5 Quirky Things You Never Knew About George Bernard Shaw: Moustaches, Prizes, and Pygmalion’s

Ah, George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright, critic, and social activist, known for his wit, charm, and scintillating plays. But did you know he had a quirky side too? That’s right! In this light-hearted post, we’ll uncover five quirky things about GBS that’ll have you chuckling like a freshly dusted Pygmalion statue.

1. “I control everything inside and outside me; but my moustache has a life of its own!”

George Bernard Shaw’s moustache is almost as iconic as his plays, but did you know it had a life of its own? Legend has it that Shaw’s moustache would sneak out at night to party with other famous facial hair, like Charlie Chaplin’s toothbrush moustache and Salvador Dalí’s eccentric creation. Rumour has it they formed a secret society called “The Hairy Bunch.” But hey, that’s just a rumour, right? Wink, wink.

2. “I hate awards; I have both the Nobel and the Oscar!”

Shaw is one of the few people to have won both a Nobel Prize (1925, Literature) and an Oscar (1938, Best Adapted Screenplay for Pygmalion). However, his quirky twist on these achievements was his disdain for awards in general. When he received his Nobel Prize, he snarkily stated, “I can forgive Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.” Ouch! We hope Alfred Nobel’s ghost wasn’t too offended.

3. “I am a veggie; I only eat vegetables shaped like animals!”

Shaw was a die-hard vegetarian who believed meat consumption was a “crime against nature.” To prove his commitment, he would challenge dinner party hosts to serve him only the choicest vegetables, preferably in the form of animals. Shaw’s favourite dish? A broccoli shaped like a cow, complete with cauliflower udders. Talk about a veggie lover’s paradise!

5. “I like bicycles; I don’t know to ride them!”

Shaw was an avid cyclist, but his enthusiasm often got the better of him. One day, while pedalling furiously down a London street, he collided with a lamppost. When the poor, startled lamppost asked Shaw what he was thinking, Shaw reportedly replied, “Ah, well, we all make mistakes, don’t we?” The lamppost, ever the gentleman, graciously forgave him.

5. “I am not a musician; I wanted Pygmalion to be a grand musical extravaganza!”

You might be familiar with the classic musical My Fair Lady, which was adapted from Shaw’s play Pygmalion. What you may not know is that Shaw originally envisioned a full-blown musical extravaganza! Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the right tunes to match his clever lyrics, so he scrapped the idea. To this day, scholars wonder what a Shaw-inspired musical might have sounded like. We like to imagine it as a blend of Irish jigs and biting social commentary, with a dash of vegetarian propaganda thrown in for good measure.

And there you have it: five quirky facts about George Bernard Shaw that prove even the most intellectual among us can have a little fun! So, next time you’re enjoying a GBS play, take a moment to remember the man behind the moustache and toast to his fascinating and eccentric life. Cheers, Mr. Shaw!

*Some of the info given above may not be 100% true!!! Pls do a fact-check and comment below if you find any misinformation [Ding-dong]

Now, let me throw in some useful ones from Shaw: Here are five of his famous one-liners!

One-liner # 1

“Youth is wasted on the young.”

Play: Man and Superman (1903)

Character: John Tanner

Act: 3

Scene: Tanner’s home

One-liner # 2

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”

Play: Man and Superman (1903)

Character: John Tanner

Act: 1

Scene: Roebuck Ramsden’s library

One-liner # 3

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

Play: Pygmalion (1913)

Character: Professor Henry Higgins

Act: 2

Scene: Higgins’ laboratory

One-liner # 4

“The more I see of the moneyed classes, the more I understand the guillotine.”

Play: Major Barbara (1905)

Character: Lady Britomart Undershaft

Act: 2

Scene: The Undershaft home

One-liner # 5

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

Play: Back to Methuselah (1921)

Character: The Serpent

Act: 1

Scene: The Garden of Eden

Note: Some of these one-liners have been rephrased and popularized over time, so the exact wording might be slightly different in the original plays.