- Separated from his wife not long after their second child was born. Was a homosexual. Tried and convicted, alongside Alfred Taylor, a procurer of young men, in 1895 for indecent acts, as homosexuality was then outlawed in the UK. All of his possessions and property were confiscated following the ruling, which resulted in prison for the playwright. Moved to Paris after he finished his sentence and lived as a pauper, writing his autobiography and works that never found an audience. Died in a cheap Paris hotel.
- Appears on the sleeve of The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.
- Oscar was the great-nephew of author Charles Maturin, an Irish clergyman and author whose gothic novel "Melmoth the Wanderer" inspired Oscar's pseudonym 'Sebastian Melmoth', which he lived under for three years from his release from prison to his death.
- Sons: Cyril, born in June 1885, who died in World War I, and Vyvyan, born in November 1886. Vyvyan became a writer using the surname Holland, and his own grandson, Merlin Holland, has written two books about his grandfather, "Wilde Album" and "After Oscar: The Color of his Legacy." Merlin's son Lucien is a classics major at Oxford, just like Oscar Wilde.
- Wilde served two years at hard labor for public indecency.
- He published several books of stories for children, originally written for his own sons.
- Wilde attempted to woo the son of the Marquess of Queensberry, and Lord Queensberry retaliated by circulating a note which accused Wilde of Sodomy. Wilde sued for libel, but after three days in court, he realized he was losing, and he dropped the suit.
- Relying on the generosity of friends, he went to live in France, adopting the name of Sebastian Melmoth.
- Both Wilde and his procurer (of young boys) were tried twice for "public indecency". The first trial ended in a hung jury. The second convicted him.
- Buried in Paris's Père Lachaise Cemetery, the same cemetery in which Jim Morrison, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf and Marcel Proust are buried.
- Following his release from prison after serving two years, his ex wife prevented Wilde from having any contact with their two children.
- Portrayed by Stephen Fry in Wilde (1997) with Jude Law as Lord Alfred Douglas. Other memorable portrayals of the two men by brilliant actors in terms of screen fiction also include, among others, Peter Finch in The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) with John Fraser as Lord Alfred Douglas, Robert Morley in Oscar Wilde (1960) with John Neville as Lord Alfred Douglas, Michael Gambon as Oscar (1985) and Rupert Everett in The Happy Prince (2018) with Colin Morgan as Lord Alfred Douglas.
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