Jekyll, Hyde, and Jack the Ripper: Richard Mansfield (Artists Accused of Being Jack the Ripper)

In 1887, American actor Richard Mansfield originated the dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Boston. His performance as Hyde was so terrifying that audience members fainted. In the late summer of 1888, he took the show to London, presenting it at the metropolis's foremost playhouse. Just weeks after Jekyll and Hyde opened, the Ripper claimed his first canonical victim, and Mansfield aroused suspicion as the culprit.

Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com.

If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast.

Original, Intelligent, and Entertaining

A great podcast with a unique theme each season. Season 1 is about artists who have been accused of being Jack the Ripper. It is one part Victorian social history, one part theater/art history, and one part true crime. Lots of people have written about the Ripper over the years. Thankfully, this podcast doesn't try to name a suspect. Instead, it adopts an entirely new and more engaging approach to the topic.

After profiling the lives and careers of the 6 suspect artists, the podcast promises to examine what can be learned about crime and about the arts from the fact that artists have been so frequently named as Ripper suspects. Full of richly researched period detail and enlivened by vivid writing, the episodes in this season have me looking forward to what's on the horizon for Season 2. Highly recommend.