Doris Duke
Encyclopedia
Doris Duke was an American heiress
, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist
.
and electric energy tycoon James Buchanan Duke
and his second wife, Nanaline Holt Inman, widow of Dr. William Patterson Inman. At his death in 1925, the elder Duke's will bequeathed the majority of his estate to his wife and daughter, along with $17,000,000, in two separate clauses of the will, to The Duke Endowment
he had created in 1924. The total value of the estate was not disclosed, but was estimated variously at $60,000,000 and $100,000,000.
Duke spent her early childhood at Duke Farms
, her father's 3000 acres (12.1 km²) estate in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey
. Due to ambiguity in James Duke's will, a lawsuit was filed to prevent auctions and outright sales of real estate he had owned; in effect, Doris Duke successfully sued her mother and other executors to prevent the sales.
One of the pieces of real estate in question was a Manhattan mansion at 1 East 78th Street
which later became the home of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University
.
She was presented to society as a debutante
in 1930, aged 18, at a ball at Rough Point
, the family residence in Newport, Rhode Island
. She received large bequests from her father's will when she turned 21, 25, and 30; she was sometimes referred to as the "world's richest girl". Her mother died in 1962, leaving her jewelry and a coat.
, she worked in a canteen for sailors in Egypt
, taking a salary of one dollar a year. She spoke nine languages. In 1945, Duke began a short-lived career as a foreign correspondent for the International News Service
, reporting from different cities across the war-ravaged Europe. After the war, she moved to Paris and wrote for the magazine Harper's Bazaar
.
While living in Hawaii, Duke became the first woman to take up competition surfing under the tutelage of surfing champion and Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku
and his brothers. A lover of animals, in particular her dogs and pet camels, in her later years Duke became a wildlife refuge
supporter, an environmental conservationist, and a patron of historic preservation.
Duke's interest in horticulture
led to a friendship with Pulitzer Prize
winning author and renowned scientific farmer Louis Bromfield
, who operated Malabar Farm, his country home in Lucas
, Ohio
in Richland County
. Today, his farm is part of Malabar Farm State Park
, made possible by a donation from Duke that helped purchase the property after Bromfield's death. A section of woods there is dedicated to her and bears her name to this day.
At age 46, Duke started to create Duke Gardens
, an exotic public-display garden, to honor her father James Buchanan Duke. She extended new greenhouse
s from the Horace Trumbauer
conservatory at her home in Duke Farms
, New Jersey. Each of the eleven interconnected gardens was a full-scale re-creation of a garden theme, country or period, inspired by DuPont's Longwood Gardens
. She designed the architectural, artistic and botanical elements of the displays based on observations from her extensive international travels. She also labored on their installation, sometimes working 16 hour days. Display construction began in 1958; a rediscovered image of the night-lighting of the French Gardens in the 1970s is an example of the attention to detail that Duke continued to lavish on the gardens throughout her life.
Duke had learned to play the piano at an early age and developed a lifelong appreciation of jazz
and befriended jazz musicians. She also liked gospel music
and sang in a gospel choir.
In 1966 Duke was behind the wheel of a rented car when it lurched forward and crushed interior designer Eduardo Tirella as he was opening the gates of the mansion they were restoring in Newport, R.I. While it was ruled a freak accident by the police, Tirella's family sued and won $75,000 when Duke was found negligent.
Duke acquired a number of homes. Her principal residence and official domicile was Duke Farms
, her father's 2,700 acre (11 km²) estate in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey
. Here she created Duke Gardens
, 60000 square feet (5,574.2 m²) public indoor botanical display that were among the largest in America.
Duke's other residences were private during her lifetime: she spent summer weekends working on her Newport Restoration Foundation projects while staying at Rough Point
, the 49-room English manor-style mansion that she inherited in Newport, Rhode Island. Winters were spent at an estate she built in the 1930s and named "Shangri La
" in Honolulu, Hawaii
; and at "Falcon's Lair" in Beverly Hills, California
, once the home of Rudolph Valentino
. She also maintained two apartments in Manhattan
: a 9-room penthouse with a 1000 square feet (92.9 m²) veranda at 475 Park Avenue that is currently owned by journalist Cindy Adams
; and another apartment near Times Square
that she used exclusively as an office for the management of her financial affairs. She purchased her own Boeing 737
jet and redecorated the interior to travel between homes and on her trips to collect art and plants. The plane included a bedroom decorated to resemble a bedroom in a real house. Doris Duke had difficulty remaining in one place, and whenever she arrived somewhere, she had the desire to go somewhere else. Duke was a hands-on homeowner, climbing a ladder to a three-story scaffolding to clean tile murals in the courtyard of Shangri La, and working side by side with her gardeners at Duke Farms.
Three of Duke's residences are currently managed by subsidiaries of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and allow limited public access. Duke Farms in New Jersey is managed by the Duke Farms Foundation; a video tour of former Duke Gardens is available. Rough Point was deeded to the Newport Restoration Foundation in 1999 and opened to the public in 2000. Tours are limited to 12 people. Shangri-La is operated by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art; small personal tours and an online virtual tour are available.
, the son of Palm Beach
society doyenne Eva Stotesbury. Cromwell, a New Deal
advocate, used his wife's fortune to enter the political arena, becoming U.S. Ambassador to Canada in 1940. The couple had a daughter, Arden, who lived for only one day. They divorced in 1943.
On September 1, 1947, while in Paris, Duke became the third wife of Porfirio Rubirosa
, a diplomat from the Dominican Republic
. She reportedly paid his wife, Danielle Darrieux
, $1 million to agree to an uncontested divorce. Because of her great wealth, Duke's marriage to Rubirosa attracted the attention of the U.S. State Department, which cautioned her against using her money to promote political agendas. Further, there was concern that in case of her death, a foreign government could gain too much leverage. Thus Rubirosa had to sign a pre-nuptial agreement; during the marriage, though, she gave Rubirosa several million dollars in gifts, including a stable of polo ponies, sports cars, a converted B-25 bomber, and, in the divorce settlement, a 17th-century house in Paris. While she subsequently had a number of relationships, Duke never remarried. . One of Doris Duke's best friends was the Brazilian Aimee de Heeren, who tried to cheer her up whenever a marriage was over.
She reportedly had numerous affairs, with, among others, Duke Kahanamoku
, Errol Flynn
, Alec Cunningham-Reid
, General George S. Patton
, Joe Castro
, and Louis Bromfield
.
Foundation to endow the public display gardens she started to create at Duke Farms in 1958. Her Foundation intended that Duke Gardens "reveal the interests and philanthropic aspirations of the Duke family, as well as an appreciation for other cultures and a yearning for global understanding.". Duke Gardens were the center of a controversy over the decision by the trustees of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to close them on May 25, 2008.
In 1968, Duke created the Newport Restoration Foundation
with the goal of preserving
more than eighty colonial buildings in the town. Historic properties include Rough Point
, Samuel Whitehorne House
, Prescott Farm
, the Buloid-Perry House, the King's Arms Tavern, the Baptist Meetinghouse, and the Cotton House. Seventy-one buildings are rented to tenants. Only five function as museums. She also funded the construction of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
's ashram in India, visited by the Beatles in 1968.
Duke's extensive travels led to an interest in a variety of cultures, and during her lifetime she amassed a considerable collection of Islamic and Southeast Asian art. After her death, numerous pieces were donated to The Asian Art Museum
of San Francisco and the Walters Art Museum
of Baltimore.
Duke did much additional philanthropic work and was a major benefactor of medical research and child welfare programs. Her foundation, Dependent Aid, created when she was twelve months old, became the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
. She began trying to walk while she was still heavily medicated and fell, breaking her hip. In January 1993, she underwent surgery for a knee replacement. She was hospitalized from February 2 to April 15. She underwent a second knee surgery in July of that year. A day after returning home from this second surgery, she suffered a severe stroke. Doris Duke died at her Falcon's Lair home on October 28, 1993, at the age of 80. The cause was progressive pulmonary edema
resulting in cardiac arrest
, according to a spokesman for Bernard Lafferty, the executor named by Duke's last will
, who was with her at her death.
Although Duke was cremated 24 hours after her death and her ashes scattered over the Pacific Ocean as her last will specified, her executor, Lafferty, also sent a small container of the ashes to Marshfield, Missouri
, a town that Duke had grown to admire during her years as a world traveler. Duke had visited Marshfield during a large tent revival, where she enjoyed the music. Duke's ashes were buried in a local cemetery and a stone was placed to honor her memory. She was locally known as a philanthropist, since she often sent large sums of money for various projects, typically without publicity.
devotee. Duke initially maintained that Heffner was the reincarnation of her only biological child Arden, who died soon after birth in 1940. The two women had a falling out, and the final version of Duke's will specified that she did not wish Heffner to benefit from her father's trusts; she also negated the adoption. Despite the negation, after Duke's death, the estate's trustees settled a lawsuit brought by Heffner for $65 million.
In her final will, Duke left virtually all of her fortune to several existing and new charitable foundations. She appointed her Irish-born butler Bernard Lafferty as executor, who then appointed, as corporate co-executor, US Trust company; Lafferty and her friend Marion Oates Charles were named as her trustees. However a number of lawsuits were filed against the will. At death, Duke's fortune was estimated at $1.3 billion. The most notorious lawsuit was initiated by Harry Demopoulos
, whose company 'Health Maintenance Programs' owed the Duke Estate $600,000. Demopoulos found out that he had been named co-executor in an earlier will and challenged Lafferty's appointment, claiming that convicted felon Tammy Payette told him (Demopoulos) that doctors had killed Duke. In an attempt to convince the court that Payette's allegation was credible, Demopoulos hired a psychiatrist to examine Payette but ultimately to no avail. In 1996, the year Lafferty died, the Los Angeles District Attorney
's office ruled there was no evidence of foul play.
A suit was also filed by Duke University
, claiming entitlement to a larger share of the Duke assets than the $10 million provided in the will (although Duke's will also stated that any beneficiary who disputed its provisions should receive nothing).
Litigation involving 40 lawyers at 10 different law firms tied up the Duke estate for nearly three years. Lafferty was ultimately removed by NY courts for using estate funds for his own support, and US Trust for failing "to do anything to stop him." The Surrogate Court
of Manhattan overrode Duke's will and appointed new trustees from among those who had challenged it: Harry Demopoulos
; J. Carter Brown (later also involved in overturning the will of Dr. Albert C. Barnes); Marion Oates Charles, the sole trustee from Duke's last will; James Gill, a lawyer; Nannerl O. Keohane
, president of Duke University, and John J. Mack
, president of Morgan Stanley
. The fees for their lawsuits exceeded $10 million, and were paid by the Duke estate. These trustees now control all assets of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which Doris Duke directed should support medical research, anti-vivisectionism, prevention of cruelty to children and animals, performance arts, wildlife and ecology. The DDCF also controls funding for the three separate Foundations created to operate Duke's former homes: the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Duke Farms and Newport Restoration Foundation. The trustees have progressively reduced funding for these foundations, stating that Doris Duke's own works are "perpetuating the Duke family history of personal passions and conspicuous consumption.". Recently these foundations have been forced to sell assets to meet their expenses, and in the case of Duke Gardens, to close entirely. Christie's, New York, published a heavily-illustrated catalog of over 600 pages for their auction of "The Doris Duke Collection, sold to benefit the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation" which was held in New York, NY over three days, Thursday-Saturday, 3–5 June 2004.
as Duke and Richard Chamberlain
as Lafferty) was aired with the title, Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke
. Her disinherited nephew, Pony Duke, and Jason Thomas published Too Rich: The Family Secrets of Doris Duke in 1996. Her life is also the subject of the 2007
HBO film Bernard and Doris
, starring Susan Sarandon
as Duke and Ralph Fiennes
as the butler Lafferty.
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
, horticulturalist, art collector, and 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...
.
Family and early life
Duke was the only child of tobaccoTobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and electric energy tycoon James Buchanan Duke
James Buchanan Duke
James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University.-Personal life:...
and his second wife, Nanaline Holt Inman, widow of Dr. William Patterson Inman. At his death in 1925, the elder Duke's will bequeathed the majority of his estate to his wife and daughter, along with $17,000,000, in two separate clauses of the will, to The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment is a private foundation established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. The mission of the foundation is to serve the people of North Carolina and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children's welfare, and...
he had created in 1924. The total value of the estate was not disclosed, but was estimated variously at $60,000,000 and $100,000,000.
Duke spent her early childhood at Duke Farms
Duke Farms
Duke Farms is an estate that was established by James Buchanan Duke, an American entrepreneur who founded Duke Power and the American Tobacco Company. It is located in Hillsborough, New Jersey.-History:...
, her father's 3000 acres (12.1 km²) estate in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey
Hillsborough Township, New Jersey
Hillsborough Township is a Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 38,303....
. Due to ambiguity in James Duke's will, a lawsuit was filed to prevent auctions and outright sales of real estate he had owned; in effect, Doris Duke successfully sued her mother and other executors to prevent the sales.
One of the pieces of real estate in question was a Manhattan mansion at 1 East 78th Street
James B. Duke House
The James B. Duke House located at the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 1 East 78th Street in New York City. The house is one of the great extant mansions from "Millionaire's Row." James Buchanan Duke was one of the founding partners of American Tobacco Company and the owner of Duke Power.-...
which later became the home of the Institute of Fine Arts at 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...
.
She was presented to society as a debutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
in 1930, aged 18, at a ball at Rough Point
Rough Point
Rough Point is one of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, now open to the public as a museum. It is an English Manorial style home designed by architectural firm Peabody & Stearns for Frederick William Vanderbilt Construction on the red sandstone and granite began in 1887 and...
, the family residence in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
. She received large bequests from her father's will when she turned 21, 25, and 30; she was sometimes referred to as the "world's richest girl". Her mother died in 1962, leaving her jewelry and a coat.
Adult life
When Duke came of age, she used her wealth to pursue a variety of interests, including extensive world travel and the arts. During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she worked in a canteen for sailors in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, taking a salary of one dollar a year. She spoke nine languages. In 1945, Duke began a short-lived career as a foreign correspondent for the International News Service
International News Service
International News Service was a U.S.-based news agency founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.Established two years after the Scripps family founded the United Press Association, INS scrapped among the newswires...
, reporting from different cities across the war-ravaged Europe. After the war, she moved to Paris and wrote for the magazine Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
.
While living in Hawaii, Duke became the first woman to take up competition surfing under the tutelage of surfing champion and Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...
and his brothers. A lover of animals, in particular her dogs and pet camels, in her later years Duke became a wildlife refuge
Wildlife refuge
A wildlife refuge, also called a wildlife sanctuary, may be a naturally occurring sanctuary, such as an island, that provides protection for species from hunting, predation or competition, or it may refer to a protected area, a geographic territory within which wildlife is protected...
supporter, an environmental conservationist, and a patron of historic preservation.
Duke's interest in horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
led to a friendship with Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning author and renowned scientific farmer Louis Bromfield
Louis Bromfield
Louis Bromfield was an American author and conservationist who gained international recognition winning the Pulitzer Prize and pioneering innovative scientific farming concepts.-Biography:...
, who operated Malabar Farm, his country home in Lucas
Lucas, Ohio
Lucas is a village in Richland County, Ohio, United States.Lucas was founded in 1836, and is part of the Mansfield, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 620 at the 2000 census....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
in Richland County
Richland County, Ohio
Richland County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 124,475. It is included in the Mansfield, Ohio, Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Mansfield–Bucyrus Combined Statistical Area....
. Today, his farm is part of Malabar Farm State Park
Malabar Farm State Park
Malabar Farm State Park is a state park in Richland County, Ohio, United States, located near Lucas and the Mohican State Park.Nestled in the hills of Pleasant Valley, Malabar Farm was built in 1939 by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield and was his home until his death in 1956...
, made possible by a donation from Duke that helped purchase the property after Bromfield's death. A section of woods there is dedicated to her and bears her name to this day.
At age 46, Duke started to create Duke Gardens
Duke Gardens
Duke Gardens in Somerset County, New Jersey were among the most significant glass house collections in America. Created by Doris Duke herself, the aerial view confirms they were larger than the New York Botanical Garden's Haupt Conservatory, and were open to the public from 1964 until they were...
, an exotic public-display garden, to honor her father James Buchanan Duke. She extended new greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
s from the Horace Trumbauer
Horace Trumbauer
Horace Trumbauer was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of the campus of Duke University...
conservatory at her home in Duke Farms
Duke Farms
Duke Farms is an estate that was established by James Buchanan Duke, an American entrepreneur who founded Duke Power and the American Tobacco Company. It is located in Hillsborough, New Jersey.-History:...
, New Jersey. Each of the eleven interconnected gardens was a full-scale re-creation of a garden theme, country or period, inspired by DuPont's Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States in the Brandywine Creek Valley...
. She designed the architectural, artistic and botanical elements of the displays based on observations from her extensive international travels. She also labored on their installation, sometimes working 16 hour days. Display construction began in 1958; a rediscovered image of the night-lighting of the French Gardens in the 1970s is an example of the attention to detail that Duke continued to lavish on the gardens throughout her life.
Duke had learned to play the piano at an early age and developed a lifelong appreciation of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and befriended jazz musicians. She also liked gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and sang in a gospel choir.
In 1966 Duke was behind the wheel of a rented car when it lurched forward and crushed interior designer Eduardo Tirella as he was opening the gates of the mansion they were restoring in Newport, R.I. While it was ruled a freak accident by the police, Tirella's family sued and won $75,000 when Duke was found negligent.
Homes
Duke Farms
Duke Farms is an estate that was established by James Buchanan Duke, an American entrepreneur who founded Duke Power and the American Tobacco Company. It is located in Hillsborough, New Jersey.-History:...
, her father's 2,700 acre (11 km²) estate in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey
Hillsborough Township, New Jersey
Hillsborough Township is a Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 38,303....
. Here she created Duke Gardens
Duke Gardens
Duke Gardens in Somerset County, New Jersey were among the most significant glass house collections in America. Created by Doris Duke herself, the aerial view confirms they were larger than the New York Botanical Garden's Haupt Conservatory, and were open to the public from 1964 until they were...
, 60000 square feet (5,574.2 m²) public indoor botanical display that were among the largest in America.
Duke's other residences were private during her lifetime: she spent summer weekends working on her Newport Restoration Foundation projects while staying at Rough Point
Rough Point
Rough Point is one of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, now open to the public as a museum. It is an English Manorial style home designed by architectural firm Peabody & Stearns for Frederick William Vanderbilt Construction on the red sandstone and granite began in 1887 and...
, the 49-room English manor-style mansion that she inherited in Newport, Rhode Island. Winters were spent at an estate she built in the 1930s and named "Shangri La
Shangri La (Doris Duke)
Shangri La is the name of an Islamic-style mansion built by heiress Doris Duke near Diamond Head just outside Honolulu, Hawaii. It is now owned by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art in cooperation with the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and open to the public for tours; an admission fee is...
" in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
; and at "Falcon's Lair" in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
, once the home of Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
. She also maintained two apartments in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
: a 9-room penthouse with a 1000 square feet (92.9 m²) veranda at 475 Park Avenue that is currently owned by journalist Cindy Adams
Cindy Adams
Cindy Adams is an American gossip columnist and writer. She is the widow of comedian and humorist Joey Adams.-Early life and education:Born an only child in New York City, she was one year old when her parents divorced...
; and another apartment near Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
that she used exclusively as an office for the management of her financial affairs. She purchased her own Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
jet and redecorated the interior to travel between homes and on her trips to collect art and plants. The plane included a bedroom decorated to resemble a bedroom in a real house. Doris Duke had difficulty remaining in one place, and whenever she arrived somewhere, she had the desire to go somewhere else. Duke was a hands-on homeowner, climbing a ladder to a three-story scaffolding to clean tile murals in the courtyard of Shangri La, and working side by side with her gardeners at Duke Farms.
Three of Duke's residences are currently managed by subsidiaries of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and allow limited public access. Duke Farms in New Jersey is managed by the Duke Farms Foundation; a video tour of former Duke Gardens is available. Rough Point was deeded to the Newport Restoration Foundation in 1999 and opened to the public in 2000. Tours are limited to 12 people. Shangri-La is operated by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art; small personal tours and an online virtual tour are available.
Marriages and affairs
Duke married twice, the first time in 1935 to James H. R. CromwellJames H. R. Cromwell
James Henry Roberts Cromwell was an American diplomat, candidate for the United States Senate, author, and one-time husband of Doris Duke, "the richest girl in the world".-Biography:...
, the son of Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
society doyenne Eva Stotesbury. Cromwell, a New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
advocate, used his wife's fortune to enter the political arena, becoming U.S. Ambassador to Canada in 1940. The couple had a daughter, Arden, who lived for only one day. They divorced in 1943.
On September 1, 1947, while in Paris, Duke became the third wife of Porfirio Rubirosa
Porfirio Rubirosa
Porfirio Rubirosa Ariza was a Dominican diplomat and adherent of Rafael Trujillo. He made his mark as an international playboy, for his jet setting lifestyle, and his legendary prowess with women...
, a diplomat from 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...
. She reportedly paid his wife, Danielle Darrieux
Danielle Darrieux
Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux is a French actress and singer, who has appeared in more than 110 films since 1931. She is one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career is among the longest in film history....
, $1 million to agree to an uncontested divorce. Because of her great wealth, Duke's marriage to Rubirosa attracted the attention of the U.S. State Department, which cautioned her against using her money to promote political agendas. Further, there was concern that in case of her death, a foreign government could gain too much leverage. Thus Rubirosa had to sign a pre-nuptial agreement; during the marriage, though, she gave Rubirosa several million dollars in gifts, including a stable of polo ponies, sports cars, a converted B-25 bomber, and, in the divorce settlement, a 17th-century house in Paris. While she subsequently had a number of relationships, Duke never remarried. . One of Doris Duke's best friends was the Brazilian Aimee de Heeren, who tried to cheer her up whenever a marriage was over.
She reportedly had numerous affairs, with, among others, Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...
, Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
, Alec Cunningham-Reid
Alec Cunningham-Reid
- Political career :At the 1922 general election, Cunningham-Reid stood as the conservative candidate in Warrington, a Conservative-held borough constituency in Lancashire where the sitting MP Sir Harold Smith was retiring. He won the seat with a comfortable majority in a two-way contest with...
, General George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
, Joe Castro
Joe Castro (musician)
Joe Castro was an American bebop jazz pianist, based primarily on the West Coast of the United States.-Biography:...
, and Louis Bromfield
Louis Bromfield
Louis Bromfield was an American author and conservationist who gained international recognition winning the Pulitzer Prize and pioneering innovative scientific farming concepts.-Biography:...
.
Philanthropy
Duke’s first major philanthropic act was to establish the Duke GardensDuke Gardens
Duke Gardens in Somerset County, New Jersey were among the most significant glass house collections in America. Created by Doris Duke herself, the aerial view confirms they were larger than the New York Botanical Garden's Haupt Conservatory, and were open to the public from 1964 until they were...
Foundation to endow the public display gardens she started to create at Duke Farms in 1958. Her Foundation intended that Duke Gardens "reveal the interests and philanthropic aspirations of the Duke family, as well as an appreciation for other cultures and a yearning for global understanding.". Duke Gardens were the center of a controversy over the decision by the trustees of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to close them on May 25, 2008.
In 1968, Duke created the Newport Restoration Foundation
Newport Restoration Foundation
The Newport Restoration Foundation was founded by Doris Duke in 1968 to Newport, Rhode Island to preserve early housing stock including 18th century Colonial homes. Historic building preservation was threatened by redevelopment. Individual houses were purchased and restored...
with the goal of preserving
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
more than eighty colonial buildings in the town. Historic properties include Rough Point
Rough Point
Rough Point is one of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, now open to the public as a museum. It is an English Manorial style home designed by architectural firm Peabody & Stearns for Frederick William Vanderbilt Construction on the red sandstone and granite began in 1887 and...
, Samuel Whitehorne House
Samuel Whitehorne House
Whitehorne House is an example of a Federal style mansions on Thames Street in Newport, Rhode Island and is open to the public as a historic house museum. It was built for Samuel Whitehorne Jr. in 1811 and the exterior features an elegant hipped roof, entry portico, and a formal garden...
, Prescott Farm
Prescott Farm
Prescott Farm is a historic preservation of a colonial farm in Middletown , Rhode Island. It spans 40 acres, and was in danger of demolition before Doris Duke, through the Newport Restoration Foundation bought it in 1973 and began restoration of the historical site. Notable features of it include...
, the Buloid-Perry House, the King's Arms Tavern, the Baptist Meetinghouse, and the Cotton House. Seventy-one buildings are rented to tenants. Only five function as museums. She also funded the construction of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
's ashram in India, visited by the Beatles in 1968.
Duke's extensive travels led to an interest in a variety of cultures, and during her lifetime she amassed a considerable collection of Islamic and Southeast Asian art. After her death, numerous pieces were donated to The Asian Art Museum
Asian Art Museum
Asian Art Museum is the usual name for a number of museums, including:* The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco* The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, located on the National Mall in Washington DC...
of San Francisco and the Walters Art Museum
Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum, located in Baltimore, Maryland's Mount Vernon neighborhood, is a public art museum founded in 1934. The museum's collection was amassed substantially by two men, William Thompson Walters , who began serious collecting when he moved to Paris at the outbreak of the American...
of Baltimore.
Duke did much additional philanthropic work and was a major benefactor of medical research and child welfare programs. Her foundation, Dependent Aid, created when she was twelve months old, became the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Death
In 1992, at the age of 79, Duke had a faceliftRhytidectomy
A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy , is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful appearance...
. She began trying to walk while she was still heavily medicated and fell, breaking her hip. In January 1993, she underwent surgery for a knee replacement. She was hospitalized from February 2 to April 15. She underwent a second knee surgery in July of that year. A day after returning home from this second surgery, she suffered a severe stroke. Doris Duke died at her Falcon's Lair home on October 28, 1993, at the age of 80. The cause was progressive pulmonary edema
Pulmonary edema
Pulmonary edema , or oedema , is fluid accumulation in the air spaces and parenchyma of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause respiratory failure...
resulting in cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
, according to a spokesman for Bernard Lafferty, the executor named by Duke's last will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
, who was with her at her death.
Although Duke was cremated 24 hours after her death and her ashes scattered over the Pacific Ocean as her last will specified, her executor, Lafferty, also sent a small container of the ashes to Marshfield, Missouri
Marshfield, Missouri
Marshfield is a city in Webster County, Missouri, United States. The population was 6,633 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat and part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
, a town that Duke had grown to admire during her years as a world traveler. Duke had visited Marshfield during a large tent revival, where she enjoyed the music. Duke's ashes were buried in a local cemetery and a stone was placed to honor her memory. She was locally known as a philanthropist, since she often sent large sums of money for various projects, typically without publicity.
Trusts and wills
Duke was the life beneficiary of two trusts created by her father, James Buchanan Duke, in 1917 and 1924. The income from the trusts was payable to any children after her death. In 1988, at the age of 75, Duke legally adopted a woman named Chandi Heffner, a 35-year-old Hare KrishnaInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
devotee. Duke initially maintained that Heffner was the reincarnation of her only biological child Arden, who died soon after birth in 1940. The two women had a falling out, and the final version of Duke's will specified that she did not wish Heffner to benefit from her father's trusts; she also negated the adoption. Despite the negation, after Duke's death, the estate's trustees settled a lawsuit brought by Heffner for $65 million.
In her final will, Duke left virtually all of her fortune to several existing and new charitable foundations. She appointed her Irish-born butler Bernard Lafferty as executor, who then appointed, as corporate co-executor, US Trust company; Lafferty and her friend Marion Oates Charles were named as her trustees. However a number of lawsuits were filed against the will. At death, Duke's fortune was estimated at $1.3 billion. The most notorious lawsuit was initiated by Harry Demopoulos
Harry Demopoulos
Harry B. Demopoulos, MD is an pioneer in the medical aspects of free radicals, especially in the areas of ischaemic injury, the toxicity of anticancer drugs, and in spinal cord injury...
, whose company 'Health Maintenance Programs' owed the Duke Estate $600,000. Demopoulos found out that he had been named co-executor in an earlier will and challenged Lafferty's appointment, claiming that convicted felon Tammy Payette told him (Demopoulos) that doctors had killed Duke. In an attempt to convince the court that Payette's allegation was credible, Demopoulos hired a psychiatrist to examine Payette but ultimately to no avail. In 1996, the year Lafferty died, the Los Angeles District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
's office ruled there was no evidence of foul play.
A suit was also filed by Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, claiming entitlement to a larger share of the Duke assets than the $10 million provided in the will (although Duke's will also stated that any beneficiary who disputed its provisions should receive nothing).
Litigation involving 40 lawyers at 10 different law firms tied up the Duke estate for nearly three years. Lafferty was ultimately removed by NY courts for using estate funds for his own support, and US Trust for failing "to do anything to stop him." The Surrogate Court
Surrogate Court
A probate court is a specialized court that deals with matters of probate and the administration of estates....
of Manhattan overrode Duke's will and appointed new trustees from among those who had challenged it: Harry Demopoulos
Harry Demopoulos
Harry B. Demopoulos, MD is an pioneer in the medical aspects of free radicals, especially in the areas of ischaemic injury, the toxicity of anticancer drugs, and in spinal cord injury...
; J. Carter Brown (later also involved in overturning the will of Dr. Albert C. Barnes); Marion Oates Charles, the sole trustee from Duke's last will; James Gill, a lawyer; Nannerl O. Keohane
Nannerl O. Keohane
Nannerl "Nan" Overholser Keohane is an American political theorist and former president of Wellesley College and Duke University. Currently Keohane is the Lawrence S...
, president of Duke University, and John J. Mack
John J. Mack
John J. Mack is the current Chairman of the Board at Morgan Stanley, the New York-based investment bank and brokerage firm. Mack announced his retirement as Chief Executive Officer on September 10, 2009, which was effective January 1, 2010. Former Co-President James P...
, president of Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
. The fees for their lawsuits exceeded $10 million, and were paid by the Duke estate. These trustees now control all assets of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which Doris Duke directed should support medical research, anti-vivisectionism, prevention of cruelty to children and animals, performance arts, wildlife and ecology. The DDCF also controls funding for the three separate Foundations created to operate Duke's former homes: the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Duke Farms and Newport Restoration Foundation. The trustees have progressively reduced funding for these foundations, stating that Doris Duke's own works are "perpetuating the Duke family history of personal passions and conspicuous consumption.". Recently these foundations have been forced to sell assets to meet their expenses, and in the case of Duke Gardens, to close entirely. Christie's, New York, published a heavily-illustrated catalog of over 600 pages for their auction of "The Doris Duke Collection, sold to benefit the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation" which was held in New York, NY over three days, Thursday-Saturday, 3–5 June 2004.
Doris Duke in popular culture
Several biographies of Duke have been published, most notably Stephanie Mansfield's The Richest Girl in The World (Putnam 1994). In 1999, a four-hour made-for-television mini-series, based on Mansfield's book, (starring Lauren BacallLauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
as Duke and Richard Chamberlain
Richard Chamberlain
George Richard Chamberlain is an American actor of stage and screen who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare .-Early life:...
as Lafferty) was aired with the title, Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke
Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke
Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke is a four-part miniseries that first aired on CBS in 1999 staring motion picture legend Lauren Bacall and Richard Chamberlain. It is based on the book The Richest Girl In The World: by Stephanie Mansfield. In addition to Bob Colacello's profile of Ms...
. Her disinherited nephew, Pony Duke, and Jason Thomas published Too Rich: The Family Secrets of Doris Duke in 1996. Her life is also the subject of the 2007
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
HBO film Bernard and Doris
Bernard and Doris
Bernard and Doris is a 2007 film directed by Bob Balaban. The teleplay by Hugh Costello is a semi-fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Irish employee Bernard Lafferty later in her life.The film...
, starring Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
as Duke and Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
as the butler Lafferty.
External links
- Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
- Thomas D. Mcavoy: James Cromwell, Doris Duke and Frank Murphy attending Jackson Day dinner (Washington DC, 1940)