Pepi Lederer

Infobox Actor
name = Pepi Lederer

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imagesize =
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birthname = Josephine Rose Lederer
birthdate = birth date|1910|3|18|mf=y
birthplace = Chicago, Illinois
deathdate = death date and age|1935|6|11|1910|3|18|mf=y
deathplace = Los Angeles, California

Pepi Lederer (March 18, 1910 – June 11, 1935) was an American actress and writer best known for her association with William Randolph Hearst, the long-term partner of her aunt, Marion Davies, and later, from a profile written by her close friend, actress Louise Brooks.

Biography

Lederer was born Josephine Rose Lederer in Chicago in 1910. She was called "Peppy" as a child because of her mischievous and high-spirited personality, and later formally adopted the name. Her mother, Reine Davies (née Douras) was a stage actress and the sister of Rosemary Davies and the better known Marion Davies, while her father, George Lederer, produced musical comedies.

After her aunt began a long-term affair with William Randolph Hearst, Hearst took responsibility for the accommodation of Pepi and her several siblings, who included Charlie Lederer, later a well-known screenwriter. She spent a good deal of her youth at Hearst Castle, Hearst's palatial residence at San Simeon. Though she was known for being the life of the party, she secretly yearned to be taken seriously as an author and actress. In the event, the Hearsts took the ambitions of her brother more seriously, relegating her to a few small parts in movies such as "Her Cardboard Lover" and a token job on Hearst's magazine "The Connoisseur".

Though she was considered a captivating personality, Lederer had a voracious appetite for rich food, alcohol, and eventually, cocaine. Increasingly restless with her stalled career and her suspicions that she was only valued by others insofar as she could initiate them into the luxurious world of the Hearst family, she moved to London. She returned to New York in 1930 and, shortly after New Years' Eve 1929 was shocked to discover she was pregnant - something which, given her lesbianism, seemed impossible. An abortion resulted in serious complications. An acquaintance later confessed to raping Lederer while she was drunk.

In 1935, her drug addiction worsening, Davies and Hearst committed her to a mental hospital to receive a drug cure. Shortly afterwards, she jumped out of a window, dying instantly after falling several floors.

External links

*imdb name|id=0496489|name=Pepi Lederer

Persondata
NAME= Lederer, Pepi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Lederer, Josephine Rose
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress, writer
DATE OF BIRTH= March 18, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH= Chicago, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH= June 11, 1935
PLACE OF DEATH= Los Angeles, California