John Jacob Astor IV great-grandfather), he is portrayed by a local amateur actor in street corner vignettes. He was played by Miles Richardson in the 2012 "Titanic" miniseries. In April 2012, Astor was portrayed by his great-grandson Gregory Todd Astor in "Titanic the Musical". John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman, real estate builder, investor, inventor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. Astor died in the sinking of RMS "Titanic" during the early hours of April 15, 1912. Astor was the richest
John Jacob Astor IV (née Wilson) Vanderbilt). Astor was also a first cousin of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor, with whom his mother had a notorious feud resulting in William's removal to England. Astor attended St Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and later attended Harvard College. Astor went by the name "Jack". His ungainly appearance and the perception that he was an aimless dilettante led one newspaper to give him the name "Jack Ass-tor". Among Astor's accomplishments was "A Journey in Other Worlds" (1894), a science fiction novel about life in the year 2000 on the planets Saturn and Jupiter. He also