4. Little Edie Once Had a Promising Movie Career
Little Edie, as befitted her privileged family status, attended a prestigious finishing school called Miss Porter’s in Connecticut as a teenager. She also did some modeling for Macy’s. Little Edie was widely considered a bright beauty, and a complement to her cousin Jacqueline’s dark beauty. In 1936, she caught the eye of the New York Times during her debutante debut. She appeared in several fashion shows in New York City and almost signed contracts with both MGM and Paramount.
Little Edie claimed that she was told that Max Gordon wanted to talk to her about film roles. Sadly, before she had the opportunity to interview for a chance to break into films, her mother’s money ran out, and she was called home to Grey Gardens. In addition to the financial strain, Big Edie wanted Little Edie’s help caring both for her failing health and her growing number of cats. While Little Edie was making a name for herself in New York City, Big Edie was growing increasingly reclusive.
Little Edie famously claimed that, during her teenage years in New York City, both Howard Hughes and millionaire industrialist J. Paul Getty had both proposed marriage to her. However, her own family threw those claims into question with her cousin John H. Davis being quoted as saying “she had a very, very fertile imagination.”