Bouvier Beale (February 13, 1922 – May 3, 1994) was a prominent American lawyer. Beale was one of the sons of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and was also a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale, whose lives were highlighted in the documentary ''

Grey Gardens ''Grey Gardens'' is a 1975 American documentary film by Albert and David Maysles. The film depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive, upper-class women, a mother and daughter both named Edith Beale, who lived in poverty at Grey Gardens, a ...

''. Beale was a first cousin of

Jacqueline 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 p ...

and Lee Radziwill.

Early life

Beale was born on February 13, 1922, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was the youngest son of Phelan Beale Sr and his wife Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (known as "Big Edie"), daughter of his father's law partner,

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 ...

Beale grew up at Grey Gardens at 3 West End Road in the wealthy

Georgica Pond Georgica Pond is a coastal lagoon on the west border of East Hampton Village and Wainscott, New York, and was the site of a Summer White House of Bill Clinton in 1998 and 1999. The lagoon is separated by a sandbar and is managed by the East ...

neighborhood in East Hampton on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

. Beale was known as "Buddy" to his friends and family. He attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

Simsbury Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 24,517 at the 2020 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670. History Early history At the beginning of the 17th century, th ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. Unlike his sister and elder brother Phelan Beale Jr., Beale followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by attending

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...

and establishing his own law firm in New York—Walker and Beale (later Walker, Beale, Wainwright and Wolf).

Personal life

Beale married Katharine Ridgely Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Ridgely Jones of New York and Glen Cove, New York, at St. Johns Episcopal Church of Lattingtown in 1942. Beale's brother Phelan was his best man for the ceremony. Beale's ceremony was half over when his mother Big Edie arrived, dressed like an opera star. Beale and Katharine had three sons: *Bouvier Beale Jr. *Nicholas Beale *Christopher Prince Beale Beale and his family resided in the historic 1906 Italian Renaissance-styled home Cedarcroft in Glen Cove on Long Island, and in 1971, built their summer home in Bridgehampton, New York. Beale spent his weekends and summers on Long Island at the

Piping Rock Club Piping Rock Club is a country club in Matinecock, New York. It falls within the ZIP Code boundaries of Locust Valley, New York. History The Piping Rock clubhouse was designed by American designer Guy Lowell and built in 1911. Lowell based his ...

, Jones Beach, and Bridgehampton. Beale was raised a Catholic by his mother, but was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and nihilist in his adulthood. It was Beale's belief that

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

"had it right about religion." Beale died on May 3, 1994 in Glen Cove. His funeral service was held at St. John's Episcopal Church of Lattingtown in Locust Valley on Long Island. His eulogy was given by his son Christopher Beale.

Grey Gardens

Despite a successful career in law, Beale was best known for playing an active role in trying to persuade his mother Big Edie and sister Little Edie to vacate and sell their Grey Gardens estate in East Hampton. He and his brother Phelan refused to pay for the home's utilities and upkeep in order to cause the women to leave the dilapidated mansion. After the Suffolk County Health Department raided the mansion on October 22, 1971, Sidney Beckwith of the health department contacted Beale to convey the report of his inspection. Beale responded, “Mr. Beckwith, you’ve described it very well, but it’s nothing new—Mother is the original hippie." After his first cousins Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill came to the aid of Big Edie and Little Edie by having the mansion repaired and cleaned to meet health, sanitation, and building codes, Beale reluctantly paid the back property taxes on the estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beale, Bouvier 1922 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American atheists Beale family Bouvier family Lawyers from New York City People from Bridgehampton, New York People from East Hampton (town), New York People from Glen Cove, New York People from Manhattan Westminster School (Connecticut) alumni Yale Law School alumni