$2,500
A group of four letters and one inscribed place mat, written by Edith Bouvier Beale, known as "Little Edie," to her friend Walter Newkirk. Beale became famous after starring in a film by the Maysles brothers, which documented the eccentricities of her and her mother while they lived in squalid conditions in a dilapidated mansion in East Hampton. The film Grey Gardens (Portrait, 1975) features Beale, the cousin of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, sharing political views and reminiscing with her mother about their former lives as socialites. The film is regularly featured in top 10 lists as one of the best documentaries ever made. It was later the inspiration for a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name as well as an Emmy Award- and Golden Globe-winning HBO film. Author and veteran publicist Newkirk first met Edie in 1976 when Grey Gardens was playing at The Paris Theatre in New York. He traveled to the Beale mansion to interview Beale for his college (Rutgers University) newspaper, The Daily Targum , and the two quickly became friends. The letters date from the early 1980s to circa 2001. Included is a list of astrological attributes written on Barbizon Hotel stationery; a letter praising a party thrown by Pat Loud to celebrate the publication of the book The Cinematic Cat ; a letter embellished with an American flag image and the title “God Bless America” wherein Beale worries about U.S./Islamic relations in response to the 9/11 attacks; and
Auctioneer:
Juliens Auctions
Date:
2015-06-26
