Brooke Astor
Encyclopedia
Roberta Brooke Astor (March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American
philanthropist
and socialite
who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV
and great-great grandson of America's first multi-millionaire, John Jacob Astor
. She was also a novelist and wrote two volumes of memoirs.
, New Hampshire
, the only child of John Henry Russell, Jr. (1872–1947), the 16th Commandant of the Marine Corps and his wife, née Mabel Cecile Hornby Howard (1879–1967). Her paternal grandfather was John Henry Russell
, a rear admiral
in the U.S. Navy. She was named for her maternal grandmother, Roberta Traill Brooke MacGill Howard and was known as Bobby to close friends and family.
Due to her father's career, she spent much of her childhood living in China
, the Dominican Republic
, Haiti
, and other places. Also, she briefly attended The Madeira School
in 1919 but graduated from Holton-Arms
.
(1897–1964), shortly after her seventeenth birthday, on April 26, 1919, in Washington, D.C.
"I certainly wouldn't advise getting married that young to anyone," she said later in life. "At the age of sixteen, you're not jelled yet. The first thing you look at, you fall in love with."
Her husband, the son of the financier and conservationist Anthony (Tony nickname) Rudolph Kuser and grandson of U.S. Senator John F. Dryden
, later became a New Jersey
Republican councilman, assemblyman, and state senator. They also lived in Bernardsville, New Jersey
.
"Worst years of my life" was how Astor described her tumultuous first marriage, which was punctuated by her husband's alleged physical abuse, alcoholism
and adultery
. According to Frances Kiernan's 2007 biography of Brooke Astor, when Brooke was six months pregnant with the couple's only child, her husband broke her jaw during a marital fight. "I learned about terrible manners from the family of my first husband," she told The New York Times
. '"They didn't know how to treat people.". A year after the marriage, according to a published account of the divorce proceedings, Dryden Kuser "began to embarrass her in social activities, ... told her that he no longer loved her and that their marriage was a failure."
Astor had one child with Dryden Kuser, Anthony Dryden Kuser
, born in 1924.
In June 1929, Kuser insisted that his wife leave him. After waiting for the successful end to his New Jersey senatorial campaign, she filed for divorce on February 15, 1930, in Reno, Nevada
. It was finalized later that year.
, and a descendant of James Lenox
, the founder of the Lenox Library
.
Astor later wrote that the marriage was "a great love match."
She had two stepchildren by the marriage, Peter Marshall and Helen Huntington Marshall.
In 1942, Anthony Dryden Kuser, then 18 years old, changed his name to Anthony Dryden Marshall
. He was not adopted but looked up to his step father so much he changed his last name.
Her husband's financial fortunes turned in the mid 1940s, at which time Brooke Marshall went to work for eight years as a features editor at House & Garden
magazine. She also briefly worked for Ruby Ross Wood
, a prominent New York interior decorator who, with her associate Billy Baldwin
, decorated the Marshalls' apartment at 1 Gracie Square in New York City.
(1891–1959), the chairman of the board of Newsweek
magazine and the last notably rich American member of the famous Astor family
. The oldest son of Titanic victim John Jacob Astor IV
(1864–1912) and his first wife, Ava Lowle Willing
, he had been married and divorced twice before and was known to have a difficult personality.
"He had a dreadful childhood, and as a result, had moments of deep melancholy," Astor recalled. "But I think I made him happy. That's what I set out to do. I'd literally dance with the dogs, sing and play the piano, and I would make him laugh, something no one had ever done before. Because of his money, Vincent was very suspicious of people. That's what I tried to cure him of."
According to an oft-told story in society circles, Astor agreed to divorce his second wife, Minnie, only after she had found him a replacement spouse. After first suggesting Janet Newbold Ryan Stewart Bush, the newly divorced wife of James S. Bush, who turned down Astor's proposal with startling candor -- "I don't even like you," she reportedly said—Minnie Astor suggested the recently widowed Brooke Marshall. Whatever the circumstances, few people believed that the Astor-Marshall union was anything more than a financial transaction. As Brooke Astor's friend the novelist Louis Auchincloss
said, “Of course she married Vincent for the money,” adding, “I wouldn’t respect her if she hadn’t. Only a twisted person would have married him for love.”
During her brief marriage to Mr. Astor, whom she called "Captain," Mrs. Astor participated in his real-estate and hotel empire and his philanthropic endeavors. Between 1954 and 1958, she redecorated one of his properties, the Hotel St. Regis, which had been built by his father.
Though she received several proposals after Astor's death, she chose not to remarry. "I'd have to marry a man of a suitable age and somebody who was a somebody, and that's not easy. Frankly, I think I'm unmarriageable now," Astor said in an interview in 1980, when she was 78. "I'm too used to having things my way. But I still enjoy a flirt now and then."
and chaired the Visiting Committee of the Metropolitan's Department of Far Eastern Art; she is credited with the idea for a Chinese garden courtyard, the Astor Court
, in the Metropolitan. Despite liquidating the Vincent Astor Foundation in 1997, she continued to be active in charities and in New York
's social life. The New York Public Library
was always one of Astor's favorite charities. In 1988, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts
. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1992. As a result of her charity work, Astor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
in 1998. Her life's motto summed up her prodigious generosity: “Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around.”
Among numerous other organizations, she was involved with Lighthouse for the Blind, the Maternity Center Association, the Astor Home for emotionally disturbed children, the International Rescue Committee
, the Fresh Air Fund
, and the Women's Auxiliary Board of the Society of New York Hospital.
ran a front-page cover story on the family feud between Astor's son, Anthony Dryden Marshall
, and her grandson Philip Cryan Marshall, regarding the welfare of the centenarian Astor, then 104 years old.
The story detailed how Astor's grandson, a historic preservationist and associate professor at Roger Williams University
, had filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of his father as the socialite's guardian and the appointment of Annette de la Renta
, the wife of designer Oscar de la Renta
, instead.
According to accounts published in The New York Times
and the New York Daily News
, Astor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease
and suffered from anemia
, among other ailments. The lawsuit alleged that Marshall had not provided for his elderly mother and, instead, had allowed her to live in squalor and that he had cut back on necessary medication and doctor's visits, while enriching himself with income from her estate. Philip Marshall further charged that his father sold his grandmother's favorite Childe Hassam
painting in 2002 without her knowledge and with no record as to the whereabouts of the funds received from the sale. In addition to Annette de la Renta, Henry Kissinger
and David Rockefeller
provided affidavits supporting Philip Marshall's requests for a change in guardianship.
The day the story appeared, New York Supreme Court
Justice John Stackhouse sealed the documents pertaining to the lawsuit and granted an order appointing Annette de la Renta guardian and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
to be in charge of Astor's finances. Several news organizations including Associated Press
and The New York Times
sued to have the records of the Astor case unsealed in the public interest, and they were on September 1, 2006. Astor was moved to Lenox Hill Hospital
, where an unidentified nurse called her appearance "deplorable," according to the New York Daily News. Anthony Marshall unsuccessfully attempted to have his mother transferred to another hospital.
Astor was released from Lenox Hill Hospital
on July 29, 2006 and moved to Holly Hill, her 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) estate in the village of Briarcliff Manor
, New York
.
In 2008, a book, entitled Mrs. Astor Regrets, by Meryl Gordon, makes use of diaries kept by the nurses who cared for Astor during the last years of her life. The diaries were compiled over the four years Astor received care, and detail the abuse that Mrs. Astor reportedly received from her son, Anthony (Tony).
The claims made by Philip Marshall regarding his father's handling of the estate prompted interest into the matter. On November 27, 2007, indictments on criminal charges were announced against Astor's son, Anthony D. Marshall, and attorney Francis X. Morrissey Jr. The charges stemmed from the district attorney's office and subsequent grand jury investigation into the mishandling of Astor's money and a questionable signature on the third amendment to her 2002 will, made in March 2004. That amendment called for Astor’s real estate to be sold and the proceeds added to her residuary estate. An earlier amendment, also made in 2004, which designated Marshall as the executor of his mother's estate and left him the entirety of the residuary estate, was also under investigation.
The specific charges included grand larceny
, criminal possession of stolen property, forgery
, scheming to defraud, falsifying business records, offering a false instrument for filing, and conspiracy in plundering her $198 million estate. The most severe charge, grand larceny, carries up to a 25 year sentence.
The trial of Marshall and Morrissey started March 30, 2009, with the jury selection. The judge, Justice A. Kirke Bartley Jr., had originally indicated that the trial could last up to three months. After deliberations that stretched over twelve days and were reportedly marked by bitter disagreements that left one female juror claiming to feel personally threatened, on October 8, 2009, the jury convicted Anthony D. Marshall of one of two charges of grand larceny, the most serious of a number of charges brought against him. The grand larceny conviction carries a mandatory prison sentence, meaning that Marshall could spend between 1 and 25 years in prison. Francis X. Morrissey Jr. was convicted of forgery. Philip C. Marshall, Astor's grandson, said that now that his father has been convicted in the Brooke Astor will case, he expects the will to be contested by various charities.
On November 30, 2011, Sotheby's announced plans for an April 19, 2012 auction of jewelry as well as fine and decorative arts from her Park Avenue apartment and Holly Hill, her Westchester estate.
at her home in Briarcliff Manor, New York
.
One of Astor's death notices in the Times, a paid notice from The Rockefeller University
, ended with these lines:
Among the organizations who lamented her death included the New York Public Library
, New York University
, the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, the New York Botanical Garden
, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
, WNET-TV, Historic Hudson Valley
, The Juilliard School, the New York Landmarks Conservancy
, the Wildlife Conservation Society
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, Carnegie Hall
, the Morris-Juemel Mansion Museum, the Citizens' Committee for New York City, the Rockefeller University
, the Animal Medical Center, the Merchant's House Museum
, the Library of America
, the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Lotos Club
, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
and the Brooklyn Stained Glass Conservation Center.
She is interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
, Sleepy Hollow, New York
. The epitaph on her gravestone, chosen by her, reads: "I had a wonderful life".
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
and socialite
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....
who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV was an American businessman, real estate builder, investor, inventor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War and a member of the prominent Astor family...
and great-great grandson of America's first multi-millionaire, John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...
. She was also a novelist and wrote two volumes of memoirs.
Early life
She was born Roberta Brooke Russell in PortsmouthPortsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
, 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...
, the only child of John Henry Russell, Jr. (1872–1947), the 16th Commandant of the Marine Corps and his wife, née Mabel Cecile Hornby Howard (1879–1967). Her paternal grandfather was John Henry Russell
John Henry Russell
Rear Admiral John Henry Russell was an officer of the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-Biography:...
, a rear admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
in the U.S. Navy. She was named for her maternal grandmother, Roberta Traill Brooke MacGill Howard and was known as Bobby to close friends and family.
Due to her father's career, she spent much of her childhood living in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, and other places. Also, she briefly attended The Madeira School
The Madeira School
The Madeira School is a private, non-denominational preparatory boarding school for girls located in McLean, Virginia, United States. Originally located on 19th Street near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., it was founded by Lucy Madeira Wing in 1906 and moved to the Northern Virginia suburb of...
in 1919 but graduated from Holton-Arms
Holton-Arms School
Holton-Arms is an independent college-preparatory school for girls in grades 3–12, located in Bethesda, Maryland. The School's mission is to cultivate the unique potential of young women through the “education not only of the mind, but of the soul and spirit.” Holton-Arms is an independent...
.
J. Dryden Kuser
She married her first husband, John Dryden KuserJohn Dryden Kuser
John Dryden Kuser was a New Jersey politician and a member of an influential New Jersey family. The son of Colonel Anthony R. Kuser and Susan Dryden, his father was the President of the South Jersey Gas and Electric Lighting Company and one of the original investors in Fox Movie Studios.Col...
(1897–1964), shortly after her seventeenth birthday, on April 26, 1919, in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
"I certainly wouldn't advise getting married that young to anyone," she said later in life. "At the age of sixteen, you're not jelled yet. The first thing you look at, you fall in love with."
Her husband, the son of the financier and conservationist Anthony (Tony nickname) Rudolph Kuser and grandson of U.S. Senator John F. Dryden
John F. Dryden
John Fairfield Dryden was president of the Prudential Insurance Company and a United States Senator from New Jersey. He was known as the "father of industrial insurance".-Biography:...
, later became a New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
Republican councilman, assemblyman, and state senator. They also lived in Bernardsville, New Jersey
Bernardsville, New Jersey
Bernardsville is a borough and affluent suburb in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. Bernardsville has the 10th-highest per capita income in the state. Nationwide, Bernardsville ranks 75th among the 100 highest-income places in the United States...
.
"Worst years of my life" was how Astor described her tumultuous first marriage, which was punctuated by her husband's alleged physical abuse, alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
. According to Frances Kiernan's 2007 biography of Brooke Astor, when Brooke was six months pregnant with the couple's only child, her husband broke her jaw during a marital fight. "I learned about terrible manners from the family of my first husband," she told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. '"They didn't know how to treat people.". A year after the marriage, according to a published account of the divorce proceedings, Dryden Kuser "began to embarrass her in social activities, ... told her that he no longer loved her and that their marriage was a failure."
Astor had one child with Dryden Kuser, Anthony Dryden Kuser
Anthony Dryden Marshall
Anthony Dryden Marshall is an American theatrical producer who is a former U.S. Marine, C.I.A. intelligence officer, and ambassador. He also is the former vice president of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which was established by his stepfather, Vincent Astor...
, born in 1924.
In June 1929, Kuser insisted that his wife leave him. After waiting for the successful end to his New Jersey senatorial campaign, she filed for divorce on February 15, 1930, in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
. It was finalized later that year.
Charles H. Marshall
Her second husband, whom she married in 1932, was Charles Henry "Buddy" Marshall (1891–1952). Marshall was the senior partner of the investment firm Butler, Herrick & Marshall, a brother-in-law of the mercantile heir Marshall Field IIIMarshall Field III
Marshall Field III was an American investment banker, publisher, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune and a leading financial supporter and founding board member of Saul Alinsky's community organizing network Industrial Areas Foundation.Born...
, and a descendant of James Lenox
James Lenox
James Lenox was an American bibliophile and philanthropist. His collection of paintings and books eventually became known as the Lenox Library and later became part of the New York Public Library in 1895.-Biography:...
, the founder of the Lenox Library
Lenox Library
Lenox Library may refer to:*Lenox Library *A former library now part of the New York Public Library...
.
Astor later wrote that the marriage was "a great love match."
She had two stepchildren by the marriage, Peter Marshall and Helen Huntington Marshall.
In 1942, Anthony Dryden Kuser, then 18 years old, changed his name to Anthony Dryden Marshall
Anthony Dryden Marshall
Anthony Dryden Marshall is an American theatrical producer who is a former U.S. Marine, C.I.A. intelligence officer, and ambassador. He also is the former vice president of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which was established by his stepfather, Vincent Astor...
. He was not adopted but looked up to his step father so much he changed his last name.
Her husband's financial fortunes turned in the mid 1940s, at which time Brooke Marshall went to work for eight years as a features editor at House & Garden
House & Garden (magazine)
House & Garden was an American shelter magazine published by Condé Nast Publications that focused on interior design, entertaining, and gardening....
magazine. She also briefly worked for Ruby Ross Wood
Ruby Ross Wood
Ruby Ross Pope Goodnow Wood was a prominent New York interior decorator and the owner of Ruby Ross Wood, Inc., a decorating company launched in the 1920s.-Background:...
, a prominent New York interior decorator who, with her associate Billy Baldwin
Billy Baldwin
Billy Baldwin may refer to:*Billy Baldwin *William Baldwin, American actor*Bill Baldwin, science fiction author*Bill Baldwin , English footballer/soccer player-See also:*William Baldwin...
, decorated the Marshalls' apartment at 1 Gracie Square in New York City.
Vincent Astor
In 1953, eleven months after Charles Marshall's death, she married her third and final husband, Vincent AstorVincent Astor
William Vincent Astor was a businessman and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Astor family.-Early life:...
(1891–1959), the chairman of the board of Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine and the last notably rich American member of the famous Astor family
Astor family
The Astor family is a Anglo-American business family of German descent notable for their prominence in business, society, and politics.-Founding family members:...
. The oldest son of Titanic victim John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV was an American businessman, real estate builder, investor, inventor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War and a member of the prominent Astor family...
(1864–1912) and his first wife, Ava Lowle Willing
Ava Lowle Willing
Ava Lowle Willing, Lady Ribblesdale was an American socialite and the first wife of John Jacob Astor IV.-Biography:...
, he had been married and divorced twice before and was known to have a difficult personality.
"He had a dreadful childhood, and as a result, had moments of deep melancholy," Astor recalled. "But I think I made him happy. That's what I set out to do. I'd literally dance with the dogs, sing and play the piano, and I would make him laugh, something no one had ever done before. Because of his money, Vincent was very suspicious of people. That's what I tried to cure him of."
According to an oft-told story in society circles, Astor agreed to divorce his second wife, Minnie, only after she had found him a replacement spouse. After first suggesting Janet Newbold Ryan Stewart Bush, the newly divorced wife of James S. Bush, who turned down Astor's proposal with startling candor -- "I don't even like you," she reportedly said—Minnie Astor suggested the recently widowed Brooke Marshall. Whatever the circumstances, few people believed that the Astor-Marshall union was anything more than a financial transaction. As Brooke Astor's friend the novelist Louis Auchincloss
Louis Auchincloss
Louis Stanton Auchincloss was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a prolific novelist who parlayed his firsthand knowledge into dozens of finely wrought books exploring the private lives of America's East Coast patrician class...
said, “Of course she married Vincent for the money,” adding, “I wouldn’t respect her if she hadn’t. Only a twisted person would have married him for love.”
During her brief marriage to Mr. Astor, whom she called "Captain," Mrs. Astor participated in his real-estate and hotel empire and his philanthropic endeavors. Between 1954 and 1958, she redecorated one of his properties, the Hotel St. Regis, which had been built by his father.
Though she received several proposals after Astor's death, she chose not to remarry. "I'd have to marry a man of a suitable age and somebody who was a somebody, and that's not easy. Frankly, I think I'm unmarriageable now," Astor said in an interview in 1980, when she was 78. "I'm too used to having things my way. But I still enjoy a flirt now and then."
Philanthropy
Though she was appointed a member of the board of the Astor Foundation soon after her marriage, upon Vincent Astor's death in 1959, she took charge of all the philanthropies to which he left his fortune. She served as a Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
and chaired the Visiting Committee of the Metropolitan's Department of Far Eastern Art; she is credited with the idea for a Chinese garden courtyard, the Astor Court
Astor Court
The Astor Court, located in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City New York, United States, is a re-creation of a Ming Dynasty-style, Chinese-garden courtyard.The first permanent cultural exchange between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China,...
, in the Metropolitan. Despite liquidating the Vincent Astor Foundation in 1997, she continued to be active in charities and in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's social life. The New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
was always one of Astor's favorite charities. In 1988, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1992. As a result of her charity work, Astor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
in 1998. Her life's motto summed up her prodigious generosity: “Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around.”
Among numerous other organizations, she was involved with Lighthouse for the Blind, the Maternity Center Association, the Astor Home for emotionally disturbed children, the International Rescue Committee
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is a leading nonsectarian, nongovernmental international relief and development organization based in the United States, with operations in over 40 countries...
, the Fresh Air Fund
Fresh Air Fund
The Fresh Air Fund is a not-for-profit agency that provides free summer vacations in the country to New York City children from disadvantaged communities. Each year, thousands of children visit volunteer host families in 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada through the Friendly Town...
, and the Women's Auxiliary Board of the Society of New York Hospital.
Elder abuse controversy
On July 26, 2006, the New York Daily NewsNew York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
ran a front-page cover story on the family feud between Astor's son, Anthony Dryden Marshall
Anthony Dryden Marshall
Anthony Dryden Marshall is an American theatrical producer who is a former U.S. Marine, C.I.A. intelligence officer, and ambassador. He also is the former vice president of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which was established by his stepfather, Vincent Astor...
, and her grandson Philip Cryan Marshall, regarding the welfare of the centenarian Astor, then 104 years old.
The story detailed how Astor's grandson, a historic preservationist and associate professor at Roger Williams University
Roger Williams University
Roger Williams University, commonly abbreviated as RWU, is a private, coeducational American liberal arts university located on in Bristol, Rhode Island, above Mt. Hope Bay. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams...
, had filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of his father as the socialite's guardian and the appointment of Annette de la Renta
Annette de la Renta
Annette de la Renta is an American philanthropist and socialite married to the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta.-Birth and childhood:...
, the wife of designer Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
, instead.
According to accounts published in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, Astor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and suffered from anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
, among other ailments. The lawsuit alleged that Marshall had not provided for his elderly mother and, instead, had allowed her to live in squalor and that he had cut back on necessary medication and doctor's visits, while enriching himself with income from her estate. Philip Marshall further charged that his father sold his grandmother's favorite Childe Hassam
Childe Hassam
Frederick Childe Hassam was a prolific American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and museums...
painting in 2002 without her knowledge and with no record as to the whereabouts of the funds received from the sale. In addition to Annette de la Renta, Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
and David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
provided affidavits supporting Philip Marshall's requests for a change in guardianship.
The day the story appeared, New York Supreme Court
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in thestate court system of New York, United States. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...
Justice John Stackhouse sealed the documents pertaining to the lawsuit and granted an order appointing Annette de la Renta guardian and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational banking corporation of securities, investments and retail. It is the largest bank in the United States by assets and market capitalization.It is a major provider of financial services, with assets of $2 trillion and according to Forbes magazine is...
to be in charge of Astor's finances. Several news organizations including Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
sued to have the records of the Astor case unsealed in the public interest, and they were on September 1, 2006. Astor was moved to Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital, on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City, is a 652-bed, acute care hospital and a major teaching affiliate of New York University Medical Center. Founded in 1857 as the German Dispensary, today's 10-building Lenox Hill Hospital complex has occupied its present site since...
, where an unidentified nurse called her appearance "deplorable," according to the New York Daily News. Anthony Marshall unsuccessfully attempted to have his mother transferred to another hospital.
Astor was released from Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital, on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City, is a 652-bed, acute care hospital and a major teaching affiliate of New York University Medical Center. Founded in 1857 as the German Dispensary, today's 10-building Lenox Hill Hospital complex has occupied its present site since...
on July 29, 2006 and moved to Holly Hill, her 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) estate in the village of Briarcliff Manor
Briarcliff Manor, New York
Briarcliff Manor is a village in Westchester County in the state of New York. It is shared between the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining, and lies entirely within the ZIP code of 10510...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
In 2008, a book, entitled Mrs. Astor Regrets, by Meryl Gordon, makes use of diaries kept by the nurses who cared for Astor during the last years of her life. The diaries were compiled over the four years Astor received care, and detail the abuse that Mrs. Astor reportedly received from her son, Anthony (Tony).
Estate tampering
On August 1, 2006, The New York Times reported that Anthony Marshall was accused by Alice Perdue, who was employed in his mother's business office, of diverting nearly $1 million from his ailing mother's personal checking accounts into theatrical productions. Marshall, through a spokesman, said that his mother knew of the investments and approved of them. Perdue countered that Marshall had advised her never to send to his mother any documents of a financial nature because "she didn't understand it."The claims made by Philip Marshall regarding his father's handling of the estate prompted interest into the matter. On November 27, 2007, indictments on criminal charges were announced against Astor's son, Anthony D. Marshall, and attorney Francis X. Morrissey Jr. The charges stemmed from the district attorney's office and subsequent grand jury investigation into the mishandling of Astor's money and a questionable signature on the third amendment to her 2002 will, made in March 2004. That amendment called for Astor’s real estate to be sold and the proceeds added to her residuary estate. An earlier amendment, also made in 2004, which designated Marshall as the executor of his mother's estate and left him the entirety of the residuary estate, was also under investigation.
The specific charges included grand larceny
Grand Larceny
Grand Larceny is a 1987 thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Marilu Henner, Ian McShane, Omar Sharif and Louis Jourdan.-Plot summary:...
, criminal possession of stolen property, forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
, scheming to defraud, falsifying business records, offering a false instrument for filing, and conspiracy in plundering her $198 million estate. The most severe charge, grand larceny, carries up to a 25 year sentence.
The trial of Marshall and Morrissey started March 30, 2009, with the jury selection. The judge, Justice A. Kirke Bartley Jr., had originally indicated that the trial could last up to three months. After deliberations that stretched over twelve days and were reportedly marked by bitter disagreements that left one female juror claiming to feel personally threatened, on October 8, 2009, the jury convicted Anthony D. Marshall of one of two charges of grand larceny, the most serious of a number of charges brought against him. The grand larceny conviction carries a mandatory prison sentence, meaning that Marshall could spend between 1 and 25 years in prison. Francis X. Morrissey Jr. was convicted of forgery. Philip C. Marshall, Astor's grandson, said that now that his father has been convicted in the Brooke Astor will case, he expects the will to be contested by various charities.
On November 30, 2011, Sotheby's announced plans for an April 19, 2012 auction of jewelry as well as fine and decorative arts from her Park Avenue apartment and Holly Hill, her Westchester estate.
Death
Astor died on August 13, 2007 at the age of 105 from pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at her home in Briarcliff Manor, New York
Briarcliff Manor, New York
Briarcliff Manor is a village in Westchester County in the state of New York. It is shared between the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining, and lies entirely within the ZIP code of 10510...
.
One of Astor's death notices in the Times, a paid notice from The Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
, ended with these lines:
-
- "And if you should survive to 105,
- Look at all you'll derive out of being alive.
- Then here is the best part,
- You'll have a head start,
- If you are among the very young at heart."
Among the organizations who lamented her death included the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, the New York Botanical Garden
New York Botanical Garden
- See also :* Education in New York City* List of botanical gardens in the United States* List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City- External links :* official website** blog*...
, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital is a prominent university hospital in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools: Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and Cornell University's Weill Medical College. It is composed of two distinct medical centers, Columbia...
, WNET-TV, Historic Hudson Valley
Historic Hudson Valley
Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York, in Westchester County...
, The Juilliard School, the New York Landmarks Conservancy
New York Landmarks Conservancy
The New York Landmarks Conservancy is a non-profit organization "dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and reusing New York’s architecturally significant buildings." It provides technical assistance, project management services, grants, and loans, to owners of historic properties in New York State...
, the Wildlife Conservation Society
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society and currently manages some of wild places around the world, with over 500 field conservation projects in 60 countries, and 200 scientists on staff...
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, the Morris-Juemel Mansion Museum, the Citizens' Committee for New York City, the Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
, the Animal Medical Center, the Merchant's House Museum
Merchant's House Museum
The Merchant's House Museum, known formerly as the Old Merchant's House and as the Seabury Tredwell House, is the only nineteenth-century family home in New York City preserved intact — both inside and out. Built "on spec" in 1832 by Joseph Brewster, a hatter by trade, it is located at 29 East...
, the Library of America
Library of America
The Library of America is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature.- Overview and history :Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LoA has published over 200 volumes by a wide range of authors from Mark Twain to Philip...
, the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Lotos Club
Lotos Club
The Lotos Club is a gentleman's club in New York City. Founded in 1870 by a young group of writers and critics, Mark Twain, an early member, called it the "Ace of Clubs"...
, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
Lenox Hill Neighborhood House is a multi-service community-based organization that serves people in need on the East Side of Manhattan and on Roosevelt Island...
and the Brooklyn Stained Glass Conservation Center.
She is interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York is the resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent Old Dutch Burying Ground. Incorporated in 1849 as Tarrytown Cemetery, it posthumously honored Irving's...
, Sleepy Hollow, New York
Sleepy Hollow, New York
Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line.Originally...
. The epitaph on her gravestone, chosen by her, reads: "I had a wonderful life".
In fiction
Brooke Astor is portrayed as the heroine, Jane Merle, of the romantic comedy "Night and Silence: Who is Here?" by British novelist Pamela Hansford JohnsonPamela Hansford Johnson
Pamela Hansford Johnson, Baroness Snow was an English novelist, playwright, poet, literary and social critic.-Career:...
.
External links
- Detailed description of Mrs. Astor's 14 room duplex at Rosario CandelaRosario CandelaRosario Candela was an Italian American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the city's characteristic terraced setbacks and signature penthouses. Over time, Candela's...
's 778 Park Avenue including the oft-photographed Albert HadleyAlbert HadleyAlbert Hadley is an American interior decorator born in Nashville, Tennessee. His long-time design partner was Sister Parish. He attended Peabody College, Nashville, and a graduate of and teacher at Parsons School of Design, New York City and Paris. He trained with the South's best-known...
library. Sales offering as of June 2009 and NYTimes Article 6FEB09 - Steve Fishman, "Mrs. Astor's Baby: The Fight for A Mother's Love, And Money", New York Magazine, November 12, 2007
- Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts