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Brooke Astor

Brooke Astor
Born March 30 1902(1902--)
Flag of the United States Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
Died August 13 2007 (aged 105)
Briarcliff Manor, New York, USA
Occupation Heiress, philanthropist
Spouse Dryden Kuser (1919-1930)
Charles Marshall  (1932-1952)
Vincent Astor (1953-1959)
Children Anthony Dryden Marshall

Brooke Astor (March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American philanthropist and socialite who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband. She was also a novelist and wrote two volumes of memoirs.

Early life

She was born Roberta Brooke Russell in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the only child of John Henry Russell, Jr. (1872-1947), a Marine Corps officer and his wife, née Mabel Cecile Hornby Howard (1879-1967). Her paternal grandfather was John Henry Russell, a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. She was named for her maternal grandmother, Roberta Traill Brooke MacGill Howard and was known as Bobby to close friends and family.[1]

Her father, who retired as a major general, ended his military career as sixteenth commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. Due to her father's career, she spent much of her childhood living in China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and other places.

She briefly attended The Madeira School in 1919 but graduated from Holton-Arms.

Marriages

J. Dryden Kuser

She married her first husband, John Dryden Kuser (1897-1964), shortly after her seventeenth birthday, on 26 April 1919, in Washington, D.C. "I certainly wouldn't advise getting married that young to anyone," she said later in life. "At the age of sixteen, you're not jelled yet. The first thing you look at, you fall in love with."[2]

Her husband, the son of the financier and conservationist Col. Anthony Rudolph Kuser and grandson of U.S. Senator John F. Dryden, later became a New Jersey Republican councilman, assemblyman, and state senator.[3]

"Worst years of my life"[2] was how Astor described her tumultuous first marriage, which was punctuated by her husband's physical abuse, alcoholism and adultery. According to Frances Kiernan's 2007 biography of Brooke Astor, when Brooke was six months pregnant with the couple's only child her husband broke her jaw during a marital fight.[4] "I learned about terrible manners from the family of my first husband," she told The New York Times. '"They didn't know how to treat people."[2] Her husband was scarcely better behaved. A year after the marriage, according to a published account of the divorce proceedings, Dryden Kuser "began to embarrass her in social activities, ... told her that he no longer loved her and that their marriage was a failure."[5]

Astor had one child with Dryden Kuser, Anthony Dryden Kuser, born in 1924.

In June 1929, Kuser insisted that his wife leave him. After waiting for the successful end to his New Jersey senatorial campaign, she filed for divorce on 15 February 1930, in Reno, Nevada. It was finalized later that year.[5] [6]

Charles H. Marshall

Her second husband, whom she married in 1932, was Charles Henry "Buddy" Marshall (1891-1952), the senior partner of the investment firm Butler, Herrick & Marshall, a brother-in-law of the mercantile heir Marshall Field III, and a descendant of James Lenox, the founder of the Lenox Library.[7]

Astor later wrote that the marriage was "a great love match."[2]

She had two stepchildren by the marriage, Peter Marshall and Helen Huntington Marshall.[8]

In 1942, Anthony Dryden Kuser, then 18 years old, changed his name to Anthony Dryden Marshall. It is unclear whether or not he was formally adopted by his stepfather.

Her husband's financial fortunes turned in the mid 1940s, at which time Brooke Marshall went to work for eight years as a features editor at House & Garden magazine. She also briefly worked for Ruby Ross Wood, a prominent New York interior decorator who, with her associate Billy Baldwin, decorated the Marshalls' apartment at 1 Gracie Square in New York City.[9]

Vincent Astor

In 1953, eleven months after Charles Marshall's death, she married her third and final husband, Vincent Astor (1891-1959), the chairman of the board of Newsweek magazine and the last notably rich American member of the famous Astor family. The oldest son of Titanic victim Colonel John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912) and his first wife, Ava Lowle Willing, he had been married and divorced twice before and was known to have a difficult personality.

"He had a dreadful childhood, and as a result, had moments of deep melancholy," Astor recalled. "But I think I made him happy. That's what I set out to do. I'd literally dance with the dogs, sing and play the piano, and I would make him laugh, something no one had ever done before. Because of his money, Vincent was very suspicious of people. That's what I tried to cure him of."[2]

According to an oft-told story in society circles, Astor agreed to divorce his second wife, Minnie, only after she had found him a replacement spouse. After first suggesting Janet Newbold Ryan Stewart Bush, the newly divorced wife of James S. Bush, who turned down Astor's proposal with startling candor -- "I don't even like you," she reportedly said -- Minnie Astor suggested the recently widowed Brooke Marshall.[10] Whatever the circumstances, few people believed that the Astor-Marshall union was anything more than a financial transaction. As Brooke Astor's friend the novelist Louis Auchincloss said, “Of course she married Vincent for the money,” adding, “I wouldn’t respect her if she hadn’t. Only a twisted person would have married him for love.” [4]

During her brief marriage to Astor, whom she called "Captain," Astor participated in his real-estate and hotel empire and his philanthropic endeavors. Between 1954 and 1958, she redecorated one of his properties, the Hotel St. Regis, which had been built by his father.

Though she received several proposals after Astor's death, she chose not to remarry. "I'd have to marry a man of a suitable age and somebody who was a somebody, and that's not easy. Frankly, I think I'm unmarriageable now," Astor said in an interview in 1980, when she was 78. "I'm too used to having things my way. But I still enjoy a flirt now and then."[2]

Philanthropy

Though she was appointed a member of the board of the Astor Foundation soon after her marriage, upon Vincent Astor's death in 1959, she took charge of all the philanthropies to which he left his fortune. Despite liquidating the Vincent Astor Foundation in 1997, she continued to be active in charities and in New York's social life. The New York Public Library was always one of Astor's favorite charities. As a result of her charity work, Astor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. Her life's motto summed up her prodigious generosity with the quote, "Money is like manure, it should be spread around."[11][12]

Among numerous other organizations, she was involved with Lighthouse for the Blind, the Maternity Center Association, the Astor Home for emotionally disturbed children, the International Rescue Committee, the Fresh Air Fund, and the Women's Auxiliary Board of the Society of New York Hospital.

Elder abuse controversy

On July 26, 2006, the New York Daily News ran a front-page cover story on the family feud between Astor's son, Anthony Dryden Marshall, and her grandson Philip Cryan Marshall, regarding to the welfare of the centenarian Astor, then 104 years old. The story detailed how Astor's grandson, a historic preservationist and associate professor at Roger Williams University, had filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of his father as the socialite's guardian and the appointment of Annette de la Renta, the wife of designer Oscar de la Renta, instead.

According to accounts published in The New York Times and the New York Daily News, Astor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease several years ago and suffered from anemia, among other ailments. The lawsuit alleged that Marshall had not provided for his elderly mother and, instead, had allowed her to live in squalor and that he had cut back on necessary medication and doctor's visits, while enriching himself with income from her estate. Philip Marshall further charged that his father sold his grandmother's favorite Childe Hassam painting without her knowledge and with no record as to the whereabouts of the funds received from the sale. The painting, "Flags, Fifth Avenue" (1918), is now in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art. In addition to Annette de la Renta, Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller provided affidavits supporting Philip Marshall's requests for a change in guardianship.

The day the story appeared, New York Supreme Court Justice John Stackhouse sealed the documents pertaining to the lawsuit and granted an order appointing Annette de la Renta guardian and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to be in charge of Astor's finances. Several news organizations including Associated Press and The New York Times have sued to have the records of the Astor case unsealed in the public interest, claiming that there is no legal basis for the sealing of the records. Both actions were pending a hearing scheduled for 8 August 2006. In the interim, Astor was moved to Lenox Hill Hospital, where an unidentified nurse called her appearance "deplorable"; according to the New York Daily News, Anthony Marshall unsuccessfully attempted to have his mother transferred to another hospital.

Astor was released from Lenox Hill Hospital on 29 July 2006 and moved to Holly Hill, her 75-acre estate in the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York.

On 1 August 2006, The New York Times reported that Anthony Marshall was accused by Alice Perdue, who was employed in his mother's business office, of diverting nearly $1 million from his ailing mother's personal checking accounts into theatrical productions. Marshall, through a spokesman, said that Astor knew of the investments and approved of them. Perdue countered that Marshall had advised her never to send to his mother any documents of a financial nature because "she didn't understand it."

On August 8, William F. Buckley Jr., who lived in the same building as Astor, wrote about the ordeal in his syndicated column.

Death

Astor died on August 13, 2007 at the age of 105 at her home in Briarcliff Manor, New York.[11] One of Astor's death notices in the Times ended with these lines:

"And if you should survive to 105,
Look at all you'll derive out of being alive.
Then here is the best part,
You'll have a head start,
If you are among the very young at heart."[13]

She is interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow, New York. The epitaph on her gravestone, chosen by her, will read: "I had a wonderful life".[14]

Bibliography

  • Astor, Brooke (1962). Patchwork Child: Early Memories. New York: Random House. ISBN 0679426876. 
  • Astor, Brooke (1965). The Bluebird is at Home. New York: Random House. ISBN 0679426876. 
  • Astor, Brooke (1980). Footprints. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. ISBN 038514377X. 
  • Astor, Brooke (1986). The Last Blossom on the Plum Tree: A Period Piece. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312905459. 

See also

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References

  1. ^ According to the inscriptions she wrote to a friend inside one of her books, which she signed "Bobby."
  2. ^ a b c d e f Klemesrud, Judy. "Brooke Astor: The Private Moments of a Public Benefactor; Married at 16", The New York Times, 1980-06-15. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. “Brooke Astor leaned back on a sofa in her red lacquered library high above Park Avenue, fingered the grape-sized pearls around her neck, laughed a throaty laugh and began talking about 'the development of a foolish young girl into a public monument.'” 
  3. ^ In 1927, Astor and Dryden Kuser lived in a New York City townhouse which they rented from Madeleine Talmadge Astor Dick (nèe Force) (Mrs. William K. Dick), the stepmother of Astor's eventual third husband.
  4. ^ a b
  5. ^ a b "Mrs. Kuser Files Suit; Gets Custody of Son. Wife of New Jersey Senator in Reno Court Relinquishes Her Dower Rights.", The New York Times, 1930-02-16. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. 
  6. ^ On 6 September 1930, in Virginia City, Nevada, Dryden Kuser married, as his second wife, Vieva Marie Fisher Banks (formerly Mrs. James Lenox Banks, Jr.). They had one daughter, Suzanne Dryden Kuser, and divorced in October 1935. A week later, Sen. Kuser married Louise Mattei Farry (formerly Mrs. Joseph Farry). In 1958 he married, as his fourth wife, Grace Egglesfield Gibbons (widow of John J. Gibbons). An amateur ornithologist and president of the New Jersey Audubon Society, Sen. Kuser introduced the bill that made the Eastern Goldfinch the state bird of New Jersey. He also was, at various times, an insurance and real estate broker in New Jersey (1937-1942) and Nevada (1942-1955), a vice president of Lenox, Inc., the pottery and china company, a columnist for the Nevada State Journal (1943-1947), and a director of the Fox Film Corporation.
  7. ^ Curiously, Buddy Marshall's first wife, Alice Ford Huntington, was a sister of Helen Dinsmore Huntington, who was the first wife of Astor's eventual third husband.
  8. ^ Helen Marshall married, firstly, the composer Ernest Schelling (Gray, Peter. "Streetscapes: 863 Park Avenue; One of the Oldest Luxury Apartment Houses on Park", The New York Times, 1998-07-12. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. ) and, secondly, the cellist János Scholz (Pace, Eric. "Janos Scholz, 89, Cellist, Scholar And Morgan Library Benefactor" (fee), The New York Times, 1993-06-06. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. ).
  9. ^ Astor's association with House & Garden has been established by a contemporary issue of the magazine, which shows "Mrs. Charles H. Marshall of Ruby Ross Wood, Inc." in the design firm's office. The gossip columnist Cindy Adams stated on 28 July 2006 that Astor was fired from her position at House & Garden and also worked briefly as a secretary to the American decorator Dorothy Draper.
  10. ^ www.newyorksocialdiary.com. Janet Newbold married (1) Allan A. Ryan Jr, (2) William Rhinelander Stewart, and (3) James S. Bush. Her third husband, to whom she was married from 1948 until 1952, was a brother of Senator Prescott S. Bush, an uncle of U.S. president George Herbert Walker Bush, and a great-uncle of U.S. president George W. Bush.
  11. ^ a b Berger, Marilyn. "Brooke Astor, New York’s First Lady of Philanthropy, Dies at 105", The New York Times, 2007-08-13. Retrieved on 2007-08-13. “Brooke Astor, who by night reigned over New York society with a decided disdain for pretension and by day devoted her time and considerable resources to New York's unfortunate, died yesterday afternoon at her weekend estate, Holly Hill, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. She was 105.” 
  12. ^ "New York Day by Day. 2 Honors for Brooke Astor", The New York Times, 1985-05-02, p. B3. “It was a big day for Brooke Astor yesterday. At lunch, she received the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for being wonderful to Central Park. At cocktails, she received the Governor's Arts Award for being wonderful to New York. The Olmsted Award, named after one of the architects of Central Park, is the annual excuse for about 700 New York movers, shakers and climbers to mingle in the park, which benefits from the lunch.” 
  13. ^ It was a paid notice from The Rockefeller University. "ASTOR--Brooke", The New York Times, 2007-08-16, p. C15. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. 
  14. ^ Young, Peter. "Brooke Astor, New York Society Doyenne, Benefactor, Dies at 105", Bloomberg.com, 2007-08-13. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. 

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