Babe Paley
Encyclopedia
Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley (July 5, 1915 – July 6, 1978) was an American socialite
and style icon. She was known by the popular nickname "Babe" for most of her life. She was named to the International Best Dressed List
Hall of Fame in 1958.
, Massachusetts
, she was the daughter of world-renowned brain surgeon Dr. Harvey Cushing
, who was professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins
, Harvard and Yale
universities, and Katharine Stone Crowell Cushing. Her older sisters both married into money and prestige: Minnie Cushing
was the second wife of Vincent Astor
, and Betsey Cushing
married James Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
, and then later John Hay Whitney
.
A student at the Westover School
in Middlebury, Connecticut
, she was presented as a debutante in October 1934 in Boston
, with Roosevelt's sons in attendance. Her debut drew great attention during the Great Depression
, and marked the beginning of her social career. She graduated from The Winsor School
in Boston in 1934.
in New York City
when she met and married oil
heir Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Jr. in 1940. Though her mother preferred that Babe marry a powerful man with a title, she generally approved of the union. Stanley's sister was Katharine Mortimer
, second wife of the tennis player and socialite Francis Xavier Shields, who by his first marriage with Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi was the grandfather of actress Brooke Shields
.
In 1941 Time Magazine elected Mrs Stanley Mortimer Jr to be the World's second best dressed woman after Wallis Simpson and before Aimee de Heeren.
Barbara "Babe" Mortimer was named to the best-dressed list in 1945 and 1946. Her position at Vogue gave her access to designer clothes, often given in exchange for Babe's high profile and glamorous image. She became the mother of two children: Amanda Jay Mortimer
(later Burden) and Stanley Grafton Mortimer III, but her marriage to Mortimer, Jr. ended by 1946. Mortimer, Jr. went on to marry Kathleen Harriman, the daughter of W. Averell Harriman
, and fathered three additional children. Several retrospectives have claimed that Babe neglected her children while in pursuit of social status and depended upon the wealth of her husbands to support her lavish lifestyle. Her daughter Amanda
has admitted that their relationship was "virtually nonexistent" and that the distance "was her choice, not mine."
After her divorce, she received a settlement based on a trust fund. She then set out to make a second high-profile marriage. In 1946, she met William S. Paley
, the founder of CBS
. Paley was phenomenally wealthy, with an interest in the arts and a desire to be a part of New York's café society
. With Babe's social connections, beauty and style, Paley stood a greater chance of being granted entrée into a society which, until that time, had effectively shut him out. For Babe, Paley offered wealth, security and worldliness. Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer and William S. Paley married in 1947 and the couple had two additional children, Kate and Bill, Jr.
, where a succession of landscape architects and garden designers beautified the grounds. The more distant retreat, Kiluna North, on Squam Lake
in New Hampshire
, was purchased in 1957; there they entertained celebrities who welcomed the privacy; Squam Lake's woodlands provided settings for the film On Golden Pond
(1981).
Though the antisemitic prejudices of society excluded the Paleys from a number of important social functions and exclusive clubs, Babe nevertheless kept a circle of high-society friends that included author Truman Capote
and fellow socialite/style icon Slim Keith
. Capote included Paley and Keith in his group of "swans" (glamorous New York socialite women) along with Gloria Guinness
, Marella Agnelli
, and C.Z. Guest. Paley famously dropped Capote as a friend when excerpts of his much-touted work in progress, Answered Prayers
, revealed the gossipy confidences of many of New York's elite.
In addition to lavish entertaining, Babe maintained her position on the best-dressed list fourteen times before being inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame in 1958. Babe regularly bought entire haute couture
collections from major fashion houses like Givenchy
and Valentino SpA
. Her personal style was inspirational to thousands of women who tried to copy her, but as Bill Blass
once observed, “I never saw her not grab anyone’s attention, the hair, the makeup, the crispness. You were never conscious of what she was wearing; you noticed Babe and nothing else.”
Her personal, unconventional style was enormously influential. A photograph of Babe with a scarf tied to her handbag, for example, created a trendy tidal wave that millions of women emulated. She often mixed extravagant jewelry by Fulco di Verdura
and Jean Schlumberger (jewelry designer)
with cheap costume pieces, and embraced letting her hair go gray instead of camouflaging it with dye. In a stroke of modernism, she made pantsuits chic. Babe's image and status reportedly created a strain on her marriage to Paley, who insisted that his wife be wrapped in sable and completely bejeweled at all times. By many biographers' accounts, Babe was lonely and frustrated as Paley carried on a chain of extramarital affairs. This psychological battering took its toll on Babe and her family. She was constantly under the scrutiny of society and the media, who pressed her to maintain the unrealistic image of a social and fashion goddess. These external pressures, as well as a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, finally affected her health.
. She planned her own funeral, right down to the food and wine selections that would be served at the funeral luncheon. She carefully allocated her jewelry collection and personal belongings to friends and family, wrapped them in colorful paper, and created a complete file system with directions as to how they would be distributed after her death.
Babe finally succumbed to lung cancer on July 6, 1978, the day after her 63rd birthday. She was interred in the Memorial Cemetery of St. John's Church, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
. On his death in 1990, Bill Paley was interred next to her.
Many fashion designers and interior decorators continue to reference Babe Paley's style in their own creations. Paley and her "swans", much like Jacqueline Kennedy during the 1960s, exemplified a young, attractive and affluent class that many Americans aspired to join.
, Capote
(2005) by Michelle Harrison and in Infamous
(2006) by Sigourney Weaver
.
In Jacqueline Susann
's 1969 novel, The Love Machine, the characters of socialite Judith Austin and her husband Gregory Austin, CEO of a television network, were said to be based on Babe and William Paley. Dyan Cannon
portrayed Judith in the 1971 film version.
Also in the book Fifth Avenue,5am which is written about the novel and film Breakfast at Tiffany's
she is referred to as the muse of Truman Capote
with whom she was a close friend.
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
and style icon. She was known by the popular nickname "Babe" for most of her life. She was named to the International Best Dressed List
International Best Dressed List
The International Best Dressed List was founded by fashionista Eleanor Lambert in 1940 as an attempt to boost the reputation of American fashion at the time.People who have been on the list include from A to Z:-The International Hall of Fame: Women:...
Hall of Fame in 1958.
Early life
Born Barbara Cushing in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, she was the daughter of world-renowned brain surgeon Dr. Harvey Cushing
Harvey Cushing
Harvey Williams Cushing, M.D. , was an American neurosurgeon and a pioneer of brain surgery, and the first to describe Cushing's syndrome...
, who was professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins was a wealthy American entrepreneur, philanthropist and abolitionist of 19th-century Baltimore, Maryland, now most noted for his philanthropic creation of the institutions that bear his name, namely the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the Johns Hopkins University and its associated...
, Harvard and Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
universities, and Katharine Stone Crowell Cushing. Her older sisters both married into money and prestige: Minnie Cushing
Mary Benedict Cushing
Mary Cushing Fosburgh and known as "Minnie" was a socialite, the wife of William Vincent Astor, and the widow of the painter James Whitney Fosburgh. She was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York City Center, and was on the board of the Yale Art Gallery...
was the second wife of Vincent Astor
Vincent Astor
William Vincent Astor was a businessman and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Early life:...
, and Betsey Cushing
Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney
Betsey Roosevelt Whitney , was an American philanthropist, the ex-wife of James Roosevelt , and later wife of American millionaire and U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St...
married James Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, and then later John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney , colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and a member of the Whitney family.-Family:...
.
A student at the Westover School
Westover School
The Westover School, often referred to simply as "Westover," is an independent college-preparatory day and boarding school for girls. Located in Middlebury, Connecticut, USA, the school offers grades 9-12...
in Middlebury, Connecticut
Middlebury, Connecticut
Middlebury is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,451 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, she was presented as a debutante in October 1934 in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, with Roosevelt's sons in attendance. Her debut drew great attention during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and marked the beginning of her social career. She graduated from The Winsor School
The Winsor School
The Winsor School is a girls' college prep school for day students in grades 5-12 founded in 1886. The school is located in Boston, Massachusetts and has approximately 432 students representing 57 communities in Massachusetts. The endowment as of July 1, 2007 was $50,516,000 which is $110,640 per...
in Boston in 1934.
Marriages
Paley worked as a fashion editor for VogueVogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
when she met and married oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
heir Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Jr. in 1940. Though her mother preferred that Babe marry a powerful man with a title, she generally approved of the union. Stanley's sister was Katharine Mortimer
Katharine Mortimer
Katharine Mortimer, was an American socialite.She was one of the six children of the stockbroker and U.S. amateur court tennis champion Stanley Grafton Mortimer and Kathleen Tilford...
, second wife of the tennis player and socialite Francis Xavier Shields, who by his first marriage with Princess Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi was the grandfather of actress Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
.
In 1941 Time Magazine elected Mrs Stanley Mortimer Jr to be the World's second best dressed woman after Wallis Simpson and before Aimee de Heeren.
Barbara "Babe" Mortimer was named to the best-dressed list in 1945 and 1946. Her position at Vogue gave her access to designer clothes, often given in exchange for Babe's high profile and glamorous image. She became the mother of two children: Amanda Jay Mortimer
Amanda Burden
Amanda Jay Mortimer Burden is the director of the New York City Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission....
(later Burden) and Stanley Grafton Mortimer III, but her marriage to Mortimer, Jr. ended by 1946. Mortimer, Jr. went on to marry Kathleen Harriman, the daughter of W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
, and fathered three additional children. Several retrospectives have claimed that Babe neglected her children while in pursuit of social status and depended upon the wealth of her husbands to support her lavish lifestyle. Her daughter Amanda
Amanda Burden
Amanda Jay Mortimer Burden is the director of the New York City Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission....
has admitted that their relationship was "virtually nonexistent" and that the distance "was her choice, not mine."
After her divorce, she received a settlement based on a trust fund. She then set out to make a second high-profile marriage. In 1946, she met William S. Paley
William S. Paley
William S. Paley was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.-Early life:...
, the founder of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. Paley was phenomenally wealthy, with an interest in the arts and a desire to be a part of New York's café society
Café Society
Café society was the collective description for the so-called "Beautiful People" and "Bright Young Things" who gathered in fashionable cafes and restaurants in New York, Paris, and London beginning in the late 19th century...
. With Babe's social connections, beauty and style, Paley stood a greater chance of being granted entrée into a society which, until that time, had effectively shut him out. For Babe, Paley offered wealth, security and worldliness. Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer and William S. Paley married in 1947 and the couple had two additional children, Kate and Bill, Jr.
Style
Paley set about to cultivate and create a picture-perfect social world. The couple took an elegant apartment at the St. Regis and hired noted interior designer Billy Baldwin (1903–1983) to decorate. She and Paley lived there during the week, while weekends were spent at Kiluna Farm, on 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) in Manhasset, Long IslandManhasset, New York
Manhasset is a hamlet and neighborhood in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 8,080....
, where a succession of landscape architects and garden designers beautified the grounds. The more distant retreat, Kiluna North, on Squam Lake
Squam Lake
Squam Lake is a lake located in central New Hampshire, USA, south of the White Mountains, straddling the borders of Grafton, Carroll, and Belknap counties. The largest town center on the lake is Holderness...
in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, was purchased in 1957; there they entertained celebrities who welcomed the privacy; Squam Lake's woodlands provided settings for the film On Golden Pond
On Golden Pond (1981 film)
On Golden Pond is a 1981 American drama film directed by Mark Rydell. The screenplay by Ernest Thompson was adapted from his 1979 play of the same title. Henry Fonda won the Academy Award in what was his final film role. Co-star Katharine Hepburn also received an Oscar, as did Thompson for his...
(1981).
Though the antisemitic prejudices of society excluded the Paleys from a number of important social functions and exclusive clubs, Babe nevertheless kept a circle of high-society friends that included author Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
and fellow socialite/style icon Slim Keith
Slim Keith
Nancy "Slim" Keith, Lady Keith was a New York socialite and fashion icon during the 1950s and 1960s, exemplifying the American jet set...
. Capote included Paley and Keith in his group of "swans" (glamorous New York socialite women) along with Gloria Guinness
Gloria Guinness
Gloria Guinness , born Gloria Rubio y Alatorre, was a Mexican-born socialite and fashion icon of the 20th century, and a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar from 1963 until 1971...
, Marella Agnelli
Marella Agnelli
Marella Agnelli, born Princess Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto is an Italian socialite, style icon and wife of Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli...
, and C.Z. Guest. Paley famously dropped Capote as a friend when excerpts of his much-touted work in progress, Answered Prayers
Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel
Answered Prayers is an unfinished novel by American author Truman Capote, published posthumously in 1986 in England and in 1987 in the United States.- History :...
, revealed the gossipy confidences of many of New York's elite.
In addition to lavish entertaining, Babe maintained her position on the best-dressed list fourteen times before being inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame in 1958. Babe regularly bought entire haute couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
collections from major fashion houses like Givenchy
Givenchy
Givenchy is a French brand of clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics with Parfums Givenchy.The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de Givenchy and is a member of Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et du Pret-a-Porter...
and Valentino SpA
Valentino SpA
Valentino SpA is a clothing company founded in 1959 by Valentino Garavani. Nowadays it is a part of Valentino Fashion Group. New creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will take Alessandra Facchinetti's seat as creative designer...
. Her personal style was inspirational to thousands of women who tried to copy her, but as Bill Blass
Bill Blass
William Ralph "Bill" Blass was an American fashion designer, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is known for his tailoring and his innovative combinations of textures and patterns...
once observed, “I never saw her not grab anyone’s attention, the hair, the makeup, the crispness. You were never conscious of what she was wearing; you noticed Babe and nothing else.”
Her personal, unconventional style was enormously influential. A photograph of Babe with a scarf tied to her handbag, for example, created a trendy tidal wave that millions of women emulated. She often mixed extravagant jewelry by Fulco di Verdura
Fulco di Verdura
Fulco di Verdura , or Fulco Santo Stefano della Cerda, Duke of Verdura, and Marquis of Murata la Cerda, was an influential Italian jeweller...
and Jean Schlumberger (jewelry designer)
Jean Schlumberger (jewelry designer)
Jean Michel Schlumberger was a French jewelry designer especially well-known for his work at Tiffany & Co.-Early life:...
with cheap costume pieces, and embraced letting her hair go gray instead of camouflaging it with dye. In a stroke of modernism, she made pantsuits chic. Babe's image and status reportedly created a strain on her marriage to Paley, who insisted that his wife be wrapped in sable and completely bejeweled at all times. By many biographers' accounts, Babe was lonely and frustrated as Paley carried on a chain of extramarital affairs. This psychological battering took its toll on Babe and her family. She was constantly under the scrutiny of society and the media, who pressed her to maintain the unrealistic image of a social and fashion goddess. These external pressures, as well as a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, finally affected her health.
Final years
Babe was a heavy smoker and, in 1974, she was diagnosed with lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. She planned her own funeral, right down to the food and wine selections that would be served at the funeral luncheon. She carefully allocated her jewelry collection and personal belongings to friends and family, wrapped them in colorful paper, and created a complete file system with directions as to how they would be distributed after her death.
Babe finally succumbed to lung cancer on July 6, 1978, the day after her 63rd birthday. She was interred in the Memorial Cemetery of St. John's Church, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 4,975.Cold Spring Harbor is in the Town of Huntington.-History:...
. On his death in 1990, Bill Paley was interred next to her.
Legacy
Long after her death, Babe Paley remains an icon in the world of fashion and style. “Babe Paley had only one fault,” commented her one-time friend Truman Capote. “She was perfect. Otherwise, she was perfect.”Many fashion designers and interior decorators continue to reference Babe Paley's style in their own creations. Paley and her "swans", much like Jacqueline Kennedy during the 1960s, exemplified a young, attractive and affluent class that many Americans aspired to join.
Fictional portrayals
Babe Paley was portrayed in the films Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story (1998) by Joan SeveranceJoan Severance
-Early life:Severance was born in Houston, Texas to John and Martha Severance. Her father was an IBM Systems Manager that had to move frequently around the world. According to Severance "by the time I was 11, we'd lived in 12 different places". Severance and her family also lived in Libya, but in...
, Capote
Capote (film)
Capote is a 2005 biographical film about Truman Capote, following the events during the writing of Capote's non-fiction book In Cold Blood. Philip Seymour Hoffman won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his critically acclaimed portrayal of the title role. The movie was...
(2005) by Michelle Harrison and in Infamous
Infamous (film)
Infamous is a 2006 American drama film, based on the 1997 book by George Plimpton, Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career....
(2006) by Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
.
In Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann was an American author known for her best-selling novels. Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.-Early years:Jacqueline Susann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to...
's 1969 novel, The Love Machine, the characters of socialite Judith Austin and her husband Gregory Austin, CEO of a television network, were said to be based on Babe and William Paley. Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon is an American film and television actress, director, screenwriter, editor, and producer.-Early life:...
portrayed Judith in the 1971 film version.
Also in the book Fifth Avenue,5am which is written about the novel and film Breakfast at Tiffany's
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 romantic comedy film starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, and featuring Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney. The film was directed by Blake Edwards and released by Paramount Pictures...
she is referred to as the muse of Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
with whom she was a close friend.
Further reading
- Grafton, David. The Sisters: Babe Mortimer Paley, Betsey Roosevelt Whitney, Minnie Astor Fosburgh - The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters. Villard (1992).
- Smith, Sally Bedell (1948- ). In all his glory: the life and times of William S. Paley and the birth of modern broadcasting. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1990.
- Prisant, Carol. Babe & I. Town & Country, December, 2010, pp. 152–156.