Bill Huttel
11th January 1953-12th November 2001
f ever a man epitomized the qualities necessary to become a true King of England, then one shining example would doubtless be William G. Huttel, of Forestville, Maryland. Revel Grove --- more popularly known amongst us commoners as the Maryland Renaissance Festival at Crownsville --- was, for thirteen wonderful seasons, his exclusive dominion over which he reigned well and proudly! Here, as the Washington, D.C. area's living doppleganger of His Majesty, King Henry VIII of England --- he who often expressed a unique passion for, among other things, wine, food, song and (naturally!) the occasional wench --- Bill solidified his reputation as one of the best-known and best-loved Renaissance Faire Monarchs in the country.
Standing a huge 6'8" and weighing in at over 300 lbs., Bill looked every inch like King Henry's living, breathing image, with his jolly laugh and his gentle demeanor. Upon graduating from Suitland High School, Bill sought to follow in his father's footsteps and become a deep-sea diver in the U.S. Navy. His enormous size, alas, precluded those dreams altogether. Instead, he turned to football --- and to the campus of Catholic University, where for two seasons he was a top defensive end until a series of knee injuries curtailed his athletic career.
That left Bill with one other available option: music and voice. He had an excellent baritone; and was only too ready to utilize his vocal talents to their fullest potential. Thus was born Bill's occasional joke that he was the only music major in Catholic's long history to have ever attended the University on a football scholarship.
After graduating from Catholic in 1975, he became a road manager for an Annapolis-based folk ensemble called the Second Coming Band; subsequently, he spent several years promoting concerts in nearby Ocean City, MD.
Bill's ascension to the Maryland Renaissance Festival's Royal Throne began in 1988 when he agreed to help out a friend who had responded to an MRF casting call. Before long, Bill found himself serving as Master of the Lists --- essentially, a glorified announcer on the Festival's then-unamplified jousting field. Clearly, the position of Master of the Lists was well-suited to Bill's tremendous vocal abilities.
But the following year, the decision was made to switch Monarchs, from Queen Elizabeth I to King Henry VIII; and accordingly, the powers that be at MRF held an extensive tournament of auditions for the role of the Tudor Dynasty's Big Kahuna. Bill was passed over in favor of a D.C.-area actor who had more theatrical credentials; and whilst our Master William did express some sadness in not becoming the King, he was nevertheless quite content to resume his duties as Master of the Lists. Destiny, however, would have otherwise.
Just four days away from the Festival's opening weekend, the actor they had hired for the King Henry role abruptly resigned. Carolyn Spedden, who herself was in her first year as the Festival's Artistic Director, soon found herself in a last-minute bind. With practically no time to so much as rehearse the character, she asked Bill to assume the Royal duties. So began the Legend.
"That first weekend," Carolyn recalls, "we had another, even more experienced actor literally walking directly behind Bill, whispering things in his ear like, 'Look to the left. Smile! Wave! Now, look to the right!' But, in a remarkably short time, Bill was doing the role as though he'd been born to play the King."
Indeed, Huttel's incredibly canny resemblance to Henry Tudor, Eighth King of all England to bear that good, noble name, often startled even the most casual students of history. Bill's extra inches in height looked proportional; and, year in and year out, he dyed his hair and beard red, the better to match His Majesty's hair color even as he wore those wonderful costumes which were painstakingly recreated from the actual paintings of Hans Holbein. Yet only there were such similarities skin deep.
Historically, Henry VIII was regarded by many historians as being historically ambivalent. He could be quite ruthless and tyrannical at times; indeed, that precise attitude cost two of his legendary six wives their respective heads! What's more, he consolidated Britain's power and broke ranks with the Roman Catholic Church so that he could divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in favor of his mistress, Anne Boleyn. To most modern Americans, however, King Henry VIII represents the epitome of the archetypal "Hail, friend! Well met!" sort of Royal Monarch --- his arms wide open, a skank of roast turkey in one fist, a generous flagon of mead in the other.
That image helped to transform what had begun as a last-minute fill-in into one of the longest-running relationships between a Renaissance Faire and a Ruling Monarch. Surprisingly, the Guinness Book of World Records does not have a specific listing for this type of longevity. Yet the Performance Company of the Maryland Renaissance Festival, under the supervision of Artistic Director Carolyn Spedden, presented an epic series of storyline arcs, each built around one of King Henry's six wives, their stories unfolding in an atmosphere rife with the smells of roast beef, wine and cheese; the jolly sounds of bawdy bar ballads; and the merry laughter of those delicious tavern wenches.
And though the real-life King Henry was at best a braggard, and at worst a bully, none of His Majesty's real-life nastiness ever rubbed off on Bill. Just ask actress Theresa Flynn, who portrayed Jane Seymour: "People always used to ask me, 'Does Bill have many friends?' And I'd just answer, 'Only every person he ever met!'" You might also do well to ask Jules Smith, General Manager of the Maryland Renaissance Festival; and Chairman of its parent company, International Renaissance Festivals, Ltd.: "Bill didn't just stand out in terms of his size, but he also had an aura that could capture any crowd. I've watched hundreds of children, and even a few adults as well, line up to be knighted by him. For these folks, he was more than just a character. He really gave you the feeling that you were in the presence of someone very special."
The Maryland Renaissance Festival at Crownsville is said to be the second-largest Renaissance Faire of its kind in the nation. It attracts about 500,000 visitors annually. In 2001, its 25th Anniversary Season, the Festival drew about 290,000 loyal subjects to the Shire of Revel Grove. Over 200 actors, performers and musicians comprise the Royal Court and its itinerant hangers-on, along with the inhabitants of Revel Grove itself. Each of the seven weekends of the Festival season features a series of skits, mini-plays and sketches --- some scripted, most entirely spontaneous --- encompassing such medieval pastimes as jousting, fire-eating, swordplay and the fine art of chivalry. Guests are encouraged to rent costumes, purchase a turkey leg or two and mug of ale (or other beverage) and join in on the merry shenanigans.
Bill in time became so enamored by his duties as the King that he soon took his Royal act on the road. For eight seasons, King Henry VIII occupied a second throne --- at the Florida Renaissance Festival! "Bill's greatest secret lay in the fact that he always brought himself to the role," remembers Bobby Rodriguez, whose self-named production company controls the Florida Renaissance Festival. And for four seasons, again under the watchful eye of Jules Smith, His Majesty added a third Kingdom to his dominion, at Canada's Ontario Renaissance Festival.
In addition, Bill made a few token appearances as the King at several smaller and lesser-known Faires across the Eastern Seaboard. Among his non-royal appearances were his roles in several murder mystery plays staged at the historic Blair Mansion in Silver Spring, and at the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts at Brooklyn Park; along with various additional roles in regional theatre companies throughout the Washington, D.C. area. But on or off the throne, it was always easy for people to recognize their beloved King, and have even total strangers greet him warmly.
"I think that today's modern-day Monarchs could take a lesson or two from Bill," suggests Carolyn Spedden. "I never heard him utter a bad word about anyone. He treated everyone he met with dignity and respect.... and, as a result, he was universally well-loved."
Another of Bill's friends who no doubt agrees with Lady Carolyn's assertions is Mary Ann Jung, who played Anne Boleyn to His Majesty at both the Maryland and Florida Festivals, and who frequently reigns at Florida as Henry's equally legendary daughter, Elizabeth I. One unusual evening, Mary Ann remembers, Bill was visiting her and her husband. When the time came for him to go home, he discovered that he'd parked in a space reserved for one of his neighbors, who had subsequently blocked him in. "He was forced to knock on my neighbor's door at two o'clock in the morning and wake him up," Mary Ann recalls. "So there he is, and there's my neighbor, whom he's never met before, and Bill says: 'I'm sorry, I seem to have parked in your reserved space.' And that's when my neighbor just looks at him, without blinking, and says: 'That's no problem, Your Majesty. I'll move my car at once!'"
Bill Huttel's marriage to Ms. Kimberly Kink ended in divorce. He is, however, survived by an uncle, Mr. Paul Staubus of Lusby, MD.
