Patricia Duff
Encyclopedia
Patricia Duff is an American actress, political activist and a United States
Democratic Party
fundraiser.
at Georgetown University
, and served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations
as a researcher, Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel and Public Information Officer.
After producing a series of brief biographies on great American women for KTTV
, she helped former Presidential speech writer, John McLaughlin
, launch a live political talk radio show. She left to work for the re-election campaign of President Jimmy Carter
at the Democratic National Committee
and, because of her research on the Ronald Reagan
and John B. Anderson
backgrounds, was eventually hired to work with presidential pollster Pat Caddell
. Following her work on that campaign, she was made Vice President of Caddell's firm and worked on many political statewide campaigns and corporate marketing campaigns until she was hired to join the Squier-Eskew consulting firm.
After working on numerous senate and gubernatorial campaigns, Duff moved in 1984 to Los Angeles
to work with the Gary Hart
Presidential campaign. While married to Medavoy, Duff was an activist in Democratic Party politics and other environmental and political issues. She was regularly cited in the Los Angeles Times
and the New York Social Diary called her "the most high profile entertainment industry-related female political figure in Los Angeles" after Jane Fonda
.
In the late 1980s, Duff started an entertainment industry-related non-partisan political organization called Show Coalition, which soon became an important element in the nexus between Washington politics and Hollywood. Duff was instrumental in introducing then-Governor Bill Clinton
to entertainment industry and business leaders. Clinton was relatively unknown in national party politics and was only one of many potential candidates and party leaders whom Duff presented to Southern California Democrats.
While with Ronald Perelman
, Duff became the Chair of the Women's Vote Campaign and co-chaired the New York finance efforts for the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign.
In 1984 she met Orion Pictures
' head of film production, Mike Medavoy
. They were married from May 1986 to 1994. It was reported in Vanity Fair that at a dinner party at a producer's home, which took place after she and then-husband Medavoy had slept in the Lincoln Bedroom, she told the gathering that Clinton was "a full-service president."
Duff was wooed by billionaire businessman Ronald Perelman
to New York City. The couple aggressively attempted in vitro fertilisation
and they had a daughter, Caleigh, in late 1994. Duff converted to Judaism
. The couple married, but filed for divorce after 18 months.
This marriage to Perelman turned into rancorous notoriety for the couple, whose divorce and custody proceedings drew extensive media attention in the late 1990s. During the high-profile, costly, and contentious divorce, Perelman allegedly told Duff, "I will destroy you, and I will enjoy it". Duff was ultimately awarded about $150,000 a year. Perelman claimed in court that a child could survive "on three dollars a day," and was branded by one tabloid as "the meanest dad in America” . The total settlement in their divorce was estimated at $30 million. Thirteen year old daughter Caleigh Perelman went to court June 23, 2008, to obtain an order of protection from Duff. It was denied. Duff claimed Perelman was behind this.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
fundraiser.
Career
Duff studied international economics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign ServiceEdmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service is a school within Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., United States. Jesuit priest Edmund A...
at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, and served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations ' was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the shooting of Governor George Wallace. The Committee investigated until 1978, and in 1979 issued its final...
as a researcher, Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel and Public Information Officer.
After producing a series of brief biographies on great American women for KTTV
KTTV
KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station...
, she helped former Presidential speech writer, John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (host)
John McLaughlin is an American television personality and political commentator. He created, produces and hosts the long-running political commentary series The McLaughlin Group as well as John McLaughlin's One On One....
, launch a live political talk radio show. She left to work for the re-election campaign of President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
at the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
and, because of her research on the Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and John B. Anderson
John B. Anderson
John Bayard Anderson is a former United States Congressman and Presidential candidate from Illinois. He was a U.S. Representative from the 16th Congressional District of Illinois for ten terms from 1961 through 1981 and an Independent candidate in the 1980 presidential election. He was previously...
backgrounds, was eventually hired to work with presidential pollster Pat Caddell
Patrick Caddell
Patrick Hayward "Pat" Caddell is an American public opinion pollster and a political film consultant.-Biography:...
. Following her work on that campaign, she was made Vice President of Caddell's firm and worked on many political statewide campaigns and corporate marketing campaigns until she was hired to join the Squier-Eskew consulting firm.
After working on numerous senate and gubernatorial campaigns, Duff moved in 1984 to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to work with the Gary Hart
Gary Hart
Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
Presidential campaign. While married to Medavoy, Duff was an activist in Democratic Party politics and other environmental and political issues. She was regularly cited in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
and the New York Social Diary called her "the most high profile entertainment industry-related female political figure in Los Angeles" after Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
.
In the late 1980s, Duff started an entertainment industry-related non-partisan political organization called Show Coalition, which soon became an important element in the nexus between Washington politics and Hollywood. Duff was instrumental in introducing then-Governor Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
to entertainment industry and business leaders. Clinton was relatively unknown in national party politics and was only one of many potential candidates and party leaders whom Duff presented to Southern California Democrats.
While with Ronald Perelman
Ronald Perelman
Ronald Owen Perelman is an American business magnate. Through his company MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., he has invested in various companies in grocery, cigar, licorice, makeup, car, photography, television, camping, security, lottery, jewelry, banks, and comic book industries.-Early...
, Duff became the Chair of the Women's Vote Campaign and co-chaired the New York finance efforts for the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign.
Personal Life
In 1976, she married Thomas O. Zabrodsky. The marriage lasted about a year. She then married a Washington attorney by the name of Daniel Duff. She has kept that name and excised her marriage to Zabrodsky even going so far as telling people that they were never married.In 1984 she met Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
' head of film production, Mike Medavoy
Mike Medavoy
Morris Mike Medavoy is an American film producer and executive, co-founder of Orion Pictures , former chairman of TriStar Pictures, former head of production for United Artists and current chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures.-Early life and career:Medavoy was born in Shanghai, China in 1941 to...
. They were married from May 1986 to 1994. It was reported in Vanity Fair that at a dinner party at a producer's home, which took place after she and then-husband Medavoy had slept in the Lincoln Bedroom, she told the gathering that Clinton was "a full-service president."
Duff was wooed by billionaire businessman Ronald Perelman
Ronald Perelman
Ronald Owen Perelman is an American business magnate. Through his company MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., he has invested in various companies in grocery, cigar, licorice, makeup, car, photography, television, camping, security, lottery, jewelry, banks, and comic book industries.-Early...
to New York City. The couple aggressively attempted in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...
and they had a daughter, Caleigh, in late 1994. Duff converted to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. The couple married, but filed for divorce after 18 months.
This marriage to Perelman turned into rancorous notoriety for the couple, whose divorce and custody proceedings drew extensive media attention in the late 1990s. During the high-profile, costly, and contentious divorce, Perelman allegedly told Duff, "I will destroy you, and I will enjoy it". Duff was ultimately awarded about $150,000 a year. Perelman claimed in court that a child could survive "on three dollars a day," and was branded by one tabloid as "the meanest dad in America” . The total settlement in their divorce was estimated at $30 million. Thirteen year old daughter Caleigh Perelman went to court June 23, 2008, to obtain an order of protection from Duff. It was denied. Duff claimed Perelman was behind this.
External links
- Salon.com, "The modern courtesan: Women who wield sex and power now do it in 3-inch heels" by Christina Valhouli, Nov. 16, 2000.
- Duff Talk radio show
- Patricia Duff on New York Social Diary's 100 List
- "Tough Love: What happens when mogul and a movie star get married? Contracts get signed, and the drama begins" by Geoffrey Gray, New York Metro