- Rhoda Mary Abbott was the only female passenger to go down with the Titanic and survive.
- Kate Winslet's character in the 1997 film was reportedly a nod to Abbott.
"Titanic" is heading to Netflix on July 1, according to $4.
Public interest in the $4 has recently been reignited after five men who traveled to see the ship's wreckage in a submersible were killed in a $4.
The 1997 film shows the events that led up to the ship sinking and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as Jack and Rose, a fictional couple who fell in love on the Titanic. As $4, the film's director James Cameron made dozens of visits to the Titanic wreckage before filming.
But many people may not know that Winslet's character paid tribute to a real-life survivor of the shipwreck, Rhoda Mary Abbott. Like Rose in the film, Abbott was the only female passenger who went down with the Titanic and survived, according to $4.
Abbott stayed on the ship for her two sons
Abbott's name after the accident was often wrongly printed as "Rosa" because it was misspelled on the passenger manifest, the publication reports.
But unlike Rose, Abbott was a third-class passenger on the Titanic and was traveling with her two sons, Rossmore, 16, and Eugene, 13. Although she was given the opportunity to enter a lifeboat when the ship started sinking, Abbott stayed behind as she feared her sons were too old to be given a spot on board, the outlet added.
After the ship went down, Abbott was able to make her way to the last lifeboat. But her sons didn't survive, The Providence Journal reports. Amy Stanley, a third-class passenger who was friends with Abbott, later recalled what she had been told of Abbott's final moments with her sons.
"She told me that she would get in the lifeboat if there hadn't been so many people around," Stanley is reported to have said.
She added that Abott's sons stayed with her on a piece of wreckage in the ocean until they died.
"The youngest went first then the other son went. She grew numb and cold and couldn't remember when she got on the Carpathia," Stanley said.
Rose's character was also inspired by a notable figure in history. According to $4, Cameron once said Rose was inspired by Beatrice Wood, an artist, actress, and wealthy socialite, and he read her memoir during the filming of the movie.
Although Wood was never a passenger on the Titanic, she was known to have traveled around Europe and North America, $4 reports.
Meanwhile, DiCaprio's character wasn't inspired by anyone in particular. However, while there was no Jack Dawson on board, Cameron discovered that there was a Joseph Dawson after writing the script, the publication added.