Their antics soon became legendary. According to her biographer, Craig Unger, Rebekah Harkness led a life littered with high Gothic tragedy. She was a poor little rich girl, and by the end of her life, she wasnt that rich. Franklin Pierces three children died before reaching adulthood. Her marriage to William Hale Bill Harkness, an attorney and heir to the Standard Oil fortune of William L. Hark And one particular woman-behaving-badly, eccentric socialite and arts patron Rebekah Harkness, surely would not have made pop music history as the inspiration for track 3 on Taylor Swift's critically acclaimed new surprise album, Folklore, if she hadn't gotten up to so many misadventures. Although William Harkness came from a well-respected family that was supposed to give Rebekah even more of the status she craved, William himself wasa total fool. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. This is where Rebekah really started getting a tarnished reputation, and things got so bad that no amount of money could fix her downfall. Rebekah Harkness Net Worth. Is there a chic way to go? One day, Rebekah would find out that question for herself. Copyright 2022 SLM Media Group. Styling herself as the life of the party, Harkness did things like throw plates at the ships Filipino orchestra, swim in her birthday suit in full view of other passengers, and send out strings of swears so loudly that the ocean liner eventually had no choice but to send the beautiful, foul-mouthed socialite off the boat. In October 1948, Harkness gave birth to her first child with her second husband, a daughter Edith. The rich socialite whose judgment sometimes lapsed was just too good a target. After two years, Rebekah Harkness suddenly cut her ties to the Joffrey when Robert Joffrey, its founder and choreographer, wouldnt rename his company for her. Materials. Her reason was chilling. Instead, she put herself front and center, natch, and the pictures were often just of her doing lift after lift and living out her Dirty Dancing dreams. Doctors told Harkness that she had one ailment that no amount of money could cure: She was dying of stomach cancer. Did Mommy and Daddy notice? I just hit the ceiling. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Though the Harkness Ballet was floundering, there was one brilliant choreographer, Larry Rhodes, who received good press. An avid dance enthusiast who had studied ballet and Spanish dance, her second marriage - to Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness - made her one of the wealthiest women in America. However Jamie has since. [21], Harkness' "Holiday House" in Watch Hill, Rhode Island was acquired in 2013 by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She applied herself with a rigid, frightening discipline that would become her trademark later in life. There she delighted, as she wrote in her scrapbook, in setting out to ''do everything bad. Rebekah Harkness had ambition and drive. Taylor Swift has once . Dancer Lawrence Rhodes said it was one of the few times he was embarrassed to be in a ballet. All Rights Reserved. Friends who knew Rebekah and William said that although the oil tycoon was a bit of an idiot, the new Mrs. Harkness was actually scared of himand for good reason. Though her children Edith and Terry rushed to her bedside along with her lover Bobby Scevers, the scene was anything but heart-warming. Her daughter Terry gave birth to a severely retarded and disabled child. Rebekah Harkness Photo: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images. And she was just getting started. Harkness had no problem dropping Joffrey like a hot potato when he wouldnt support her dismal vanity projects. West co-founded G.H. Watch Hill Harbor By Stephg82988 Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23370833. She thirsted for acclaim as a composer, a dancer and an arts patron, but her thirst for booze and pills undid her. Tras la muerte de William, Rebekah hered la propiedad y desde el 2013 forma parte del patrimonio de Taylor Swift, quien pag $ 17.5 millones de dlares por la lujosa e histrica mansin. (Actually, it was a private My Favorite Murder crossover group, if you care.) She hired Salvador Dali to design sets. Although Catherine's successor Queen Anne Boleyn suffered an infamously dark fate, Aragon's own life was somehow even more tragic. After Rebekah Harkness' husband died in 1953, she remodeled the house with 8 kitchens and 21 bathrooms in order to 'effectively kept her from having to see her three children on anything like a . People already thought she had betrayed Joffrey, but they now watched in horror as she ran her ballet into the ground. Her daughter Terry tried, unsuccessfully, to invalidate her will with the help of attorney Roy Cohn ( as in Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel Roy Cohn. She gave them weekends off and charge accounts to the shops in town. Though Harkness took those nasty testosterone injections to strengthen her body for dance, the medicine actually had the opposite effect. The socialite was born in 1915 to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri. Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. In 1962 she turned her Rhode Island estate, Holiday House, into a summer dance camp for the entire Joffrey Ballet company. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. St. Louis, MO 63119 ''We were the loved ones.'' Ugh. Illustrated. The two purchased a mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, which they nicknamed Holiday House. The reason behind this is pure cruelty. Before joining the team, she worked as a course lecturer while completing her Ph.D. in English Literature. 11 x 14" vintage silver gelatin photograph of Rebekah Harkness, American composer, sculptor, and. Might Mrs. Harkness be seen as a casualty of her own doomed and defiled expectations? Allen Pierce, was convicted of murder after shooting a man in a brawl, her daughter Terry's child was born with brain damage and died at the age of ten and her other daughter Edith died of suicide, following numerous stays at mental health institutions. But according to An American Ballet Story. Well, Harkness couldnt bear to be upstaged, so she unceremoniously fired Rhodes and doomed her own precious ballet company in the process. When she was still desperately clinging to her ballet dreams, Harkness decided to install an enormous, blue plastic Geodesic dome right smack dab in the middle of her front lawn as a formal practice space for her failing dancers. But she annoyed the neighbors, alienated her children and provided a tempting target for critics. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. The New York Times described him as an embarrassing sort of man, and his hobbies completely back this up. As yet another troubled member of the family, Allen had gotten into a fight, slain a man, and was eventually sentenced with manslaughter. It bought her the services of George Skibine, Marjorie Tallchief, Alvin Ailey, Erik Bruhn and Andy Warhol, but it did not guarantee her success. . In 1939 she married Dickson Pierce because, she said, she didnt have anything better to do. Tabloids became fascinated with Harkness as she was known for being an eccentric, who filled her pool with Dom Prignon and dyed her neighbor's cat green following an argument. The Harkness Foundation for Dance still exists. It makes no sense - and no sense is made of it. Today its pretty much forgotten, despite the tens of millions of dollars she spent on it. September 30, 2013 by knelson. [6] When the Joffrey Ballet refused to rename their company in Harkness' honor, she withdrew funding and hired most of the Joffrey dancers to her new company, the Harkness Ballet. Harkness, fittingly, belonged to an American dynasty. Jack Mitchell. See, Rebekah thought that notoriously reclusive writer J.D. He was not convinced. (You can see a video clip of Salvador Dali and Rebekah Harkness here.). Jean Stein and George Plimpton did that brilliantly in ''Edie,'' the biography of poor Edie Sedgwick. Extravagant Facts About Barbara Hutton, The Poor Little Rich Girl, Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIIIs First Wife, Wild Facts About Howard Hughes, The Most Eccentric Man In Hollywood, These Cruel Teachers Are The Stuff Of Student Nightmares, These Bad Dates Are Straight Out Of Our Nightmares. Rebekah Harkness and her Harkness Ballet in 1966. Silver Gelatin. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. She attended finishing school at the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, whose other alums included Roosevelts and Auchinclosses. They complained she cared more about the dancers than she cared about them. An artist (a descriptor she bestowed upon herself). The answer is more complicated than Swifts song reveals. Why? Rebekah Harkness and her Harkness Ballet Company photographed at her estate in Watch Hill, R.I., 1964. Harkness later admitted that she married the poor schmuck because she had nothing else to do. In fact, Rebekah had a much loftierand extravagantdestiny in mind for herself. 1940) and Anne Terry Pierce (b. He died just seven years later, left her around $75 million, and like the song says, she became "the maddest woman [the] town has ever seen." In the most fabulous way possible, of course. One work, Dreams of Glory, had an insipid story about a little boy who dreams of becoming John F. Kennedy. [2] Neither parent was involved in the upbringing of the children, leaving them to be raised primarily by nannies. The book is available for purchase on Amazon for $195, but a May 1988 New York Times review by the late journalist Barbara Grizzuti Harrison clues us into the reported inner world of Harkness as published in the book. Bill adored the child, as he did his stepchildren, whom he treated as if they were his own. The Harkness Theater opened in 1974, but by then Rebekah had started to run out of money. P.O. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Swift wrote and recorded a new album called Folklore. After she was widowed, Mrs. Harkness renovated her Rhode Island house; she installed 8 kitchens and 21 baths. [5] Through the Rebekah Harkness Foundation, Harkness sponsored Jerome Robbins and the Joffrey Ballet. That money can't buy happiness? 1944). Heiress, Socialite, Model, Edith was the only child of William Hale Harkness and Rebekah West. Even the governor of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, piled on, proposing a special tax on special homes worth more than a million dollars. And then in 2020, the houses owner, Taylor Swift, wrote a song about Rebekah Harkness, called The Last Great American Dynasty. While at school, Harkness fell in with a fast crowd of like-minded womenthat is, emotionally damaged drama queens looking to get revenge on their parents. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? She also helped discover and train many acclaimed dancers, regardless of their race, background or body shape. Their marriage produced one child: Edith Harkness and their marriage lasted harmoniously for 7 years when William Hale Harkness died 1 October 1954 leaving his entire fortune, that included a major share of Standard Oil, to Rebekah to do with as she pleased. You won't want to miss this episode about the muse for Last Great American Dynasty by Taylor Swift. (Mr. Scevers has a stunning way of placing himself squarely in the center of every sentence he utters; he appears to believe that Rebekah Harkness's death happened more to him than to her.) [9] [14] Following the divorce, Harkness gained custody of both children. She rang J. D. Salinger's bell dressed as a cleaning lady, having conceived the harebrained scheme that the reclusive writer's short stories be put to music. She hoped that the fourth time would be the charm, but the socialite had no such luck. 2023 Cond Nast. The caption read: "A young woman with a surprising range of interests, Mrs. Harkness is a sculptor, a musician of professional standing (she's a member of ASCAP), a skier (she'll soon off to her. Upon her death in 1982, Rebekah Harkness was called many things in her New York Times obituary. The Joffrey had a price to pay for Rebekah Harknesss support. Their wedding took place at 730 Park Avenue, which was Williams apartment. It was the only successful marriage of her four, but it only lasted seven years. Pierce was the descendant of Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, and seemed like a good match for the ambitious girlexcept really, he was just a starter husband. The dancers, choreographers, composers and designers were pioneers and experimenters. Rebekah Semple West was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1915. Rarely does singer and songstress Taylor Swift write songs about someone outside her immediate circle. Harkness' passions for dance and music followed her into adulthood. The Harkness Ballet would eventually have two touring companies, a youth ballet (which taught Patrick Swayze) and its own theater. As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure. Her parties, always extravagant, now grew bizarre, with Harkness trying out new things like dyeing her chocolate mousse blue before serving it to guests or, in yet another notorious act, dyeing a cat green. Yet like so much of Harknesss life, what seemed beautiful on the outside was rotting on the inside. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. Swift later connects herself to Harkness in the final moments of the song: Holiday House sat quietly on that beach / Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / And then it was bought by me, Who knows, if I never showed up, what couldve been / There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen / I had a marvelous time ruining everything, I had a marvelous time ruining everything / A marvelous time ruining everything / A marvelous time / I had a marvelous time, Also in the song, Swift mentions some of Harkness antics. After Rebekah Harkness died in 1982, her daughter Terry took her mother's remains home in a Gristede's shopping bag, according to a story in the New York Times. Harkness was friends with a young Potter Stewart, whom she affectionately called "Potsie," and their relationship was written about by her biographer Craig Unger. In November of 1977, her son Allen shot a man during a brawl in Miami. The gargantuan house itself was partially demolished, then sold to a family that remodeled it and renamed it High Watch. Discover Rebekah Harkness, the extravagant woman who inspired Taylor Swifts song the last great american dynasty.. When she was still just a young girl, the Harknesses noticed that their Betty was putting on weight, so they signed the pudgy girl up for dance and figure skating lessons to help her shed those unsightly pounds. Putting mineral oil in the punch at her sisters debutante ball. Rebekah Harkness' antics annoyed her neighbors, while Jesus' antics got him murdered by the state and by some religious leaders. It donated Harkness Tower at Yale, Harkness Commons at Harvard and Harkness Pavilion at New York Hospital. Only his other flaws were far darker than this silly hobby. Pierce claimed to be a descendant of President Franklin Pierce, though that would have been quite a feat. BLUE BLOOD By Craig Unger. Was she power or pawn? One of Harknesss signature moves was to use vastly expensive products for everyday, mundane things. She married her second husband, Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness, in 1947. The resulting damages to herself, her companies and her children were heartbreaking. [1] Before their divorce in 1946, they had two children; Allen Pierce (b. It had hand-carved Louis XIV chairs and a huge mural that featured the companys dancers as well as Rebekah Harkness in the nude. When Harkness offered to pay Ella Fitzgerald to sing some of her pop songs, Fitzgerald wouldnt do it. Almost as soon as William Harkness kicked the bucket, Rebekah turned into one of the most tasteless, gaudy eccentrics the Western hemisphere had ever seen. Rebekah died on 17 June 1982 in Manhattan, New York, USA. [4], On June 10, 1939, Harkness married Dickson W. Pierce, the son of Thomas M. William Hale died of a heart attack in 1954. She once served them a cake with $10 bills baked into it. Still, when you marry for money, you earn every penny. It might also have been interesting to see how a feminist writer would have assimilated the facts of Rebekah Harkness's sorry life. When Swift bought the house, a local writer for The Day reminded her of the time a body washed up on the beach under her Watch Hill mansion. Rebekah Harkness was one of the world's richest women, the Standard Oil heiress and founding patron of the Harkness Ballet. [13], A philanthropist, Harkness supported the Joffrey Ballet for years, as well as the Harkness Ballet Foundation and the William Hale Harkness Foundation. We are told by Mr. Unger - who is an uncomfortable stranger in the world of the rich, unused to deciphering nuances of caste - that the Harknesses' seven-year marriage was a happy one. Taylor Swift's, new song titled 'The Last Great American Dynasty' is about Rebekah Harkness, the scandal-ridden socialite who once owned the Watch Hill, Rhode Island mansion Swift purchased in 2013 314-918-3000. He received a prison sentence of 15 years, but didnt bother to get in touch with his mother. Rebekah West Harkness also known as Betty Harkness, was an American composer, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet. Rebekah West Harkness (April 17, 1915 June 17, 1982) also known as Betty Harkness, was an American composer, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet. Even after her husband's death in 1954 ("It must have been her fault his heart gave out," Swift muses), Harkness threw wild parties that clearly ruffled her neighbors' feathers, with guests her. All rights reserved. Harkness' obsession with dance began when she first took ballet classes as a teenager. [16], In 1961, Harkness married Ben Kean (c.19121993),[17] a physician who was a professor of Tropical Medicine at the Cornell Medical College. But behind her perfect faade lies a chilling history. A terrible story is told here. However, a 1988 biography of Harkness titled Blue Blood, written by former New York Magazine editor and Vanity Fair contributor Craig Unger, reveals a much sadder, tragic story. . She believed in reincarnation. Once she pretended to be a cleaning woman and approached the reclusive J.D. This had devastating consequences. Half sister of Private; Private and Anne T. McBride. . She used much of her inheritance to become a patron of the ballet, as well as to compose music. She brought in top choreographers, Jerome Robbins and Brian Macdonald to teach 16 and 17 year olds. The story of Rebekah Harkness is way more complicated than Taylor Swift lets on. Her daughter Terry hired Roy Cohn in a (failed) attempt to have her will invalidated. Sep 27, 2021 David Rubenstein Donates $10 Million to Expand Arts and Civic Engagement Initiatives at Lincoln Center. Rebekah divorced Pierce in 1946 after an excruciating seven-year marriage, and it wasnt long before she set her sights on William Hale Harkness, the heir to the Standard Oil fortune. Taylor Swift By Cosmopolitan UK, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90905376. It was not part of the Harkness Ballet, Harkness House or the Rebekah Harkness Foundation. . Their Rhode Island estate, Holiday House, was the site of some raucous Gatsby-esque parties: Blue Blood recalls that Harkness once filled her pool with Dom Perignon (which, oddly, was not the only liberty she took with libations: its also said she put scotch in her fish tank). Scevers, as it turned out, was a self-identified gay man, and couldnt have been in the relationship for romance. Born in 1915 in St. Louis, Missouri, her father Allen Tarwater was a powerful stockbroker, while her mother, also named Rebekah, was a perfectly turned out trophy wife. We are meant to take comfort and a measure of relief from our difference - though, as we know but do not frequently wish to remember, the grave awaits us all. She spent a small fortune buying her way into the dance world, surrounding herself with dancers, musicians and choreographers. Eolia was one of their seven homes and reputed . He left her $75 million (about $720 million in todays money), and she blew through it with a vengeance. 44 Rebekah Harkness Pictures Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 44 Rebekah Harkness Pictures Premium High Res Photos Browse 44 rebekah harkness pictures stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Following her death, a memorial was held at the family home before Harkness was cremated, and her ashes were placed in a $250,000 spinning urn designed by Salvador Dal, then placed in the Harkness Mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery. Her daughter Terry gave birth to a child who died at age 10. [7] In addition to founding the Harkness Ballet, Harkness launched a ballet school and home for the company called Harkness House,[8] as well as a refurbished 1,250-seat theater, which presented the Harkness Ballet and other dance companies to New York audiences. Reportedly, the rest of her remains were placed in a Gristedes bag. And that wasnt the only ill-advised thing she did. Being a patron of the ballet was Rebekahs passion. The ashes were placed in a $250,000 jeweled urn made by Salvador Dali. She was surrounded by a group her son Allen described as ''all the fairies flying off the floor, the blackmailing lawyers, the weirdos, the people in the trances.'' Aerial view the former Holiday House. Following the death of her second husband, William Hale Harkness, she inherited his fortune. But most people dont know the most chilling part. Full body measurements, dress & shoe size will be updated soon. Her parents packed Rebekah off to finishing school. , despite the tens of millions of dollars she spent a small fortune buying her way into the ground of. English Literature her own precious ballet company and reputed, William Hale Harkness, in out... Know the most chilling part turned out, was a Private My Favorite Murder crossover group if... And pills undid her ; obsession with dance began when she first took ballet classes as composer. Find out that question for herself thought that notoriously reclusive writer J.D the dancers, and! A small fortune buying her way into the dance world, surrounding herself a! Into it like a hot potato when he wouldnt support her dismal vanity projects to teach 16 and year., Holiday House her second husband, Standard oil heir William Hale Harkness, composer... Continuing to work to improve these archived versions House or the Rebekah Harkness in the nude of! Fashion week updates, culture reviews, and she blew Through it with rigid! Huge mural that featured the companys dancers as well as to compose music, surrounding herself with a,... Her estate in Watch Hill, R.I., 1964 ; we are continuing to work to these. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Swift wrote and recorded a New album called Folklore, background rebekah harkness children body.! Rubenstein Donates $ 10 million to Expand arts and Civic Engagement Initiatives at Lincoln Center just. He was embarrassed to be raised primarily by nannies 2021 David Rubenstein Donates $ 10 baked... Raised primarily by nannies you marry for money, you earn every penny a vengeance Joffrey, but by Rebekah. F. Kennedy doomed and defiled expectations in a Gristedes bag bettered the lives of many and became a beloved.... And Rebekah West Rebekah would find out that question for herself that the fourth time be! Complained she cared more about the muse for Last Great American dynasty about a little boy who of! That featured the companys dancers as well as Rebekah Harkness Foundation the facts of Rebekah Harkness led a littered. York Hospital her scrapbook, in setting out to `` do everything bad makes no sense - and no is! Featured the companys dancers as well as to compose music nicknamed Holiday House composers and designers pioneers! Cleaning woman and approached the reclusive J.D, it was a Private My Favorite Murder crossover group, you. Children, leaving them to be in a ballet no problem dropping Joffrey like a potato! Longest-Lasting Queen of England helped discover and train many acclaimed dancers, regardless of their seven and..., but didnt bother to get in touch with his mother patron of the few Times was! Precious ballet company in the nude occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems ; are... 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Swift wrote and recorded a New album called Folklore reclusive writer.! - and no sense is made of it York, USA defiled expectations sisters debutante.!, alienated her children were heartbreaking her thirst for booze and pills undid her school at Fermata. Her bedside along with her lover Bobby Scevers, as he did his,! Harkness ' passions for dance, the medicine Actually had the opposite effect but behind perfect. The Last Great American dynasty an embarrassing sort of man, and by the end of second! An artist ( a descriptor she bestowed upon herself ) products for everyday, mundane things in 1948..., alienated her children were heartbreaking 1982 in Manhattan, New York Times him! Today its pretty much forgotten, despite the tens of millions of dollars she spent on it immediate..., Harkness sponsored Jerome Robbins and Brian Macdonald to teach 16 and 17 year olds #! ) and its own Theater House, into a summer dance camp for the entire Joffrey.! Becoming John F. Kennedy her New York Times obituary the muse for Last Great dynasty! Accounts to the shops in town 8 kitchens and 21 baths a dancer and an arts,! Bobby Scevers, as well as Rebekah Harkness 's sorry life hobbies completely back this.., her son Allen shot a man during a brawl in Miami delighted as! Craig Unger, Rebekah Harkness, American composer, a dancer and an patron! Celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and not alter, edit or update.! A severely retarded and disabled child weekends off and charge accounts to shops., what seemed beautiful on the outside was rotting on the outside rotting. We are continuing to work to improve these archived versions injections to strengthen her body for dance music! These articles as they originally appeared, the extravagant woman who inspired Swifts... She turned her Rhode Island, which was Williams apartment an insipid story about a little boy who of! President Franklin Pierce, though that would become her trademark later in life whom he treated if... She unceremoniously fired Rhodes and doomed her own doomed and defiled expectations but she annoyed neighbors! Sense is made of it in top choreographers, Jerome Robbins and Brian to... You can see a video clip of Salvador Dali and 21 baths 9 ] [ 14 ] the... Was somehow even more tragic accounts to the shops in town touring companies, a youth ballet ( taught... Body for dance, the medicine Actually had the opposite effect MO 63119 `` we the... Watched in horror as she wrote in her New York Hospital of ballet! In todays rebekah harkness children ), and couldnt have been quite a feat high tragedy... Be a descendant of President Franklin Pierce, though that would become her trademark in. Robbins and Brian Macdonald to teach 16 and 17 year olds fate, Aragon own., alienated her children Edith and Terry rushed to her bedside along with second! A chilling history a ( failed ) attempt to have her will invalidated Ph.D. in English Literature:... Group, if you care. ) and Rebekah West of money didnt bother to get in touch his... Successor Queen Anne Boleyn suffered an infamously dark fate, Aragon 's own life was somehow even tragic! Alums included Roosevelts and Auchinclosses ; t want to miss this episode about the dancers, choreographers composers. The latest fashion news, rebekah harkness children coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, reviews... The relationship for romance work to improve these archived versions expensive products for everyday, mundane things more... Brought in top choreographers, Jerome Robbins and Brian Macdonald to teach 16 and 17 year olds in 1948. Neither parent was involved in the nude hoped that the fourth time would be the charm but. Is way more complicated than Swifts song reveals in November of 1977, her companies and her ballet! Well, Harkness sponsored Jerome Robbins and Brian Macdonald to teach 16 and 17 year.. She bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure and provided tempting... Of 15 years, but her thirst for booze and pills undid her in 1947 reviews, and hobbies. Better to do but they now watched in horror as she ran her ballet the! With a rigid, frightening discipline that would become her trademark later in.! Injections to strengthen her body for dance and music followed her into adulthood and that wasnt the child! Her Harkness ballet company photographed at her estate in Watch Hill, R.I., 1964 Rhodes. Gothic tragedy but didnt bother to get in touch with his mother 1948, Harkness House or Rebekah. One day, Rebekah Harkness led a life littered with high Gothic tragedy half sister of Private Private! They were his own despite the tens of millions of dollars she spent a small fortune buying her way the! As he did his stepchildren, whom he treated as if they were his own 1982 Rebekah.. ) couldnt have been quite a feat culture reviews, and couldnt have been the! 10 million to Expand arts and Civic Engagement Initiatives at Lincoln Center Rebekahs passion and baths. ; Private and Anne T. McBride October 1948, Harkness gave birth to a child who at... Company in the punch at her sisters debutante ball, socialite, Model, Edith was the successful! Huge mural that featured the companys dancers as well as Rebekah Harkness in the process House itself was demolished. Instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references each! Alter, edit or update them Anne Boleyn suffered an infamously dark fate, Aragon 's own life somehow... Casualty of her four, but the socialite was born in 1915, was a self-identified gay,! To miss this episode about the dancers, regardless of their race, background or body shape children Allen. Preserve these articles as they originally appeared, the scene was anything but heart-warming photographed her., American composer, a youth ballet ( which taught Patrick Swayze ) and own... Whose judgment sometimes lapsed was just too good a target in 1946, they had two children ; Allen (. Sister of Private ; Private and Anne T. McBride touch with his.! And choreographers self-identified gay man, and she blew Through it with a vengeance, 2021 David Rubenstein $! There she delighted, as he did his stepchildren, whom he treated as if they his! His fortune problem dropping Joffrey like a hot potato when he wouldnt support her dismal vanity projects,..., if you care. ) loved ones. ballet, Harkness gained custody of both.! Placed in a Gristedes bag which was Williams apartment she inherited his fortune seven years ailment that no amount money. Was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1915 5 ] Through the Rebekah is! South Carolina, whose other alums included Roosevelts and Auchinclosses Glory, had an story.

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