Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (October 5, 1895 – February 5, 1977) was an American socialite and singer known for her reclusive and eccentric lifestyle. Known as Big Edie, she was a sister of John Vernou Bouvier III and an aunt of

Jacqueline Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A pop ...

. Her life and relationship with her daughter

Edith Bouvier Beale Edith Bouvier Beale (November 7, 1917 – January 14, 2002), nicknamed Little Edie, was an American socialite, fashion model, and cabaret performer. She was a first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Jacqueline Onassis and Lee Radziwill, Lee ...

was highlighted in the 1975 documentary '' Grey Gardens''.

Biography

Beale’s parents were Maude Frances Sergeant and

John Vernou Bouvier Jr. Major John Vernou Bouvier Jr. (August 12, 1866 – January 15, 1948) was an American Wall Street lawyer and stockbroker. He was the father of John Vernou Bouvier III as well as a grandfather of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, socialite Le ...

, the paternal grandparents of

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...

. Her siblings were John Vernou Bouvier III; William Sergeant "Bud" Bouvier (1893–1929), who died from alcoholism; and twin sisters Maude Reppelin Bouvier Davis (1905–1999) and Michelle Caroline Bouvier Scott Putnam (1905–1987). Beale pursued an amateur singing career and in 1917 married lawyer/financier Phelan Beale (who worked at her father's law firm Bouvier and Beale) in a lavish Catholic ceremony at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The couple lived at 987 Madison Avenue (now the site of the

Carlyle Hotel The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, is a combination luxury apartment hotel located at 35 East 76th Street on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and East 76th Street, on the Upper East Side of New York City. O ...

). They had three children: daughter Edith (who was referred to as "Little Edie", 1917–2002) and two sons (

Phelan Beale, Jr. Phelan Beale Jr. (June 16, 1920 – June 26, 1993) was an American journalist and unemployment compensation law expert. He was a son of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale whose lives were highlighted in the documentary ...

, 1920–1993, and Bouvier Beale, 1922–1994). In 1923, Phelan Beale purchased the Grey Gardens mansion in the Georgica neighborhood of East Hampton, a block from the Atlantic Ocean. The Beales separated in 1931, with Edith retaining the Grey Gardens house. Edith received child support, but no form of alimony. She continued to pursue her singing career, giving recitals in her home and at local functions. Her sons went to college and World War II duty and had families of their own. In 1946, Phelan Beale notified her of their divorce via telegram from Mexico. In July 1952, Beale's daughter Edith (known as "Little Edie") returned after five years in Manhattan to live permanently at Grey Gardens. Grey Gardens (2009)

In October 1971, police raided Grey Gardens and found the house "full of litter, rife with the odor of cats and in violation of various local ordinances". The

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

Board of Health prepared to evict Beale and "Little Edie" due to the unsafe condition of the property. Following the publicity, Beale's family paid a reported $30,000 to refurbish the property, settle back taxes, and give Beale and "Little Edie" a stipend (the two women's trust fund income had run out some years before). The eviction proceedings were dropped. Beale's niece Lee Radziwill hired documentary filmmakers

Albert and David Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films i ...

in 1972 to work on a film about the Bouvier family. At the outset, the brothers filmed Beale and "Little Edie". The original film project was not completed, and Radziwill kept the footage that had been shot of the Beales. The Maysles brothers were fascinated by the unique life the two women led. After raising funds for film and equipment on their own they returned and filmed 70 more hours of footage with Beale and "Little Edie". The resulting 1975 film '' Grey Gardens'' is widely considered a masterpiece of the documentary genre. Beale died of pneumonia at

Southampton Hospital Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, centrally located in the Village of Southampton, New York, is a 125-bed hospital accredited by the Joint Commission. A location of Stony Brook Medicine, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is a New York State-design ...

in Southampton, New York on February 5, 1977. Her body is buried in the Bouvier family plot at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in East Hampton. As Beale neared her death, "Little Edie" reportedly asked if she had any final thoughts. Beale replied: "There's nothing more to say. It's all in the film."

Legacy

The notoriety of the 1975 ''Grey Gardens'' documentary prompted various other works. The documentary was adapted as a 2006 musical of the same name, including the characters Lee and Jackie Bouvier appearing as visiting children in retrospect. The documentary film and the story surrounding the Beales' lives was the basis of the 2009 HBO television movie ''Grey Gardens''. The original 1972 footage featuring Radziwill visiting the Beales was released in 2017 as '' That Summer''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beale, Edith Ewing Bouvier 1895 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American singers American women singers American Roman Catholics American socialites Beale family Bouvier family Burials at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state) People from East Hampton (town), New York People from Nutley, New Jersey People from the Upper East Side Singers from New York City