| Jimmy Donahue | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Paul Donahue, Jr. 1915 |
| Died | 1966 |
| Education | High school dropout |
| Occupation | Heir; socialite |
| Relatives | F.W. Woolworth |
James Paul Donahue, Jr. (1915—1966), known professionally as Jimmy Donahue,[1] was an heir to the Woolworth estate and a noted New York gay socialite.[2][3]
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Jimmy Donahue was born the son of James Donahue and Jessie Woolworth Donahue, one of three daughters of Frank Winfield Woolworth, the founder of the Woolworth retail chain.
He is the nephew of Edna Woolworth (1883–1918), and by marriage Franklyn Laws Hutton (1877–1940), a co-founder of the brokerage firm E. F. Hutton & Co..
A high school dropout, Donahue was the first cousin and confidante of Barbara Hutton (November 14, 1912 – May 11, 1979), an American socialite.
Although openly acknowledged as gay, Donahue claimed he had a four year affair with Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, the wife of the Duke of Windsor, the former King of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms, who was born Prince Edward in the 1890s. However, Donahue was notorious for his inventive pranks and rumor-mongering.[4]