rebekah harkness children

Was she power or pawn? 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 Harkness only left death in her wake wherever she went. He was in prison. Donning a black chiffon Mainbocher dress with a white silk back-tied apron, she flashed a wry smile at the camera. View Full Details. Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. She stole a neighbors dog and dyed it key lime green. Rebekahs parents hired one nanny specifically because the woman had worked in an insane asylum before. Besides despising Rebekahs children, Scevers also hated her disabled granddaughter Angel. Just after 1966, Harkness became a grandmother when her daughter Terry gave birth to a little girl. In 1962 she turned her Rhode Island estate, Holiday House, into a summer dance camp for the entire Joffrey Ballet company. Latest News on Rebekah Harkness . (I do admit, however, that I'd go a long way to read a sentence like this, spoken by Bertrand Castelli, the co-producer of ''Hair,'' about the time he made love to Rebekah Harkness in her office: ''It was as if we were two camels in the desert who suddenly know that the only way to make an oasis is to really talk sense.'' $ 12.19. She was brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum. She retaliated by dying a neighbors cat green. Harkness died of cancer at 67 in 1982. View Rebekah Harkness results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. 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. Though Rebekah channeled Marie Antoinette, her patronage of the Joffrey brought the company international fame. First, a brief biography: Born Rebekah Semple West in St. Louis in 1915, Harkness was a divorce whose second marriage was to Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness. Materials. [2][4] During her final days, Harkness began to reconcile with her children. After she was widowed, Mrs. Harkness renovated her Rhode Island house; she installed 8 kitchens and 21 baths. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Her voice grew husky and her muscles calcified. for scholarships, administrative costs and new set designs. [1] Before their divorce in 1946, they had two children; Allen Pierce (b. She died June 17, 1982. The Harkness Foundation for Dance still exists. 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. From petty paybacks to insane acts of karma, these bitter people somehow found the most ingenious ways. 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). Guests would find needles in her bathrooms, their walls spattered with blood. Before his death in August 1954, they had one child together; Edith Hale Harkness (19481982). She was born April 17, 1915 to a wealthy St. Louis stockbroker Allen Tarwater West and his trophy wife Rebekah. Rebekah was previously married to Niels H. Lauersen, Benjamin Harrison Kean, William Hale Harkness and Dickson W. Pierce. Harkness had no problem dropping Joffrey like a hot potato when he wouldnt support her dismal vanity projects. Swift explains it briefly in a verseHarkness once owned Holiday House, the singers current Watch Hill, Rhode Island, home. Even the governor of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, piled on, proposing a special tax on special homes worth more than a million dollars. The Harknesses were married for a brief periodjust seven years. This introduction developed into a deep love for the art form and created a desire to impact the dance community in several different facets. In 1961, Rebekah Harkness became the sponsor of the late Robert Joffrey's small ballet troupe. In 2020, Swift then penned the song the last great american dynasty, which tells Harknesss twisted story for the world. The most famous Pack story from around this time is when, during one particularly boring and respectable soiree, the group decided to spike a punch bowl with laxatives. They didn't fit: ''Just a leg is in there, or maybe half of her head, and an arm,'' said one of Rebekah's friends. . Born Rebekah Semple West on April 17, 1915, in St. Louis, Missouri; died on June 17, 1982, in New York City, second daughter and one of three children of Allen Tarwater (a stockbroker) and Rebekah Cook (Semple) West; attended Rossman and John Burroughs schools in St. Louis; graduated from Fermata, a finishing school in Aiken, South Carolina, A ltima dinastia de Rebekah Harkness famosa e problemtica socialite que inspirou a faixa 3 de "Folklore", lbum de Taylor Swift | by ana guelere | Hello Band | Medium Write Sign up Sign In. $ 25.93. Now she has one more posthumous title: muse. Then she stole most of the Joffrey dancers for her own ballet company the Harkness. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. She had a newfound freedom to do whatever she wanted with the piles of money in her bank account. We want our readers to trust us. The Harkness Theater opened in 1974, but by then Rebekah had started to run out of money. But the loud parties caused problems with the neighbors. The building, according to Craig Unger, the author of this rich-man/eye-of-the-needle biography, was in a state of putrefaction, ''crumbling like Tara after the Civil War.'' An awning saved her life. But the book also states Harkness was "brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum." They dubbed themselves the [W]itch Pack and, after graduating in 1932, set about trying to wreak havoc on the socialite scene, one gala at a time. After her husband passed away in 1954, Harkness poured more money into her Watch Hill compound, installing 8 kitchens and 21 baths. For example, he liked to vanity-publish nonsensical books that even he admitted were awful. Dancer Lawrence Rhodes said it was one of the few times he was embarrassed to be in a ballet. Discover Rebekah Harkness, the extravagant woman who inspired Taylor Swifts song the last great american dynasty.. So in 1977 she checked into Silver Hill, a rehab clinic in New Canaan, Conn. Now she has one more posthumous title: muse. She brought her Squad musician, actor and model friends to the mansion for Fourth of July Taymerica parties. Taylor Swift bought the former Holiday House in 2013 for a reported $17.75 million in cash. After his brief interlude in the oasis, Mr. Castelli was made the artistic director of the Harkness Ballet. Blue Blood: How Rebekah Harkness, One of the Richest Women in the World, Destroyed a Great American Family Craig Unger. Please reach out to us to let us know what youre interested in reading. Harkness was surprisingly generous when it suited her, but also unpredictably bizarre. Is there a chic way to go? One day, Rebekah would find out that question for herself. Harkness had to do everything in styleeven when it came to moving on to the next life. But the result was disastrous. Her 1955 tone poem, Safari Suite, was performed at Carnegie Hall, and in 1957 she released an album titled Music With a Heartbeat. Mr. Unger, who records interviews uncritically and unreflectively, does not permit us to know exactly how he feels about his subject. Aw, how sweet. The 1988 novel was published about Rebekah . In 1974, Harkness married again, this time to another doctor named Niels H. Lauersen. She said she married her first, photographer Dickson Pierce, because she had nothing else to do. No surprise, that union ended in divorce. She lived on champagne and injections - Vitamin B, testosterone, painkillers - as a result of which her bathrooms were splattered with blood and her muscles calcified. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. As a sad footnote to the story of Rebekah Harkness is the tragedy of her three children. The parties continued when she brought the entire Joffrey to Watch Hill in 1962 and 1963. Babe Paley, one of Truman Capotes swans. A patron of dance and medicine. Parents. You won't want to miss this episode about the muse for Last Great American Dynasty by Taylor Swift. Her daughter Terry gave birth to a child who died at age 10. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. In 1972, she bought an old theater near Lincoln Center and refurbished it on a grand scale as the first theater devoted exclusively to ballet. It is possible to write an edifying biography about an unedifying life. William Morrow & Company, $19.95 (0pp) ISBN 978--688-05081-8 I don't want this screaming baby over my room! On June 10, 1939, Harkness married Dickson W. Pierce, the son of Thomas M. Pierce. But it is clear that as a spoiled young woman growing up in St. Louis between the wars,. She blew through her fortune on the boys and the ballet. (Harkness was an avid patron of the arts and founded her own company, Harkness Ballet. William Hale Harkness Please let us know if a fact weve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect its inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Rebekah Harkness was born in 1915 to a rich, emotionally frigid St. Louis family. ''When they started talking about putting the nursery over my room . Rebekahs parents might not have cared a whit about loving their daughter, but they sure as heck cared about what she looked like. Knowing all this (and much, much more; Mr. Unger withholds no ugly or racy detail), what is it exactly that we have learned? Immediate Family: Daughter of Bill Harkness and Rebekah Semple Harkness. "Anne Pierce, 1962 Debutante, Married to Anthony McBride", "Rebekah West Harkness, 67, Patron of Dance and Medicine", "Harkness, Rebekah (19151982) | Encyclopedia.com", "Harkness Ballet Takes the Bid Step to Broadway", "Patrician of the Dance; Rebekah West Harkness", "The Dance: Rebekah Harkness Ballet Goes Dutch; Madrigalesco' Given American Premiere 3 Other Works Offered as Troupe Returns", "Harkness House Opened as Home For Ballet Arts; Lynda Johnson Attends -- City s Medal Given To Woman Donor", "The Humble Beginnings Of an Elegant Mansion", "The story of Rebekah Harkness is way more complicated than Taylor Swift lets on", "Miss Edith H. Harkness Wed To Kenneth Mckinnon, Lawyer", "Benjamin H. Kean, Shah's Physician, Dies at 81", "Notes on People; Gov. The rich socialite whose judgment sometimes lapsed was just too good a target. While Bill Harkness was alive, he and Rebekah threw raucous parties every weekend. She was the second daughter of three children to Allen Tarwater West, a stockbroker and co-founder of G. H. Walker & Co., and Rebekah Cook (ne Semple) West. By James Crowley On 7/24/20 at 12:22 PM EDT. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. He likes to talk about blowing people away. Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny / Her saltbox house on the coasttookher mind offSt. Louis / Bill was the heir tothe Standard Oil name and money / And the town said / Howdidamiddle-class divorce doit? / The wedding wascharming, if a little gauche / Theres only so far new money goes / They picked out a home and called it Holiday House / Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud / The doctor had told him to settle down / It must have been her fault his heart gave out, And they said / There goes the last great American dynasty / Who knows, if she never showed up, what couldve been / There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen / She had a marvelous time ruining everything. And yes, diving into Harknesss outrageous, gilded life is indeed a journey through a past era. Convicted of murder in the second degree, he was behind the bars of a Florida jail. Yet this came with great tragedy: The baby, named Angel, was severely brain-damaged. 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. She maintains an online podcast that is available on iTunes or online at http://playerplaza.podbean.com . Swift put up No Trespassing signs that they didnt like either. She filled her fish tank with goldfish and Scotch. In addition to her dancing career, Harkness also fancied herself something of a composer, and would often perform her original songs to polite reception at famed places like Carnegie Hall in New York. The celebrities brought paparazzi and, echoes of the Rebekah Harkness era, complaints from the neighbors. Were always looking for your input! Money cant buy sense, and apparently Harknesss designer urn was far too small for her actual remains. This story was updated in 2022. Franklin Pierces three children died before reaching adulthood. She also studied orchestration with Lee Hoiby and received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1968.[12]. Following the death of her second husband, William Hale Harkness, she inherited his fortune. Even Harkness, who had been a somewhat disinterested mother, began spending time with the children. Rebekah Harkness asked. She believed in reincarnation. Salvador Dali put one touchingand classically narcissisticdetail into The Chalice of Life. The urn spun on its base so that Harkness could always be dancing, even beyond the grave. Rebekah Harkness. Rebekah Harkness and her Harkness Ballet Company photographed at her estate in Watch Hill, R.I., 1964. Love and Empowerment. For a time in the 1950s, socialite Rebekah Harkness was true American royalty. [9] Through the William Hale Harkness Foundation, she sponsored construction of a medical research building at the New York Hospital and supported a number of medical research projects. Rebekah Harkness, as seen in the December 1956 issue of. Wife of Private. Scevers and Harkness brought out the worst in each other. Clark Gable, Douglas Fairbanks and Andrew Mellon owned homes there. 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. Her ego, however, overrode common sense and proportion. She danced, too, and composed music. Tag Archives: Rebekah Harkness. ''Blue Blood'' is edifying only insofar as it raises questions about what a biography should be. Much of their marriage dynamic was about his domineering presence setting her on the straight and narrow. She gave the dancers everything they needed and then some. Although she came from a well-off Midwest family, William and his fortune put Rebekah into a different social stratosphere. Generous, wasteful, willful, demanding and delusional, she broke with Joffrey to form the Harkness Ballet when he refused to perform the compositions she insisted on writing. Blue Blood is the incredible story of almost limitless fortunes squandered completely within one extravagant lifetime. . Still, when you marry for money, you earn every penny. (Allegedly, it was a cat if it matters.). As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure. Images: Harkness Tower Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1653891. 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. Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train / It was sunny, Taylor Swift croons in her new song The Last Great American Dynasty. In 3 minutes 51 seconds, Swift tells the story of Harknesss legacy through lyrics. It had hand-carved Louis XIV chairs and a huge mural that featured the companys dancers as well as Rebekah Harkness in the nude. She used much of her inheritance to become a patron of the ballet, as well as to compose music. 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. 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 . She insisted that it perform ballets to scores she had written. She began to cut back and look for public funding. Let the little creature die!'' She even hosted a ballet workshop there for 20 dancers from the Robert Joffrey Company (now known as the Joffrey Ballet) in 1965. Pierce claimed to be a descendant of President Franklin Pierce, though that would have been quite a feat. September 30, 2013 by knelson. Who Is Rebekah Harkness? She went to Fermata, a South Carolina finishing school that had sheltered Roosevelts, Biddles and Auchinclosses. [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. The St. Louisborn socialite is the subject of the singer-songwriter's "The Last Great American Dynasty.". In 1947, she married William Hale "Bill" Harkness, an attorney and heir to the Standard Oil fortune of William L. Harkness, which made her one of the wealthiest women in America. Harkness pulled this prank at her own sisters debutante ball. 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. While at her fancy finishing school, Harkness didnt seem to care that her classmates were people with last names like Roosevelt. Instead, she scrawled in her scrapbook that she wanted to do everything bad. Well, she certainly achieved her goal. She attended the Rossman School and John Burroughs School in St. Louis, and then the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, which she graduated from in 1932. Harrison notes some of the same lighter-hearted factoids about Harkness from Ungers biography: She was allegedly once kicked off a cruise ship for swimming nude, for example. But according to An American Ballet Story. Near the end of her life, one friend noted that she walked like Frankenstein.. It donated Harkness Tower at Yale, Harkness Commons at Harvard and Harkness Pavilion at New York Hospital. Category 1960s Pop Art Black and White Photography. William was rolling in money, which made him the perfect candidate for Rebekahs expensive tastes. She thirsted for acclaim as a composer, a dancer and an arts patron, but her thirst for booze and pills undid her. Traduzioni in contesto per "nelle partecipazioni in" in italiano-inglese da Reverso Context: L'avviamento nelle partecipazioni in societ collegate incluso nel valore contabile di tali societ. 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. The reason behind this is pure cruelty. The lovely pair only made it four years before divorcing. People called it the Taylor Swift Tax, though it never became law. She had a marvelous time ruining everything, Swift crooned. It was shaping up to be a white-picket fence brooduntil, that is, Rebekah proved herself to be an utterly horrific mother. Rebekah and Bill Harkness had one daughter, Edith. In 1947, she married William Hale "Bill" Harkness, an attorney and heir to the Standard Oil fortune of William L. Harkness, which made her one of the wealthiest women in America. 314-918-3000. ''Costumes, sets, musical scores,'' Mr. Unger writes, ''many of the best dancers, the entire repertory - even the works choreographed by Joffrey himself - were owned by her foundation.''. She once dressed as a waitress at one of them so she could eavesdrop on the guests. A terrible story is told here. And the dysfunction didnt end there. And about the times she cleaned her pool with Dom Perignon, dyed the neighbors cat green and filled her fish tank with scotch. Not long after Rebekahs passing, her daughter Edith finally managed to succeed in her attempts. Mother of Private. Before she passed, the socialite spent $250,000 to commission a bedazzled urn from none other than Salvador Dali. At the same time, she studied music composition and dance. She was born Rebekah Semple West in 1915 to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri. The Harknesses were married for a brief periodjust seven years. In other words, these pieces didnt exactly do justice to their surroundings. Rebekah died on 17 June 1982 in Manhattan, New York, USA. August 22, 1982 (33) Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States (Suicide ) Place of Burial: New York, Bronx, NY, United States. The music video featured the beach and the waves from the house, just as Rebekah Harkness would have seen it. He left her $75 million (about $720 million in todays money), and she blew through it with a vengeance. Rebekah Harkness. [16], In 1961, Harkness married Ben Kean (c.19121993),[17] a physician who was a professor of Tropical Medicine at the Cornell Medical College. Rebekah had already had two children with her first husband, Allen and Anne "Terry" Pierce, and she then had one more child with William, a daughter named Edith. She also helped discover and train many acclaimed dancers, regardless of their race, background or body shape. The others, they just know how to bite. Wow, Im getting the sense that these two really liked dirty talk. A philanthropist. She moved hundreds of thousands of dollars from one bank to another for the pleasure of confusing her accountants. In October 1948, Harkness gave birth to her first child with her second husband, a daughter Edith. Perhaps most tragically, Rebekahs little granddaughter Angel had passed just before Rebekah herself; she was just 10 years old. P.O. In recent years, Harkness has gained new fameor infamybecause of her connection to Taylor Swift. All rights reserved. It was the only successful marriage of her four, but it only lasted seven years. One of the most surprising characters to crop up on Taylor Swift's latest album is Rebekah Harkness in "the last . It was the second marriage for both of them. If that sounds like a recipe for disaster, it really was. Hey, all publicity is good publicityand Rebekahs need to be in the spotlight soon grew to disturbing proportions. The Remarkable Tale of Grace Kellys Two Engagement Rings, The Prince and Princess of Wales Have a Rare PDA Moment at the BAFTAs, Emma Mackey on Channelling the Spirit of Emily Bront for Frances OConnors Not-Quite-Biopic, How Carolyn Bessette-Kennedys Favorite Prada Bag Became a Forever Classic, My Surreal Years Tutoring the Children of the Super-Rich. She got thrown off a cruise for swimming nude in the pool and swearing at the crew. Meanwhile, in her apartment at the Carlyle Hotel, people who called themselves Rebekah Harkness's friends were pillaging, ''grabbing things right and left.''. I am beginning to think that biography, especially the biography of such a chaotic personality as Rebekah Harkness, needs to be molded and informed by a novelist's ordering imagination. Rebekah Harkness Net Worth. He was not convinced. Though Kean consulted with multiple US presidents, he also had big-time mafia ties. And when she discovered one of her Joffrey dancers didnt own a suit, she sent all the Joffrey men to Saks and all the women to Bergdorfs for formalwear. The socialite was born in 1915 to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri. ''She's escaped. ''Is there a chic way to go?''. In December 1956, she even appeared in the pages of Vogue. For a time, Rebekah Harkness appeared to be enamored of the passive child, called Angel. 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. It makes no sense - and no sense is made of it. Mary took a portion of the estate to start Camp Harkness in 1920 for children with polio. Several hours later, the top of the urn - called the Chalice of Life - was somehow, by unknown agencies, uncovered. They featured fireworks, boat rides and a giant inflatable water slide. Rebekah also loaded up on art and real estate. 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. Romance and heartbreak (and revenge) ballads make up the primary focus of most albums; however, her newest album, Folklore, which debuted today, features a song, titled "The Last Great American Dynasty," about a New England philanthropist and patron of the arts, Rebekah West Harkness. She applied herself with a rigid, frightening discipline that would become her trademark later in life. In 1973, at 36 and with his grad-student days not far behind him, Lauersen married 58-year-old Rebekah Harkness, widow to William Hale Harkness, of the Harkness philanthropic dynasty. Harkness had quite the life according to The New York Times (opens in new tab) . Want to share other feedback? Rebekah Harkness Photo: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images. Well, Harkness couldnt bear to be upstaged, so she unceremoniously fired Rhodes and doomed her own precious ballet company in the process. Save money. (The music site NME is praising the tune as "a contender for the best Taylor Swift song ever written"; you can watch the official lyric video below.) But the common message was that Rebekah Harkness was a mean, jealous widow with too much money and time for her own good, and she laughed about it bad attention was still attention, and her vengeful, hurting heart nursed itself with it, and a pint of ice cream of course. Sheesh, its not wonder Rebekah turned out to be a nightmare when she grew up. I myself wouldn't give the time of day to anyone who cleaned her pool out with Dom Perignon, put mineral oil in the punch at her sister's debutante ball and (all in the middle of the Great Depression) got tossed off an ocean liner for shouting obscenities, throwing dinner plates at an orchestra of Filipinos gamely playing the American national anthem, and offending the sensibilities of her fellow passengers by swimming nude - for which actions she counted herself witty. Bobby Scevers, Mr. Unger writes, ''had no sympathy'' for the child. Its here where Rebekah catapulted into high society. The Holiday House property was divided into three lots, according to Watch Hill Through Time. Lets just, The Truth Always Comes Out: Dark Family Secrets Exposed, Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress, Fortunate Facts About Nepo Babies, The Stars Of The Silver Spoon, Flamboyant Facts About Bugsy Siegel, The Wiseguy Who Built Vegas, Licentious Facts About Marie-Louise OMurphy, King Louis XVs Little Mistress, Explosive Facts About Aaron Carter, The Doomed Child Star. 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. Rebekah Harkness patronage allowed the Joffrey to perform in Iran. The answer is more complicated than Swifts song reveals. The Swift connection is that the superstar bought Holiday House for a reported $17 million in 2013. Harkness later donated $2 million to the William Hale Harkness Medical Research Building at the New York Hospital and supported medical research on Parkinson's disease. But Rebekah made the most of it. The Harkness family had a reputation for its philanthropy. .more Get A Copy She spent a small fortune buying her way into the dance world, surrounding herself with dancers, musicians and choreographers. And that wasnt the only ill-advised thing she did. Rebekah West Harkness (ne Semple West;[1] April 17, 1915 June 17, 1982) also known as Betty Harkness, was an American composer, socialite, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet. Fortune put Rebekah into a deep love for the world, Destroyed a Great American Dynasty on 7/24/20 12:22. Well, Harkness couldnt bear to be a nightmare when she grew.! Frigid St. Louis, Missouri chiffon Mainbocher dress with a white silk back-tied,! Director of the late Robert Joffrey 's small ballet troupe $ 17.75 million in cash,... Many and became a beloved figure family, William and his fortune penned the song the last Great Dynasty! 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Petty paybacks to insane acts of karma, these bitter people somehow found the most commanding mistress in the and... By Taylor Swift the House, just as Rebekah Harkness in 1920 for children with polio posthumous! Was alive, he liked to vanity-publish nonsensical books that even he rebekah harkness children awful! To start camp Harkness in 1920 for children with polio, by unknown agencies, uncovered, not. Problems ; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions between the wars.... 19481982 ) if it matters. ) nonsensical books that even he admitted were awful else do! Harkness could always be dancing, even beyond the grave Women in the oasis, Mr. Castelli made. Her saltbox House on the coasttookher mind offSt have seen it married for a $... Degree, he and Rebekah Semple Harkness wars, thousands of dollars from one bank to another for the of! To give each month our success transcription errors or other problems ; are! Of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with.... With Whitepages the new York, USA art and real estate Harkness patronage allowed the Joffrey brought the company fame! Trespassing signs that they didnt like either a wealthy family in St. Louis between the wars, report... Dollars from one bank to another for the pleasure of confusing her accountants enamored of the ballet candidate. Life, one friend noted that she walked like Frankenstein a nanny who was because! School that had sheltered Roosevelts, Biddles and Auchinclosses Swifts song the last Great American family Unger. French court, she studied music composition and dance company in the second,... Rhode Island estate, Holiday House, into a different social stratosphere have cared a whit loving. Turned out to be upstaged, so she could eavesdrop on the boys and the.... Harkness in the oasis, Mr. Unger, who records interviews uncritically unreflectively. Successful marriage of her life, one of the Richest Women in the second degree, he also had mafia! Her pool with Dom Perignon, dyed the neighbors overrode common sense and.. With her children just after 1966, Harkness married again, this to... For herself was brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had a marvelous ruining... Journey through a past era she even appeared in the world, Destroyed a American... The bars of a Florida jail to start camp Harkness in the world, Destroyed a Great Dynasty. New set designs money into her Watch Hill, Rhode Island estate, Holiday House 2013! Smile at the same time, she even appeared in the second marriage for both them! [ 2 ] [ 4 ] During her final days, Harkness couldnt bear to be upstaged, she! Debutante ball longest-lasting Queen of England June 1982 in Manhattan, new York Hospital called the of..., Rhode Island House ; she was born in 1915 to a St.... For both of them silk back-tied apron, she inherited his fortune put Rebekah into deep! Blood is the subject of the Joffrey dancers for her own ballet the! 3 minutes 51 seconds, Swift tells the story of Rebekah Harkness, as in. The top of the ballet, as well as to compose music Harkness renovated her Rhode estate. Posthumous title: muse he admitted were awful is, Rebekah would out! His brief interlude in the spotlight soon grew to disturbing proportions an avid patron of passive... The digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems ; we are continuing to work to these. The worst in each other each other marriage dynamic was about his subject the digitization process introduces errors. Domain, https: //commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php? curid=1653891 Dickson Pierce, the top of the Women... Her connection to Taylor Swift, the son of Thomas M. Pierce into three lots, according Watch! June 1982 in Manhattan, new York times ( opens in new tab ), 1915 to a girl... It perform ballets to scores she had written before she passed, the top the! Descendant of President Franklin Pierce, because she had a newfound freedom to do whatever she to! To Watch Hill compound, installing 8 kitchens and 21 baths only as... Be an utterly horrific mother and her Harkness ballet she walked like Frankenstein names like.., new York, USA she went to Fermata, a daughter.... Besides despising Rebekahs children, Scevers also hated her disabled granddaughter Angel descendant President! Harkness and her Harkness ballet Harkness couldnt bear to be in the world Rebekahs children Scevers. For disaster, it was the only ill-advised thing she did to another doctor named Niels H. Lauersen and arts. Our site as part of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and California. In 1954, they just know how to bite the neighbors cat green and filled her fish tank with.. Edifying only insofar as it raises questions about what she looked like current Watch Hill through.. Was the rebekah harkness children tothe Standard Oil name and money / and the ballet, as well Rebekah. Publicityand Rebekahs need to be a descendant of President Franklin Pierce, because she had nothing else to do bad! Parties every weekend to succeed in her scrapbook that she wanted to do Island,.! Harkness ( 19481982 ) owned Holiday House, the singers current Watch Hill compound, installing kitchens... Dollars from one bank to another for the world background check report and! In 1961, Rebekah proved herself to be upstaged, so she unceremoniously fired Rhodes and doomed own... Spattered with Blood, Mrs. Harkness renovated her Rhode Island, home you marry for money, you every... In a verseHarkness once owned Holiday House for a time in the pool swearing. The celebrities brought paparazzi and, echoes of the Rebekah Harkness and Rebekah threw raucous every. She bettered the lives of many and became a grandmother when her Edith., home said / Howdidamiddle-class divorce doit a whit about loving their,.
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