When she erected a giant blue geodesic dome on her lawn, they sued her for zoning violations. She attended finishing school at the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, whose other alums included Roosevelts and Auchinclosses. Harkness took up dancing and ice skating to lose weight and was highly disciplined in both endeavors. 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. Her 1955 tone poem, Safari Suite, was performed at Carnegie Hall, and in 1957 she released an album titled Music With a Heartbeat. 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. The best new culture, style, and beauty stories from Vogue, delivered to you daily. Mary and Edward Harkness - The Harknesses at Eolia. Rebekah Harkness and her Harkness Ballet in 1966. 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. Her daughter Terry gave birth to a child who died at age 10. She had a salon of sorts. They bought Eolia from Mary's sister and her brother-in-law, Jessie Stillman and William Taylor in 1907. 1940) and Anne Terry Pierce (b. She spent a small fortune buying her way into the dance world, surrounding herself with dancers, musicians and choreographers. She said she married her first, photographer Dickson Pierce, because she had nothing else to do. No surprise, that union ended in divorce. Today its pretty much forgotten, despite the tens of millions of dollars she spent on it. The only problem was that the urn was too small. All the essentials: top fashion stories, editors picks, and celebrity style. Harkness had three husbands. 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. For all her money, Harkness did not have good taste. Before his death in August 1954, they had one child together; Edith Hale Harkness (19481982). Harkness' obsession with dance began when she first took ballet classes as a teenager. Near the end of her life, one friend noted that she walked like Frankenstein.. But Rebekah made the most of it. Edith often used her mothers many, many pills to perform these attemptsand Rebekah was anything but empathetic. ''You see,'' she said. That money can't buy happiness? Shutterstock Advertisement 17. [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's younger daughter Edith, a failed suicide who had spent many years in mental institutions, took only her mother's pills: Seconal, Nembutal, Valium, Haldol, Librium and various painkillers - 40 vials in all. When Rebekah decided to renovate her Rhode Island mansion, she demanded that it have a whopping eight kitchens and 21 baths. She also helped discover and train many acclaimed dancers, regardless of their race, background or body shape. The Harkness Ballet would eventually have two touring companies, a youth ballet (which taught Patrick Swayze) and its own theater. [2], After graduating in 1932, she and a group of female friends formed the Bitch Pack, a sub-culture of local debutantes who enjoyed subverting society events, including lacing punchbowls with mineral oil and performing stripteases on banquet tables. When they criticized her for getting pudgy, she took up skating and dance, practicing with a fierce discipline. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. Rebekahs parents might not have cared a whit about loving their daughter, but they sure as heck cared about what she looked like. Dancer Lawrence Rhodes said it was one of the few times he was embarrassed to be in a ballet. 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 had spent the 1987 equivalent of $38 million on a failed enterprise. (Her reasoning was thus: I hope the beauty of Harkness House will persuade some of these people that ballet need not be dingy and that by their patronage they are contributing to the splendid and glamorous.) Yet disagreements over artistic direction led to the companys disbanding in 1970. While a kinder critic likened it to a lavish ladies powder room, less-generous experts compared it to a Staten Island beauty parlor. Ouch. Watch the video for "The Last Great American Dynasty": Woytus is St. Louis Magazine's deputy editor, coveringnews and culture. William fathered two children with Edith Hale: [9] Louise Hale Harkness (1898-1978) who married David Sinton Ingalls, and William Hale Harkness. However, the connection between the two women, despite being eras apart, may go beyond mere real estate. A terrible story is told here. Uh, how sweet? ''Is there a chic way to go?''. De . Now, a grown woman can do whatever she wants in her own bed, but this was a strange choiceand not because of the age gap. So in 1977 she checked into Silver Hill, a rehab clinic in New Canaan, Conn. Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark historyor the chilling secret shared by her and Louis. The family looked immaculate from the outsidebehind closed doors, though, was another story. 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. Mary and Edward Harkness were married in 1904. From petty paybacks to insane acts of karma, these bitter people somehow found the most ingenious ways. After she was widowed, Mrs. Harkness renovated her Rhode Island house; she installed 8 kitchens and 21 baths. 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. Thanks for your help! She gave them weekends off and charge accounts to the shops in town. Love and Empowerment. Send Woytus anemail at awoytus@stlmag.com. [20], Harkness died of stomach cancer in her Manhattan home on June 17, 1982 at the age of 67. For a time in the 1950s, socialite Rebekah Harkness was true American royalty. Rebekah bought a mansion on New Yorks Upper East Side and turned it into a posh training center for dancers called Harkness House. The music video featured the beach and the waves from the house, just as Rebekah Harkness would have seen it. 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. After that, Rebekah really let it all hang out. One could almost feel sorry for her. Rebekah Harkness. With that, Rebekahs unconditional love evaporated. Were always looking for your input! Rebekah had always been well-off as a childas you might guess from the string of nannies who raised herbut marrying William Harkness thrust her into an entirely different tier of high society. In other words, these pieces didnt exactly do justice to their surroundings. Rebekah was previously married to Niels H. Lauersen, Benjamin Harrison Kean, William Hale Harkness and Dickson W. Pierce. Instead, she was reared by a series of nanniesand thats not even the worst part. REBEKAH HARKNESS earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in social work from the University of Utah. ''Blue Blood'' is edifying only insofar as it raises questions about what a biography should be. [18], In 1974, she married Niels H. Lauersen, another physician, who was 20 years her junior. 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 . In October 1948, Harkness gave birth to her first child with her second husband, a daughter Edith. Harkness was surprisingly generous when it suited her, but also unpredictably bizarre. The answer is more complicated than Swifts song reveals. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? As the saying goes, well-behaved women seldom make history. Taylor Swift bought the former Holiday House in 2013 for a reported $17.75 million in cash. Then she stole most of the Joffrey dancers for her own ballet company the Harkness. She was brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum. The 1982 case is mentioned in journalist Craig Unger's biography of Annabelle's mother, Rebekah Harkness, called "Blue Blood." The book, published in 1988, offers an unflattering snapshot . Wealthy, elegant, and beautiful, Harkness seemed to have it allfrom her oil baron husband to her notoriously raucous parties. And the dysfunction didnt end there. Jean Stein and George Plimpton did that brilliantly in ''Edie,'' the biography of poor Edie Sedgwick. Rebekah Harkness's height Unknown & weight Not Available right. Is there a chic way to go? One day, Rebekah would find out that question for herself. 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. The socialite was born in 1915 to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri. Swift explains it briefly in a verseHarkness once owned Holiday House, the singers current Watch Hill, Rhode Island, home. The 1988 novel was published about Rebekah . On June 10, 1939, Harkness married Dickson W. Pierce, the son of Thomas M. Pierce. A week after her death on June 17, 1982, the mortal remains of Rebekah Harkness were toted home by her older daughter Terry in a Gristede's shopping bag. So, how much is Rebekah Harkness worth at the age of 67 years old? Fast forward 60 years, and another thin, rich, beautiful white woman bought Holiday House. In addition to the three kids she has with Jamie, Rebekah has two children, Megan and Taylor, from previous relationships. In addition to . Rebekah West Harkness also known as Betty Harkness, was an American composer, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet. Even Harkness, who had been a somewhat disinterested mother, began spending time with the children. Or, at least, a leg, half of . 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. Walker & Co. with George Herbert Walker, grandfather and great-grandfather of the Bush presidents. A patron of dance and medicine. (''She walked,'' an acquaintance said, ''like Frankenstein.'') BLUE BLOOD By Craig Unger. The dancers, choreographers, composers and designers were pioneers and experimenters. See the article in its original context from. The parties continued when she brought the entire Joffrey to Watch Hill in 1962 and 1963. One of Harknesss final acts in her role as ballet maestro was also her most embarrassing. So did the ballet dancers practicing on her lawn. The Swift connection is that the superstar bought Holiday House for a reported $17 million in 2013. Allen shot and killed a man in a brawl and was charged with second-degree murder, the charge eventually being reduced to manslaughter,[4] with Allen serving a total of eight years. But the book also states Harkness was "brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum." Jack Mitchell. And then there were herthree children. Thomson Asks States to Sue the U.S.", "Out of Prison, Doctor Hopes to Regenerate His Lost Fame", "Taylor Swift is buying into a rich Watch Hill tradition", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rebekah_Harkness&oldid=1121521087, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 November 2022, at 18:59. [21], Harkness' "Holiday House" in Watch Hill, Rhode Island was acquired in 2013 by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. After her husband passed away in 1954, Harkness poured more money into her Watch Hill compound, installing 8 kitchens and 21 baths. Dancy Mason is the Editor-in-Chief at Factinate. She once served them a cake with $10 bills baked into it. It was Rebekah Harkness - whose second of four husbands, William H. Harkness, died in August 1954 in The Westerly Hospital after being stricken by a heart attack in the mansion - who patronized . Now she has one more posthumous title: muse. Everyone advised her to get her affairs in order, but as well soon see, things didnt work out so neatly for Rebekah Harkness in the end. Soon Clive Barnes was writing that the Harkness Ballet had ''descended beyond the necessity of serious consideration,'' and in 1975 it folded. When she went to the doctors office, they found a frightening problem. 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. According to one story, Harknesss adoration for her grandchild vanished almost overnight. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Culture Taylor Swift Folk Albums Oil. It was the only successful marriage of her four, but it only lasted seven years. She is from USA. 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. They called her ballets worthless, her music crap. This is where Rebekah really started getting a tarnished reputation, and things got so bad that no amount of money could fix her downfall. She once dressed as a waitress at one of them so she could eavesdrop on the guests. Materials. Perhaps most tragically, Rebekahs little granddaughter Angel had passed just before Rebekah herself; she was just 10 years old. The last great American dynasty, indeed. No clan is left untouched, and even families that seem happy and normal on. That marriage lasted three years. She began to cut back and look for public funding. 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 poured money into Harkness House, a dance studio meant to mimic the grandeur of European ballet schools, outfitting it with a marble staircase, silk shades, and a crystal chandelier. Save money. August 22, 1982 (33) Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States (Suicide ) Place of Burial: New York, Bronx, NY, United States. . As her own biographer put it, The only reason her works were ever played in public was because she subsidized the performances. Harsh, but true. This arrangement effectively kept her from having to see her three children on anything like a regular basis. I want to look away, but I just cant. Latest News on Rebekah Harkness . . But beneath the elegant surface lurked a driven woman tormented by personal demons. Full body measurements, dress & shoe size will be updated soon. But why? Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. Bill adored the child, as he did his stepchildren, whom he treated as if they were his own. The end came swift, fast, and brutal for Harkness. rebekah harkness children. In the art world, the shade International Klein Blue is famous, and was custom-mixed by renowned artist Yves Klein in 1960. Her children, not so much. I knew of two other Harkness children and supposed that they belonged to the first marriage but now I know they were Rebekah's children by Allen . Shed had a brief, unhappy marriage to a doctor in the early 1960s. [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. The ashes were placed in a $250,000 jeweled urn made by Salvador Dali. [13], A philanthropist, Harkness supported the Joffrey Ballet for years, as well as the Harkness Ballet Foundation and the William Hale Harkness Foundation. It might also have been interesting to see how a feminist writer would have assimilated the facts of Rebekah Harkness's sorry life. 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. My mom never told me how her best friend died. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. As well see, Rebekahs love only devolved from there. [1] Before their divorce in 1946, they had two children; Allen Pierce (b. Her first major contributions were helping to fund the early . Knowing all this (and much, much more; Mr. Unger withholds no ugly or racy detail), what is it exactly that we have learned? Reportedly, the rest of her remains were placed in a Gristedes bag. 10, 1939, Harkness seemed to have it allfrom her Oil baron husband to her first photographer! 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