19 September 2009

Rosamond "the loveliest Woman in America"



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The Loveliest Woman in America, by Bibi Gaston, is the story of the beautiful Rosamond Pinchot. In her copious diaries- where Bibi Gaston's draws from the intimate details of her grandmother- Rosamond writes about being a part of the upper crust of Manhattan, referring to it as the "on tops." Gaston explains," The Loveliest Woman in America is about our mothers, about our grandmothers, about tragedy and glamour and life and death. About letting go, about the men we love, about beauty, about diets, about buttermilk and lettuce! About making every moment count and living life to the fullest. Yes, all those thing. But mostly it is about me and you and how we make the most of our brief but beautiful lives."
(read more in an interview with the Author (NYSD here) , and the Bibi Gaston site here.)





Intersections in the Life of Rosamond Pinchot



Model Nadia Vodianova bears an obvious striking resemblance to beautiful Rosamond.


model Nadia Vodianova- Rosamond Pinchot






Rosamond Pinchot






Vodianova







HER FRIENDS








Elizabeth Arden
1938, from the archives of LIFE magazine






ACTRESS

The Miracle

On an Atlantic crossing returning from France , 19 year old Rosamond was discovered by Max Reinhardt and he cast her as the Nun in"The Miracle." A religious pageant for Broadway, "The Miracle" Rosamond acted by running up and down aisles a lot and looking astonished. Rosamond became an overnight sensation and called "the loveliest woman in America."


R.P.







The Miracle also starred Lady Diana( Manners) Cooper as The Madonna.


D.M.





the cast
center RP, to right DM





On the opening night of Thornton Wilder's Our Town directed by Jed Harris, Rosamond took her life at the age of 34 years. She was known to have had a volital affair with the director. So ending her fascinating but short story.



All photographs of Rosamond are part of the"The Rosamond Pinchot Collection."

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14 comments:

  1. Such a gorgeous face. And you are so correct, Nadia does bear a stiking resemblance. She is one of the most beautiful of the current models, I think.

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  2. I love this post. All new information to me. She was so beautiful...

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  3. The model NV does bear an eerie resemblance to RP.This post makes me want to read the book, neat weaving personas into the story too.

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  4. It's amazing how we instantly "know" beauty when we see it. I know research has been done to define it, and "standards" have loosened to include more irregularity of features...but it's fascinating how beauty catches our breath almost universally. Trish

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  5. PTE and Anon- It is a strong resemblance- the book is great-& when it came with RP on the cover- I just immediately saw NV, PTE-I totally agree with you she is the most beautiful of the current models. GT

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  6. Liz- Isn't she the loveliest? So glad you liked this post- I am always thrilled when I can find something new for readers to see. GT

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  7. Trouvais Trish, You are so right, there is the universal ah ha-about beauty- I for one am glad to have the irregularity of features added to the standard- It does make life interesting. GT

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  8. Blushing- You are so right. It seems this way with many great beauties- they have many times so much more to offer than just their looks and are little appreciated for anything but. It is an interesting back story too-the author discovered her grandmother as an adult- she had been somewhat swept away in her family history. A fascinating story with the RP one. GT

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  9. Readers- I just received this from Bibi Gaston- granddaughter of and author of the book- Here is what she had to say-
    "I want to acknowledge your lovely blog with the photos of my grandmother.
    I too saw the photo of Nadia in a magazine (Vogue? not sure) and cut it out, posting it on my wall, as the person to play Rosamond in the film of "The Loveliest Woman in America" should there be one.
    Thank you for your blog and for putting the photos of Rosamond and the book on line."
    Isn't that great! She also says the book just became a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. I will need to follow up on this! GT

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  10. It was after The Miracle that this exchange took place between Noel Coward and Lady Diana Cooper :

    She said to him "I saw your play, Noel, but I didn't laugh once I'm afraid."

    He replied "Didn't you darling? I saw yours and simply roared."

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  11. Oh that is so funny- Not surprising-it seemed to be quite full of histrionics! I can just see the it.

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  12. I am taken up by anything about this gorgeous woman. I also am searching for any extant films where she appeared on DVD but am having no luck. Please contact me if you know of any.

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