- This article is about the character from the 2003 film. For the character from the SLG comics, see William Gracey. For the 2023 version of the character, see William Gracey (2023). For other uses, see Master Gracey.
- "Of course, you are all more than welcome to spend the night here"
- ―Edward Gracey to the Evers family
Master Edward Gracey is a character from the 2003 film The Haunted Mansion, based on the Disneyland attraction of the same name. In the film, Edward Gracey was the owner of Gracey Manor, a large antebellum home in New Orleans, Louisiana. After the apperent suicide of his beloved fiancee Elizabeth Henshaw, Gracey committed suicide and his spirit remained at the mansion.
Edward Gracey is a combination of the Aging Man, Master Gracey, and the Ghost Host (a.k.a. The Hanged Man) from the original Disney attraction, as well as Master George Gracey Jr. from the Ghost Gallery.
In the film, Gracey is portrayed by English actor Nathaniel Parker.
Biography[]
According to The Legend of Gracey Manor, Edward was the youngest child of George Gracey and his wife Abigail. Edward had two older siblings, a brother and a sister. The Gracey family had made their fortune when Captain Ambrose Gracey, Edward's grandfather, started a shipping company based in ports of New Orleans. While visiting family in Georgia one summer, the Gracey children came down with scarlet fever. While Edward managed to recover from the illness, his elder siblings didn't and eventually perished.
His mother was inconsolable when they returned home to the Manor, barely speaking or eating, and isolating herself. She became obsessed with the occult and converted her upstairs sitting room into a séance room and brought in a gypsy medium, Madame Leota, who used her crystal ball to contact the dead.
Abigail would then pass away herself, aged beyond her years and her spirit broken. George sealed off the séance room and devoted his attention to his son, ensuring a prosperous future. He transferred the family fortune into a British bank and modified his will, stating that in the event of his death, the Estate would take care of all future expenses related to the maintenance of his home. He specified that the home could not be sold without physical possession of the original deed, which George would keep hidden for his son. In addition, because of his generous gift of a new courthouse to the county, future taxes on Gracey Manor were waived in perpetuity.
George told the family butler, Ramsley, of his dreams for Edward, and entrusted him to ensure the very best for his son; the right education, the right friends, and the right wife. Ramsley pledged to do everything in his power to make sure the boy had the proper training and education to perform his proper role in society.
From the age of nine, Edward began his proper social training and education, all oversaw by Ramsley, and saw that he was accomplished in a range of gentlemanly activities. At fifthteen, Edward was sent to Boston to continue his education by his father. During his returns home from school, young Edward would play with the children of the servants. Although Ramsley objected to their association, he allowed it on a limited basis since there were no other children from miles around.
Upon completing his education at the age of twenty-four, Edward began working for a Boston law firm. A year later, after the death of his father, he returned to Gracey Manor and transferred the day-to-day operations of the family business to his father's trusted advisors. At Ramsley's insistence, Edward joined the social elite in New Orleans where he met the most well-bred young ladies in the region. (They, in turn, found him to be the most desirable bachelor.) The annual Mardi Gras balls began again at Gracey Manor, now with Edward as the soft-spoken but convivial host.
At some point in time, Edward would fall madly in love with a childhood friend of his, a beautiful multiracial woman named Elizabeth Henshaw, who was the daughter of two servants of Gracey Manor. Unbeknownst to Gracey, Ramsley heavily disapproved of Elizabeth due to her lower class origins as a child and being a woman of color.
Role in the 2003 The Haunted Mansion film[]
In 1881, Edward Gracey held a grand masquerade party was at Gracey Manor. During the night, Gracey discovers Elizabeth dead in the library, having died from poison and with a suicide note in her hand. Depressed and heartbroken, Edward Gracey commits suicide by hanging himself in the Mansion's cupola. With his death, his and all other spirits would be unable to move on from the human realm, and remained at Gracey Manor.
122 years later, Gracey invites real estate agents Jim and Sara Evers (accompanied by their children Megan and Michael) under the pretense of selling the mansion. In truth, he believes that Sara is the reincarnation of his beloved Elizabeth and tries to make Sara remember who she really was before this life. However, Sara starts to get scared after she sees all of the ghosts in her surroundings. After Sara's runs away and locks herself in a room, Gracey laments to Ramsley that she doesn't remember. Ramsley later blackmails Sara into marrying Gracey by threatening her children. Reluctantly, she agrees and wears the wedding dress Elizabeth was supposed to wear that day. During the wedding ceremony, Ramsley poisons Sara's drink so that she would die and return as a ghost then end the curse. Jim and the children storm in and hand Gracey a letter Elizabeth had written before she died, which stated that she too loved Gracey and accepted his proposal of marriage.
As it is revealed, Ramsley had murdered Elizabeth the night of the ball and replaced her letter with a faux-suicide note which he himself had written. An enraged Gracey confronts the his "trusted" butler. Ramsley confesses to his crime, and summons a fiery dragon entity from Ballroom's fireplace to kill the others. This backfires however, as the entitly comes Ramsley and drags him to Hell to face eternal damnation. He attempts to take Jim with him, but Gracey saves him at the last moment.
Sara succumbs to the poison, but the spiritual orb that was seen throughout the film arrives and possesses her body, revealing itself to be Elizabeth's ghost. With the truth revealed, the curse of Gracey Manor is finally broken and both Edward and Elizabeth are finally reunited. After Sara is revived by Elizabeth, Gracey gives the deed to Gracey Manor as an act of gratitude, allowing them to do what they want with it as long as they remain happy. With that, Edward, Elizabeth, and the other ghostly inhabitants of the Mansion, move on to the afterlife and ascended to Heaven.
Trivia[]
- Edward Gracey is based on the Aging man, Master Gracey, and the Ghost Host from the original attraction. Below are the following examples:
- Ghost Host: Giving a tour of the Mansion to Sara, telling of the mansion's history, master and owner of the house, hanging from the cupola, voice only heard in one scene.
- Aging Man: His appearance and the clothing which he wears.
- Master Gracey: He obviously shares this name with the master.
Gallery[]
