Rosamond Pinchot (October 26, 1904 – January 24, 1938) was an American

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

, stage and film

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

Early life and career

Born in New York City, Pinchot was the daughter of

Amos Pinchot Amos Richards Eno Pinchot (December 6, 1873 – February 18, 1944) was an American lawyer and reformist. He never held public office but managed to exert considerable influence in reformist circles and did much to keep progressive and Georg ...

, a wealthy lawyer and a key figure in the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

and Gertrude Minturn Pinchot, the daughter of shipping magnate

Robert Bowne Minturn, Jr. Robert Bowne Minturn Jr. (February 21, 1836 – December 15, 1889) was an American shipping magnate of the mid to late 19th century. Early life and career Robert Bowne Minturn Jr. was born in New York City to Robert Bowne Minturn, Robert Bowne Mi ...

She had a younger brother, Gifford (nicknamed Long Giff). Her uncle was Pennsylvania Governor

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

and her cousin was

Edie Sedgwick Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American actress and fashion model, known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars.Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, pp. 210& ...

. The family divided their time between their home in New York City and the family estate, Grey Towers, in

Milford, Pennsylvania Milford is a borough in Pike County, Pennsylvania and the county seat. Its population was 1,103 at the 2020 census. Located on the upper Delaware River, Milford is part of the New York metropolitan area. History The area along the Delaware R ...

. She graduated from Miss Chapin's School. Her parents divorced in 1918. After the divorce, Pinchot and her brother lived with their mother in her townhouse in New York City. In 1919, Amos Pinchot married magazine writer Ruth Pickering with whom he would have two more children: Mary Eno and Antoinette "Tony" Pinchot.

Career

At the age of nineteen, Pinchot was discovered by

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pro ...

while traveling on an ocean liner with her mother. Reinhardt cast her as a nun who runs away from a convent in the Broadway production of

Karl Vollmoller Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

's '' The Miracle''. Pinchot's appearance in the play caused a sensation and led to her receiving considerable attention from the press who named her "the loveliest woman in America". Reinhardt later cast her in productions of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' and

Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian- Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''The For ...

's '' The Eternal Road''. She made her only film appearance in the 1935 adaptation of ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...

'', as Queen Anne.

Personal life

Pinchot married William "Big Bill" Gaston (who was previously married to

Kay Francis Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs; January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 an ...

), on January 26, 1928. The couple had two children, William Alexander Gaston and James Pinchot Gaston. In 1933, Pinchot and Gaston separated. They remained married but were estranged at the time of Pinchot's death.

Death

On the morning of January 24, 1938, a cook found Pinchot's body in the front seat of her car parked in the garage of a rented estate in

Old Brookville, New York Old Brookville is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The village population was 2,020 at the time of the 2020 census. It is considered part of the gre ...

. Her death was later determined to be caused by

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that ca ...

due to

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large e ...

and was ruled a suicide. Pinchot left two suicide notes, the contents of which were never made public. Pinchot's funeral was held at her mother's townhouse in New York City on January 26, 1938, her tenth wedding anniversary. She was buried in the Pinchot family plot in Milford Cemetery in

Stage credits

Filmography

Footnotes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinchot, Rosamond 1904 births 1938 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American film actresses American socialites American stage actresses Burials in Pennsylvania American people of French descent Deaths from asphyxiation Pinchot family Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning Suicides in New York (state) 1938 suicides Female suicides Winthrop family