Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale
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| "Big" Edie Bouvier Beale | |
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Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (October 5, 1894-February 5, 1977), aunt of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, made world headlines for the deplorable conditions of her mansion and eccentric relationship with her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale that was highlighted in the documentary Grey Gardens.
She was the daughter of John Vernou Bouvier II and Maude Sergeant Bouvier (the paternal grandparents of the First Lady).
She pursued a singing career and married lawyer/financier Phelan Beale. They had three children, including two boys (Phelan Beale, Jr., and Bouvier Beale). Their daughter Edith (who was referred to as "Little Edie") was born on November 7, 1917. The Beales separated in 1931 when Little Edie was 14, with "Big Edie" getting the 28-room Grey Gardens mansion on Lily Pond Lane in the Georgica Pond neighborhod of East Hampton, a block from the Atlantic Ocean.
In the 1970s, the First Lady's sister Lee Radziwill discussed creating a documentary with Albert and David Maysles about Jacqueline's girlhood in East Hampton. At about the same time the Edies made national attention when the National Enquirer ran an expose on the deplorable conditions in which the Beales lived. The Suffolk County, New York Board of Health made a raid, ordering them to clean up the property which was falling into disrepair and was being overrun with feral cats.
The Maysles interviewed the Edies and showed the footage to Radziwill, who confiscated the film.[1] However the Maysles returned and the focus of their documentary was the Edies, instead of the First Lady.
The Edies proved to be quite quotable. Among Big Edie's quotes:
- I didn't want my child to be taken away. I'd be entirely alone.
And in response to the odor of the cats.
- I love that smell. I thrive on it. It makes me feel good... I am not ashamed of anything. Where my body is a very precious place.
After the publicity Jacqueline and Aristotle Onassis donated $32,000 to clean the house and install a new furnace and plumbing system, and cart away 1,000 bags of garbage.
She died at Southampton Hospital in Southampton, New York, following a fall after one of the wheels of her mobile commode fell off.[2]. She is buried in the Bouvier family plot at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in East Hampton.
In 2006 the musical Grey Gardens (musical) opened on Broadway.
A movie is planned.
