Brenda Diana Duff Frazier (June 9, 1921 – May 3, 1982) was an American socialite popular during the Depression era. Her December 1938

debutante ball A debutante ball, sometimes called a coming-out party, is a formal ball that includes presenting debutantes during the season, usually during the spring or summer. Debutante balls may require prior instruction in social etiquette and appropriate ...

was so heavily publicized worldwide, she eventually appeared on the cover of ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine for that reason alone. She was known and dubbed a "Poor Little Rich Girl" by the media, along with other famous socialites and

debutantes A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal ...

Barbara Hutton Barbara Woolworth Hutton (November 14, 1912 – May 11, 1979) was an American debutante, socialite, heiress, and philanthropist. She was dubbed the "Poor Little Rich Girl"—first when she was given a lavish and expensive debutante ball in 1930 a ...

, Gloria Vanderbilt, and

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, art collector, horticulturalist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious l ...

Early life

Brenda Diana Duff Frazier was born on June 9, 1921, in Quebec, Canada. Her father, Frank Duff Frazier, came from a prosperous Boston family. Her mother, the former Brenda Germaine Henshaw Williams-Taylor, was the only daughter of Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor (a general manager of the Bank of Montreal who was knighted in 1910 and combined his middle name and birth surname into a new hyphenated surname) and his wife, the former Jane Fayrer Henshaw. Frazier's parents were married in December 1916. Both of Frazier's parents drank heavily. At the time of her birth, Frazier's father went on an alcoholic bender and did not return home for months. After public fights and infidelity on both sides, the couple divorced in January 1926. In March 1926, Frazier's mother married Frederick N. Watriss, with whom she had been having an affair. After Watriss' death, she married Henry Pierrepont Perry. Over the next eight years, Frazier's parents fought over custody of Brenda. Both attempted to gain sole custody by accusing the other of immoral behavior, alcoholism, and being an unfit parent. During the custody battle, she was largely ignored by both parents and spent the majority of her time at school ( Miss Chapin's School for Girls,

Miss Porter's School Miss Porter's School (MPS) is an elite American private college preparatory school for girls founded in 1843, and located in Farmington, Connecticut. The school draws students from 21 states, 31 countries (with dual-citizenship and/or residence), ...

, and a finishing school in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

) or with her paternal grandmother. In 1933, a judge finally ruled that Frazier's parents would share custody. The judge stated, "Neither parent appears to have been in the past, nor appears to be now, any paragon of virtue in parenthood." A month after the decision was handed down, Frank Frazier died of

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

. Frazier had a strained relationship with food and eating from her early years, overeating being a main issue. Brenda was described as being “chubby” up until 13 years of age, the year her mother began pressuring her to slim down in concern that her weight would have detrimental impact on her social life. She found dieting difficult, especially since her mother was overweight herself and kept a cache of sweets in the home. Frazier’s friends have told stories about her eating huge lunches at restaurants and then going into the ladies' room to make herself purge so she could remain thin even if she failed the diets her mother wanted her on. Prior to shedding the pounds, her schoolmates described her as “a little fat” with a “plump face” and “big legs”. However, classmates recalled Frazier as being “absolutely beautiful” at age 14. Although Frazier had shown promise in music and art, she later lamented that she had never been given a chance to let those talents develop, or to complete her education. The year before her 1938 debut, she was attending a finishing school in Munich. She had begged her mother to let her stay there and continue to study, but her mother refused, and thus her formal education ended at the age of 17.

Fame

With her mother's blessing, Frazier began appearing at

café society Café society was the description of the "Beautiful People" and "Bright Young Things" who gathered in fashionable cafés and restaurants in New York, Paris and London beginning in the late 19th century. Maury Henry Biddle Paul is credited with ...

functions and was regularly photographed and featured in the society pages of magazines and newspapers at the age of 12. By the time she was a teenager, the press and public had begun taking a keen interest in wealthy members of high society who had not lost their fortunes due to the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...

. Readers living through the Great Depression were eager to read about the lives of wealthy and glamorous "Poor Little Rich Girls" such as Frazier, Gloria Vanderbilt,

, and

, who consequently were frequently written about and photographed. The press eventually began calling them "Glamour Girls". Frazier gained attention as a teenager after columnist

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and co ...

began writing about her; he reportedly coined the

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordscelebutante" in her honor. In 1936, two years before her society debut, society journalist

Maury Henry Biddle Paul Maury Henry Biddle Paul (April 14, 1890 – July 17, 1942) was an American journalist who became famous as a society columnist for the ''New York American'' (which became the ''New York Journal-American'' when it merged with the ''New York Eve ...

(known as Cholly Knickerbocker) wrote, "It may seem a bit early, but I – here and now – predict Brenda Frazier will be one of the belles - if not ''the'' Belle - of her season." Cholly Knickerbocker's prediction boosted Frazier's profile and her upcoming debutante ball became one of the most anticipated social events of 1938. Frazier was routinely photographed and popularized the famous "white-face" look: powdered white skin contrasted with red-painted lips, combined with perfectly coiffed dark hair. (She later said she suffered from neck problems because she rarely moved her head for fear of mussing her hair.) The publicity and constant attention got to the point where she found it “devastating”, in that it turned her into an attraction and robbed her of her own identity. Concurrently, Frazier developed

anorexia Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...

and

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eaten ...

to keep her weight down; she once quipped that she had "invented" anorexia. As a teenager, Frazier forced herself to vomit only “occasionally”, as it was her emergency measure for preventing weight gain. This didn’t stop her eating problems from becoming more severe in her adulthood. In her twenties she became entrapped in an endless cycle of binge eating followed by self induced vomiting, and extended periods of starving herself. Frazier’s friends reported that later in her life she would eat “strange” foods, restrict dinner, and she was capable of eating nearly all her refrigerator’s contents in one sitting and then purging it all. Both of her eating disorders would plague her for the remainder of her life. In 1938, the year of her debut, Frazier was dubbed "the #1 Glamour Girl" and was considered to be “the best advertisement for just about everything.” The title character in the long-running comic strip '' Brenda Starr, Reporter'' was named after her. In November, her photograph appeared on the cover of ''

'' magazine, securing her international fame. A perfume, “Sarong” was created in her honor, department stores borrowed her likeness for fashion illustrations, and Frazier would go on to pose for Woodbury soap and Studebaker car ads (even though she could not drive), among others. Frazier's debutante party was held on December 27, 1938 at the

Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addi ...

in New York City with 2,000 people in attendance. Despite the

flu Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

and swollen feet, Frazier danced with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and other celebrities until 6:30 am. Frazier later recalled collapsing into bed from exhaustion in the early morning hours and not being able to remember any of the day that followed. The party was featured on the front pages of newspapers around the world. She was dubbed the "Debutante of the Century". Not all of the attention Frazier and other heiresses received was positive. Some media outlets and critics commented that Frazier was only famous for being rich and possessed no discernible talents. Frazier would later recall being booed at a Broadway nightclub one evening after she was introduced to the audience alongside such celebrities as

Ben Blue Ben Blue (born Benjamin Bernstein; September 12, 1901 – March 7, 1975) was a Canadian-American actor and comedian who had a career that spanned nearly 50 years. Early life He was born Benjamin Bernstein in Montreal, Quebec on Septem ...

and

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic champion ( 1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European champi ...

. Although she felt humiliated afterward, she acknowledged that her critics were right. Frazier later admitted that she was never truly happy as a debutante. She said there were times when she did relish the attention she received, but that she had never felt loved by either of her parents or valued as anything more than a status symbol or a trophy. In the book ''Debutante: The Story of Brenda Frazier'' by Gioia Diliberto, Frazier's daughter Victoria Kelly remembered her mother saying, "I'm not a celebrity. I don't deserve all this. I haven't done anything at all. I'm just a debutante." Her family was equally dumbfounded. "I fear Brenda's being spoiled," said a great-aunt at the time of her debut. "I bemoan all this spectacular notoriety." At the age of 21, Frazier inherited a total of $3,900,000 (). Sources conflict on what portion of that inheritance was actually available for her use. Frazier herself contended that the entire sum was sequestered in a trust fund, distributable only to her children upon her death (or to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

if she remained childless). "Everybody thought my mother and I were swimming in wealth at the time of my debut," she wrote. "Actually we had only a little money, which the surrogate court gave us out of the trust fund income, to live on." She added, "One reason I went to the Stork Club so often was that

Sherman Billingsley John Sherman Billingsley (March 10, 1896 – October 4, 1966) was an American nightclub owner and former bootlegger who was the founder and owner of New York's Stork Club. Life and career John Sherman Billingsley was the youngest child of ...

, to attract debutantes, served us lunch for just a dollar apiece."

Personal life

Frazier married football star Shipwreck Kelly at her mother's apartment at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City on June 30, 1941. She gave birth to a daughter, Brenda Victoria, in 1945. Frazier and Kelly divorced in 1956. After several tempestuous relationships, including ones with cartoonist

Peter Arno Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. (January 8, 1904 – February 22, 1968), known professionally as Peter Arno, was an American cartoonist. He contributed cartoons and 101 covers to ''The New Yorker'' from 1925, the magazine's first year, until 1968, the ...

and

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

, Frazier and daughter moved to a small town near

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

. On March 3, 1957, she married sales executive Robert Chatfield-Taylor. Frazier later told friends that she regretted marrying Chatfield-Taylor right away. They divorced in 1962.

Later years and death

On March 16, 1961, Frazier attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. She was discovered and survived the attempt but would make thirty more suicide attempts throughout her life. In 1963, she wrote a piece for ''Life'' magazine – the same publication on whose cover she had appeared 25 years earlier (although the cover of that week's issue was given to the state funeral of the assassinated President Kennedy) – titled "My Debut – A Horror". In the article, she related that she was largely unhappy during her debutante year and, after years of therapy, she looked at photos of the event and noted "the mockery of faked smiles...and how many people there are in the world who were doomed like me by unfortunate childhoods to adult lives plagued by fears and inner emptiness." Frazier also detailed the many nervous breakdowns she suffered due to the negative attention she received and was also critical of her family for having been "being pushed into social functions." by them. The article sparked renewed interest in Frazier and she appeared on several talk shows where she discussed her experiences as a "celebutante". In her later years, she retreated from public life, dividing her time between her homes in East Harwich and Beacon Hill. She became reclusive and developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol. A friend later stated that Frazier took "...pills to go to sleep and pills to wake up, pills for digestion and pills to go to the bathroom, and pills to be happy and pills to be sad, and pills to be." In 1966, photographer

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; née Nemerov; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
" The New York ...

took a now-famous picture of Frazier for '' Esquire'' magazine. The photo featured a gaunt Frazier heavily made up in her signature white face powder and red lipstick, propped up in bed with a cigarette in hand, looking wearily toward the camera. During the final ten years of her life, Frazier suffered from ill health due to her long battles with anorexia and bulimia and was routinely hospitalized. On May 3, 1982, Frazier died of

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thy ...

at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Boston at the age of 60. "She didn't stand a chance," wrote biographer Diliberto. "There was no way she was going to be happy. Her life was basically over before it began."

In popular culture

Frazier is mentioned in the Stephen Sondheim song, "I'm Still Here" from the musical ''

Follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Fol ...

''. Frazier's fame was also noted in the introduction to the

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart' ...

song, "Disgustingly Rich", the first act finale from their 1940 show, '' Higher and Higher'': :Brenda Frazier sat on a wall. :Brenda Frazier had a big fall. :Brenda Frazier's falling down, falling down, falling down. :Brenda Frazier's falling down, my fair Minnie!

Early life

Fame

Personal life

Later years and death

In popular culture

Notes

Further reading