Inside the TRAGIC Marriage of Truman Capote’s Swan Babe Paley

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 26 дек 2024

Комментарии • 312

  • @fabulouswomeninhistory
    @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +28

    LET"S DISCUSS! Why did they marry? Why didn't they divorce? Was it all Bill's fault? What about Babe? And... what did Truman Capote say to make her stay? Post your comments to join the conversation!

    • @carlariggs525
      @carlariggs525 10 месяцев назад +9

      Babe sacrificed her happiness and sanity for money and social status. Women of that era did it all the time. She was a smart woman and could have found gainful employment but she listened to Truman Capote.

    • @sandisteinberg731
      @sandisteinberg731 10 месяцев назад +7

      She was first set up by her mother.

    • @tiaremaui
      @tiaremaui 10 месяцев назад +11

      Truman told Babe to consider her marriage to Bill a “well paying job.”

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +8

      @@carlariggs525 Women of today are still doing giving their power over for money and status, I am sad to say. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +6

      @@tiaremaui Truman was probably jealous of Babe for something he couldn't get himself so he minimized her experience. I don't think he really a very good friend to Babe. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @polyglot6542
    @polyglot6542 10 месяцев назад +182

    The worse nightmare for a good woman is to come to the realization that she depends, financially and socially on the abuser husband, all because she never developed her own identity and freedom. I still see millions of people resigned to accept the unacceptable.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +23

      Unfortunately it does still happen at all levels of society. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @emerybayblues
      @emerybayblues 10 месяцев назад +6

      How do you see millions of people?

    • @margyrowland
      @margyrowland 10 месяцев назад +3

      I used to

    • @wjglll340
      @wjglll340 10 месяцев назад

      Oh brother. I see millions of wives who make a lovely home and die happy because they didn't marry a philanderer.

    • @aqualady0
      @aqualady0 10 месяцев назад +8

      She worked at vogue for years

  • @vickitaylor680
    @vickitaylor680 10 месяцев назад +191

    Bill was a social climber. According to people, he would go into a party and immediately spot the prettiest girl. After Babe died, he said, “you understand the value of a marriage when it’s too late.” I think he knew he would never find anyone like her again. She was a very special woman.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +16

      Thanks for that additional information. I didn't find that info in my research but it explains how the show can portray him as kind to her at the end of her life. I got a different impression entirely. Thanks again!

    • @sheenamcguire5225
      @sheenamcguire5225 10 месяцев назад +19

      Hey would never find another woman that would devote themselves to him and he was rt. Men like that shouldn’t exist

    • @museoflove8255
      @museoflove8255 10 месяцев назад +9

      And a very bad mother! Cold and distant

    • @joansutton
      @joansutton 10 месяцев назад +18

      @@fabulouswomeninhistory The book on which this show is based described him as repentant and devoted while she was dying. If only he'd been so devoted before she became ill. But he wasn't. And then I came across something devastating - Slim Keith had a secret affair with Bill, and used to meet him when her best friend Babe was out of town. I've forgotten where I came across that little fact. It's disgusting how they all constantly betrayed each other. Truman wasn't the only one.

    • @joansutton
      @joansutton 10 месяцев назад +10

      @@sheenamcguire5225 The very definition of a CAD.

  • @guerralg63
    @guerralg63 10 месяцев назад +84

    These people are sadder than the poorest people on earth. They have everything, and it's not enough. Instead of being happy, they are miserable, and they enjoy making others miserable as well.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +6

      Yes true but we sure do like to hear about them and watch shows about them! Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @guerralg63
      @guerralg63 10 месяцев назад +12

      @@fabulouswomeninhistory Not really. I have a lot sympathy for this woman. I've been hearing a lot about this series coming up and I was wondering who these swans were. I've heard of Truman Capote, but I wasn't aware of this whole swan thing. The reason I watched this is because of your title. I knew who this media mogul was and just like media moguls today, they're a bunch of unscrupulous jerks, and that includes the women. I was not at all surprised that she was miserable with this egomaniac, but I was very surprised to see how dependent she was on him, and how she tried so hard to live life inspite of his mistreatment.

    • @shilohnanny5422
      @shilohnanny5422 10 месяцев назад +2

      Well said.

    • @Karen-e1f
      @Karen-e1f 9 месяцев назад +3

      They may have gotten there by stepping on poor people. Some rich people really don't care. Thanks for the reality check. Not bitter but poor. I'll be fine.

    • @guerralg63
      @guerralg63 9 месяцев назад +1

      @user-dt3wm8rn4j , many rich people try to excuse their nastiness by doing charitable work, but their works are as filthy rags, snd doesn't justify or excuse them from their behavior.

  • @howto4u705
    @howto4u705 10 месяцев назад +144

    I read the book about Bill Paley you are referring to and what you say is spot on according to that author. I don't think even today that people get how serious mental abuse is and how harmful it can be. I like that you point out that Capote was no better. Her abused Babe is no many ways. He spotted her weakness and used it against her. I think that Capote was as much a predatory narcissist as Babe's husband. I feel for the woman. Thanks for this video.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +15

      Glad you caught that bit! Thanks!

    • @starrycrown
      @starrycrown 10 месяцев назад +15

      Great comment. I think of a mean Don Draper when I think of Paley.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +9

      @@starrycrown Good comparison and betty is like Babe as well. Beautiful but insecure.

    • @starrycrown
      @starrycrown 10 месяцев назад +6

      @@fabulouswomeninhistory And I just realized they both died of cancer, too. Yikes. 😳

    • @aprilgrant1957
      @aprilgrant1957 10 месяцев назад +10

      All the stress of being "Mrs. Paley," could not have been good for fighting cancer.

  • @freciemagdirila7075
    @freciemagdirila7075 10 месяцев назад +57

    Very well done. I stumbled on Sally Bedel Smith’ “In All His Glory” when I was in college…a very sad story….Bravo, to Dorothy, Paley’s first wife. She escaped and, according to the book, ended up with a loving third husband.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +6

      Thanks for the added information and thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @NinjaGrrrl7734
    @NinjaGrrrl7734 10 месяцев назад +94

    Capote was a really crap friend. Who didn't he destroy?

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +12

      Good point! Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @cherylpelletier3165
      @cherylpelletier3165 10 месяцев назад +4

      He was a writer and they knew it.

    • @comparedtowhat2719
      @comparedtowhat2719 10 месяцев назад +10

      It's simple. Mr. Capote hated all of them with a vengence. Only, Marella Agnelli realized it.

    • @yvonneplant9434
      @yvonneplant9434 10 месяцев назад +2

      He died from alcoholism. So there's that.

    • @joansutton
      @joansutton 10 месяцев назад +3

      And I think the real story being told in this series is about friendship.

  • @marianneisaacs8232
    @marianneisaacs8232 10 месяцев назад +39

    They both were focused on the superficial. Babe was trained up to keep up appearances above anything else . She swallowed the cool aid around what is important in life , we can lay the blame on her mother . It’s not so different to Jane Austin novel . He was trying to make it in a bigoted society where again appearances mattered more than anything else . She met his needs , he probably had attitudes to women common in the day . As for Mr Capote ,what a vile user

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +7

      I found it interesting that BIll's first wife Dorothy introduced him to pscyhoanalysis - something new at the time. But narcissist are never changed from introspection so it didn't make a dent with him. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @greeneyedwarlock882
      @greeneyedwarlock882 10 месяцев назад +2

      EXACTLY 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻‼️‼️‼️

    • @LannieLord
      @LannieLord 10 месяцев назад +1

      KOOL AID.

  • @joansutton
    @joansutton 10 месяцев назад +26

    Here's a fact: All of their husbands were cads. An old fashioned word, Cad, but it's appropriate. All the husbands felt somehow obligated to betray their wives at every opp. I wash my hands of such men, and would rather live without them. Marrying for money - maybe they deserved what they got. But I feel sorry for their children, who were thoroughly ignored.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +6

      It is true that Babe was not a great mother. In my research I read a quote by her daughter that said she was pretty non-existent as a parent. But then, Babe's mothere doesn't sound like she was much better. Is is a sad facet but - We parent as we are parented unless we get conscious and make a commitment to do better. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @joansutton
      @joansutton 10 месяцев назад +4

      @@fabulouswomeninhistory Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

  • @baylorsailor
    @baylorsailor 10 месяцев назад +36

    Not all transactional marriages are "dark". Marrying for love is a rather new concept in human history.

    • @sarahrobertson634
      @sarahrobertson634 10 месяцев назад

      That just means that males have been disgusting since the dawn of time. Transactional marriage is disgusting and dehumanizing for women. The marriages are abusive and the women are miserable. Transactional romance is always dark.

    • @mesalouis8976
      @mesalouis8976 10 месяцев назад +5

      True

    • @margaretsterlacci5379
      @margaretsterlacci5379 10 месяцев назад +1

      But most end "dark" (unfortunately) in today's society...

  • @a.jlondon9039
    @a.jlondon9039 10 месяцев назад +28

    In my profession I have worked with several high society wives. What always strikes me is the abuse they will endure to stay wealthy and socially connected. The men are powerful but abusive bores. I learned an important lesson from my great grandmother. She marched for women's rights and kicked her wealthy azzhole husband to the curb. She raised her sons without any child support. She refused to sell herself out.

  • @brandyjean7015
    @brandyjean7015 10 месяцев назад +32

    Babe was the original Stepford wife.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +4

      Yep, he was in control. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @epistemichumility
      @epistemichumility 10 месяцев назад +2

      Just ask her daughter

    • @thomasmcnerney9745
      @thomasmcnerney9745 10 месяцев назад

      There are still loads of Stepford wives out there...we live in a town full of them. Their husbands have mistresses while these wives are either shopping, taking gym classes or out walking on their cell phones. The despise women like my wife who have professional careers.

    • @stephaniewolf2411
      @stephaniewolf2411 7 месяцев назад +1

      She was so much more than a character from a B movie.

  • @3blackcats999
    @3blackcats999 10 месяцев назад +68

    Much like the way Prince Ranier treated Princess Grace, Bill Paley treated Babe as nothing but a trophy and was indifferent to her.

    • @selfself8813
      @selfself8813 10 месяцев назад +16

      Except Rainier was so creepy looking. Never understood Grace for taking that plunge. ICKY RAINIER.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +5

      It takes a certain kind of man to do that. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @elliebellie7816
      @elliebellie7816 10 месяцев назад +7

      @@selfself8813 The rest of the men in her life didn't want to marry her - just use her as a mistress.

    • @joansutton
      @joansutton 10 месяцев назад +6

      @@selfself8813 Wealth and money money money, status and fame. Bet Grace regretted that marriage greatly.

    • @Cindy-wt6jl
      @Cindy-wt6jl 10 месяцев назад

      ​@selfself8813 Bill Paley was gross too.

  • @lunallena5594
    @lunallena5594 10 месяцев назад +23

    Babe Paley endorsed Halston on the high society fashion map!

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +5

      Netflix did a series on him a few years ago. Another Ryan Murphy production.

  • @dostagirl9551
    @dostagirl9551 10 месяцев назад +32

    I think she definitely suffered long before her husband at the hands of her mother's desire to have her family become social elites. Reminds me a bit of Consuela Vanderbilt in that regard. That being said, she could have stepped away. The truth of her having "no money" isn't the same as what we typically associate with a woman of this era. She wouldn't have been destitute; she divorced her first husband despite having two children with him, but she would have to give up the social standing she had built up. The truth is that her obsession with a perfect life kept her in that marriage as much as anything else.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +3

      Just like in the GIlded Age!Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @travelseatsyellowlab
      @travelseatsyellowlab 10 месяцев назад +2

      Each of the Cushing sisters was superficial, social climbing women of little substance. Money, power, and status were of the utmost importance to them to the exclusion of everything else. They ultimately ended up with what they deserved.

    • @fumikofawcett9032
      @fumikofawcett9032 9 месяцев назад

      There are millions of women today putting up with abusive husband not knowing that they are abused. Babe traded her abusive husband for the social status, she did not love her husband but used him. Thus they are equal.

  • @mardigrassnowballs3258
    @mardigrassnowballs3258 10 месяцев назад +41

    “He didn’t want her doing her hair at night”
    Goodness, friggin gracious !

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +3

      Yeah, right!

    • @lindadeal3344
      @lindadeal3344 10 месяцев назад +6

      That is why you have separate beds and bedrooms...so you don't have to put up with "his stupid remarks" ...it works both ways.

  • @afrosamourai400
    @afrosamourai400 10 месяцев назад +40

    Rich people problems are ridiculous, materialism, status and superficiality makes her miserable but she chose that stupid life.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +2

      I guess you are watching the FX show then😁

    • @gtaylor6937
      @gtaylor6937 10 месяцев назад +9

      @@fabulouswomeninhistory I'm watching the show too and the emptiness of these womens' lives is palpable. Babe didn't have a close relationship with her own children - how sad to forfeit all that love for social stature. Truly am shaking my head.

    • @terrybrowning-e9b
      @terrybrowning-e9b 10 месяцев назад

      hey, im a nice person.

  • @Yvonne-ox8sv
    @Yvonne-ox8sv 10 месяцев назад +56

    So sad . She should have divorced him and moved to Europe

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +11

      As with a lot of abuse cases - and it was psychological abuse - the victim stays for a variety of reasons. I sought to explain in my analysis in this video why she did stay. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @thomasmcnerney9745
      @thomasmcnerney9745 10 месяцев назад +11

      True....
      But she was "addicted" to the money he had made that provided an extremely comfortable life for herself.
      There is ALWAYS some sort of sacrifice involved in these marital transactions.

    • @LKre-vi5oq
      @LKre-vi5oq 10 месяцев назад +12

      I think you missed something. Babe had money, lots and lots of it, prior to the marriage. She could have lived gorgeously without him. Period. Yeah, Bill made lots of money. He showered her with it, usually.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +5

      @@LKre-vi5oq That is true. She had tons of money. That is why the WHY question is worth looking at and what compelled me to do the research and find out and share my analysis. . Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +2

      @@thomasmcnerney9745 Good point. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @catlover4700
    @catlover4700 10 месяцев назад +11

    Bill provided Babe with all the money she would ever need. She was not innocent, her & Bill were having an affair and BABE was having affairs too . Babe married Bill for the money End of. She traded off ! Wake up folks. I grew up with a mother like Babe. And remeber these women never did housework, laundry , or worked 9-5 came home and had to cook dinner and out the kids to bed. They were having affairs , drinking with the gals and shopping haute . So please stop makkng Babe a victim.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      I think that Babe had affairs looking for love and kindness. Not quite the same a Bill- the womanizer but am always glad to hear the other side of things. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @catlover4700
      @catlover4700 10 месяцев назад +4

      @@fabulouswomeninhistory So it's OK for her to have affairs ? Why didn't she leave? Make a clean break? She wasn't exactly mother of the year , and that was clear even during her first marriage. She cheated with Bill. And she stayed with Bill because of the power. No offense but please stop painting her as a victim. She was not a victim, she had for more choices than any other woman had in that era. She had privilege. May she rest in peace.

  • @panam747
    @panam747 10 месяцев назад +18

    I can't believe we care about their crummy marriage. Someone once said, "When you marry for money, you pay for every dime." It couldn't be more accurate.

    • @chiendinh-je2xi
      @chiendinh-je2xi 5 месяцев назад

      100% correct, spend the money that your work hard to earn is the best

  • @MeretSeger
    @MeretSeger 10 месяцев назад +10

    A tale as old as time. Beauty and the Beast.

  • @HeathertheGreat_
    @HeathertheGreat_ 10 месяцев назад +8

    Bill must have loved that lamp.

  • @Meggiebeth19
    @Meggiebeth19 10 месяцев назад +33

    What a monster he was. All the money in the world can’t buy happiness or peace of mind.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +3

      Babe's life does make that point. ThanKS foR joininG the coNversaTIoN!

  • @cross75man75
    @cross75man75 6 месяцев назад +2

    Truman talked her out of divorcing bill because he too was enjoying all the perks of bill's money and power.

  • @alexandrap6071
    @alexandrap6071 10 месяцев назад +18

    Love your channel! New subscriber. I love how you showed compassion for Babe. While she might have led a life of privilege, she also paid for her choices, as she was never happy, and died so young.

  • @mallorygraf8574
    @mallorygraf8574 10 месяцев назад +13

    Great job! I have been reading about the Swans for years...have a almost every swan bio which is why I am sooo disappointed in the Capote vs Swans FX movie. It reminded me of the old cheapy mini series movies they used to show on network television. That being said...to get back to subject...I think that she would have been the loser if she had divorced Bill. New York society was very important to her and Bill would have just remarried some other glamourous woman and she would have been just another ex-Mrs. Paley. Plus all the work she put in their homes...I just can't see her giving it all up just to be another divorcee. Not in that era anyway!

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      Glad you like it and thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @jonnarobinson7541
      @jonnarobinson7541 10 месяцев назад +2

      I agree about the show. I have only watched one episode, but I find it tawdry.

    • @mallorygraf8574
      @mallorygraf8574 10 месяцев назад +2

      @@jonnarobinson7541 Very tawdry.

    • @variousJnames
      @variousJnames 10 месяцев назад +1

      Yessss! The show sucks and is so miscast

  • @adellemery3336
    @adellemery3336 7 месяцев назад +2

    I'd like to feel sorry for Babe, but her mother, like Jackie Kennedy's mother, raised her daughter with only ONE goal in mind, and it wasn't to be well educated and have a career; it wasn't to get married to a good man and raise happy children: no, her ONE purpose in life was to marry well, a man with pockets deeper than the man next to him. And in that, Babe didn't fulfill her one purpose since both her sisters married men much richer and just as callous as Bill Paley.

  • @pennyp.coleman3944
    @pennyp.coleman3944 10 месяцев назад +16

    Were there any love matches during the 1950’s or 60’s? The only one I can think of is the Carters.

    • @joansutton
      @joansutton 10 месяцев назад +5

      We used to think the Kennedys were the ideal couple. my mother just worshipped them. But all the time Jack was serially betraying Jackie constantly.

    • @lindadeal3344
      @lindadeal3344 10 месяцев назад +4

      The Carters were a love match maintained it all their lives.

    • @comparedtowhat2719
      @comparedtowhat2719 10 месяцев назад +3

      There were, Willis and Estella, my mother and father. Married 65 years.

    • @retrobebop61
      @retrobebop61 10 месяцев назад +1

      My mom and dad. Married for 64 years. And the best mom and dad my sister and I could ask for.

    • @TheKyPerson
      @TheKyPerson 10 месяцев назад +1

      My parents were married for 63 years. I know of more in my home town. But they weren't concerned with money and status. Their main focus was their home and family.

  • @toniam.2080
    @toniam.2080 10 месяцев назад +21

    She was beautiful and very kind. Not cold. The cruel on was Truman.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +2

      Yes, to my understanding is that she was kind. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @ellenh6471
      @ellenh6471 10 месяцев назад +4

      She was not kind to her children at all. Stature and appearance was what mattered to her and her sisters. Her daughter, Kate, had to literally be begged to visit her mother on her deathbed.

    • @variousJnames
      @variousJnames 10 месяцев назад +1

      No she was cold to her two sets of children.

  • @ThatEllen74
    @ThatEllen74 10 месяцев назад

    I just found your channel last night. I love this series! So interesting! Thank you for your hard work and great videos. I definitely subbed! ❤

  • @citizen1163
    @citizen1163 10 месяцев назад +7

    Babe Paley...such a beautiful but tragic face 🎭😢
    Great photos btw

  • @Richard-dw4qo
    @Richard-dw4qo 9 месяцев назад +2

    The sad part about this is that Truman was her best friend and he betrayed her. So she was not only screwed over by her husband but also by her best friend. I mean what was Truman thinking when he wrote Lacote Basque? . He destroyed his relationship with her and I got a wonder did he really value it? I think he was a narcissist too.

  • @camhamster3891
    @camhamster3891 10 месяцев назад +9

    Capote was such a nasty little snake to parade her suffering for his own aggrandizement.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      It sure seems that way. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @pauladouglas9891
      @pauladouglas9891 10 месяцев назад +1

      He was so naive to think he could write anything about his swans and that they wouldn't realize that they were the subject of his vitriol.

    • @arribaficationwineho32
      @arribaficationwineho32 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@pauladouglas9891but the public did not. Only those in that society would know who thhey were

  • @CALIFREAKINFORNIABOY
    @CALIFREAKINFORNIABOY 10 месяцев назад +12

    BABE WAS OLD MONEY. BILL WAS JUST .. BILL…

    • @joansutton
      @joansutton 10 месяцев назад

      Bill created CBS. No small achievement.

  • @warrenpeece1726
    @warrenpeece1726 10 месяцев назад +9

    "Groomed to serve a man without complaint." Nostalgic indeed!

  • @williamevans9426
    @williamevans9426 10 месяцев назад +8

    I had no idea CBS was built on the profits of the cigar industryl one learns something every day! This pattern of marriage seems, in many ways, an entirely US-based mirror of the earlier 'Gilded Age' aspirations of ambitious American mothers to marry their wealthy daughers off to cash-poor British aristocrats, to attain both affluence and society kudos for both families in one partnership. Whuile these arrangements appear to have satisfied the bridal mother and groom, there seems to be a recurring narrative of the wealthy bride having to accept her lot and to sublimate absolutely her own ambitions and desires. So much for a 'charmed life'!

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      Yes it is very much like the Gilded Age. I am sure this show will be as popular because we all like to look into the lives of the wealthy. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @tonyurrutia4308
    @tonyurrutia4308 10 месяцев назад +12

    It's interesting how all.of a sudden there is so much interest in persons that were so fabulous in their time, up to now nobody knew who they were! Its good that all the people now realize what taste, style and great living is! There is nobody nowadays that lived like these people lived. Reading would help. But nobody reads.

    • @terry4137
      @terry4137 10 месяцев назад +2

      Speak for yourself!

    • @joansutton
      @joansutton 10 месяцев назад +6

      I knew that era because I'm in my 80s and remember it well. I compare it to the Gilded Age - these wealthy people could be the grandchildren of Gilded Age millionaires, and inherited old money from them

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +3

      Very true Joan!

    • @mjohnson1741
      @mjohnson1741 10 месяцев назад +1

      I'm a classic movie fanatic and knew about all these people well before this.

    • @variousJnames
      @variousJnames 10 месяцев назад

      😂I say that all the time about people not reading anymore. But some do! These eras and this lifestyle is fascinating to me

  • @pauladouglas9891
    @pauladouglas9891 10 месяцев назад +4

    I read that one of his swans, Slim Keith had a job briefly and was so incompetent that she vowed never to work again, and always depended upon men.

    • @colleenwhalen6981
      @colleenwhalen6981 8 месяцев назад

      In the era of Slim Keith it was not considered "proper" for women to work at paid employment outside the home unless they had no other options - of course, working class women had jobs but they were drudgery jobs, badly paid and for them - the entire focus was on GETTING MARRIED - it was the norm for women to get married straight out of graduating high school. That is what my mother did in 1953. Upper middle class women ONLY went to college "to find a good husband who was training to be a professional person". Even during the 1960s when birth control pills were invented and women entered the workforce in large numbers, feminist movement - it was STILL considered that a woman with a college degree would just find some short term lady like job to work at for a fairly short time - a few years and THEN settle down and find a husband.
      Back in 1976 when I was only 22, I went on a job interview to be a secretary. The first thing the executive who was the hiring manager said at the interview was "WHY AREN"T YOU MARRIED?" He kept banging on that such an attractive young woman my age should be MARRIED BY NOW and inferring that something must be deficient and wrong with me. I was desperate for a job and not employed at that time - so I accepted the offer of employment but QUIT after just two weeks because that executive was such a collosal jerk. He would deliberately talk about me in staff meetings "Now we need to get some of the eligible bachelors in the office to start dating Colleen because SHE STILL ISN"T MARRIED AND SHE IS 22" as if I was some dried up spinster. Seriously! I could not make this crap up!
      So in that regard, Slim Hawks was exactly like all women back in the day. She was from a working class background and she grew up in rural California on a farm or a ranch - nothing in her family background was remotely in the same stratosphere as the social circles she travelled in. Slim Hawks was considered to be absolutely brilliant at conversation, the ultimate in style - she mentored Lauren Bacall when she was unknown. Slim Hawks was to me, a fascinating character - she did marry into British aristocracy, but soon realized her titled husband was a thumping bore who was more interested in HER money than the marriage - so she ditched him and came back to the USA - she was quite colorful and lived life on her own terms - despite the social constraints women were expected to conform to back in the day.

  • @variousJnames
    @variousJnames 10 месяцев назад +4

    Rich and powerful people are some of the most miserable sobs ever. They don't know joy and never have good relationships with their kids. They're not nice people. So I also believe they make their own karma.

  • @cherylb2008
    @cherylb2008 10 месяцев назад +11

    Different era
    Very interesting story

  • @barbaras8562
    @barbaras8562 10 месяцев назад +9

    Why pity her? She chose to live a vacuous life as an armpiece. Beauty and grace exchanged for material wealth and social status. And fashion.

    • @sararichardson737
      @sararichardson737 10 месяцев назад +2

      Yep. She felt like hell but looked fabulous and that is all that life was about for this milieu

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +2

      She did look fabulous!

    • @alexandrap6071
      @alexandrap6071 10 месяцев назад +4

      Maybe you need to understand that she was raised that way. In those times, you didn’t question your upbringing, much less if you were part of high society. Divorce was a failure in those times…and maybe by being abused so many years, she felt she couldn’t do it. Let’s not judge.

    • @barbaras8562
      @barbaras8562 10 месяцев назад +5

      @alexandrap6071 quite the opposite. Divorce among the elites was pretty common. So was bed hopping. Same as today. I'm not judging her, I'm just not feeling sorry for her. She had freedom to pursue her interests and affairs while he was doing the same.

    • @ellenh6471
      @ellenh6471 10 месяцев назад +3

      She was divorced from her first husband. Her two “fabulous “ sisters who were also trained to marry for money were divorced from first husbands. Slim Keith was on her third husband by the time she became a “swan”. It was done…but Babe was wired differently. Her confidence came from her looks, style and manners…. Otherwise she was an insecure sad woman

  • @marilynmichaels8358
    @marilynmichaels8358 10 месяцев назад +25

    Insecure woman from another era who made a deal with the Devil.. because money was ALL to her and her famiy.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +3

      Hey always good to hear opposing views! Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @lilylittlemonster5
      @lilylittlemonster5 10 месяцев назад +8

      Totally agree. She was a materialist. Glamorous, beautiful, intelligent, but still at the end of the day, things and status mattered more.

    • @selfself8813
      @selfself8813 10 месяцев назад +2

      He didn’t have all that much money at that time. Only a title. Grace’s family had to put up a dowry. ICKY and no money! Double Ick!

  • @jacquelineloveselvis
    @jacquelineloveselvis 10 месяцев назад +4

    These women married for money and security rather than love.

  • @darcymccattipus908
    @darcymccattipus908 10 месяцев назад +3

    Just can't see how those sisters were seen to be so good looking. All had weird jaws and chins. Bill and Babe both knew what the other wanted. I don't think she was a very nice person, appeared cold and emotionless, a very indifferent parent as well.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      Yes sadly. She was not a good mother as her own adult children have attested to. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @judithholder2537
    @judithholder2537 10 месяцев назад +2

    The Jane Austen era has never ended for some. Simple truth.

  • @unaonse1115
    @unaonse1115 10 месяцев назад +6

    And this is why i like cz guest more lol

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      Yes, I am looking forward to making a video about her. Interesting woman. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @colleenwhalen6981
      @colleenwhalen6981 8 месяцев назад

      CZ Guest was the ONLY swan who never ever confided her innermost thoughts to Truman. She had "radar" and a good BS detector and sized up Truman Capote and knew he would eventually blab and spill the beans and gossip all over town. CZ Guest was the ONLY swan NOT written about in Answered Prayers because she kept her lip zipped and never confided in Capote - good for her! She also was the ONLY swan who stayed on speaking terms with Capote - eventually she got completely fed up with his out of control alcohol drug abuse and distanced herself from him - but not because she was a Fair Weather Friend - but there is a limit to human endurance - Capote had very few friends int he last years of his life. Joanne Carson invited him to move into her home in LA during his last years, basically nobody wanted anything to do with him. Joanne Carson was never among the Swans. She was a very classy lady and earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Nutrition from UCLA - she actually worked, was active, had a LIFE and the opposite of the idle society woman socialite swans - she had good taste but Truman would make snide remarks behind her back that she was "so very middle class" - but she was a person of substance and stood by him through thick and thin

  • @laurelaltman6138
    @laurelaltman6138 10 месяцев назад +5

    So was her first husband also a "monster?" Paley was a high powered, wealthy. Influential businessman. Bigger name than she was. That's why she married him and stayed married. He was a social climber but she and her sisters took climbing to a whole new level.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад

      He first husband did have wealth but he was an abusive alcholic, as I understand it. Thanks for joining the conversation!

    • @colleenwhalen6981
      @colleenwhalen6981 8 месяцев назад

      Her first husband was an incorrigable drunkard and violent - yes, I would categorize that as monstrous and who can blamer her for divorcing the jerk? LOTS of people - both men and women stay in bad marriages for all sorts of reasons - go figure.
      I have a friend who was single until she was 45 and married a freeloaching mooch who was the male equivalent of a gold digger. My female friend had a masters degree and a high powered executive job. Not a millioniare at all - but very comfortable upper middle class, homeowner, good pension, investment portfolio. For reasons I will NEVER understand, she fell in love and married a real creep -he had been earning minimum wage for the last 20 years and lived in a tiny dumpy studio apt with almost no belongings - he was a fork lift operator in a warehouse and only a High School diploma. WHY WHY WHY would a woman who earns an upper class income, masters degree, executive job and lots of financial assets want to marry such a marginal man? He was grumpy, argumentative, for no reason at all he would fly into violent screaming tantrums and rage as long as one hour. He treated my friend badly. At one point I took her aside in private and told her that although her crappy husband never physically beat her - his atrocious behavior towards her was definitely domestic violence. She defended him and insisted how fabulous he was. She was the major breadwinner financially and earned about 5 times more than her husband.
      They both had full time jobs - he had a low level clerical job pushing papers - and she worked full time as an executive. Despite they BOTH worked full time - the husband never lifted a finger to do any housework. She waited on him hand and foot and cleaned up after him - all the while extolling how fabulous he was.
      I lost touch with my friend - but learned on social media that her jerk of a husband quit his job at only 58 years old to "retire" - well he has no Social Security pension until 66 and it will be a pittance since he earned minimum wage most of his life. So while he is goofing off being lazy - his wife has TWO FULL TIME JOBS financially supporting him.
      Go figure. Techinically she is "smart" - masters degree and executive job - but those "smart" women sometimes make horrible choices about who they marry! Smart Women & Dumb Choices!
      Babe Paley was terrified if she divorced Bill she would wind up forgotten, friendless and lose all of her social standing. Bill would have immediately gotten married on the rebound to a woman 20 years younger than he was and he would have maintained his social standing - sexist double standards apply here.
      NY high society folks are horrid snobs and although she would have received alimony and child support, her standard of living would be drastically reduced. I don't think the ONLY reason she stayed with that asshole was financial. I believe she was brainwashed by her mother to put up with all sorts of abuse from a husband and just brainwashed to be a Stepford Wife - docile, meek and put up with anything rotten a husband did to her. Ultimately she was the "Perfect" socialite - but utterly miserable married to that jerk.
      This is just how devoted to "Perfection" that Babe was - she organized every detail of her funeral - right down to every flower arrangement, silverware, food served and the music that was played, the candle lighting, right down to the minutae details.......everyone who attended her funeral and the gathering afterward said they could FEEL Babe's presence in the room quite strongly - that aura of "Perfection" resonated at the funeral gathering - even though she had passed away.
      BTW - this is very quirky detail - when she was very very young, ishe sustained horrendous injuries to her face in a catastrophic car crash. Her face was almost completely crushed - but she had a wizard of a plastic surgeon who actually made her MORE BEAUTIFUL than she was before the car crash - wierd but true!

    • @laurelaltman6138
      @laurelaltman6138 8 месяцев назад

      I never read about Mortimer being an alcoholic. There's a very good book about the Cushing women and their extraordinary lives. Imagine marrying a Mortimer, Paley, Astor, Roosevelt and Whitney!!! "The Sisters."

  • @historychannelpodcasts
    @historychannelpodcasts 10 месяцев назад +10

    I haven't seen anyone else cover this topic so kudos to you for doing so. I imagine you will get a lock of flak for calling out Paley for what he was. RUclips is largely a male based audience - and youn, too - so I don't you will get the credit you deserve for tackling this topic. I am sure there will be guys crying in their beer that you are too hard on Paley and calling you all kinds of names. Keep a stiff upper lip! I love and appreciate your channel

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +8

      I volunteered at a shelter for abused women back when I was getting my psych degree and fully undertand the cycle of abuse and how and why the women stay in their abusive situation so this topic called out to me to do this video analysis. Thanks so much for appreciating the work it takes to put these videos together and thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @w.urlitzer1869
    @w.urlitzer1869 10 месяцев назад +5

    money on one side, beauty on the other.

  • @travelseatsyellowlab
    @travelseatsyellowlab 10 месяцев назад +1

    Bill Paley and Barbara Cushing each got what they wanted and deserved in one another. Each of these people married for superficial reasons, didn't like one another, had little substance.

  • @lauramcgowan3740
    @lauramcgowan3740 10 месяцев назад +2

    Bill’s first wife was an ex wife of Hearst son .. Dorothy bagged him once he got controlling ., she had alot to give , but he was a taker

  • @lalala2407
    @lalala2407 10 месяцев назад +7

    Follow the money is the reason why

  • @tchrisou812
    @tchrisou812 10 месяцев назад +3

    @8:14 is my favorite picture of her

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +2

      She was so gorgeous. I really enjoyed going through all the photos to make this video, Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @fairdose
    @fairdose 10 месяцев назад +14

    Why is this important? These people sound like a gang of shallow, narcissists or emotional co-dependants.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      Must be importanty to a few thousand since that is how many views!

    • @CFinch360
      @CFinch360 10 месяцев назад +3

      Because those who don't know history are condemned to repeat it. Watch, listen, learn

  • @pauladouglas9891
    @pauladouglas9891 10 месяцев назад +2

    So sad that women then were taught to marry well instead of being sucessful in their own right. Society was so superficial, all those charity balls were just an excuse to have a party, the charity part was just to deflect criticism. So man of these men were never satisfied with one woman and humiliated their wives.

  • @laara1426
    @laara1426 10 месяцев назад +3

    10 years her senior !! Big deal. Geez get a clue. There is nothing odd about their relationship. That was standard operating procedure for the times, the wealth involved and drive to gain prestige and power. Rules, expectations, secrets, tragedies, and cover ups were part and parcel of " high society" . Capote was desparate for attention in his later years .

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      He was desparate for attention all his life for sure. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @jogianni100
    @jogianni100 10 месяцев назад

    Truman’s short story ‘Mohave’ seemed to be Babe & Bill

  • @elizabethhopkins7582
    @elizabethhopkins7582 10 месяцев назад +4

    Bill was a Jew. Babe was a WASP catch. Babe didn't have a lot of money. Bill was rich. It was a totally transactional marriage on both sides. Babe had style but I never thought she was beautiful.
    What's your source that Tru lied about her? These women were idiots if they didn't think that he would ever write about them. He will be remembered ling after everyone forgets about Babe and Bill and the rest of these people.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад

      I am not sure what you are referring to "Tru lied about her." He didn't lie so much as he exposed her husband infidelities which everyone knew about, but still, it hurt Babe because it was a betrayal of confincences.

  • @frankievalentine6112
    @frankievalentine6112 10 месяцев назад +1

    Shocking how well-cast the show is. She really looks like Naomi Watts & same for all the rest.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад

      I know. Everyone seems to be so well cast. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @ilanamillion8942
    @ilanamillion8942 10 месяцев назад +1

    It may seem that Babe had it all - wealth, beautiful clothes and objects surrounding her. However, in nearly all the photos of her, she isn't smiling. I wouldnt have wamted life, to be honest.

  • @mariannebonner2280
    @mariannebonner2280 10 месяцев назад +4

    Are we supposed to feel sorry for this woman!? Sure.

  • @mariadelcarmenrouco8014
    @mariadelcarmenrouco8014 6 месяцев назад

    Adoro las historias d la alta sociedad son geniales

  • @pearlfeather9326
    @pearlfeather9326 10 месяцев назад +3

    That man just used her.....typical

  • @stevenwilliambaylessparks3730
    @stevenwilliambaylessparks3730 10 месяцев назад +3

    The ultimate trophy wife

  • @willbusn5683
    @willbusn5683 10 месяцев назад +1

    Capote was sick man.l don't know how this beautifull nice women had him for friend.l coudnt stand his voice and. look.

  • @brober
    @brober 10 месяцев назад +10

    Beautiful people aren't.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад

      What did I miss? not sure what you are referring to.

    • @brober
      @brober 10 месяцев назад

      Go figure🙄@@fabulouswomeninhistory

    • @TheDriftwoodlover
      @TheDriftwoodlover 10 месяцев назад +2

      @@fabulouswomeninhistory I think the comment means beautiful people aren’t really beautiful. It’s that society assumes all sorts of positive attributes surround someone simply because they have a beautiful appearance.

  • @LannieLord
    @LannieLord 10 месяцев назад +1

    Tell the makers of THIS to do a series on ill-fated glam rock star Jobraith. 1973.

  • @alfredbonnabel7022
    @alfredbonnabel7022 7 месяцев назад

    She married him for his money and security. She was an acquisition for him. He was a luxary for her and the lifestyle he could give her.

  • @teresaferrer4748
    @teresaferrer4748 10 месяцев назад

    What's the mystery concerning the brief marriage of Jeffrey and Paula Paley. What did she do? To be banished far away to Puerto Rico

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад

      I see you posted this on another of my video. I seriously have no clue who you are referencing and have no idea how it relates to Babe Paley.

  • @deeelle6744
    @deeelle6744 8 месяцев назад

    Quite enjoying your videos. You speak and highlight spotlight individuals with diplomatic dignity. The ending clips of you are a discredit however. The videos are serious and well researched. You choose to end them however with laughing and smiling and a cheap green sheet.. It doesn't do you the conclusion you well deserve.

  • @d.l.l.6578
    @d.l.l.6578 10 месяцев назад +6

    Why did she marry him? Why did she stay??? 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑

    • @michelez715
      @michelez715 10 месяцев назад +5

      That's easy - money and status.

    • @tiaremaui
      @tiaremaui 10 месяцев назад +4

      Because he provided a fantastic lifestyle.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      That's what the video is about! Hope you watch it till the end to get the full unstanding!😎

  • @thepoetswife
    @thepoetswife 10 месяцев назад +2

    what a shitty friend he was

  • @thall8095
    @thall8095 10 месяцев назад +1

    It is said Babe was not close to her kids.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад

      Yes her daughter said that she wasn't a great mom. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @K98876
    @K98876 10 месяцев назад +1

    Why live in fear she had enough money to go it alone it’s not worth staying

  • @linniem5982
    @linniem5982 2 дня назад

    Babe couldn't leave Bill because she was a career housewife, with no money of her own. She set herself up.

  • @irshgrl500
    @irshgrl500 9 месяцев назад

    Gosh, so many wonderful comments. Although I just don't agree, in general with the comments about Truman. By the time time he was involved with these women, he was a mess. He'd let himself really go to hell, morally & in many other ways. His drinking & drugs were out of control. The turning point was when he wrote "In Cold Blood". He truly sacrificed his morals for a best seller. That in itself says a lot about him. But seriously he wasn't the vile insect he was portrayed to be.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  9 месяцев назад

      Always good to hear other sides of the topic. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @richiekock8835
    @richiekock8835 10 месяцев назад +1

    Haha, this vid reads like a list of unscrupulous horrid people, aka social climbers. Imagine a room filled with these people that use each other for a living. Oh wait. The ball of the century for the who is who amongst the creme de la creme of the most horrid ones, organized by arguable the most horrid one of all.

  • @Job-y8o
    @Job-y8o 10 месяцев назад +2

    She used him. He used her.

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      Yep. transactional marriage. Thanks for joining the conversation!

  • @lauralintonmacfarlane5264
    @lauralintonmacfarlane5264 5 месяцев назад

    Money and zero drive to be touched

  • @sarasmith99
    @sarasmith99 Месяц назад

    Who would want to "climb" that society?! Then, you have to worry about being backstabbed at any moment. Yuck!

  • @stephaniehand503
    @stephaniehand503 10 месяцев назад

    great

  • @marylou3995
    @marylou3995 10 месяцев назад +1

    What a sad life.

  • @biff5856
    @biff5856 9 месяцев назад

    Why? He certainly wasn't a street cleaner. Rich and powerful. That's it. Too bad poor girl tough life. Yeah tough

  • @TradeWynn65
    @TradeWynn65 10 месяцев назад

    Materialism, status seeking and social climbing is exhausting when all you have to do is develop your self.

  • @altaischurale7324
    @altaischurale7324 Месяц назад

    Why?...... Money

  • @AlphonsodeBarbo
    @AlphonsodeBarbo 6 месяцев назад

    What's wrong with 'contractual'???

  • @traceyestes
    @traceyestes 7 месяцев назад

    Truman was a writer. Unless you're a writer, you'll never understand the art of storytelling. He had a rough childhood. Nobody is perfect and everyone is far too judgemental.

  • @Karen-e1f
    @Karen-e1f 9 месяцев назад

    Competition and gambling and drinking. A rich and poor life.

  • @Mrrossj01
    @Mrrossj01 9 месяцев назад

    Money.

  • @donnasherwood283
    @donnasherwood283 9 месяцев назад

    money

  • @mailmanron46
    @mailmanron46 9 месяцев назад

    Is it true Babe had painful false teeth?

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  9 месяцев назад

      Yes, she didf have false teeth. She was in an auto accident in early adulthood (maybe late teens) and had to have her jaw reconstructed and false teeth.

    • @linniem5982
      @linniem5982 2 дня назад

      Yes, false teeth.

  • @alfredbonnabel7022
    @alfredbonnabel7022 7 месяцев назад

    Bill was a Jew and still wasnt allowed in the clubs she could join and walk in without a care.

  • @sageryan5819
    @sageryan5819 10 месяцев назад

    The series has turned to garbage. Woke nonsense. And script obviously young generation. The ‘f’ word was not used that often even in that crowd.
    That is not a comment regarding your channel. The series is proving disappointing.

  • @johannamurphy9607
    @johannamurphy9607 7 месяцев назад

    I fine her nice looking , but not soooo beauitful !

  • @cristianmanuelbohadacastro4907
    @cristianmanuelbohadacastro4907 10 месяцев назад +1

    Babe y la mamá de Truman en la serie son muy monas 🙈🙉🙊💛💙❤️

    • @fabulouswomeninhistory
      @fabulouswomeninhistory  10 месяцев назад +1

      Google translated what you say here as: Babe and Truman's mom in the series are very cute. - Not sure if that is what you meant but glad for your comment!

    • @cristianmanuelbohadacastro4907
      @cristianmanuelbohadacastro4907 10 месяцев назад

      @@fabulouswomeninhistory si así es encanto 💛💙❤️