The Real William Turner: Pirate, Privateer, or Just a Great Movie Name?

When you hear the name , one image likely springs to mind: a dashing blacksmith’s apprentice turned swashbuckling pirate, played by Orlando Bloom in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. He’s the loyal lover, the son of “Bootstrap” Bill, and eventually the captain of the legendary Flying Dutchman .

For centuries, the painting was mislabeled. So, for a long time, historians thought there was a pirate named William Turner because his portrait was swapped with Kidd’s. When the screenwriters for Pirates of the Caribbean were doing their early research, they likely saw that mislabeled portrait and thought, “What a great name for a hero.”