And she gave Alvin Ailey his first commission. She brought in top choreographers, Jerome Robbins and Brian Macdonald to teach 16 and 17 year olds. I don't want this screaming baby over my room! Harkness other daughter, Edith, died of suicide after many attempts. Swift gave all her friends matching red-white-and-blue onesies. Convicted of murder in the second degree, he was behind the bars of a Florida jail. Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from Life to Compact Cars and Trucks to A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius. Well get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics youre interested in. Before his death in August 1954, they had one child together; Edith Hale Harkness (19481982). 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. September 30, 2013 by knelson. This story was updated in 2022. When publicizing her ballet, Harkness became notorious for refusing to showcase any of her talented dancers in the promotional photographs. In addition to . Might Mrs. Harkness be seen as a casualty of her own doomed and defiled expectations? People reported that Harknesss lavish marble bathrooms were often splattered with blood, and that her muscles had begun to calcify. 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. New York: William Morrow & Company. (''I'm glad Edith is gone,'' said the unquenchable Bobby Scevers. 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. 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. 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. Her wealthy neighbors had other ideas, and scornfully forced her to remove the unsightly object. Her grandfather founded the St. Louis Union Trust Company. In the 1960s, Harkness took Bobby Scevers, a dancer who was 25 years her junior, as her lover. Rebekah Harkness patronage allowed the Joffrey to perform in Iran. It makes no sense - and no sense is made of it. This had devastating consequences. 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 By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. That marriage lasted three years. [4], On October 1, 1947, Harkness married William Hale Harkness (19001954), the son of William Lamon Harkness, both Standard Oil heirs. As well see, Rebekahs love only devolved from there. Oh my God, the question here is: What didnt she do? She said she married her first, photographer Dickson Pierce, because she had nothing else to do. No surprise, that union ended in divorce. 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. Harkness died of cancer at 67 in 1982. Mary and Edward Harkness were married in 1904. Tag Archives: Rebekah Harkness. She was also a composer. 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. [1] Before their divorce in 1946, they had two children; Allen Pierce (b. Factinate is a fact website that is dedicated to finding and sharing fun facts about science, history, animals, films, people, and much more. It is possible to write an edifying biography about an unedifying life. Still, when you marry for money, you earn every penny. She developed an addiction to injections of B-vitamins, painkillers and testosterone. At the end of the song, she suggests a certain satisfaction regardless of the answer: There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen / I had a marvelous time ruining everything.. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Swift wrote and recorded a new album called Folklore. 30 July 2020. View Full Details. And she was just getting started. 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, After she was widowed, Mrs. Harkness renovated her Rhode Island house; she installed 8 kitchens and 21 baths. But why? Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? Copyright 2023 by Factinate.com. View Rebekah Harkness results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. 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. Soon Clive Barnes was writing that the Harkness Ballet had ''descended beyond the necessity of serious consideration,'' and in 1975 it folded. There she delighted, as she wrote in her scrapbook, in setting out to ''do everything bad. Rebekah Harkness, composer, sculptor, dance patron, and philanthropist who founded the Harkness Ballet, photographed in her office in 1964. While he was under her employ, she would often order him around romantically. Though Harkness didnt seem to care that he was using her, she probably should have. 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." The couple divorced in 1946. Harkness was friends with a young Potter Stewart, whom she affectionately called "Potsie," and their relationship was written about by her biographer Craig Unger. Is there a chic way to go? One day, Rebekah would find out that question for herself. (You can see a video clip of Salvador Dali and Rebekah Harkness here.). Rebekah Harkness, the Scorned Socialite of Watch Hill, R.I. bought them an old firehouse in Westerly to practice in, discover and train many acclaimed dancers, regardless of their race, background or body shape, Dancer Lawrence Rhodes said it was one of the few times he was embarrassed, would train more professional dancers than any other company, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1653891, The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company. Uh, how sweet? Although Catherine's successor Queen Anne Boleyn suffered an infamously dark fate, Aragon's own life was somehow even more tragic. 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. 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. 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. 432 pp. Not only did her ballet collapse, her whole family did as well. Did Mommy and Daddy notice? They called her ballets worthless, her music crap. Her daughter Terry gave birth to a severely retarded and disabled child. Though the Harkness Ballet was floundering, there was one brilliant choreographer, Larry Rhodes, who received good press. The answer is more complicated than Swifts song reveals. Her passion, such as it was, burned itself out quickly, coincidentally with the baby's pulling a ribbon out of her hair. Nine servants and three cooks kept the place running. Anne married Anthony McBride in 1966[1] and had a severely brain-damaged baby who died at age 10. Swift later connects herself to Harkness in the final moments of the song: Holiday House sat quietly on that beach / Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / And then it was bought by me, Who knows, if I never showed up, what couldve been / There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen / I had a marvelous time ruining everything, I had a marvelous time ruining everything / A marvelous time ruining everything / A marvelous time / I had a marvelous time, Also in the song, Swift mentions some of Harkness antics. Though Harkness took those nasty testosterone injections to strengthen her body for dance, the medicine actually had the opposite effect. 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. The two purchased a mansion in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, which they nicknamed Holiday House. Edith spent her life in and out of mental institutions, finally committing suicide in 1982. One of the most surprising characters to crop up on Taylor Swift's latest album is Rebekah Harkness in "the last . If you hear oil and think Russian Oligarch rich, youd be pretty much right. ''Kiss me,'' she commanded. Shop for Rebekah Harkness at Walmart.com. Perhaps most tragically, Rebekahs little granddaughter Angel had passed just before Rebekah herself; she was just 10 years old. Though Rebekah grew up in a wealthy St. Louis family, her social status was elevated when, after her first divorce, she married William. The end came swift, fast, and brutal for Harkness. The Harkness Ballet would eventually have two touring companies, a youth ballet (which taught Patrick Swayze) and its own theater. [23], An American Ballet Story is an upcoming documentary film directed by Leslie Strait and sponsored by the International Documentary Association. By 1980, many of Harknesss old friends had dropped off, and she was left with only her most sycophantic hangers-on. [12] She was born April 17, 1915 to a wealthy St. Louis stockbroker Allen Tarwater West and his trophy wife Rebekah. Rebekah Harkness was practically destined to become a spoiled little rich girl. Rebekah and Bill Harkness had one daughter, Edith. 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 of the work and much of the music was original. . Bill adored the child, as he did his stepchildren, whom he treated as if they were his own. William, 15 years her senior, saw Rebekah as a naughty child in need of a spanking. [2][4] During her final days, Harkness began to reconcile with her children. 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. She filled her fish tank with goldfish and Scotch. ''Blue Blood'' is edifying only insofar as it raises questions about what a biography should be. As she aged, Rebekah started to live off of champagne and injections, including testosterone and an assortment of pain medications. 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. He was not convinced. Her first major contributions were helping to fund the early . 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. Culture Taylor Swift Folk Albums Oil. 1940) and Anne Terry Pierce (b. Their antics soon became legendary. According to one story, Harknesss adoration for her grandchild vanished almost overnight. She shoved $5 million into building the Harkness Theater, a lavish studio complete with marble staircases and a chandelier, and it was all for nothing: The company collapsed in 1975. When she got out, she sold her Palisades mansion to the Isley Brothers. 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 . BLUE BLOOD By Craig Unger. Her son, Allen Pierce, was convicted of murder. [24] It explores the Harkness' legacy and her company, Harkness Ballet.[25]. The Holiday House property was divided into three lots, according to Watch Hill Through Time. Or, at least, a leg, half of . In 2020, Swift then penned the song the last great american dynasty, which tells Harknesss twisted story for the world. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. For what its worth, Allen called the years he spent in the clinkerand away from his motherthe happiest of his life.. 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. But behind her perfect faade lies a chilling history. When she was still just a young girl, the Harknesses noticed that their Betty was putting on weight, so they signed the pudgy girl up for dance and figure skating lessons to help her shed those unsightly pounds. 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 . The music video featured the beach and the waves from the house, just as Rebekah Harkness would have seen it. 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. Upon her death in 1982, Rebekah Harkness was called many things in her New York Times obituary. The gargantuan house itself was partially demolished, then sold to a family that remodeled it and renamed it High Watch. Rebekah struggled with drugs and alcohol. . Franklin Pierces three children died before reaching adulthood. But she annoyed the neighbors, alienated her children and provided a tempting target for critics. 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. ''Money can buy anything.'' He later said his time in prison was the happiest of his life. 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