Effie Gray

Euphemia Chalmers Millais, Lady Millais née Gray, known as Effie Gray, Effie Ruskin or Effie Millais (7 May 1828 – 23 December 1897) was the wife of the critic John Ruskin, but she left her husband without the marriage being consummated. She later married his protégé, the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. This famous Victorian "love triangle" has been dramatised in plays, films and an opera.

Relationship with Ruskin and Millais

Effie Gray, initially known by the pet name of "Phemy", was born in Perth, Scotland, and lived in Bowerswell, the house where Ruskin's grandfather had committed suicide. Her family knew Ruskin's father, who encouraged a match between them. Ruskin wrote the fantasy novel The King of the Golden River for her in 1841, when she was twelve years old. After their marriage in 1848, they travelled to Venice, where Ruskin was researching his book The Stones of Venice.

Their different personalities are thrown into sharp relief by their contrasting priorities. For Effie, Venice provided an opportunity to socialise while Ruskin was engaged in solitary studies. In particular, he made a point of drawing the Ca' d'Oro and the Doge’s Palace, or Palazzo Ducale, because he feared they would soon be destroyed by the occupying Austrian troops. One of the troops, Lieutenant Charles Paulizza, made friends with Effie, apparently with no objection from Ruskin. Her brother, among others, later claimed that Ruskin was deliberately encouraging the friendship to compromise her, as an excuse to separate.

Effie Gray (film)

Effie Gray is a 2014 British biographical drama film directed by Richard Laxton.

Its subject is the love triangle involving Victorian art critic John Ruskin (played by Greg Wise) his wife Euphemia "Effie" Gray (Dakota Fanning) and Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge). Emma Thompson also appears in the film as Elizabeth Eastlake.

The film's initial release was delayed by lawsuits alleging that the script, written by Emma Thompson, was plagiarised from earlier dramatisations of the same story. The cases were won by Thompson.

Plot

In a pre-credit sequence Effie Gray is seen walking through a garden speaking about a fairy story in which a girl married a man with wicked parents. After the credits, the marriage of Effie to John Ruskin in Perth, Scotland is seen. The couple travel to London to stay with his parents. Effie soon begins to feel isolated, especially as she is repeatedly belittled by John's mother. Her distress is compounded by the fact that her husband shows no interest in consummating the marriage and refuses to discuss the subject.

Effie

"Effie" (full character name "Effie Stephanidis") is an outrageous comedic character played by Australian actress Mary Coustas. Coustas depicts a stereotypical second-generation Greek Australian.

The character originated in the comedy program Acropolis Now, which ran from 1989 to 1992. Since then, the character has appeared in Effie, Just Quietly (2001), and hosting the short-lived 2003 talk show Greeks On The Roof (based on the British series The Kumars at No. 42) in character with other actors playing her family. She has also appeared in a number of television commercials (most recently for AAPT).

Effie's catchphrases include "How embarrassment!" (see malapropism) in response to any potentially embarrassing situation. She greets people with "Hello, good thanks" before they have even asked her how she is feeling.

In 1992, Effie released a novelty single: a duet with another fictional character, Garry McDonald's Norman Gunston, recording their version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Amigos Para Siempre", the official song of the 1992 Summer Olympics (originally performed by Sarah Brightman and José Carreras). The single reached the Top 20 chart in Australia.

Effie (disambiguation)

Effie is a popular comedic character played by Australian actress Mary Coustas.

Effie may also refer to:

In places:

In other uses:

People with the given name

Effie Award

The Effie Awards are marketing communications awards given yearly by Effie Worldwide, Inc., a nonprofit organization, to honor the most effective marketing communications ideas. Effie Worldwide's mission is to encourage effectiveness among the marketing communications industry through education and recognition.

The Effie Awards were started in 1968 in the United States by the New York American Marketing Association a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the art of marketing among professionals. The award expanded globally after its founding in the US, with the first programs emerging in Germany in 1981, in Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland in 1984, and in France, Chile and Peru in the early 1990s.

Today there are over 40 national and regional Effie programs worldwide — in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East/North Africa. Effie programs honor the most effective marketing communications cases within a country, across regions and globally.