Betsy von Furstenberg

Betsy von Furstenberg ("Elizabeth Caroline Maria Agatha Felicitas Therese, Freiin von Fürstenberg-Hedringen", born 16 August 1931) is an American radio, television, film, and Broadway actress.

Birth and childhood

Her parents were Franz-Egon, Graf (Count) von Fürstenberg-Hedringen (1896-1975) and his first wife, Elizabeth Foster Johnson (1899-1961), an American from Memphis, Tennessee."Countess Engaged to Peter S. Howard; Caroline E. von Furstenberg-Herdringen to Be Bride of Late Turfman's Grandson." "The New York Times". 7 November 1950.] Her stepmothers were Gloria Rubio, Clara Ghyczy, and Joan Siegel. She has two half siblings from her father's marriage to Gloria Rubio: Baron Franz-Egon, and Baroness Dolores (Mrs. Patrick Guinness).

Though some published sources have described Betsy von Furstenberg as a countess, she is in fact a freiin (baroness) by birth, according to the last published issue of the Almanach de Gotha. Children of the counts von Fürstenberg-Hedringen are known as freiherr (baron) or freiin, and the sons only move up in rank to "graf" if they inherit the primary title.

Fürstenberg attended the Gardner School and graduated from Miss Hewitt's Classes.

Career

Betsy von Furstenberg has appeared on Broadway in "Second Threshold" (1951), "Oh, Men! Oh, Women!" (1953), "The Chalk Garden" and "Child of Fortune" (1956), "The Making of Moo" (1958), "Step on a Crack" (1962), "The Frog Pond" (1965), "The Paisley Convertible" and "Wonderful Town" (1967), "Avanti!" (1968), "The Gingerbread Lady" (1970), and "Does Anybody Here Do the Peabody?" (1976). She also played the role of Lisa Grimaldi on "As the World Turns" from late 1983 into early 1984, when Eileen Fulton temporarily left the show in a contract dispute.

She does not use the umlaut of her family surname in her professional career nor its compound hyphenation.

Marriages

In 1950, Furstenberg's parents announced her engagement to Peter Stewart Howard, a stepson of socialite George Vanderbilt and a grandson of Charles S. Howard, the owner of the racehorse Seabiscuit. The marriage did not take place.

She married, on 16 June 1954, Guy Vincent Chastenet de la Maisonneuve, a French-born mining engineer who changed his name to Guy Vincent. ["Betsy von Furstenberg Marries", The New York Times, 14 November 1954, page 893] By him, she has a son, Glyn Douglas, ["Miss Goodman Becomes Bride of Glyn Vincent", The New York Times, 11 June 1989] and a daughter, Gay Caroline. ["Miss Vincent to Wed William F. Gerry", The New York Times, 15 May 1988]

Betsy von Furstenberg married, in 1984, John J. Reynolds, a New York real-estate broker. [Marvine Howe, "Chronicle", The New York Times, 3 September 1992] [Eric Pace, "John J. Reynolds, 61, New York Real-Estate Broker", The New York Times, 8 February 1994]

References