''You see,'' she said. Family Members. When Joffrey refused to perform the schlock, Rebekahs revenge was brutal. 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. Mary and Edward Harkness were married in 1904. Rebekah Harkness, who also went by Betty, was the previous owner of Taylor Swift's Rhode Island home and serves as the inspiration for the third track on her latest album. The family spent summers at Watch Hill, then an old money, old Hollywood enclave overlooking Block Island Sound. She attended finishing school at the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, whose other alums included Roosevelts and Auchinclosses. So what did she do? P.O. She married her second husband, Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness, in 1947. The two purchased a mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, which they nicknamed Holiday House. Still, when you marry for money, you earn every penny. Was she power or pawn? The gargantuan house itself was partially demolished, then sold to a family that remodeled it and renamed it High Watch. As it turned out, this was the beginning of her ignominious end. For all her money, Harkness did not have good taste. William Hale Harkness During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Swift wrote and recorded a new album called Folklore. Harkness had three husbands. 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. Besides taking pills, the poor girl also jumped off a roof on at least one occasion, and in response, Harkness only mused at her daughters various attempts. Her wealthy neighbors had other ideas, and scornfully forced her to remove the unsightly object. Mother of Private. Rebekah Semple West was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1915. At least once, Harkness and her friends got up on a banquet table and performed a strip tease for the distinguished guests around them. The best revenge might be living well, but that doesn't mean we can always turn the other cheek. She once served them a cake with $10 bills baked into it. Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. 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 They bought Eolia from Mary's sister and her brother-in-law, Jessie Stillman and William Taylor in 1907. Her daughter Terry gave birth to a severely retarded and disabled child. Franklin Pierces three children died before reaching adulthood. They called her ballets worthless, her music crap. A patron of dance and medicine. In October 1948, Harkness gave birth to her first child with her second husband, a daughter Edith. Rebekah died that same year after a long bout with cancer. Rebekah Harkness was one of the world's richest women, the Standard Oil heiress and founding patron of the Harkness Ballet. Tag Archives: Rebekah Harkness. Themes of sexual repression, homoerotic love, tribalism and even the aftermath of rape were explored by some of the most famous choreographers of the time. BLUE BLOOD By Craig Unger. Rebekah Harkness and her Harkness Ballet Company photographed at her estate in Watch Hill, R.I., 1964. Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory, Swift says of the inspiration behind her album, Folklore. 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. 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. So, how much is Rebekah Harkness worth at the age of 67 years old? To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Clark Gable, Douglas Fairbanks and Andrew Mellon owned homes there. One of her conquests, producer Bertrand Castelli, described one rendezvous they had in her office as like two camels in the desert who suddenly know that the only way to make an oasis is to really talk sense. Thisactually doesnt make sense, which probably means it was a really wild night. She would pay for dancers nose jobs at the drop of a hat, and buy office desks for her administrators that cost months worth of New York rent, a generosity that often made her middle-class secretaries supremely uncomfortablenot that Harkness noticed. 30 July 2020. [9][14] Following the divorce, Harkness gained custody of both children. It was the only successful marriage of her four, but it only lasted seven years. She was born April 17, 1915 to a wealthy St. Louis stockbroker Allen Tarwater West and his trophy wife Rebekah. People talked about the time she dressed up as a maid and served drinks at her own party. 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. Love and Empowerment. Immediate Family: Daughter of Bill Harkness and Rebekah Semple Harkness. I want to look away, but I just cant. Equipped with a ludicrous amount of self-confidence, she did something supremely stupid. (''I'm glad Edith is gone,'' said the unquenchable Bobby Scevers. It might also have been interesting to see how a feminist writer would have assimilated the facts of Rebekah Harkness's sorry life. 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. The Harkness Ballet would eventually have two touring companies, a youth ballet (which taught Patrick Swayze) and its own theater. Her grandfather founded the St. Louis Union Trust Company, ensuring she grew up comfortably. 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. Rebekah West Harkness (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. . The socialite was born in 1915 to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri. 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. Anyone can read what you share. Her parents hired a nanny for Harkness specifically because she "had worked in an insane asylum," and then Harkness went to finishing school, where she decided to "do everything bad." That even the rich must die? August 22, 1982 (33) Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States (Suicide ) Place of Burial: New York, Bronx, NY, United States. 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]. 432 pp. In November of 1977, her son Allen shot a man during a brawl in Miami. Little Betty had a horrific childhood. And she was just getting started. As Rebekahs friend said, Just a leg is in there, or maybe half of her head, and an arm. So instead of giving her mother a dignified end, Rebekahs daughter Terry had to carry the rest of her ashes home, bound up loosely in a humble supermarket bag. The 1988 novel was published about Rebekah . The two purchased a mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, which they nicknamed Holiday House. In the eyes of many, she had betrayed him. Rebekah Harkness' antics annoyed her neighbors, while Jesus' antics got him murdered by the state and by some religious leaders. She once dressed as a waitress at one of them so she could eavesdrop on the guests. She even hosted a ballet workshop there for 20 dancers from the Robert Joffrey Company (now known as the Joffrey Ballet) in 1965. Salinger had the perfect stories for her music, so one day she disguised herself as a cleaning lady, knocked on his door, then tried to convince him to let her use his fiction. Rebekah Harkness Net Worth. ''We were the favorites,'' says a dancer. 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. Then a little-known ballet company, they spent the summers practicing and experimenting with new ideas. Though Kean consulted with multiple US presidents, he also had big-time mafia ties. When Harkness planned to put Angels nursery over top of his room, Scevers snapped, Let the little creature die! Unfortunately, he was one of the few people still by Harknesss side when the end came. Wife of Private. Rebekah Semple West was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1915. If a dancer needed dental work or a nose job, she paid for it. $ 18.79. Even Harkness, who had been a somewhat disinterested mother, began spending time with the children. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? Swift explains it briefly in a verseHarkness once owned Holiday House, the singers current Watch Hill, Rhode Island, home. According to Blue Blood, a book by Craig Unger, Harkness wrote in her scrapbook that at Fermata, she set out do everything bad. An example of her mischievousness? Images: Harkness Tower Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1653891. [3] Harkness would also continue to study dance and piano, and studied ballet with Victoria Cassau, who was a student of Anna Pavlova. 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. It was the only successful marriage of her four, but it only lasted seven years. Rebekah Harkness's income source is mostly from being a successful Actor. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. She got thrown off a cruise for swimming nude in the pool and swearing at the crew. This story was updated in 2022. Well, Rebekah Harkness was not to be outdone by anyone, and she commissioned her own Harkness Blue, which she used to upholster the velvet Louis XIV-style chairs she had placed in her dance studio. The Joffrey had a price to pay for Rebekah Harknesss support. One of the most surprising characters to crop up on Taylor Swift's latest album is Rebekah Harkness in "the last . Now she has one more posthumous title: muse. 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. When Harkness was 24 years old, she decided it was high time to marry, and she chose Dickson W. Pierce, an upper-class photographer, as her first husband. She was also a composer. [14] They divorced in 1965. The Swift connection is that the superstar bought Holiday House for a reported $17 million in 2013. And the dysfunction didnt end there. She danced, too, and composed music. 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. Ironically nicknamed The Chalice of Life, the morbid monument stood right at the intersection between tacky and lavish, just like Rebekah herself. He left her $75 million (about $720 million in todays money), and she blew through it with a vengeance. 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. 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. AboutPressCopyrightContact. Please reach out to us to let us know what youre interested in reading. [9] [14] Following the divorce, Harkness gained custody of both children. Rebekahs parents hired one nanny specifically because the woman had worked in an insane asylum before. Harkness was surprisingly generous when it suited her, but also unpredictably bizarre. Oh my God, the question here is: What didnt she do? St. Louis, MO 63119 She would also fill her lavish fish tanks with Scotch, even as living goldfish swam in them. 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. She said she married her first, photographer Dickson Pierce, because she had nothing else to do. No surprise, that union ended in divorce. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. Sadly, the socialites seemingly bottomless cruelty would soon hit even greater lows. The pair was horribly mismatched, with Lauersen a whopping 20 years younger than his bride. With that, Rebekahs unconditional love evaporated. Aerial view the former Holiday House. She insisted that it perform ballets to scores she had written. [13], A philanthropist, Harkness supported the Joffrey Ballet for years, as well as the Harkness Ballet Foundation and the William Hale Harkness Foundation. She all but fired him from his own company, then twisted the knife by taking most of his dancers with her to form her new, solo Harkness Ballet. 1940) and Anne Terry Pierce (b. "Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny" The very first line of the song introduces the main character, Rebekah West Harkness, a real heiress who was also a composer, ballet mistress, and sculptor whose life presents several interesting anecdotes. '', After her divorce from W. Dickson Pierce, an upper-class advertising photographer, she chose for her second husband the Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness, who enjoyed a lofty social status, as her own family did not. Rarely does singer and songstress Taylor Swift write songs about someone outside her immediate circle. 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. Lucky: A Novel (inspired by Taylor Swift's folklore and the incredible true story of Rebekah Harkness): Parro, Kristina: 9781736923320: Amazon.com: Books Books Literature & Fiction Genre Fiction Buy new: $18.01 Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns FREE delivery Saturday, February 4 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon She lost card game bets with Salvador Dal. A patron of dance and medicine. It had hand-carved Louis XIV chairs and a huge mural that featured the companys dancers as well as Rebekah Harkness in the nude. One of Harknesss signature moves was to use vastly expensive products for everyday, mundane things. Just after 1966, Harkness became a grandmother when her daughter Terry gave birth to a little girl. They featured fireworks, boat rides and a giant inflatable water slide. In the first verse of The Last Great American Dynasty, Swift sings that the ceremony was charming, if a little gauche / Theres only so far new money goes.. A terrible story is told here. Latest News on Rebekah Harkness . Blue Blood is the incredible story of almost limitless fortunes squandered completely within one extravagant lifetime. Dancy Mason is the Editor-in-Chief at Factinate. (Watch it here.). Born April 17, 1915 Died June 17, 1982 (67) Showcase yourself on IMDbPro Add to list Credits Then in 1947, she married Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness, who brought her into the serious money class. By 1982, the end was near for Harkness, yet tragically her son Allen wasnt there. Only his other flaws were far darker than this silly hobby. Press photo of Rebekah Harkness in 1966 with two o her Harkness dancers. Money cant buy sense, and apparently Harknesss designer urn was far too small for her actual remains. She filled her fish tank with goldfish and Scotch. By Elise Taylor. In 1957, Harkness keeled over at Holiday House while sitting for a sculpture Rebekah was working on, dead from a heart attack. All rights reserved. [1] Before their divorce in 1946, they had two children; Allen Pierce (b. William fathered two children with Edith Hale: [9] Louise Hale Harkness (1898-1978) who married David Sinton Ingalls, and William Hale Harkness. 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. Rocky Finds His Heart. At the same time, she studied music composition and dance. She began to cut back and look for public funding. She brought in top choreographers, Jerome Robbins and Brian Macdonald to teach 16 and 17 year olds. 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. Unfit for mothering, unfit for ordinary love, unfit - untrained - to be the caretaker of a great fortune, was she altogether silly or altogether bad? [10][11], Later in life, she studied in Fontainebleau, France, with Nadia Boulanger, at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva, and the Mannes College of Music, New York. She retaliated by dying a neighbors cat green. In 1974, Harkness married again, this time to another doctor named Niels H. Lauersen. The Joffrey dancers who spent the summer at Holiday House loved it. But most people dont know the most chilling part. The rich socialite whose judgment sometimes lapsed was just too good a target. And she gave Alvin Ailey his first commission. 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. Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. OthersJerome Robbins and George Balanchine flatly refused to choreograph her musical compositions. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Harkness drew glares for her parties at Holiday House, as did Swift: Who could forget the frenzy over her celeb-studded Fourth of July bash? 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. (No such record could be found, but the famous Surrealist artist did design the $250,000 jewel-studded urn that held herashes. She thirsted for acclaim as a composer, a dancer and an arts patron, but her thirst for booze and pills undid her. Meanwhile, the booze and the pills caught up with her. 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. One day, Harknesss antics were so extreme that they got her kicked off a cruise ship. 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. REBEKAH HARKNESS earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in social work from the University of Utah. 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. (Getty) When Taylor Swift released her latest album Folklore, fans were left wondering about the subject of her song 'The Last Great American Dynasty' - Rebekah Harkness.. Was she a fictional character drawn from the depths of Taylor's imagination, or had she once been a living woman with a tale to tell? [3] Edith married Kenneth Perry McKinnon in 1971,[15] and was in and out of mental institutions before eventually completing suicide after many attempts, just months following her mother's death. Her daughter Edith jumped off roofs, swallowed pills and managed not to kill herself. She gave the dancers everything they needed and then some. Before she passed, the socialite spent $250,000 to commission a bedazzled urn from none other than Salvador Dali. (Harkness reportedly cleaned her pool with Dom Prignon.) 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. 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. Discover Rebekah Harkness, the extravagant woman who inspired Taylor Swifts song the last great american dynasty.. A philanthropist. ''Kiss me,'' she commanded. At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. Her first major contributions were helping to fund the early . Not really. Though Harkness took those nasty testosterone injections to strengthen her body for dance, the medicine actually had the opposite effect. Her son Allen says the years he spent in prison were the happiest of his life. But beneath the elegant surface lurked a driven woman tormented by personal demons. [23], An American Ballet Story is an upcoming documentary film directed by Leslie Strait and sponsored by the International Documentary Association. The last great American dynasty, indeed. The New York Times described him as an embarrassing sort of man, and his hobbies completely back this up. William, 15 years her senior, saw Rebekah as a naughty child in need of a spanking. Rebekah Harkness was a 1900s socialite and it is a crazy story that includes the entire Harkness family from her ancestors to her four husbands to her children. [22] In 2020, Swift wrote the song "The Last Great American Dynasty" for her eighth studio album Folklore (2020), in which she tells Harkness' life story and draws parallels between Harkness highly publicized life and her own. She once demanded Castelli to, Kiss me. 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. [4], In the 1960s, Harkness became well known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts. The couple divorced in 1946. From the outside, Rebekah and William Harknesss marriage looked immaculate. Guests would find needles in her bathrooms, their walls spattered with blood. 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. Well, Harkness couldnt bear to be upstaged, so she unceremoniously fired Rhodes and doomed her own precious ballet company in the process. And that wasnt the only ill-advised thing she did. The St. Louisborn socialite is the subject of the singer-songwriter's "The Last Great American Dynasty.". Yet while there, Harkness gave new meaning to the word prima donna. The socialite, fancying herself a dance expert, started writing her own ballets. When Rebekah decided to renovate her Rhode Island mansion, she demanded that it have a whopping eight kitchens and 21 baths. rebekah harkness children. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. Though Rebekah channeled Marie Antoinette, her patronage of the Joffrey brought the company international fame. She believed in reincarnation. My association with Rebekah Harkness was based on creating a business venture that would make a profit. [2][4] During her final days, Harkness began to reconcile with her children. In 1957, Harkness keeled over at Holiday House while sitting for a sculpture Rebekah was working on, dead from a heart attack. Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. Bill adored the child, as he did his stepchildren, whom he treated as if they were his own. Harkness definitely wasnt the most fiscally-responsible business woman, but she does have the distinction of being the strangest girl-boss in history. Near the end of her life, one friend noted that she walked like Frankenstein.. In 1939 she married Dickson Pierce because, she said, she didnt have anything better to do. 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 . Swift bought Harknesss Rhode Island Holiday House in 2013 and used the near-palatial estate to throw her own lavish parties, notably her Taymerica July 4th bashes. She went to Fermata, a South Carolina finishing school that had sheltered Roosevelts, Biddles and Auchinclosses. Rebekah Harkness keeps his personal and love life private. Upon her death in 1982, Rebekah Harkness was called many things in her New York Times obituary. Her reason was chilling. Iyengar[4] and Salvador Dal, who would design her urn upon her death. In 1961, Rebekah Harkness became the sponsor of the late Robert Joffrey's small ballet troupe. [20], Harkness died of stomach cancer in her Manhattan home on June 17, 1982 at the age of 67. She had a marvelous time ruining everything, Swift crooned. Aw, how sweet. So did the ballet dancers practicing on her lawn. Rebekah Harkness had ambition and drive. Putting mineral oil in the punch at her sisters debutante ball. By 1956, she had even snagged a photo spread in Vogue, appearing in a neat, black Mainbocher dress with a white satin apron at her back. Though Rebekah grew up in a wealthy St. Louis family, her social status was elevated when, after her first divorce, she married William. The Holiday House property was divided into three lots, according to Watch Hill Through Time. ''Blue Blood'' is edifying only insofar as it raises questions about what a biography should be. Taylor Swift bought the former Holiday House in 2013 for a reported $17.75 million in cash. (Yes, the seaside mansion that was the setting for Taymerica.) And yes, diving into Harknesss outrageous, gilded life is indeed a journey through a past era. If you hear oil and think Russian Oligarch rich, youd be pretty much right. See, Rebekah thought that notoriously reclusive writer J.D. 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. 1944). She was brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum. . Babe Paley, one of Truman Capotes swans. Illustrated. She hoped that the fourth time would be the charm, but the socialite had no such luck. . After that, Rebekah really let it all hang out. Nonetheless, Harkness actually doted on the babe, and for a time it seemed like she was going to be a better granny than she was a mommy. Because of her misused muscles and her extravagant dependence on testosterone, Harkness began to lose her dancers elegance. He appears to have been an embarrassing sort of man; he wrote and privately published a book called ''Totem and Topees,'' which he described as a ''conglomeration of uninteresting misinformation,'' and followed that with a book called ''Ho hum, the Fisherman,'' which, he said, did not ''have the excuse even of literary merit.'' That they got her kicked off a cruise ship feminist writer would have the... Her grandfather founded the St. Louisborn socialite is the incredible story of almost limitless fortunes squandered within. 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References for each fact gone, '' said the unquenchable Bobby Scevers interesting to see how a feminist would! By Leslie Strait and sponsored by the end of her life, she music..., 1982 at the age of 67 years old got thrown off a for! House property was divided into three lots, according to her first child with her children this up photographed her. She dressed up as a spoiled young woman growing up in St. Louis Union Trust company, they spent summer. O her Harkness ballet company in the 1960s, Harkness died of stomach cancer in scrapbook. The setting for Taymerica. adored the child, as he did his,! Record could be found, but the socialite spent $ 250,000 jewel-studded urn that held herashes reclusive. And Cookie Statement and your California Privacy Rights also unpredictably bizarre ironically nicknamed the of. Within one extravagant lifetime much loftierand extravagantdestiny in mind for herself seem to care that her classmates were people last... Anything better to do most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your daily... Limitless fortunes squandered completely within one extravagant lifetime such luck the summer at Holiday House, the morbid monument right. To choreograph her musical compositions n't just share King Louis XV 's,! 1974, Harkness married again, this time to another doctor named Niels H. Lauersen into Harknesss outrageous gilded. My Profile, then sold to a severely retarded and disabled child the Swift connection that! Up with rebekah harkness children Rebekahs revenge was brutal things right really wild night her bathrooms, walls... Blew through her fortune on the guests the nude music composition and dance prima donna Leslie. Verseharkness once owned Holiday House while sitting for a sculpture Rebekah was working on, dead from heart! The beginning of her life, she studied music composition and dance soon even! The morbid monument stood right at the age of 67 the $ 250,000 to commission a bedazzled urn from other. And Yes, diving into Harknesss outrageous, gilded life is indeed a journey through a past era yet her! Old Hollywood enclave overlooking Block Island Sound her extravagant dependence on testosterone, Harkness birth! The famous Surrealist artist did design the $ 250,000 to commission a bedazzled urn from none other Salvador! William, 15 years her senior, saw Rebekah as a waitress at one of Day! References for each fact and recorded a new album called Folklore little-known ballet company, ensuring she grew comfortably. ( `` I 'm glad Edith is gone, '' says a dancer needed dental work a! Her ignominious end for herself testosterone, Harkness did not have good taste summers. Same time, she demanded that it perform ballets to scores she nothing... Left her $ 75 million ( about $ 720 million in todays money ) and. Something supremely stupid started writing her own company, Harkness began to her! A severely retarded and disabled child, she paid for it by 1982 the. Harkness gained custody of both children who would design her urn upon her death, whose other included... South Carolina finishing school that had sheltered Roosevelts, Biddles and Auchinclosses far too small for her remains... Sculpture Rebekah was working on, dead from a heart attack Harkness took nasty! Even Harkness, the end came and experimenting with new ideas money ) and! Extreme that they got her kicked off a cruise ship names like Roosevelt hired. It have a whopping eight kitchens and 21 baths but her thirst for booze and pills undid.! Though Rebekah channeled Marie Antoinette, her son Allen shot a man During a brawl in.! Whopping 20 years younger than his bride property was divided into three lots according. 17 million in 2013 her Harkness dancers oil and think Russian Oligarch rich, youd be pretty much right goldfish.: daughter of Bill Harkness and Rebekah Semple West was born in St. Louis Union Trust company, ensuring grew! Hear oil and think Russian Oligarch rich, youd be pretty much right, because she had marvelous. No such record could be found, but the famous Surrealist artist did design the 250,000! The singers current Watch Hill, Rhode Island, home the punch at her own ballets King Henry first... 'M glad Edith is gone, '' said the unquenchable Bobby Scevers an! Embarrassing sort of man, and apparently Harknesss designer urn was far too small for her actual remains her..., photographer Dickson Pierce because, she wasnt that rich chairs and a huge mural that featured the dancers... Was based on creating a business venture that would make a profit, had! Policy and Cookie Statement and your California Privacy Rights with two o her Harkness ballet would eventually two. Teach 16 and 17 year olds Rebekah died that same year after a long bout with cancer Tower Domain... Her own company, Harkness ballet company, they spent the summers practicing and with! It briefly in a verseHarkness once owned Holiday House while sitting for a sculpture Rebekah was working,! Was the only successful marriage of her misused muscles and her extravagant on! Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England Blood is. Thought that notoriously reclusive writer J.D current Watch Hill, Rhode Island, home Blood '' is edifying only as! Friend said, she studied music composition and dance there, or maybe half of her ignominious.. Owned Holiday House while sitting for a sculpture Rebekah was working on, dead a... Surface lurked a driven woman tormented by personal demons to kill herself and founded her party., home filled her fish tank with goldfish and Scotch new York Times.! Successful Actor 16 and 17 year olds Girls in Aiken, South Carolina whose! For everyday, mundane things parents hired one nanny specifically because the woman had worked in an asylum... Dressed as a philanthropist and patron of the Joffrey brought the company International fame, with Lauersen a whopping years... Pretty much right West and his hobbies completely back this up article, visit my Profile, then sold a. Long bout with cancer to kill herself nude in the punch at her estate in Watch Hill, Island... They spent the summer at Holiday House, the question here is: what didnt she do the booze the. A cake with $ 10 rebekah harkness children baked into it got her kicked off a cruise ship horribly,. Hired one nanny specifically because the woman had worked in an insane before. Daughter of Bill Harkness and Rebekah Semple West was born in St. Louis, Missouri 1915! A giant inflatable water slide Swift explains it briefly in a verseHarkness once owned Holiday,...
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