One of the most surprising characters to crop up on Taylor Swift's latest album is Rebekah Harkness in "the last . Like this story? And the dysfunction didnt end there. 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. 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.'' A 1955 article from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that one of her works would be premiering at Carnegie Hall in New York City.) 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. Rebekah Harkness was born on 17 April 1915 in St Louis, Missouri, USA. From . Jean Stein and George Plimpton did that brilliantly in ''Edie,'' the biography of poor Edie Sedgwick. Faced with Ediths grim drive to end her life, Harkness was coldly philosophical. Harkness other daughter, Edith, died of suicide after many attempts. 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 . My association with Rebekah Harkness was based on creating a business venture that would make a profit. Rebekah Semple West was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1915. I just hit the ceiling. Taylor Swift tells the story of "The Last Great American Dynasty" in her Folklore track about one of the wealthiest women in America, Rebekah West Harkness. 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. 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. 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, Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Thanks for your help! Her daughter Edith jumped off roofs, swallowed pills and managed not to kill herself. In 1957, Harkness keeled over at Holiday House while sitting for a sculpture Rebekah was working on, dead from a heart attack. De . She traveled a lot. 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. And one particular woman-behaving-badly, eccentric socialite and arts patron Rebekah Harkness, surely would not have made pop music history as the inspiration for track 3 on Taylor Swift's critically acclaimed new surprise album, Folklore, if she hadn't gotten up to so many misadventures. 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. In 1962 she turned her Rhode Island estate, Holiday House, into a summer dance camp for the entire Joffrey Ballet company. Rocky Finds His Heart. The parties continued when she brought the entire Joffrey to Watch Hill in 1962 and 1963. The family spent summers at Watch Hill, then an old money, old Hollywood enclave overlooking Block Island Sound. Yet like so much of Harknesss life, what seemed beautiful on the outside was rotting on the inside. . . Now she has one more posthumous title: muse. 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. Rebekah Harkness was practically destined to become a spoiled little rich girl. Anne married Anthony McBride in 1966[1] and had a severely brain-damaged baby who died at age 10. So what did she do? Almost as soon as William Harkness kicked the bucket, Rebekah turned into one of the most tasteless, gaudy eccentrics the Western hemisphere had ever seen. Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. But why? Images: Harkness Tower Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1653891. William was rolling in money, which made him the perfect candidate for Rebekahs expensive tastes. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. She is the inspiration behind Taylor Swift's 2020 song "The Last Great American Dynasty". She believed in reincarnation. 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. She even hosted a ballet workshop there for 20 dancers from the Robert Joffrey Company (now known as the Joffrey Ballet) in 1965. At the same time, she studied music composition and dance. '', 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. Obviously, Rebekah was completely out touch with realityso her next move makes sense. Rebekah Harkness, as seen in the December 1956 issue of. [18], In 1974, she married Niels H. Lauersen, another physician, who was 20 years her junior. When she was still desperately clinging to her ballet dreams, Harkness decided to install an enormous, blue plastic Geodesic dome right smack dab in the middle of her front lawn as a formal practice space for her failing dancers. Dancy Mason is the Editor-in-Chief at Factinate. Her daughter Terry gave birth to a severely retarded and disabled child. When she got out, she sold her Palisades mansion to the Isley Brothers. An artist (a descriptor she bestowed upon herself). Craig Unger tries to stipulate that Rebekah, who died in 1982 at the age of 67, was an interesting person. In other words, these pieces didnt exactly do justice to their surroundings. . 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 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. While he was under her employ, she would often order him around romantically. [21], Harkness' "Holiday House" in Watch Hill, Rhode Island was acquired in 2013 by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Dancer Lawrence Rhodes said it was one of the few times he was embarrassed to be in a ballet. 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. 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. On June 10, 1939, Harkness married Dickson W. Pierce, the son of Thomas M. Pierce. 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. Bill adored the child, as he did his stepchildren, whom he treated as if they were his own. Born April 17, 1915 Died June 17, 1982 (67) Showcase yourself on IMDbPro Add to list Credits She had a newfound freedom to do whatever she wanted with the piles of money in her bank account. Equipped with a ludicrous amount of self-confidence, she did something supremely stupid. Franklin Pierces three children died before reaching adulthood. Or, at least, a leg, half of her. Walker & Co. with George Herbert Walker, grandfather and great-grandfather of the Bush presidents. Rebekah Harkness. Unfit for mothering, unfit for ordinary love, unfit - untrained - to be the caretaker of a great fortune, was she altogether silly or altogether bad? Suddenly, Rebekah was a rich widowone of the wealthiest women in America, in fact. In the eyes of many, she had betrayed him. Reportedly, she wanted these updates so that she could see as little of her children as possible. (Allegedly, it was a cat if it matters.). Is there a chic way to go? One day, Rebekah would find out that question for herself. Parents. Its estimated she spent the 2020 equivalent of $86 million on the endeavor. She rang J. D. Salinger's bell dressed as a cleaning lady, having conceived the harebrained scheme that the reclusive writer's short stories be put to music. Where Harkness had her Bitch Pack, Swifts group of friends had a much-scrutinized squad. They bought Eolia from Mary's sister and her brother-in-law, Jessie Stillman and William Taylor in 1907. Just after 1966, Harkness became a grandmother when her daughter Terry gave birth to a little girl. Rebekahs son Allen once confessed how truly disturbing and sycophantic his mothers social circle was, describing the blackmailing lawyers, the weirdos, the people in the trances. Harkness also knew how to keep all of her adoring public in competition with each other, with each one of her lackies vying to become the favorite. Before her passing, she picked up her most dedicatedand most heartlessfan yet. (Yes, the seaside mansion that was the setting for Taymerica.) One of Harknesss final acts in her role as ballet maestro was also her most embarrassing. It was so wonderful - everybody running around signing wills and trying on different wigs.''. The Harkness family had a reputation for its philanthropy. ''When they started talking about putting the nursery over my room . (Perhaps this is a tale that inspired the Swift lyric, She had a marvelous time ruining everything.) Fittingly, she and her finishing school friends dubbed themselves the Bitch Pack. In October 1948, Harkness gave birth to her first child with her second husband, a daughter Edith. [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. Rebekah Harkness had ambition and drive. Rebekah Harkness Photo: Jack Mitchell/Getty Images. She once served them a cake with $10 bills baked into it. Now she has one more posthumous title: muse. Socialite circles are infamously tight-lipped about their marriages, but theres almost no doubt that Rebekahs union with Pierce was a dismal affairand one day, she made a disturbing confession. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Pierce was the descendant of Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, and seemed like a good match for the ambitious girlexcept really, he was just a starter husband. The 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. This is where Rebekah really started getting a tarnished reputation, and things got so bad that no amount of money could fix her downfall. The caption read: A young woman with a surprising range of interests, Mrs. Harkness is a sculptor, a musician of professional standing (shes a member of ASCAP), a skier (shell soon off to her chalet in Gstaad with her three children for a holiday), and an active supporter of many charities. Below her in the spread? Why? A philanthropist. Allen Pierce, was convicted of murder after shooting a man in a brawl, her daughter Terry's child was born with brain damage and died at the age of ten and her other daughter Edith died of suicide, following numerous stays at mental health institutions. Rebekah Harkness was one of the world's richest women, the Standard Oil heiress and founding patron of the Harkness Ballet. It had hand-carved Louis XIV chairs and a huge mural that featured the companys dancers as well as Rebekah Harkness in the nude. A patron of dance and medicine. ''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.''. Rebekah also loaded up on art and real estate. Only his other flaws were far darker than this silly hobby. It might also have been interesting to see how a feminist writer would have assimilated the facts of Rebekah Harkness's sorry life. . The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. End her life, what seemed beautiful on the endeavor not to kill herself stipulate that,. So much of Harknesss final acts in her role as ballet maestro was also her most embarrassing reviews, videos... Care that her classmates were people with Last names like Roosevelt a grandmother her!, then an old money, old Hollywood enclave overlooking Block Island Sound a when., 1939, Harkness married Dickson W. 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rebekah harkness children