Top Ten Famous Pirates in the Movies

In general, they are a dirty, smelly, muderous bunch of thieves, but yet we find them most appealing. Pehaps it is the Hollywood treatment that has made them so dear to our hearts. I have no doubt that if we were to happen upon the real Blackbeard, we might not be so willing to accept his faults and share a glass of mead with him.

The real Blackbeard

Edward Thatch (or Teach) was the scourge of the Caribean for a reletively short time. Earning the name Blackbeard because of his abundant facial hair, Thatch began his life as a pirate around the year 1713 and over the next few years he captured over 50 ships. He and his men were given pardons by the govenor of North Carolina in 1718, but continued pirating ships. Later that year he was killed in a fight with the North Carolina Royal Navy contingent.

Errol Flynn is Captain Blood, a doctor turned pirate in the vein of Robin Hood. The movie has a lot of swash and buckle, along with love interest Olivia DeHavilland and friend turned foe Basil Rathbone.

Cartoon pirate, Captain Hook is the nemesis of children's hero Peter Pan. Captain of the Jolly Roger, he terrorizes Neverland harbor and rules over Pirate cove with an iron (hooked) hand with boatswain, Smee.

Former pirate Captain Jamie Waring kidnaps Lady Margaret Denby, played by Maureen O'Hara, to help former pirate pal, Sir Henry Morgan, keep his position as governor of Jamaica in 1674.  The Black Swan is a love story infused with villiany and deeds of daring.

The race is on as female pirate Morgan Adams, played by Geena Davis, searches for treasure on a hidden island. A partial map to the island was given to Adams by her dying father along with a pirate ship. Adams must find the other two parts of the map before her enemies do in order to secure the treasure.

Robert Lewis Stevenson's Long John Silver set the model for the stereotypical pirate that we all know and love today. He had a parrot companion who perched on his shoulder and was missing a leg. The story has him befriending young boy Jim Hawkins, but he is slowly revealed to be a scoundrel whose only interest is his own survival by whatever means necessary.

Sir Henry Morgan's pirating was done in the name of England.  Appointed governor of Jamaica, he fought the Spaniards for his homeland, keeping all that he plundered as his payment.

Johnny Depp created the memorable character of Jack Sparrow in the Pirate of the Caribbean movies. Using The Rolling Stone's Keith Richards for inspiration, Depp's Sparrow is a charismatic pirate with a heart.

The cursed captain of the Black Pearl, Captain Barbossa kidnaps Elizabeth Swann, who has the last piece of Aztec gold which will break the curse.

Captain William Kidd started out his career as a privateer for England, but greed quickly led him to the life of a pirate. He was hired by the Royal Governor of Massachusetts to find and kill Blackbeard, but the mission failed. Kidd never admitted to being a pirate, even though he was tried and hung for it in 1701.

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