Slim Keith
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Nancy Gross Hawks Hayward Keith, Lady Keith (1916–1990) was a New York socialite and fashion icon during the 1950s and 1960s, exemplifying the American Jet set. She is perhaps best known, along with her friend Babe Paley, as the thinly veiled inspiration for characters in Truman Capote's novel Answered Prayers.
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[edit] Early life
Born Nancy Gross in Salinas, California, by age 22, she had appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar. She graced the Best Dressed list almost annually, and was the first private citizen to receive the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award.[citation needed] She was also dubbed the original "California Girl", for her golden looks and athletic ability. She considered a career in opera, before deciding it was too demanding.[citation needed]
[edit] Personal life
Film director Howard Hawks and Broadway entrepreneur Leland Hayward both divorced their wives to marry her; she had one child, Kitty Hawks, by her first husband. Although she was pursued by the likes of Clark Gable and Ernest Hemingway, she wrote that the one love of her life remained Hayward, who in turn left her for another socialite, Pamela Churchill. Her next and last husband was British banker Sir Kenneth Keith, whom she left in 1972, after a 10-year marriage.
Keith banished Capote from her life when he used her as the unflattering model for the fictional Lady Coolbirth of his infamous and unfinished Answered Prayers. She never spoke to him again.
[edit] Death
The last years of her life were spent pursuing travel and quiet social activities in New York. An inveterate smoker, she died of lung cancer.
[edit] Fictional portrayals
Slim Keith was portrayed in the film Infamous (2006) by Hope Davis.
[edit] Quote
- "God blessed me with a happy spirit and many other gifts. What I was not blessed with I went out and got. Sometimes the price was too high, but I've never been much of a bargain hunter." from Slim: Memories of a Rich and Imperfect Life (1991).
[edit] References
- Keith, Slim with Annette Tapert (1991). Slim: Memories of a rich and imperfect life. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-446-36196-8.
- Zilkha, Bettina (2004). Ultimate style: the best of the best dressed list. New York: Assouline. ISBN 2-84323-513-8.
- Jefferson, Margaux. She knew how to whistle. New York Times , June 24, 1990
