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. One critic denounced it as the worst mural ever made. 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. 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]. 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. While a kinder critic likened it to a lavish ladies powder room, less-generous experts compared it to a Staten Island beauty parlor. Ouch. . [4], On October 1, 1947, Harkness married William Hale Harkness (19001954), the son of William Lamon Harkness, both Standard Oil heirs. Her daughter Terry hired Roy Cohn in a (failed) attempt to have her will invalidated. In 1961, Harkness decided she wanted to become the next great ballet master, so she sponsored actual master Robert Joffreys artisanal ballet troupe. 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. The celebrities brought paparazzi and, echoes of the Rebekah Harkness era, complaints from the neighbors. The New York Times described him as an embarrassing sort of man, and his hobbies completely back this up. 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. All of the work and much of the music was original. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life. Latest News on Rebekah Harkness . Was she power or pawn? [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. Her children, not so much. She supported the arts in general, ballet in particular, and she had the wealth with which to do it. Ugh. 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. [2] Neither parent was involved in the upbringing of the children, leaving them to be raised primarily by nannies. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. Why? Discover Rebekah Harkness, the extravagant woman who inspired Taylor Swifts song the last great american dynasty.. After that, Rebekah really let it all hang out. Materials. The Joffrey had a price to pay for Rebekah Harknesss support. Rebekah and Bill Harkness had one daughter, Edith. Yet like so much of Harknesss life, what seemed beautiful on the outside was rotting on the inside. The socialite was born in 1915 to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri. Maybe. . She attended finishing school at the Fermata School for Girls in Aiken, South Carolina, whose other alums included Roosevelts and Auchinclosses. In the art world, the shade International Klein Blue is famous, and was custom-mixed by renowned artist Yves Klein in 1960. She danced, too, and composed music. Her first major contributions were helping to fund the early . $ 18.79. ''She's escaped. [4], In the 1960s, Harkness became well known as a philanthropist and patron of the arts. ''We were the favorites,'' says a dancer. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. One day, Harknesss antics were so extreme that they got her kicked off a cruise ship. Once she pretended to be a cleaning woman and approached the reclusive J.D. Her son, Allen Pierce, was convicted of murder. (Yes, the seaside mansion that was the setting for Taymerica.) She married her second husband, Standard Oil heir William Hale Harkness, in 1947. 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. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. But Rebekah made the most of it. Mary and Edward Harkness - The Harknesses at Eolia. 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. All rights reserved. Because of her misused muscles and her extravagant dependence on testosterone, Harkness began to lose her dancers elegance. She was brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum. 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. 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. Now she has one more posthumous title: muse. The only problem was that the urn was too small. 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. But the result was disastrous. 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? Calling all Swifties and History Nerds! After her husband passed away in 1954, Harkness poured more money into her Watch Hill compound, installing 8 kitchens and 21 baths. Rebekah Harkness. Wife of Private. Illustrated. . Yet this came with great tragedy: The baby, named Angel, was severely brain-damaged. He had a daughter and a granddaughter who became the actress Elizabeth Montgomery. Harkness' passions for dance and music followed her into adulthood. William fathered two children with Edith Hale: [9] Louise Hale Harkness (1898-1978) who married David Sinton Ingalls, and William Hale Harkness. Swift put up No Trespassing signs that they didnt like either. An awning saved her life. 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. As she aged, Rebekah started to live off of champagne and injections, including testosterone and an assortment of pain medications. 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. After two years, Rebekah Harkness suddenly cut her ties to the Joffrey when Robert Joffrey, its founder and choreographer, wouldnt rename his company for her. Her ego, however, overrode common sense and proportion. She ended up selling the theater at a huge loss, and the Harkness Ballet company folded in 1975. When they criticized her for getting pudgy, she took up skating and dance, practicing with a fierce discipline. She was born Rebekah Semple West in 1915 to a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri. But the book also states Harkness was "brought up by a nanny who was chosen because she had worked in an insane asylum." Rebekah died on 17 June 1982 in Manhattan, New York, USA. Born April 17, 1915 Died June 17, 1982 (67) Showcase yourself on IMDbPro Add to list Credits It was not part of the Harkness Ballet, Harkness House or the Rebekah Harkness Foundation. [18], In 1974, she married Niels H. Lauersen, another physician, who was 20 years her junior. 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. [4] Harkness also surrounded herself with other well-known creatives, like yogi B.K.S. She died June 17, 1982. Though Rebekah grew up in a wealthy St. Louis family, her social status was elevated when, after her first divorce, she married William. She also helped discover and train many acclaimed dancers, regardless of their race, background or body shape. (Watch it here.). 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.'' All rights reserved. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. With her help, the Joffrey won international renownsomething she wanted for herself. Rebekah Harkness. If Harknesss lovers are anything to go by, she was a wildcat in the bedroom. Harkness' obsession with dance began when she first took ballet classes as a teenager. It donated Harkness Tower at Yale, Harkness Commons at Harvard and Harkness Pavilion at New York Hospital. Immediate Needs: $1,500. Copyright 2022 SLM Media Group. Well, Harkness couldnt bear to be upstaged, so she unceremoniously fired Rhodes and doomed her own precious ballet company in the process. Rebekah Harkness was born in 1915 to a rich, emotionally frigid St. Louis family. Harkness was friends with a young Potter Stewart, whom she affectionately called "Potsie," and their relationship was written about by her biographer Craig Unger. Her grandfather founded the St. Louis Union Trust Company, ensuring she grew up comfortably. 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. As a sad footnote to the story of Rebekah Harkness is the tragedy of her three children. 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. In a matter of years, her life would go from classy to just plain messy. Based on "The Last Great American Dynasty's" lyrics, it's clear that Swift feels a palpable connection with Harkness, despite the decades between them. Press photo of Rebekah Harkness in 1966 with two o her Harkness dancers. 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. Oh my God, the question here is: What didnt she do? One work, Dreams of Glory, had an insipid story about a little boy who dreams of becoming John F. Kennedy. In December 1956, she even appeared in the pages of Vogue. Dancy Mason is the Editor-in-Chief at Factinate. If a dancer needed dental work or a nose job, she paid for it. A patron of dance and medicine. According to one story, Harknesss adoration for her grandchild vanished almost overnight. Not just going to performances, but sponsoring entire ballet companies, buying up real estate for them and sending them on world tours. She loved to pour Dom Perignon into her pool and let guests swim around in the bubbly. An artist (a descriptor she bestowed upon herself). But the loud parties caused problems with the neighbors. 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. In 1962 she turned her Rhode Island estate, Holiday House, into a summer dance camp for the entire Joffrey Ballet company. Then a little-known ballet company, they spent the summers practicing and experimenting with new ideas. The family spent summers at Watch Hill, then an old money, old Hollywood enclave overlooking Block Island Sound. Might Mrs. Harkness be seen as a casualty of her own doomed and defiled expectations? 2023 Cond Nast. An artist (a descriptor she bestowed upon herself). Rebekah Harkness spent much of the Standard Oil fortune she inherited on the ballet. 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. 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, born Rebekah Semple West, grew up amidst splendor in St. Louis as the third and youngest child of Allen Tarwater West, heir to a banking fortune, and Rebekah Semple, daughter of a wealthy merchant. 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. [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. One sometimes wonders if the point of all these poor-little-rich-girl/boy biographies is to lull the rest of us into a false sense of security: She is so unlike us that we are not encouraged to reflect upon our own mortality, the contemplation of which is a healthy and necessary exercise. If I report on the demise of the multimillionaire patron of the dance dry-eyed, it is because I am confident in the belief that nothing we say about the dead can prejudice the Defense or tip the Scales of Judgment. However Jamie has since. In 1971, she married a fourth time, to another doctor, but one 20 years her junior. The best revenge might be living well, but that doesn't mean we can always turn the other cheek. In an insane asylum that they didnt like either matter of years her... 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