Putting mineral oil in the punch at her sisters debutante ball. People called it the Taylor Swift Tax, though it never became law. Rebekah Vardy has five children in total. Rocky Finds His Heart. 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. Mary and Edward Harkness were married in 1904. Her daughter Terry hired Roy Cohn in a (failed) attempt to have her will invalidated. Full body measurements, dress & shoe size will be updated soon. She stole a neighbors dog and dyed it key lime green. It would be interesting to see what a social historian, someone familiar with the hierarchies of caste and class in America - or, better yet, a novelist with a theological bent - would make of the raw material Mr. Unger has gathered. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. She believed in reincarnation. That even the rich must die? Nine servants and three cooks kept the place running. $ 25.93. But behind her perfect faade lies a chilling history. From the outside, Rebekah and William Harknesss marriage looked immaculate. She was brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum. 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 Scevers, as it turned out, was a self-identified gay man, and couldnt have been in the relationship for romance. In other words, these pieces didnt exactly do justice to their surroundings. 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. Though the Harkness Ballet was floundering, there was one brilliant choreographer, Larry Rhodes, who received good press. However, the connection between the two women, despite being eras apart, may go beyond mere real estate. 1940) and Anne Terry Pierce (b. In 1915, Rebekah West was born in St. Louis to Mr. and Mrs. Allen Tarwater West. That money can't buy happiness? 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. (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? Oh my God, the question here is: What didnt she do? Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. September 30, 2013 by knelson. 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. Rebekahs daughter Edith was clinically depressed and suicidal for much of her life (wonder why), and spent scores of years in and out of mental institutions following near fatal attempts at self-harm. 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. One work, Dreams of Glory, had an insipid story about a little boy who dreams of becoming John F. Kennedy. Clark Gable, Douglas Fairbanks and Andrew Mellon owned homes there. [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. Rebekah Harkness Rebekah Harkness (1915-1982) Rebekah Harkness, born Rebekah Semple West, was one of the foremost American patrons of dance. She gave them weekends off and charge accounts to the shops in town. Or, at least, a leg, half of . for scholarships, administrative costs and new set designs. . Without any real studio space, her dancers often practiced on her front lawn. It makes no sense - and no sense is made of it. He had a daughter and a granddaughter who became the actress Elizabeth Montgomery. 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. By James Crowley On 7/24/20 at 12:22 PM EDT. Rebekah Harkness asked. She also expanded Holiday House to include eight kitchens, 42 rooms and 21 baths. The best new culture, style, and beauty stories from Vogue, delivered to you daily. Why? An awning saved her life. Before joining the team, she worked as a course lecturer while completing her Ph.D. in English Literature. And then there were herthree children. One of Harknesss final acts in her role as ballet maestro was also her most embarrassing. She had a salon of sorts. Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. The ashes were placed in a $250,000 jeweled urn made by Salvador Dali. She once dressed as a waitress at one of them so she could eavesdrop on the guests. 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. But she annoyed the neighbors, alienated her children and provided a tempting target for critics. Copyright 2023 by Factinate.com. The lovely pair only made it four years before divorcing. Eolia was one of their seven homes and reputed . Allen Pierce, Rebekah's son by the first of her four husbands, was unable to be present. Rebekah Harkness. At the very end, according to Bobby Scevers, as she lay dying of cancer, ''It was complete chaos. 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. Upon her death in 1982, Rebekah Harkness was called many things in her New York Times obituary. BOX 191606 She was 67.) She insisted that it perform ballets to scores she had written. 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. But Rebekah made the most of it. 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. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. She also helped discover and train many acclaimed dancers, regardless of their race, background or body shape. 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. 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. But it is clear that as a spoiled young woman growing up in St. Louis between the wars,. ''Money can buy anything.'' Rebekah Harkness, composer, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet, photographed in her office in 1964. In 1961, Rebekah Harkness became the sponsor of the late Robert Joffrey's small ballet troupe. (''She walked,'' an acquaintance said, ''like Frankenstein.'') William Hale died of a heart attack in 1954. Rebekah Harkness. 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. Harkness, fittingly, belonged to an American dynasty. She is from USA. Culture Taylor Swift Folk Albums Oil. 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. [24] It explores the Harkness' legacy and her company, Harkness Ballet.[25]. Harkness had no problem dropping Joffrey like a hot potato when he wouldnt support her dismal vanity projects. The Robert Joffrey Company summer workshop at Rebekah Harkness' Watch Hill estate in Rhode Island, July 1962. Before she passed, the socialite spent $250,000 to commission a bedazzled urn from none other than Salvador Dali. For example, he liked to vanity-publish nonsensical books that even he admitted were awful. Craig Unger, a former editor at New York magazine, appears to be dazzled by all this, although it is sometimes hard to tell whether his breathlessness arises from approval, disapproval, sadness, awe or simple bewilderment. Rebekah Harkness was born in 1915 to a rich, emotionally frigid St. Louis family. Mr. Unger tells us that under the direction of the dancer-choreographer Larry Rhodes the company began to garner critical raves - whereupon Mrs. Harkness fired him. Copyright 2022 SLM Media Group. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure. [4], On October 1, 1947, Harkness married William Hale Harkness (19001954), the son of William Lamon Harkness, both Standard Oil heirs. Iyengar[4] and Salvador Dal, who would design her urn upon her death. The Joffrey had a price to pay for Rebekah Harknesss support. Harkness was surprisingly generous when it suited her, but also unpredictably bizarre. Equipped with a ludicrous amount of self-confidence, she did something supremely stupid. Taylor Swift bought the former Holiday House in 2013 for a reported $17.75 million in cash. While he was under her employ, she would often order him around romantically. It bought her the services of George Skibine, Marjorie Tallchief, Alvin Ailey, Erik Bruhn and Andy Warhol, but it did not guarantee her success. I want to look away, but I just cant. In 1956, Harkness burst onto the high society scene after. The story of Rebekah Harkness is way more complicated than Taylor Swift lets on. The Harkness family had a reputation for its philanthropy. Fast forward 60 years, and another thin, rich, beautiful white woman bought Holiday House. rebekah harkness children. 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 . Swift explains it briefly in a verseHarkness once owned Holiday House, the singers current Watch Hill, Rhode Island, home. Jean Stein and George Plimpton did that brilliantly in ''Edie,'' the biography of poor Edie Sedgwick. The socialite was born in 1915 to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri. In November of 1977, her son Allen shot a man during a brawl in Miami. Taylor Swift and Rebekah Harkness may have been born decades apart, but it seems they shared a talent for dominating the headlines. Today its pretty much forgotten, despite the tens of millions of dollars she spent on it. Around this time, Harkness fancied herself a composer. (Actually, it was a private My Favorite Murder crossover group, if you care.) . Christians have a tendency to do two things when exploring Jesus' death: downplay the role of the state, and interpret Jesus' feud with the Pharisees, in very anti-Semitic terms. For a time in the 1950s, socialite Rebekah Harkness was true American royalty. 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. Its here where Rebekah catapulted into high society. Rebekah and Bill Harkness had one daughter, Edith. Rebekah Harkness. Its estimated she spent the 2020 equivalent of $86 million on the endeavor. Harkness definitely wasnt the most fiscally-responsible business woman, but she does have the distinction of being the strangest girl-boss in history. The best revenge might be living well, but that doesn't mean we can always turn the other cheek. In 1961, Harkness gave love another shot, marrying the prominent celebrity doctor Benjamin Harrison Kean. Rebekah Harkness, as seen in the December 1956 issue of. She filled her fish tank with goldfish and Scotch. The couple divorced in 1977but Rebekahs life was about to take a much darker turn. They performed a strip tease at a social event and put mineral oil into the punch bowl at a coming-out party. She was born April 17, 1915 to a wealthy St. Louis stockbroker Allen Tarwater West and his trophy wife Rebekah. When I first saw someone bring up Blue Blood (The story of Rebekah Harkness and how one of the richest families in America descended into drugs, madness, suicide and violence), I was lurking in a Taylor Swift Facebook group. Shutterstock Advertisement 17. We are told by Mr. Unger - who is an uncomfortable stranger in the world of the rich, unused to deciphering nuances of caste - that the Harknesses' seven-year marriage was a happy one. She attended finishing school at the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, whose other alums included Roosevelts and Auchinclosses. 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. Still, when you marry for money, you earn every penny. Anyone can read what you share. The Swift connection is that the superstar bought Holiday House for a reported $17 million in 2013. Harkness took up dancing and ice skating to lose weight and was highly disciplined in both endeavors. Not really. The music video featured the beach and the waves from the house, just as Rebekah Harkness would have seen it. For one, her emotionally frigid parents wanted absolutely nothing to do with raising her. By 1982, the end was near for Harkness, yet tragically her son Allen wasnt there. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 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. Silver Gelatin. Bobby Scevers, Mr. Unger writes, ''had no sympathy'' for the child. [18], In 1974, she married Niels H. Lauersen, another physician, who was 20 years her junior. [9][14] Following the divorce, Harkness gained custody of both children. Reportedly, the baby Angel innocently pulled a ribbon from Harknesss perfectly coifed hair. .more Get A Copy ''We were the favorites,'' says a dancer. Aw, how sweet. She had a newfound freedom to do whatever she wanted with the piles of money in her bank account. Harkness had to do everything in styleeven when it came to moving on to the next life. Discover Rebekah Harkness, the extravagant woman who inspired Taylor Swifts song the last great american dynasty.. [10] In 1947, William Hale married Rebekah Semple West, [11] who was previously married to Dickson Pierce. All rights reserved. 2023 Cond Nast. Half sister of Private; Private and Anne T. McBride. If Harknesss lovers are anything to go by, she was a wildcat in the bedroom. Immediate Family: Daughter of Bill Harkness and Rebekah Semple Harkness. He. Uh, how sweet? One critic denounced it as the worst mural ever made. Rarely does singer and songstress Taylor Swift write songs about someone outside her immediate circle. Harkness started acting out early in her adolescence, and her antics would put any other mean girl to shame. Rebekah was born in 1915 to Allen and Rebekah West in St. Louis, Missouri. Eager to please her emotionally unavailable parents, young Rebekah worked incredibly hard at her dance and ice skating lessons. She was notorious along the eastern seaboard for her tacky, campy, new money sensibilities, and her Harkness Theater was the epitome of her gaudy aesthetic. Taylor Swift By Cosmopolitan UK, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90905376. Convicted of murder in the second degree, he was behind the bars of a Florida jail. 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. Edith spent her life in and out of mental institutions, finally committing suicide in 1982. . This is where Rebekah really started getting a tarnished reputation, and things got so bad that no amount of money could fix her downfall. Yet while there, Harkness gave new meaning to the word prima donna. The socialite, fancying herself a dance expert, started writing her own ballets. That marriage lasted three years. Her reason was chilling. She got thrown off a cruise for swimming nude in the pool and swearing at the crew. Though Harkness took those nasty testosterone injections to strengthen her body for dance, the medicine actually had the opposite effect. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Half sister of Private ; Private and Anne T. McBride connection between the two women despite... The singers current Watch Hill estate in Rhode Island, home Mr. and Mrs. Allen West! 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