He's distinguished. He's slightly aristocratic. He's British, and he knows better than anyone

else how to set a proper table, certainly up to the standards of Agnes Van Rine. He's Bannister,

the Butler, on Julian Fellows HBO series The Gilded Age. And for many, he's a very favorite character in the

drama. Bannister is portrayed in all his proper glory by veteran actor of stage and screen, Simon

Jones. And for today's show, I was honored to be joined by Simon himself earlier this year for a

wide-ranging talk about not only

his life as Bannister, but his entire career. Simon Jones has done so many roles and has been

responsible for so many iconic portrayals that I do think it's fair to say in this case,

the butler absolutely did it.

Hello. Hello, I'm Carl Raymond, the host of the Gilded Gentleman History Podcast,

where every other week we journey into worlds light and dark of America's gilded age,

France's Belle-Puc, and England's late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Butler's seem to know everything.

They certainly see almost everything, and most of the time they keep it to themselves.

I am so very excited because in this episode of the Gilded Gentleman,

the actor we all know as Bannister,

the Guilded Age Butler, does talk and tells all. Well, a lot anyway.

I had the honor to sit down with Simon Jones and have a talk about productions he's done,

actors he's worked with including Sir Lawrence Olivier, Lauren Bacall, Angela Lansberry,

and John Cleese, and just what it's like to film a series like The Gilded Age. So there is perhaps

no better time to pour a nice cup of tea, or perhaps Bannister will pour it for you, and join us for a look,

beyond the footlights, and behind the cameras, and into the career of Simon Jones.

...