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 III and Sarah Cox Todd (1761–1842). His maternal grandparents were Senator John Armstrong, Jr. (1758–1843) and Alida Livingston (1761–1822) of the Livingston family. He was also a nephew of occasional poet John Jacob Astor, Jr. (1791–1869). John Astor studied at Columbia University and the University of Göttingen, following which he went to Harvard Law School. He practiced law for a year, to qualify for assisting in the management of his family's immense estate, one half of which later descended to him. It was based on his paternal grandfather's achieving a monopoly in the lucrative fur trade in the early nineteenth century.