Grey Gardens Quiz... with annotated answers

When I saw this Grey Gardens quiz, some of the answers didn't seem completely correct to me, so I sent my concerns to biographer Kent Bartram. The quiz and its original answers are below, in addition to Bartram's responses to my email.

From Cincinnati.com, on 12 September 2008

All things Beale: a 'Grey Gardens' quiz

To get everyone prepped for “Grey Gardens,” our friends at Ensemble Theatre have compiled a “true/false” quiz on all things Beale (proving again that truth is stranger and vastly more entertaining than fiction):

• 1. Edie Beale and Joe Kennedy were engaged to be married.
• 2. Edith Bouvier Beale’s nieces and nephews loved to hear her sing.
• 3. Phelan Beale divorced Edith through a telegram in 1942.
• 4. Jackie and Lee are Edie’s little sisters.
• 5. As a young adult, Edie was often referred to as “Body Beautiful Beale”.
• 6. The Bouvier family was not invited to John F. Kennedy’s presidential inauguration.
• 7. Little Edie enjoyed designing her own clothes and outfits.
• 8. Little Edie was unsatisfied with her life at Grey Gardens.
• 9. The residents of East Hampton enjoyed having the Beale’s as their neighbors.
• 10. Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill saved Grey Gardens.
• 11. Little Edie’s main passion was singing.
• 12. Grey Gardens was eventually demolished because of its being inhabitable.

Answers:

• 1. False: Though Edie and Joe did date, and it is reported that Joe’s father gave Edie his blessing, the two were never formally engaged, nor are there any known engagement announcements. Edie also claimed to have been engaged to J. Paul Getty Howard Hughes, however, there is no evidence to support these claims either.
• 2. True: John Vernou Bouvier Jr. had family reunions at his East Hampton Estate, Lasata, there and at her Grey Gardens home Edith would perform for the children for hours. While her own children were groaning for her to stop the other children were screaming for encores.

Is this completely true?

From Kent Bartram

Probably true. Maybe not for all of them but it was for Jackie.

From Cincinnati.com, on 12 September 2008

• 3. True and False: Phelan Beale did divorce Edith via telegram sent from Mexico, but it was not until the year 1946.

I didn't know that!

From Kent Bartram

According to someone close to the musical production team, Edie claimed that her father did send her a telegram announcing it [in Dec. 1945], after he'd married "Linda" (actually Dorothy). The Edies didn't believe it, so they secured the actual decree (written in Spanish) as proof. But this was a long time coming - he'd left by 1933.

From Cincinnati.com, on 12 September 2008

• 4. False: Jackie and Lee Bouvier are cousins to Edie Beale. Edie Beale had two younger brothers, Phelan Beale Jr. and Bouvier Beale.
• 5. True: Young Edie was known as one of the reigning beauties of East Hampton, but the story behind how the saying “Body Beautiful Beale” got started is not conclusively known.

This is a John Davis story, right? But isn't the actual story something a little different?

From Kent Bartram

The Yellow suit story [from the book by Davis] was denied by Edie and Eleanor, but both recalled that the Maidstone nickname was What-A-Body Beale.

From Cincinnati.com, on 12 September 2008

• 6. False: As family of the First Lady, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, the Bouvier family was invited. Many family members attended, including Little Edie Beale who at one reception is reported to have jokingly remarked to the new President’s father, Joe Kennedy, “that she had once almost been engaged to his first-born son, Joe, Jr. And if he had lived, she probably would have married him and he would have become President instead of Jack and she would have become First Lady instead of Jackie”.
• 7. True: One of Edie’s great joys was coming up with original inspired ideas for wearing what would normally be very ordinary clothing. Her style has continued to inspire and influence some of the best fashion designers of our time.

But didn't Edie go out of her way for the filming?

From Kent Bartram

You're right. Also, the clothes she had were Jackie's or her old stuff and it no longer fit, so she had to repurpose it. When her clothes fit, and they were stylish, she wore them normally (albeit, with her unique flair).

From Cincinnati.com, on 12 September 2008

• 8. True: Not only was Little Edie unsatisfied, but she very much wanted to leave Grey Gardens. The question arises as to why she didn’t leave. In interviews with Little Edie, she states that she couldn’t leave her mother alone. She felt it her duty and obligation to stay with and care for her mother.

No. Edie blew hot and cold on how she felt. Although she was frustrated at times (and perhaps very frequently) with her East Hampton life, saying that she was unsatisfied doesn't paint the complete picture.

From Kent Bartram

You're right. GG was a safe haven, an emotional crutch and an excuse (to herself) for why her life turned out badly (to others).

From Cincinnati.com, on 12 September 2008

• 9. False: The residents of East Hampton did everything they could to evict The Beale’s from their home because of the squalor conditions of the estate. It was an eye sore and when the wind blew from the sea, all the neighbors complained of the stench that blew from Grey Gardens.
• 10. True: After the story broke in 1972 that their beloved aunt and cousin were facing eviction, and her family not being able to convince Edith to move out of the house, Jackie and Lee agreed to pay for the house to be repaired and brought up to code. The house did not stay in good condition for long for neither Big Edith nor Little Edie had the drive, desire, or money to maintain the estate.

Jackie paid for the bare minimum, and Lee didn't do much, right?

From Kent Bartram

If Jackie hadn't intervened, Grey Gardens would have been bulldozed and Big Edie moved to Florida (and Little Edie to an asylum, I believe). So, technically, yes. When Edie gave credit to Ari, Tucky came down on her like a ton of bricks, so from then on Jackie got the financial credit. Yes, she did the bare minimum, but that's also all the BE would allow. Lee was getting in deep in Montauk with her lover, so GG was her little project, assigned by Jackie to keep her out of trouble. Then she brought in the Maysles, and no one was happy about that. Thank God, but the family wasn’t happy for exposing them like that.

From Cincinnati.com, on 12 September 2008

• 11. False: Though she enjoyed singing, Little Edie’s favorite way to perform was through dance. It was Big Edith who loved to sing, and even made a few recordings with her accompanist in the 1930s.
• 12. False: After Big Edith’s death, Little Edie was forced to sell Grey Gardens; however, she refused to sell it to anyone who would not agree to renovate and restore the home and gardens to the original glory she knew from her childhood.
  In 1979 she found a buyer, Ben Bradlee, the former executive editor of The Washington Post, and his wife, the writer Sally Quinn. The home was fully restored, the gorgeous gardens were brought back to life, and a swimming pool was added.
  The home now hosts many parties and charity events yearly and has been featured in several architectural and home décor magazines. In the June 2003 issue of Town and Country, Sally Quinn says that her real estate agent initially tried to discourage her from buying the home; however, Little Edie was the ultimate salesman declaring, "All it needs is a coat of paint!"

As an aside, this raccoon has already expressed his disagreement with the renovation of Grey Gardens being referred to as a restoration. (*cough* *cough*)

Note: Information to create this True/False Quiz was taken from the following sources:

• Grey Gardens, A Maysles Brothers’ Film
• The Bouviers — From Waterloo to the Kennedys and Beyond by John H. Davis, 1993
• www.greygardensonline.com

Source