieocalypse.com/Nessies_Secret_Revealed/|title=Nessie's Secret Revealed|work=yowieocalypse.com|access-date=3 January 2015|archive-date=4 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104013839/http://home.yowieocalypse.com/Nessies_Secret_Revealed/|url-status=live}}</ref> the ''Mail'' would then announce that the monster had been photographed.<ref name="Mammoth">''The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved''</ref> The photo had been described as a hoax as early as 1975,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1975-12-07 |title=Making of a monster |pages=6 |work=Sunday Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-telegraph-making-of-a-monster/130620997/ |access-date=2023-08-25}}</ref><ref>[http://www.strangemag.com/strangemag/strange21/reviews21/surgeonsphoto21.html Book review of Nessie – The Surgeon's Photograph – Exposed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114122012/http://www.strangemag.com/strangemag/strange21/reviews21/surgeonsphoto21.html |date=14 January 2012 }} Douglas Chapman.</ref> but this was not common knowledge among the general public until 1994.<ref name="museumofhoaxes_nessie">{{cite web |url=http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/nessie.html |title=The Loch Ness Monster and the Surgeon's Photo |publisher=Museumofhoaxes.com |access-date=28 May 2009 |archive-date=6 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806122015/http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/nessie.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

* ''[[His Wife's Husband (1922 British film)|His Wife's Husband]]'' (1922)