Edith Bouvier Beale

Edith Bouvier Beale (November 7, 1917 – c. January 14, 2002), nicknamed Little Edie, was an American socialite, fashion model, and cabaret performer. She was a first cousin of former U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill. Beale is known for participating along with her mother Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale in the 1975 documentary film Grey Gardens, by Albert and David Maysles.

Beale was born in New York City, the only daughter of Phelan Beale, a lawyer, and Edith Ewing Bouvier. Her mother (known as "Big Edie") was a daughter of Phelan's law partner, John Vernou Bouvier Jr. She was born at 987 Madison Avenue, New York City (now the site of the Carlyle Hotel). Beale had two younger brothers, Phelan Beale Jr. and Bouvier Beale, and a lavish upbringing as part of America's "Catholic aristocracy." She attended The Spence School and graduated from Miss Porter's School in 1935.

Known as "Little Edie," Beale was a member of the Maidstone Country Club of East Hampton. A debutante, she was presented to society during a ball at the Pierre Hotel on New Year's Day 1936. The New York Times reported on the event, where she wore a gown of white net appliqued in silver, with a wreath of gardenias in her hair.

While Beale was young, her mother pursued a singing career, hiring an accompanist and playing at small venues and private parties. In the summer of 1931, Phelan Beale separated from his wife, then 35 years old. In 1946 he finally obtained a divorce, notifying his family by telegram from Mexico.

In her youth, Little Edie was a clothes model at Macy's in New York and Palm Beach, Florida. She later claimed to have dated J. Paul Getty and to have once been engaged to Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (although in reality she met him only once). During the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy, she told Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. that if Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. had lived, she would have been First Lady instead of Jackie. Once, Beale ran away to Palm Beach, where she was found by her father and brought home.

From 1947 to 1952, she lived in an apartment and later the Barbizon Hotel for Women. She worked as a model, dancer, and actress. During her late 30s, Beale developed alopecia totalis which caused her body hair to fall out and prompted her to wear her signature headscarves.

On July 29, 1952, Beale returned to live with her mother in the East Hampton estate Grey Gardens.

In October 1971, police raided Grey Gardens and found the house "full of litter, rife with the odor of cats, and in violation of various local ordinances." The Suffolk County, New York Board of Health prepared to evict Beale and "Big Edie" due to the unsafe condition of the property. Following the publicity, Beale's family paid a reported $30,000 to refurbish the property, settle back taxes, and give Beale and "Big Edie" a stipend (the two women's trust fund income had run out some years before). The eviction proceedings were dropped.