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Long John Silver
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Long John Silver is a Fictional Character in the Novel '' Treasure Island '', by Robert Louis Stevenson , but the name was taken from an otherwise unknown historical criminal. Silver is also known by the nicknames "Barbecue" and "the Sea-Cook" (which is also an alternate title for Stevenson's novel).

In ''Treasure Island'', Long John Silver is a Pirate and was the ship's Quartermaster under the notorious Captain John Flint . Silver was said to have been the only man whom Flint ever feared. Like many of Stevenson's characters, there is more than a modicum of duality in the character; ostensibly Silver is a hard-working and likeable seaman, and it is only as the plot unfurls that his villainous nature is gradually revealed. When Silver escapes at the end of the novel, he takes "three or four hundred guineas" of the treasure with him, thus becoming one of only two former members of Captain Flint's crew to get his hands on a portion of the treasure. (The repentant maroonee Ben Gunn is the other, but he spends it all in nineteen days.)
Stevenson's portrayal of Silver has greatly influenced the modern iconography of the pirate. Silver has a Parrot , named Captain Flint in honor of his former captain, who generally perches on Silver's shoulder. Silver has lost one of his legs, and uses a crutch to help him get around. He is married to a woman of African descent.

The pirate Edward England is possibly the model for Long John Silver.


MODERN PORTRAYALS


Actors who have portrayed Long John Silver in the various Motion Picture adaptations of ''Treasure Island'' include Wallace Beery , Orson Welles , Charlton Heston , Robert Newton , Tim Curry , Jack Palance and Brian Blessed and British actor Ivor Dean in a televised version of the novel.

Ivor Dean played the character in an acclaimed European filmisation for television in 1966. After the end of that 4-part mini-series he intended to reprise the role in another series with more adventures of Silver. He began writing an exposee with director Robert S. Baker , but his sudden death in 1974 stopped all further plannings. In 1985 this script was used as foundation for a 10-part TV-series called "Return to Treasure Island". There is also a book called "Long John Silver", which is a fictional biography written by Bjorn Larsson .


TRIVIA