Countess Elizabeth Caroline Maria Agatha Felicitas Therese von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (August 16, 1931 – April 21, 2015), known as Betsy von Furstenberg, was a German-born American actress who starred in several

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

plays, films and television series between 1950 and the early 1980s. In 1988, she published ''Mirror, Mirror'', a novel centered on an heiress pursuing love among Europe's elite social circles.

Early life

Elizabeth Caroline Maria Agatha Felicitas Therese,

Gräfin (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "cou ...

von Fürstenberg-Herdringen was born in Arnsberg, Germany. Her parents were Franz-Egon,

Graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as " count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is " ...

(Count) von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1896–1975) and his first wife, Elizabeth Foster Johnson (1899–1961), a native of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

."Countess Engaged to Peter S. Howard; Caroline E. von Furstenberg-Herdringen to Be Bride of Late Turfman's Grandson." ''The New York Times'', November 7, 1950. Her stepmothers were Gloria Rubio, Clara Ghyczy and Joan Siegel (not be confused with

Joanne Siegel Joanne Siegel ( ; born Jolan Kovacs; December 1, 1917 – February 12, 2011) was an American model, who in the 1930s worked with Superman artist Joe Shuster as the model for Lois Lane, Superman's love interest. She later married Superman's co-cr ...

). She had two half-siblings from her father's marriage to Gloria Rubio: Franz-Egon,

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empir ...

von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (b. 1939), and Dolores Maria Agatha Wilhelmine Luise Freiin von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1936–2012), who married Patrick Guinness. Von Furstenberg left Germany with her parents for New York. She was tutored in dance from the age of four years and by age seven she was already performing with the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

. When she was 14, she began working as a fashion model. Von Furstenberg received her early formal education at private schools in New York City, attending the Gardner School there and later graduating from the Hewitt School.

Career

Stage

Von Furstenberg, who studied acting in New York at the

Neighborhood Playhouse A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural a ...

under the renowned teacher

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Grou ...

, performed in a wide range of productions on

for 25 years.Dagan, Carmel (2015).
"Betsy von Furstenberg, Actress and Aristocrat, Dies at 83"
''Variety'', April 30, 2015.

Penske Media Corporation Penske Media Corporation (PMC) () is an American digital media, publishing, and information services company based in Los Angeles and New York City. It publishes more than 20 digital and print brands, including '' Variety'', '' Rolling Stone'' ...

, Los Angeles, California. Retrieved August 11, 2017. She debuted there in 1951 in

Philip Barry Philip Jerome Quinn Barry (June 18, 1896 – December 3, 1949) was an American dramatist best known for his plays ''Holiday'' (1928) and '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1939), which were both made into films starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Gran ...

's ''Second Threshold,'' a performance that resulted in her being featured on the cover of ''

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

'' magazine and being publicized as "the most promising young actress of the year".Mulcahy Jr., Kevin (2015).
"Betsy von Furstenberg Dead at 83"
obituary on ''

We Love Soaps There are multiple media outlets which focus primarily on television soap operas and telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "televisio ...

'', April 30, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2017. She went on to star or co-star in ''Oh, Men! Oh, Women!'' (1953)'',

The Chalk Garden ''The Chalk Garden'' is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered in the US in 1955 and was produced in Britain the following year. It tells the story of the imperious Mrs St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of ...

'' (1956), ''Child of Fortune'' (1956), ''Nature's Way'' (1957), ''The Making of Moo'' (1958), ''

Say, Darling ''Say, Darling'' is a three-act comic play by Abe Burrows and Richard and Marian Bissell about the creation of a Broadway musical. Although the play featured nine original songs with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Sty ...

'' (1959), ''Step on a Crack'' (1962), ''The Frog Pond'' (1965), ''The Paisley Convertible'' (1967), ''

Avanti! ''Avanti!'' is a 1972 American/Italian international co-production comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Samuel A. Taylor's play, ...

'' (1968), '' The Gingerbread Lady'' (1970) and ''Does Anybody Here Do the Peabody?'' (1976).

Television

On American television, von Furstenberg appeared in more than two dozen weekly series and made-for-TV movies between 1951 and 1980. In 1958 she memorably starred opposite Robert Horton on the anthology series ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was r ...

'', portraying a double-crossing young widow in "The Disappearing Trick", an episode directed by

Arthur Hiller Arthur Hiller, (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian-American television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career. He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By t ...

. Earlier that same year, she also appeared in the ''

Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Western series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number t ...

'' episode "Girl from Piccadilly". Much later, in 1983, von Furstenberg performed the role of Lisa Grimaldi on the popular

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...

'', serving for a year as a replacement for actress

Eileen Fulton Eileen Fulton (born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty; September 13, 1933) is an American actress. She is known for her television role as Lisa on the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'', a role that she played almost continuously for 50 years (with t ...

, who had left the daytime drama reportedly due to illness. ''As the World Turns'' was not the only soap opera in which von Furstenberg appeared. She was also cast in the role of Niele Neeves on '' The Secret Storm'' and as "The Duchess of Essex" in '' Another World''.

Personal life and death

Nicky Hilton and Betsy von Furstenberg 1952

In September 1951, von Furstenberg announced her engagement to Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr., whose divorce from actress

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

was finalized earlier that year in January. She did not, however, marry Hilton; instead, on June 16, 1954, she married Guy Vincent Chastenet de la Maisonneuve, a French-born mining engineer, who simplified and changed his name to Guy Vincent. Before their divorce in 1966, the couple had two children, a daughter and a son: * Gay Caroline Vincent, who married William Farish Gerry (b. 1955), the son of Martha F. Gerry (1918–2007) and a grandson of

William Stamps Farish II William Stamps Farish II (February 23, 1881 – November 29, 1942) was a pioneer in East Texas oilfield development, president of Standard Oil and a founding member and president of the American Petroleum Institute. He was a member of the influe ...

(1881–1942), the president of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...

from 1937 to 1942, in 1988.174 Years of Historic Houston: Who's Who – William Stamps Farish
/ref> * Glyn Douglas Vincent, who married Anastasia Cole Goodman, a leading authority on pre-Columbian art and the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Edmund N. Goodman in 1989. The combination of being an actor and a parent proved to be frustrating at times for von Furstenberg, who believed that the two roles sometimes blended together in daily life and posed special challenges both in and outside the home. In 1972, six years after her divorce from Guy Vincent, she expressed her views on the subject in a personal essay titled "Actors Are Not the Only Ones Who Act", which was published in ''The New York Times'' on September 24, 1972.Von Fursten

urg Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a protein that stimulates cell growth and differentiation by binding to its receptor, EGFR. Human EGF is 6-k Da and has 53 amino acid residues and three intramolecular disulfide bonds. EGF was originally desc ...

Betsy (1972).
"Actors Are Not the Only Ones Who Act"
''The New York Times'', September 24, 1972. ''New York Times'' Archives. Retrieved August 9, 2017. ''The New York Times'' in its archived copy credits von Furstenberg's essay to "Betsy von Furstenburg". In one portion of her essay she shares the following: After a prolonged period of being single, von Furstenberg finally married for the second time in 1984, then to New York real estate broker John J. Reynolds. They remained together until his death in 1994.Eric Pace, "John J. Reynolds, 61, New York Real-Estate Broker", ''The New York Times'', February 8, 1994 She lived another twenty-one years. On April 21, 2015, von Furstenberg died at her home in Manhattan at the age of 83 from complications attributed to

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

Filmography

References and notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furstenberg, Betsy Von 1931 births 2015 deaths American musical theatre actresses American television actresses American film actresses American radio actresses German countesses German musical theatre actresses German television actresses German film actresses German radio actresses German emigrants to the United States People from Arnsberg Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in New York (state) 20th-century American actresses 20th-century German musicians 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American women singers Hewitt School alumni 20th-century American singers 20th-century German women 21st-century American women