The Eccentric Life Of Jackie Kennedy's Cousin Edith
Edith Bouvier Beale, first cousin of Jackie Kennedy, became a movie star in the '70s — but not exactly in the way she had always dreamed of. The life of "Little Edie" Beale was long, fascinating, and incredibly entertaining.
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00:00Edith Bouvier Beale, first cousin of Jackie Kennedy, became a movie star in the 70s, but
00:05not exactly in the way that she had always dreamed of. The life of little Edie Beale
00:09was long, fascinating, and incredibly entertaining.
00:13Born in New York City in 1917, Edith Bouvier Beale, affectionately known as Little Edie,
00:18only knew wealth in the early years of her life. Her father, Phelan Beale, was a Wall
00:22Street lawyer, while her mother, Edith Ewing Beale, also called Big Edie, came from money
00:26as the daughter of a rich judge. Her father had a reputation for boasting that their family
00:31tree came from French nobles, but that claim was unsubstantiated.
00:35Big Edie's family pushed her to marry as early as possible, so she married the 36-year-old
00:39Phelan in 1917 at the age of 22. They moved to an Upper East Side apartment and began
00:44having children, the oldest of which was Little Edie.
00:47By 1923, the family purchased their Great Gardens property in East Hampton. Both Big
00:52Edie and Little Edie loved their newfound freedom, spending their summers and holidays
00:56relaxing on the estate. Unfortunately, Phelan grew uneasy by the more carefree attitude
01:00that his wife adopted during her stay at the mansion.
01:02My father believed in running the children's lives. You know, he wanted me to get my master's
01:07degree, be a junior court and a law firm, you know, something like that.
01:11By the mid-1930s, Phelan had left his family for a younger bride, leaving Big Edie with
01:16child support and the Great Gardens estate.
01:19Little Edie grew up with A-list aspirations. Much like her mother, she had a talent for
01:23literature, acting, and performing, and she had one of her poems published in New York
01:27Magazine when she was only 9. This early success, along with regular trips to the theater and
01:31cinema with her mom, only fueled her desire for fame.
01:34As she grew older, Beale also tried her hand at dancing. As she dished to a New York Magazine
01:39reporter in 1972, she started her ballet training in her teens, followed by interpretive dance.
01:45The teenage Beale is said to have been a striking beauty, and she landed a modeling opportunity
01:49with Macy's that earned her the nickname Body Beautiful.
01:52The socialite also claimed that she got offers from production companies Paramount and MGM
01:56during this time, but why she didn't pursue acting right then remains a mystery. It would
02:00take years for Beale to reach the level of stardom she so craved as a child, only finding
02:05that level of fame after the release of the shocking 1975 documentary about her and her
02:09mother, Great Gardens.
02:11Nevertheless, she maintained her sense of pride, joking to New York Magazine,
02:15I hate it when people say I was beautiful in the old days. I like to think, I'm terrific
02:18now.
02:19No, I'm not ready and I'll have no makeup on. But things are getting better.
02:26During her years spent schmoozing with Manhattan's elites, it's believed that Edith Bouvier Beale
02:30was involved with some pretty big names.
02:33J. Paul Getty allegedly proposed to Little Edie, and she was reportedly engaged to Joe
02:37Kennedy Jr. at another time, too. She even dated business magnate and acclaimed film
02:42director Howard Hughes. While Beale herself has remained mum on many of the supposed trysts,
02:47she did deny one specific rumor that circulated. She acknowledged gossip that she had eloped
02:51with King Kong star Bruce Kabat and asserted that she, quote, didn't even know it.
02:56Of course, without any confirmed sightings of Beale and these men documented in the press,
03:00these tales should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
03:03Leigh Schrager, a friend of the starlet, told Town & Country magazine,
03:07She was a great storyteller. One of my favorite stories that I've got was her telling me that
03:10Aristotle Onassis was going to leave Jackie for her.
03:14Edith Bouvier Beale was Jackie Kennedy Onassis' older cousin, 12 years her senior. There are
03:19very few sources available to reveal whether or not the two women got along as children,
03:23but after Beale's father purchased this sprawling Grey Gardens property in the 20s, it's believed
03:27that both Little Edie and Onassis vacationed there in their youth. Perhaps it's due to
03:32their significant age gap, but Beale and Onassis were never that close growing up — although
03:36that's not to say that the elder cousin didn't garner some respect in their earlier years.
03:40Muffy Meyer, co-director of the Grey Gardens documentary, noted to Town & Country,
03:45There was a time when she was Jackie's highly successful older cousin.
03:48After Onassis became the first lady, Beale was suddenly left forgotten by the public.
03:52Unsurprisingly, Meyer revealed,
03:54I always had the feeling that Little Edie had a little bit of jealousy about that.
03:58Nevertheless, in the later years of her life, Beale spoke highly of her beloved cousin.
04:02During a chat with a reporter for New York Magazine in the early 70s, Little Edie praised
04:06Onassis and her late husband, declaring,
04:08They brought such art to the country.
04:11For better or for worse, Edith Bouvier Beale and her mother will forever be associated
04:14with their Hamptons mansion, Grey Gardens. The elegant 6,652-square-foot property was
04:20built in the early 1900s and occupied by two different families before the Beales purchased
04:24it in 1923. It's said that Big Edie was immediately drawn to the estate, as it gave the former
04:29singer a more easygoing lifestyle than the high-society living she inhabited in New York.
04:34Sadly, Big Edie's new way of living was too much for her husband, and the pair separated
04:38in the early 1930s. Big Edie got to keep Grey Gardens in the divorce, and although the Great
04:43Depression was well underway, the socialites could still keep an entire staff at the property,
04:47including housekeepers, a cook, a chauffeur, and a governess.
04:51This dark economic time did little to impact Big Edie, as her father, Major Bouvier, was
04:55giving her an allowance of $3,500 a year. That allowed for a more cushy lifestyle until
05:00he died in 1948. As for Little Edie, her mother sent her to a finishing school in Connecticut
05:05in the early 1930s. After graduating, she lived in Manhattan and remained there throughout
05:10the 40s, visiting her mother in Grey Gardens on occasion.
05:13Only after the early 1950s and Major Bouvier's death was Little Edie forced to head to Grey
05:17Gardens, after realizing her mother couldn't keep supporting her flamboyant lifestyle anymore.
05:22I thought you'd been in New York long enough. You were getting lines in your face.
05:25I didn't want to leave. I was getting my big chance.
05:28Oh no, you were not.
05:30Edith Bouvier Beal's life took a devastating turn in 1952 when she was forced to give up
05:35her dreams of A-list success. That year, a Broadway producer invited the 35-year-old
05:39socialite to audition for a role. Due to her mother's dwindling funds and mental state,
05:44though, Little Edie never got the chance to try out for the part. Instead, she traded New York
05:48City for the Hamptons, and she would remain at Grey Gardens for over two decades.
05:52After Little Edie's arrival, she and her mother quickly realized they had no money.
05:56Major Beal left behind $65,000 for them and a trust, but Little Edie later alleged that Jackie
06:01Kennedy's father, her uncle, took all of the money, leaving Big Edie with only $300 a month.
06:06The Beals began selling many of their valuables, and they remained afloat until the 1960s with the
06:11help of Tom Logan, the property's caretaker. Sadly, after he died in 1964, Grey Gardens fell
06:16into a state of absolute disarray. With the subsequent burglary affecting Big Edie's mental
06:21state, the women began living an inclusive life. When a New York Magazine journalist asked Little
06:25Edie about her life in Grey Gardens in 1972, the former socialite replied,
06:29"'Shall I tell you what I've done for 20 years? Fed cats. Nothing has happened in 20 years.'"
06:35"'It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.
06:39Do you know what I mean? It's awfully difficult.'"
06:43By the early 1960s, Edith Bouvier Beal's life in Grey Gardens was far from her time at the
06:48beautiful Gothic mansion she once spent her summers at. The abode was filled with countless
06:52cats, raccoons, and possums, while many of the rooms weren't accessible at all. In 1971, the
06:57press had a field day with the Hamptons' estate after the Suffolk County Health Department went
07:01to Grey Gardens and discovered the horrific state it was in. This included a mountain of
07:05empty cans in the dining room and human waste in the bedrooms. Health Department officials
07:10threatened to evict the socialites and her aging mother unless they took care of the squalor they
07:13were living in. Former First Lady Jackie Kennedy had to step in and help pay for the mansion's
07:18cleaning, which cost $32,000, according to the Vintage News.
07:22"'I thought you were going to clean up, Edie. I tried. I swept the, uh, lawn.'"
07:28Albert and David Maisels were respected filmmakers in the 1960s and 70s,
07:32known for their documentaries Salesmen and Give Me Shelter. In 1974, they made their way to the
07:37Hamptons to film their newest project, the appropriately titled Grey Gardens. It was
07:41released the following year. Because of the horrendous state of the property and fleas that
07:45filled the room, the directors had to wear flea collars around their ankles while they shot some
07:49truly unbelievable footage. That included a cat relieving itself on once-expensive artwork and
07:54raccoons making a home for themselves in the walls. Grey Gardens was a hit upon its release,
07:59and it left a staggering cultural legacy. There was a Tony-winning Broadway musical,
08:03an HBO movie starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, and a parody for the first episode of
08:08Documentary Now! featuring Fred Armisen and Bill Tater. In 2010, the Library of Congress added Grey
08:13Gardens to the National Film Registry for its significance in film history.
08:18Big and Little Edie apparently loved the documentary about their lives,
08:21and they were paid $5,000 each for their involvement — enough to keep them afloat
08:25for a while. Two years after the release of Grey Gardens, Big Edie died, leaving her daughter with
08:29a crumbling property. Beale decided she would finally sell the estate, and she spent the next
08:34two years looking for a buyer. According to the Georgetown Ladies' Social Club, the former
08:38socialite tried selling the property to her famous cousin Jackie, but found no success. As Beale
08:43declared,
08:44"[My impoverishment became a vast public relations problem for Jackie. She wanted nothing to do with
08:48it."
08:49With her cousin out of the picture, Beale set out to look for someone who wouldn't bulldoze the
08:52house. After a lengthy search, Ben Bradley and his wife Sally Quinn purchased Grey Gardens in 1979
08:58for $220,000. Although the couple were horrified by the dilapidated state the home was in,
09:03they saw potential. Quinn later recalled to Town & Country,
09:07"...I said, oh my God, this is the most beautiful house I've ever seen.
09:11And Edie did this little pirouette in the middle of the hall and she said,
09:14yes, all it needs is a coat of paint."
09:17Throughout the Grey Gardens documentary, it's clear that Little Edie had serious regrets about
09:21trading her Hollywood dreams for life in her mother's mansion. Still, she found it impossible
09:25to bring herself to leave.
09:27"...I suppose I'm gonna get out of here till she dies or I die."
09:30Beale's words ended up being prophetic. When Big Edie died about two years after
09:33the documentary was released, Little Edie finally returned to New York City.
09:37And this time, she had an adoring fan base. When a Grey Gardens producer asked her what she wanted
09:41to do next with her life, Beale declared that she wanted to pursue singing. And that's precisely what
09:45she did. For a while, Little Edie found success as a cabaret singer in New York, and she performed
09:50for A-list fans including Andy Warhol and Truman Capote. According to those closest to her, it was
09:55the time in her life that she felt the most happy. Muffy Meyer, co-editor and co-director of Grey
09:59Gardens, told Town & Country,
10:01"...she was never a fantastic singer, but she was sure a great showperson."
10:06During her time as a nightclub singer in New York, some fans worried that Edith Bouvier Beale
10:10was being exploited due to her involvement in the voyeuristic Grey Gardens documentary.
10:14The star rejected the notion, once declaring,
10:16"...this is something I've been planning since I was 19. I don't care what they say about me.
10:20I'm just going to have a ball."
10:22Eventually, Beale grew tired of life in the Big Apple, so she set off for Florida.
10:26She found herself right at home in Miami, spending time with the locals and becoming
10:29a regular at a local gay bar. Muffy Meyer recalled,
10:32"...she loved hanging out in the bar, obviously, because she was a big celebrity among the boys."
10:37Florida was where Beale remained until her death in 2002.
10:41As her friend Lee Schrager told Town & Country, she wasn't angry how life ended up for her. She
10:45was a society debutante, and she ended up alone without much money. But she didn't complain.