Prudence Farrow

Prudence Farrow
Born Prudence Anne Villiers Farrow
(1948-01-20) January 20, 1948
Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Residence Seagrove Beach, Florida
Nationality American
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley,
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation Author, meditation teacher, producer
Home town New York City
Spouse(s) Albert Bruns
Children 3
Relatives Mia Farrow (sister)

Prudence Anne Villiers Farrow Bruns (born January 20, 1948) is an American author, meditation teacher, and film producer. She is the daughter of film director John Farrow and actress Maureen O'Sullivan, and the younger sister of actress Mia Farrow.[2] She is the subject of the Beatles song "Dear Prudence".[3]

Early life

Farrow was raised in the Catholic faith and attended convent schools.[4] Farrow learned the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) in 1966 at UCLA.[4] In 1967 Farrow became interested in yoga[5] and opened a yoga institute at a former church in Boston.[6][5] On January 23, 1968, Farrow, along with her sister Mia and brother John, traveled with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi from New York to India,[7] and then to the Maharishi's ashram in Rishikesh for a Transcendental Meditation teacher training course.[2]

The Beatles arrived shortly thereafter, on February 16 and 20.[8] Farrow was dedicated to practicing the TM technique so she could become a TM teacher. According to Farrow: "I would always rush straight back to my room after lectures and meals so I could meditate. John, George and Paul would all want to sit around jamming and having a good time and I'd be flying into my room. They were all serious about what they were doing, but they just weren't as fanatical as me".[2] She "turned into a near recluse" and "rarely came out" of her cottage.[9] John Lennon was asked to "contact her and make sure she came out more often to socialize" and he wrote the song "Dear Prudence". According to Lennon, "She'd been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anyone else".[2][10]

Career

Farrow taught TM for several decades after her teacher training course in India.[2][11] Among those she mentored was comedian Andy Kaufman.[12] She returned to India for further instruction from the Maharishi in 1986[4] and has taught Transcendental Meditation in Florida since 1970.[13]

Later in her life, Farrow earned a BA, an MA, and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley where she majored in Asian studies.[2] Her doctoral dissertation was on pulse diagnosis, titled Nadivijnana, the Crest-Jewel of Ayurveda: A Translation of Six Central Texts and an Examination of the Sources, Influences and Development of Indian Pulse-Diagnosis.[14] Farrow became an elementary school teacher[2][15] and according to her résumé she has held teaching positions or presented at conferences held at the University of California at Berkeley, Rutgers University and the University of Wisconsin.[16]

Farrow has worked in the theater and film industry[17] as a production assistant on The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984 and the art department coordinator for The Purple Rose of Cairo.[2] She also "conceived and co-produced" the 1994 film Widows' Peak, which featured her sister, Mia, in a part originally written for their mother, Maureen O'Sullivan.[17][18] In 1999, she was one of four producers involved in staging Up From the Ground at the Westbeth Theatre in New York City.[17]

Farrow became a magazine writer in the 2000s.[15] Using her married name, Prudence Bruns, she has authored articles on Asian studies, world religions, ayurveda, and healthy living.[19] In 2012 Farrow established the non-profit Dear Prudence Foundation to raise funds for a documentary film of the 2013 Kumbh Mela festival which is held in India every twelve years.[20]

Personal life

Farrow has three children and four grandchildren.[2] She was nearing the end of a three-year affair with New York real estate heir Robert Durst when his wife went missing.[21][22]

References

  1. ↑ California Births 1905-1995
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Although the Beatles left the retreat before the course on transcendental meditation was finished, Prudence Farrow, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and others stayed on and became TM teachers"
  3. ↑ Doyle, Jack (July 27, 2009). "Dear Prudence, 1967-1968". PopHistoryDig.com. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 "`Dear Prudence' living, teaching TM in Walton". Northwest Florida Daily News. Fort Walton Beach, Fla. October 25, 1992. p. 1C.
  5. 1 2 Associated Press (October 24, 1967). "Girl Defects From Convent". Gettysburg Times. p. 5.
  6. ↑ "Art and fashion on show". Women's Section. The Sydney Morning Herald. November 9, 1967. p. 8.
  7. ↑ Gould, Jonathan (2007) Harmony Books, Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America, ISBN 978-0-307-35337-5
  8. ↑ The Ultimate Beatles Quiz Book, Michael Hockinson, page 128, St. Martins Press, 1990.
  9. ↑ WARREN, MICHAEL (November 5, 1995). "NOT TUNED IN: Farrow tells story of `Dear Prudence' Sister meditated 23 hours a day, oblivious to song written for her". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. p. 8.
  10. ↑ The American book of the Dead, Oliver Trager, page 90, Simon and Schuster, 1997
  11. ↑ Here, There and Everywhere: the 100 best Beatles songs, Stephen J Spignesi, Michael Lewis, page 252
  12. ↑ Zehme, Bill (1999-12-01). Lost in the funhouse. Delacorte Press. p. 97.
  13. ↑ / NW Florida TM program web site
  14. ↑ SIMMONS, TONY (April 3, 2011). "Seeking the Roots of Thought: Once John Lennon's muse, 'Dear Prudence' now teaches meditation". Panama City, Florida: NewsHerald.com.
  15. 1 2 Magee, David (October 17, 2009). "How the real 'Dear Prudence' in John Lennon's song inspired me". Chattanooga Times Free Press. p. B.1.
  16. ↑ / curriculum vitae, Prudence F. Bruns, PhD
  17. 1 2 3 Bruns, Prudence, (October 20, 2009). "Resume" (PDF). prudencefbruns.com. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  18. ↑ Prudence Farrow - IMDB web site
  19. ↑ / Publications by Prudence F. Bruns, PhD
  20. ↑ Wheeler, Deborah (January 11, 2013). "For the love of TM: ‘Dear Prudence’ heading to India". Destin Log. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  21. ↑ Charles V. Bagli and Kevin Flynn (October 21, 2001). "A Two-Decade Spiral Into Suspicion; Long After Wife Disappears, Heir Vanishes After Texas Murder". The New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2015. More than a decade later, Mr. Durst was dating Prudence Farrow, the subject of the Beatles song Dear Prudence, when his wife disappeared.
  22. ↑ Hewitt, Bill (December 4, 2000). "Resuming the Search". People (magazine). 54 (24).
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