Socialite, philanthropist, and writer, born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. Largely self-educated, she was a magazine journalist and the author of four books. She married three times (once divorced, twice widowed). Her third husband, Vincent Astor, left her with a fortune that allowed her to become a philanthropist of major proportions. She awarded an average of 100 grants a year ($9 million a year) to civic projects, social projects, and cultural institutions in New York City. The New York Public Library, where she served as a trustee, was one of her major beneficiaries.
Brooke Astor (born March 30, 1902) is an American socialite and philanthropist who was the chairman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband.
Early life
She was born Roberta Brooke Russell in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the only child of John Henry Russell, Jr.
Her father, who retired as a major general, ended his military career as 16th commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.
First marriage
She married her first husband, John Dryden Kuser (1897-1964), shortly after her 17th birthday, on 26 April 1919, in Washington, D.C.
Her husband, the son of the financier and conservationist Col.
"Worst years of my life" was how Brooke Astor described her tumultous first marriage, which was punctuated by her husband's physical abuse, alcoholism and adultery.
Brooke and Dryden Kuser had one child, Anthony Dryden Kuser (1924-).
In June 1929, Kuser insisted that his wife leave him.
Second marriage
Her second husband, whom she married in 1932, was Charles Henry "Buddy" Marshall (January 19, 1891-1952), the senior partner of the investment firm Butler, Herrick &
Brooke Astor later wrote that the marriage was "a great love match."
She had two stepchildren by the marriage, Peter Marshall and Helen Huntington Marshall.
In 1942, Anthony Dryden Kuser, then 18 years old, changed his name to Anthony Dryden Marshall.
Her husband's financial fortunes turned in the mid 1940s, at which time Brooke Marshall went to work for eight years as a features editor at House &
Third marriage
In 1953, eleven months after Charles Marshall's death, she married her third and final husband, Vincent Astor (1891-1959), the chairman of the board of Newsweek magazine and the last notably rich American member of the famous Astor family. The only son of Titanic victim Colonel John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912) and his first wife, Ava Lowle Willing, he had been married and divorced twice before and was known to have a difficult personality.
"He had a dreadful childhood, and as a result, had moments of deep melancholy," Brooke Astor recalled.
According to an oft-told story in society circles, Astor agreed to divorce his second wife, Minnie, only after she had found him a replacement spouse. Bush, who turned down Astor's proposal with startling candor -- "I don't even like you," she reportedly said -- Minnie Astor suggested the recently widowed Brooke Marshall.
During her brief marriage to Astor, whom she called "Captain," Brooke Astor participated in his real-estate and hotel empire and his philanthropic endeavors.
Though she received several proposals after Astor's death, she chose not to remarry.
Philanthropy
Though she was appointed a member of the board of the Astor Foundation soon after her marriage, upon Vincent Astor's death in 1959, she took charge of all the philanthropies to which he left his fortune. Despite liquidating the Vincent Astor Foundation in 1997, she continues to be active in charities and in New York's social life. The New York Public Library was always one of Astor's favorite charities.
Among numerous other organizations, she was involved with Lighthouse for the Blind, the Maternity Center Association, the Astor Home for emotionally disturbed children, the International Rescue Committee, the Fresh Air Fund, and the Womens Auxiliary Board of the Society of New York Hospital.
Books by Astor
Brooke Astor is the author of several books:
Patchwork Child: Early Memories, a memoir, published in 1962 (ISBN 0-679-42687-6) The Bluebird is at Home, a novel, published in 1965 Footprints, a memoir, published in 1980 (ISBN 0-385-14377-X) The Last Blossom on the Plum Tree: A Period Piece, a novel, published in 1986 (ISBN 0-312-90545-9)A biography of Brooke Astor is being written by Frances Kiernan, the former fiction editor of The New Yorker.
Elder abuse controversy
On July 26, 2006, the New York Daily News ran a front-page cover story on the family feud between Astor's son, Anthony Dryden Marshall, and her grandson Philip Cryan Marshall, pertaining to the welfare of the aging Astor, now 104 years of age. The story details how Astor's grandson, a historic preservationist and associate professor at Roger Williams University, has filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of his father as the socialite's guardian and the appointment of Annette de la Renta, the wife of designer Oscar de la Renta, instead.
According to accounts published in The New York Times and the New York Daily News, Astor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease several years ago and suffers from anemia, among other ailments.
The day the story appeared, New York Supreme Court Justice John Stackhouse sealed the documents pertaining to the lawsuit and granted an order appointing Annette de la Renta guardian and JPMorgan Chase & to be in charge of Brooke Astor's finances, according to news reports.
Brooke Astor was released from Lenox Hill Hospital on 29 July 2006 and moved to Holly Hill, her 75-acre estate in the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York.
On 1 August 2006, The New York Times reported that Anthony Marshall was accused by Alice Perdue, who was employed in his mother's business office, of diverting nearly $1 million from his ailing mother's personal checking accounts into theatrical productions. Marshall, through a spokesman, said that Brooke Astor knew of the investments and approved of them.
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