$2,500
A group of four letters and one Christmas card 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 Beale 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, all of which were written from the Grey Gardens estate, date from August 1977 to August 1979, including a Christmas card from 1978. In the letters Beale discusses the recent death of her mother, the uncomfortable weather, the difficulties of selling the mansion, and her song and dance performances in New York City. The letters are accompanied by their original envelopes. Largest, 7 7/8 by 6 5/8 inches P Read more…
Auctioneer:
Juliens Auctions
Date:
2015-06-26
