Ramsley is the main antagonist of Disney's 2003 live-action comedy The Haunted Mansion.
Appearances
The Haunted Mansion
Ramsley was a sophisticated chief servant and father figure of Edward Gracey, the master of the Mansion. However, he uses the relationship to manipulate Edward.
When Edward fell in love with a African American woman named Elizabeth Henshaw, Ramsley, being a racist, saw this as a "disgrace" that could ruin the house. In an attempt to prevent Edward from abandoning his home and lineage, Ramsley murdered Eiizabeth by poisoning her drink and sent Edward a note from Elizabeth that he forged, making it appear as suicide via poison. However, Ramsley did not expect that the loss of his master's beloved would devastate Edward into following suit and hanging himself. Upon Edward's death, a curse was cast over the mansion: Until Elizabeth and Edward's spirits were reunited, none of the inhabitants' ghosts could pass over to the High Heavens.
Many years later, Jim Evers, a real estate agent, and his family were lured to Gracey Manor, as Jim's wife Sara was the spitting image of Elizabeth, and Ramsley believed that she could satisfy his master's loneliness, and they could at last move on.
Jim and his kids, Megan and Michael, manage to discover the truth behind Elizabeth's "suicide," but Ramsley appears and reveals his crime which he committed as he believed Edward and Elizabeth's relationship was deemed unacceptable due to Elizabeth herself being an African American. He locks the kids in a chest and throws Jim Evers out of the mansion so they can't tell Edward the truth. Meanwhile, Sara is confronted by Edward. He believes that she is Elizabeth's reincarnation, but she denies him and runs away in terror. Edward begins to doubt that this is his lover reborn, but Ramsley assures him that Sara is Elizabeth, and tells his master to prepare for his long-awaited wedding. The butler then blackmails Sara into agreeing to the marriage by threatening Megan and Michael.
At the wedding, Ramsley plays the part of the priest, and puts poison into the ceremonial wine, in order to kill Sara. At the last second, after freeing the kids from the chest, Jim shows a letter to Edward from Elizabeth with the promise of marriage.
Edward demands the truth from Ramsley, and the butler finally admits his role in ending the "unacceptable" union. Enraged, he reveals his true nature as a demonic spirit and attempts to murder Jim Evers by summoning wraiths, but a fiery dragon comes out of a fireplace, frightens away the wraiths, and grabs Ramsley for murdering Elizabeth, betraying Edward, and blackmailing the other residents and drags him to damnation. As revenge for his plans being foiled, Ramsley grabs onto Jim Evers, attempting to bring him to damnation with him, but Edward saves Jim at the last second, leaving Ramsley to damnation.
Trivia
- He is one of the few Disney Villains (along with Maleficent, Frollo, and Forte) to say "hell'.
- Ramsley is the second Disney villain to be a butler behind their master's back, the first being Edgar Balthazar from The Aristocats.
- Terrence Stamp was rather disappointed with the film, stating that a lot of work he did didn't make it into the final cut.
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