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 of the local German Reformed congregation to his death. Herman Melville used Astor as a symbol of men who made the earliest fortunes in New York in his novella, "Bartleby, the Scrivener". The pair of marble lions that sit by the entrance of the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street were originally named Leo Astor and Leo Lenox, after Astor and James Lenox, who founded the library from his own collection. Next, they were called Lord Astor and Lady Lenox (both lions are males). Mayor Fiorello La Guardia renamed them "Patience" and "Fortitude" during the Great