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| Pamela Digby, 1938 @Wikimedia |
(1920-1997)
English-born socialite, political activist & American diplomat
American Ambassador to France 1993
American Ambassador to France 1993
Also known as:
- Pamela Beryl Harriman
- Mrs. Pamela Harriman
- Pamela Churchill Harriman
- Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman
- A Grand Horizontale of Her Day (by David Pryce-Jones)
- A World Expert on Rich Men's Bedroom Ceilings (by Max Hastings)
- An English Aristocratic Tart
- His European Geisha (by Elie de Rothschild)
- One of the best ambassadors since Benjamin Franklin and Jefferson (French President Jacques Chirac).
- the Courtesan of the Century (by William Paley)
- the Courtesan of the Century (by band leader Peter Duchin)
- the Dairy Maid (by a contemporary)
- the Empress of the Democratic Party (by Vanity Fair)
- the Greatest Courtesan of All Time (by William Paley)
- the Greatest Courtesan of the Century (by her 2nd husband)
- the Last Courtesan
- the Queen of the Democrats
- the Queen of Party Politics
- the Twentieth Century's Greatest Courtesan (by her 2nd husband)
- the Widow of Opportunity (by the LA Times)
An astonishing tale of sex, money & power
"Mrs. Harriman's life was an astonishing tale of sex, money and -- far sweeter smelling than both those coarse commodities -- power." (Book of Obituaries: 140)
A scandalous ancestor
"Still, her track record is something special. She is often compared to her ancestor Jane Digby, an adventuress who scandalized Victorian England with her multiple marriages. Digby abandoned a lord and an infant son (the marriage was later dissolved by act of Parliament) to wed in turn a Bavarian baron, a Greek count, and a Bedouin sheikh, taking time out for dalliances with King Ludwig I of Bavaria and King Otto of Greece, his son. . . . More than than a century later, Pamela broke up with Randolph Churchill and had affairs with Averell Harriman (the Franklin Roosevelt's special envoy to Britain) and with CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow. It's said she was also well acquainted with Murrow's boss, William Paley, and his pal the publisher and sports,an John Hay 'Jock' Whitney." (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
Randolph, Leland & Averell
"Pamela Harriman, who'd married Winston Churchill's son, Randolph, during the war, who'd been the mistress of Stavros Niarchos, Gianni Agnelli, Prince Aly Khan, Bill Paley, Ed Murrow, and then Elie de Rothschild; Pamela Harriman, the stepmother villain of Brooke Hayward's memoir Haywire after she married Leland Hayward. Pamela Harriman, who then married the tremendously rich former diplomat Averell Harriman. Pamela Harriman, nee Pamela Digby in England at the dawn of time, now, thanks to years as the most powerful democratic hostess in Washing, D.C., Bill Clinton's ambassador to France." (The Price of Illusion: A Memoir)
Winston Churchill's daughter-in-law
"From obscure, if aristocratic, beginnings in Dorset, she became in turn Winston Churchill's daughter-in-law, the lover of some of the world's richest men, a powerful Washington hosetss, a multi millionairess and, finally, a successful diplomat. All this, and much more, Pamela Harriman achieved through the clear-nearsightedness with which she marked down her quarries, the ruthlessness with which she pursued them, the seeming indifference with which she shrugged off criticism, and the courage and energy with which she accepted reverses and marched on to new conquests. She was never guilty of self-pity." (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer: An Anthology of Great Lives in 365 Days....)
From Averell, Jock & Edward
"Harriman was already married (though his wife was safely back in the U.S.) and he was 49 to Pamela’s 20, but she exalted him as the best-looking man she’d ever seen. With Harriman underwriting her expenses, she left her son with her in-laws and took up residence in Grosvenor Square, then filled with American expats, and dubbed it Eisenhowerplatz. She demonstrated her Blitz spirit by conducting parallel affairs with her neighbour John Hay (Jock) Whitney, later the U.S. ambassador to Britain, and revered CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, who was reporting on the war from London. No wonder she found it hard to adjust to peace. Churchill was out of government; her connection to the family was severed with divorce from Randolph in 1946; Harriman had become ambassador to Moscow; and London, despite the victory, felt as restrictive as her Dorset girlhood. Luckily, Beaverbrook installed her as the Paris correspondent for his Daily Express. “Every night then was lived in black tie,” recalled a contemporary of Pamela’s. “There was less money than in New York or London today, but far more luxury; there were fewer names and far more taste.'" (The Rake)
"After two years of marriage, she separated from Randolph, whose debts she tired of paying off (they divorced in 1947, and their son, Winston, whom Pamela raised, is now a member of parliament). Pamela soon took up with CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow, who eventually returned to his wife. At war’s end Pamela moved to Paris, where she had torrid affairs with Agnelli and Baron Élie de Rothschild, then head of the family vineyard, Chateau Lafite. Critics may sneer at Harriman’s “past” (“She has the whiff of a woman who’s slept around,” says an acquaintance), but friends like Horn-blow just shrug it off. “So what?” she asks. “She wasn’t married. Agnelli wasn’t married. Even Charles de Gaulle was impressed by her.'" (People)
From Aly to Gianni to Elie
"Pamela immediately set about getting to know some of the biggest names around. She had a fling with Prince Aly Khan, the playboy son of the Aga Khan who would go on to marry Rita Hayworth. She then fell in love with Gianni Agnelli, style icon and heir to the Fiat empire. He established her in an apartment on the Avenue de New York, with a car and chauffeur. In return, Pamela converted to Catholicism and embraced the Italianate to an extent that startled callers to her apartment, who were greeted with the words “Pronto, Pam”. Despite her efforts, however, Agnelli let it be known that marriage to a divorced woman was out of the question, and Pamela turned her attentions to Baron de Rothschild of the French banking family. Rothschild arranged art history and wine-making courses for her, and his comparison of her to a Geisha may have been provoked by the fact that she was conducting a simultaneous affair with the Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos." (The Rake)
Clare & Frank, too
"Clare Booth Luce revealed that her husband, Henry Luce, Chairman of Time, Inc., admitted he, too, had had a brief affair with Pamela, and there was also her reputed “sport sex” with Frank Sinatra, which put her in a long line of hookers and starlets. . . ." (NY Social Diary)
A thing for American servicemen
"As Pamela Churchill's marriage deteriorated, she amused herself with American servicemen; Sir Charles Portal, the British Chief of Air Staff, was also much struck. But she did not confine herself to the military; her American admirers included William Paley, the president of CBS, Jock Whitney, who would later be American ambassador to London, and the broadcaster Ed Murrow. "
A scandalous ancestor
"Still, her track record is something special. She is often compared to her ancestor Jane Digby, an adventuress who scandalized Victorian England with her multiple marriages. Digby abandoned a lord and an infant son (the marriage was later dissolved by act of Parliament) to wed in turn a Bavarian baron, a Greek count, and a Bedouin sheikh, taking time out for dalliances with King Ludwig I of Bavaria and King Otto of Greece, his son. . . . More than than a century later, Pamela broke up with Randolph Churchill and had affairs with Averell Harriman (the Franklin Roosevelt's special envoy to Britain) and with CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow. It's said she was also well acquainted with Murrow's boss, William Paley, and his pal the publisher and sports,an John Hay 'Jock' Whitney." (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
Randolph, Leland & Averell
"Pamela Harriman, who'd married Winston Churchill's son, Randolph, during the war, who'd been the mistress of Stavros Niarchos, Gianni Agnelli, Prince Aly Khan, Bill Paley, Ed Murrow, and then Elie de Rothschild; Pamela Harriman, the stepmother villain of Brooke Hayward's memoir Haywire after she married Leland Hayward. Pamela Harriman, who then married the tremendously rich former diplomat Averell Harriman. Pamela Harriman, nee Pamela Digby in England at the dawn of time, now, thanks to years as the most powerful democratic hostess in Washing, D.C., Bill Clinton's ambassador to France." (The Price of Illusion: A Memoir)
Winston Churchill's daughter-in-law
"From obscure, if aristocratic, beginnings in Dorset, she became in turn Winston Churchill's daughter-in-law, the lover of some of the world's richest men, a powerful Washington hosetss, a multi millionairess and, finally, a successful diplomat. All this, and much more, Pamela Harriman achieved through the clear-nearsightedness with which she marked down her quarries, the ruthlessness with which she pursued them, the seeming indifference with which she shrugged off criticism, and the courage and energy with which she accepted reverses and marched on to new conquests. She was never guilty of self-pity." (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer: An Anthology of Great Lives in 365 Days....)
From Averell, Jock & Edward
"Harriman was already married (though his wife was safely back in the U.S.) and he was 49 to Pamela’s 20, but she exalted him as the best-looking man she’d ever seen. With Harriman underwriting her expenses, she left her son with her in-laws and took up residence in Grosvenor Square, then filled with American expats, and dubbed it Eisenhowerplatz. She demonstrated her Blitz spirit by conducting parallel affairs with her neighbour John Hay (Jock) Whitney, later the U.S. ambassador to Britain, and revered CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, who was reporting on the war from London. No wonder she found it hard to adjust to peace. Churchill was out of government; her connection to the family was severed with divorce from Randolph in 1946; Harriman had become ambassador to Moscow; and London, despite the victory, felt as restrictive as her Dorset girlhood. Luckily, Beaverbrook installed her as the Paris correspondent for his Daily Express. “Every night then was lived in black tie,” recalled a contemporary of Pamela’s. “There was less money than in New York or London today, but far more luxury; there were fewer names and far more taste.'" (The Rake)
"After two years of marriage, she separated from Randolph, whose debts she tired of paying off (they divorced in 1947, and their son, Winston, whom Pamela raised, is now a member of parliament). Pamela soon took up with CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow, who eventually returned to his wife. At war’s end Pamela moved to Paris, where she had torrid affairs with Agnelli and Baron Élie de Rothschild, then head of the family vineyard, Chateau Lafite. Critics may sneer at Harriman’s “past” (“She has the whiff of a woman who’s slept around,” says an acquaintance), but friends like Horn-blow just shrug it off. “So what?” she asks. “She wasn’t married. Agnelli wasn’t married. Even Charles de Gaulle was impressed by her.'" (People)
From Aly to Gianni to Elie
"Pamela immediately set about getting to know some of the biggest names around. She had a fling with Prince Aly Khan, the playboy son of the Aga Khan who would go on to marry Rita Hayworth. She then fell in love with Gianni Agnelli, style icon and heir to the Fiat empire. He established her in an apartment on the Avenue de New York, with a car and chauffeur. In return, Pamela converted to Catholicism and embraced the Italianate to an extent that startled callers to her apartment, who were greeted with the words “Pronto, Pam”. Despite her efforts, however, Agnelli let it be known that marriage to a divorced woman was out of the question, and Pamela turned her attentions to Baron de Rothschild of the French banking family. Rothschild arranged art history and wine-making courses for her, and his comparison of her to a Geisha may have been provoked by the fact that she was conducting a simultaneous affair with the Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos." (The Rake)
Clare & Frank, too
"Clare Booth Luce revealed that her husband, Henry Luce, Chairman of Time, Inc., admitted he, too, had had a brief affair with Pamela, and there was also her reputed “sport sex” with Frank Sinatra, which put her in a long line of hookers and starlets. . . ." (NY Social Diary)
A thing for American servicemen
"As Pamela Churchill's marriage deteriorated, she amused herself with American servicemen; Sir Charles Portal, the British Chief of Air Staff, was also much struck. But she did not confine herself to the military; her American admirers included William Paley, the president of CBS, Jock Whitney, who would later be American ambassador to London, and the broadcaster Ed Murrow. "
Her lovers were.
"Her secret lay in her ability to make any man at whom she set cap feel that he was the sole object of her attention.""Clarissa Churchill Eden, the niece of Winston Churchill, knew Pamela in boarding school as a young girl where “she was a plump redhead who was mad about horses.” Eden wrote in her memoir that before Pamela married Randolph Churchill in 1939 she had planned to run away with Hugh Fraser, a dashing army officer. “At the last moment she had had second thoughts,” wrote Anthony Eden’s widow. “I felt that was the moment that the real and future Pamela showed herself.. . . ." (NY Social Diary)
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| Randolph Churchill @FindAGrave |
2) Randolph Churchill ((1911-1968) 1st husband from 1939-1946.
"In 1939 she met Randolph Churchill, and notwithstanding dire warnings on every side married him three weeks later. Nine years older than she, he already had a reputation as an alcoholic roustabout, and it did not help that he insisted on reading Gibbon aloud to her during their honeymoon. Fidelity he never even attempted. Worse, his capacity for accumulating debts left her constantly short of money, breeding in her two enduring characteristics: insatiable avarice and a dislike of English men -- which eventually came to embrace the entire country."
American politician, business & diplomat
Pamela's 3rd husband from 1971-1986
"Her most notable conquest was Averell Harriman, President Roosevelt's Lend-Lease envoy and twenty-eight years her senior. Their liaison was encouraged by Lord Beaverbrook, who gave her money for clothes, and condoned by Winston Churchill, who saw Pamela's potential as a conduit of information between the Allies. The affair ended when Harriman was sent as ambassador to Moscow in 1943." (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer)
"Pam often stayed with her parents-in-law, meeting future statesmen such as Charles de Gaulle who, fresh in his hated English exile, answered her conversation-opener at lunch about French art with a statement that his country's present tragedy did not permit him to waste time on such matters. She had better luck in London. Emerald Cunard, another Anglicised American, invited her to a party, where she met Averell Harriman, Roosevelt's special emissary, who was rich, good-looking and an international polo player. The physical attraction on both sides seems to have been instantaneous. Pam was certainly not put off by the fact that Averell was married and old enough to be her father. In fact, she even shared a flat later with his daughter Kathleen, who had no idea at first of her father's relationship with his new friend." (Independent)
"In Pamela's world, the most desirable men were spoken for--but she didn't let that stop her. Three months after Randolph left for military service in Egypt, Pamela began an affair with diplomat Averell Harriman, the first in a series of romances with prominent American men. Harriman was a rich railway heir and an intimate of FDR's. Later her lovers would include millionaire publisher Jock Whitney, broadcasting giant William Paley and Murrow, Paley's star correspondent. They were all married. After Marie Harriman learned of her husband's affair, he set Pamela up in a beautiful apartment in London's Grosvenor Square, funneling his subsidy ($25,000 a year in today's dollars) through two bank accounts controlled by newspaper magnate Max Beaverbrook." (Newsweek)
Pamela's first encounter with Averell
"EUROPE was at war in 1941 when Pamela Churchill, Winston Churchill's beautiful young daughter-in-law, first met W. Averell Harriman, the special envoy sent by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Britain was desperate. German U-boats were sinking her ships, the Luftwaffe was bombing the ports, the City of London had burned. To Pamela Churchill, Harriman had come to save England. She was 21, an English aristocrat who had married Churchill's son, Randolph, soon after their third date. Harriman was 49, an American patrician with a Union Pacific Railroad fortune worth $100 million. They were introduced at Chequers. 'He was the most beautiful man I ever met,' she remembers. 'He was marvelous, absolutely marvelous looking, with his raven black hair. He was really stunning. Very athletic, very tan, very healthy.' Her husband was away at war. Harriman's wife, Marie, was back in the States. Many old friends say the two fell in love then, caught up in the tumult of the time. She will only sigh and say, 'I thought him a very, very attractive Pershing her on . . .. and then drift off." (Washington Post)
Lover in 1946.
"The Aga Khan was a popular figure in English society, familiar to the Digbys through the racing circuit. But although her sister Sheila had known his son, Aly, since before the war, Pamela had not crossed paths with him. Like everyone in international society, Pamela knew Aly Khan by sight---and by reputation. At five foot six (five foot eight by some accounts, but certainly not the six feet he claimed) he was shorter than many of the beauties he squired. He had a stocky build, a slight paunch, and sparse dark hair receding from a broad brow. He spoke with what some observer described as the 'husky strangled voice of an upper class Englishman overlaid with a slight French accent.' His skin, Diana Vreeland once noted, was 'exactly the color of a gardenia. A gardenia isn't quite white. Ir's got a little cream in it.'. . . ." (Reflected Glory)
"Most women found his vitality and magnetism irresistible. So it was with Pamela---although her decision was carefully considered. 'Pam is not passionate or impulsive,' said a woman who knew her for many ye'Pamela has chosen the men in her life.' When Aly arrived in London for the races in 1947, she became his lover. Fully aware of his unsuitability, she nonetheless understood that a liaison with him could prove worthwhile." (Reflected Glory)
"They [Randolph and Pamela] were divorced in 1946, though Pamela always remained loath to relinquish the name of Churchill. For a while she worked for Beaverbrook on the Evening Standard's Londoner Diary, but her journalistic career did not survive her conquest of Prince Ali Khan." (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer)
A famous but short fling.
"Like many who had an exciting war, Pam found the peace hard at first. Winston Churchill was out of government, her connection with the family was severed through divorce in 1946, and she had very little money. London, despite the victory, was grey and ration- restricted. She moved to Paris where she had a famous fling with the most famous of lovers, Aly Khan. It was apparently from him that she learned the trick of assuming a gaze of hypnotic interest when listening to the opposite sex." (Independent)
What Aly liked in Pamela.
"Pamela's figure was more rounded than he customarily liked, but he favoured women with fair complexions and slightly offbeat looks. She had an agreeable personality, and enough energy to keep up with his frenetic pace. While she was never very engaged in the racing world, she had enough knowledge and interest to please him. Another attraction was the opportunity to add the name Churchill to his list of conquests. All the same---perhaps out of deference to the former Prime Minister---Pamela;s name failed to appear in numerous British and American newspaper accounts of Aly Khan's womanizing." (Reflected Glory)
Affair's benefits to Pamela--living like a rich woman.
"Aly was not known for giving presents or great sums of money to his lovers, but he was a ticket---literally---to places Pamela wished to go. She rode with him on The Avengers, his twn-engined Dove airplane from London to Paris to his Riviera headquarters, the Chateau de l'Horizon, a gleaming white mock-Moorish villa with broad terraces, ten bedrooms, seven baths, a vast swimming pool, and a long staircase down to the sea. With Aly, she could live like a rich woman and have the run of his homes. It was also a badge of distinction in the international set to join aly Khan's harem. 'Every girl was entitled to a little bit of Aly,' said novelist Leonora Hornblow, a close friend of Pamela's more than three decades." (Reflected Glory)
5. Gianni Agnelli.
Italian auto magnate & industrialist.
Lover in 1948-1953.
"In 1948 she moved to Paris and pursued an affair with Gianni Agnelli, heir to the Fiat empire. But though she nursed him back to health after a serious car crash, and even joined the Roman Catholic Church (which duly produced an annulment for her), he would not contemplate marriage. When she became pregnant she had an abortion. (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer)
"Pamela had gone to France, where a five-year love affair with Gianni Agnelli, the Fiat automotive heir, ended in tales of jealousy on Pamela's part and Agnelli-family disapproval of her. She she also took up with Baron Elie de Rothschild of the banking family." (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
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| Élie de Rothschild, 1941 source photo : Arch. fam. crédit photo : D.R. |
French banker.
Lover in 1954-1955.
"Élie was a friend of Prince Aly Khan and Gianni Agnelli. In 1954, when Liliane was out of town, Élie was introduced to divorcée Pamela Churchill (later Pamela Harriman). According to Élie, "She was sweet, charming and pretty. I wanted to go to bed with her and I did." Nevertheless, Liliane quickly saw off her rival. When the Duke of Windsor asked her: "Which Rothschild is the lover of Pamela Churchill?' she replied: "My husband, Sir".[citation needed] This remark undermined Pamela as much as any other retributive strikes and presently the affair receded. . . ." (Wikipedia)
"Rothschild was a noted philanderer, justifying this because of the prime years he had lost while in prison during the war. His most famous affair was with Pamela Churchill, the estranged wife of Randolph, who was by then making her not inconsiderable way as the last of the celebrated courtesans in history. The affair began in 1954 and came about because Liliane was depressed following the death of one of her sisters and her stepfather. She retreated from the world for a year and while she was out of Paris, Elie met Pam, lately the mistress of Gianni Agnelli, who had failed to marry her. Rothschild justified the affair in a matter-of-fact way: "She was sweet, charming and pretty. I wanted to go to bed with her and I did." The affair was a fairly open secret in Paris society, but when Liliane found out about it, she was heartbroken and worried. Nevertheless she could still rise above it. When the Duke of Windsor asked her: "Which Rothschild is the lover of Pamela Churchill?' she replied: "My husband, Sir". This remark undermined Pamela as much as any other retributive strikes and presently the affair receded." (Jew Age)
"Unfortunately for Pamela, her next significant admirer was a married man, Elie de Rothschild, head of his family's vineyard, Chateau Lafite. 'I never saw her walk into a party with Elie, but everyone in Paris knew it,' says a Paris eminence. 'If you were friends with the Rothschilds, you couldn't make it too obvious, knowing her. It was very uncomfortable. But she was not banished, not at all. She was charming, intelligent, and would go out alone.'" (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
"And just as they connect through memberships of boards of directors and exclusive clubs, rich men linked to each other through the women they share. Elie Rothschild, for instance, 'supported a series of well-known mistresses'. The first was Winston Churchill's former daughter-in-law, Pamela Churchill, during the 1950s. When she first fled to New York to marry a Broadway producer, Elie took up with Francoise de Langlade, an editor at French Vogue, who later married Oscar de la Renta. . . Pamela Harriman apparently 'enticed Elie de Rothschild at least in part because he knew he could be following in the footsteps, as it were, of a Churchill, a Harriman, a Whitney, and an Agnelli', according to Conniff. . . Harriman herself, eldest daughter of the eleventh Baron Digby, observed of her peers, 'They went to be'd a lot with each other, but they were all cousins, so it didn't really count. . . . Gianni Agnelli who had had an open affair, while single, with Pamela Harriman would later lavish attention on Jackie Kennedy while holidaying off the Amalfi coast. . . ." (Ruling Class Men: Money, Sex, Power: 220)
"She became a friend of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, and the lover of the French banker Elie de Rothschild. But de Rothschild, like Agnelli, preferred to finance her as a mistress rather than indulge her as a wife. 'They just don't want to marry her,' Truman Capote gleefully."
First encounter
"But not everything was perfect. In 1954 Elie met Pamela Churchill (later Harriman) at a party in a Paris restaurant organised by some American bankers; Liliane was away from home at the time. Pam Churchill was then being looked after handsomely by Gianni Agnelli, with an allowance, a flat and a Bentley. Elie - tall, slim, boyish, rich and fast - had heard about Pam Churchill (three years his junior), and had taken a rather dim view of her grand-demimondaine set-up. When they met, though, he was much taken with her red hair, fair skin and pleasant manner; before long they began an affair. "She wasn't coquettish," Baron Elie told a friend, "just very sweet and charming and pretty. I wanted to go to bed with her, and I did." Despite Pam Churchill's hopes, though, Baron Elie - no stranger to the brief affair - never contemplated leaving his wife, on whom he depended and who, deploying her sharp wits and loyal friends, soon saw off the mistress." (NY Social Diary)
Leland Hayward (2nd husband from 1960-1971)
Broadway & Hollywood producer
"In Harriman’s case, her New York phase reached its peak after she met Leland Hayward, the legendary Broadway producer of hits such as South Pacific. A friend asked her to go to the theater with Hayward, whose wife, Slim Keith—one of all-time mythic society beauties—was in Europe. It wasn’t long before Leland was Pamela’s. They were married from 1960 to 1971." (The Daily Beast)
"A friend had asked her to go to the theatre with Leland Hayward, the Broadway producer of hit musicals including South Pacific and The Sound of Music, while his wife, Slim, one of the city’s premier socialites, was out of town. The capitulation was complete — once Slim was speedily divorced — and over the course of their 11-year marriage, Pamela showered Hayward with what one onlooker inevitably described as “Geisha-like devotion”, cooking chicken hash on a hot plate when they were out on the road and playing the perfect châtelaine at their splendid homes in New York and Westchester (an estate called Haywire). But Hayward’s three children, from his first marriage, never took to their second stepmother, and the feud blew into the open on Hayward’s death in 1971, when he left half of his holdings to them. Pamela apparently exclaimed, of her six-figure settlement, “How could I have been married for so many years to a man who leaves me so little?” Brooke Hayward claimed that Pamela absconded with a string of pearls that Sullivan left to her. Pamela denied all knowledge, but a double strand of pearls became one of her ostentatious style trademarks." (The Rake)
"In 1958, during a visit to New York, Harriman was introduced to Leland Hayward, who had just begun work on Broadway’s The Sound of Music. Two years later Hayward, 57, divorced his third wife, socialite Nancy “Slim” Keith (his second was actress Margaret Sullavan) and married Pamela. Though she and Hayward were devoted to each other, all was not quiet on the domestic front. Two of Hayward’s children by Sullavan, Bill and Brooke, saw Harriman as the quintessential evil stepmother, and Brooke documented her charges in the juicy 1977 best-seller Haywire. When Hayward, nearly broke, died after a series of strokes, in 1971, Harriman and the children scrapped bitterly over his modest estate." (People)
"By 1958, unable to run the table in Europe, she headed for the U.S. to pursue the American dream of all 40-year-old divorcees raised to marry well. Through Babe Paley she met Leland Hayward, the charismatic agent and Broadway producer, who had become a multimillionaire with his productions of Mister Roberts, South Pacific, Call Me Madam, Gypsy and The Sound of Music. Fortuitously, Hayward’s fourth wife was traveling out of the country at the time, having confided to a friend months before that her ten year marriage to the Broadway impresario had become merely “companionable.” Within days Pamela became more than a companion; five months later he proposed." (New York Social Diary)
"While she had also remained on good terms with their wives the families were wary of her. One evening, Babe Paley (Bill’s wife) telephoned Slim Hayward, the wife of theatrical producer Leland Hayward, and asked permission to “borrow” her husband to accompany the visiting Pamela Churchill to the theatre. Observers have often said that Babe Paley knew what she was doing in getting the English predator safely away from her husband. The meeting led to the newly-introduced pair leaving before the end of the performance. The affair was immediate. The glamorous Slim Hayward was away in Europe with her friend, Lauren Bacall, mingling with “the Hemingway Crowd” and away from a restless and difficult marriage. Leland explained this to Pamela, who knew exactly how to turn the situation to her own advantage. Later that week, back in Paris, she invited Slim Hayward and “Betty” Bacall to dinner. Leland flew in from America and joined the party." (Tribune)
"Élie was a friend of Prince Aly Khan and Gianni Agnelli. In 1954, when Liliane was out of town, Élie was introduced to divorcée Pamela Churchill (later Pamela Harriman). According to Élie, "She was sweet, charming and pretty. I wanted to go to bed with her and I did." Nevertheless, Liliane quickly saw off her rival. When the Duke of Windsor asked her: "Which Rothschild is the lover of Pamela Churchill?' she replied: "My husband, Sir".[citation needed] This remark undermined Pamela as much as any other retributive strikes and presently the affair receded. . . ." (Wikipedia)
"She became . . . the lover of the French banker Elie de Rothschild. But de Rothschild, like Agnelli, preferred to finance her as a mistress rather than indulge her as a wife. They just don't want to marry her,' Truman Capote gleefully observed." (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer)
"Unfortunately for Pamela, her next significant admirer was a married man, Elie de Rothschild, head of his family's vineyard, Chateau Lafite. 'I never saw her walk into a party with Elie, but everyone in Paris knew it,' says a Paris eminence. 'If you were friends with the Rothschilds, you couldn't make it too obvious, knowing her. It was very uncomfortable. But she was not banished, not at all. She was charming, intelligent, and would go out alone.'" (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
"And just as they connect through memberships of boards of directors and exclusive clubs, rich men linked to each other through the women they share. Elie Rothschild, for instance, 'supported a series of well-known mistresses'. The first was Winston Churchill's former daughter-in-law, Pamela Churchill, during the 1950s. When she first fled to New York to marry a Broadway producer, Elie took up with Francoise de Langlade, an editor at French Vogue, who later married Oscar de la Renta. . . Pamela Harriman apparently 'enticed Elie de Rothschild at least in part because he knew he could be following in the footsteps, as it were, of a Churchill, a Harriman, a Whitney, and an Agnelli', according to Conniff. . . Harriman herself, eldest daughter of the eleventh Baron Digby, observed of her peers, 'They went to be'd a lot with each other, but they were all cousins, so it didn't really count. . . . Gianni Agnelli who had had an open affair, while single, with Pamela Harriman would later lavish attention on Jackie Kennedy while holidaying off the Amalfi coast. . . ." (Ruling Class Men: Money, Sex, Power: 220)
"She became a friend of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, and the lover of the French banker Elie de Rothschild. But de Rothschild, like Agnelli, preferred to finance her as a mistress rather than indulge her as a wife. 'They just don't want to marry her,' Truman Capote gleefully."
First encounter
"But not everything was perfect. In 1954 Elie met Pamela Churchill (later Harriman) at a party in a Paris restaurant organised by some American bankers; Liliane was away from home at the time. Pam Churchill was then being looked after handsomely by Gianni Agnelli, with an allowance, a flat and a Bentley. Elie - tall, slim, boyish, rich and fast - had heard about Pam Churchill (three years his junior), and had taken a rather dim view of her grand-demimondaine set-up. When they met, though, he was much taken with her red hair, fair skin and pleasant manner; before long they began an affair. "She wasn't coquettish," Baron Elie told a friend, "just very sweet and charming and pretty. I wanted to go to bed with her, and I did." Despite Pam Churchill's hopes, though, Baron Elie - no stranger to the brief affair - never contemplated leaving his wife, on whom he depended and who, deploying her sharp wits and loyal friends, soon saw off the mistress." (NY Social Diary)
Leland Hayward (2nd husband from 1960-1971)
Broadway & Hollywood producer
"In Harriman’s case, her New York phase reached its peak after she met Leland Hayward, the legendary Broadway producer of hits such as South Pacific. A friend asked her to go to the theater with Hayward, whose wife, Slim Keith—one of all-time mythic society beauties—was in Europe. It wasn’t long before Leland was Pamela’s. They were married from 1960 to 1971." (The Daily Beast)
"A friend had asked her to go to the theatre with Leland Hayward, the Broadway producer of hit musicals including South Pacific and The Sound of Music, while his wife, Slim, one of the city’s premier socialites, was out of town. The capitulation was complete — once Slim was speedily divorced — and over the course of their 11-year marriage, Pamela showered Hayward with what one onlooker inevitably described as “Geisha-like devotion”, cooking chicken hash on a hot plate when they were out on the road and playing the perfect châtelaine at their splendid homes in New York and Westchester (an estate called Haywire). But Hayward’s three children, from his first marriage, never took to their second stepmother, and the feud blew into the open on Hayward’s death in 1971, when he left half of his holdings to them. Pamela apparently exclaimed, of her six-figure settlement, “How could I have been married for so many years to a man who leaves me so little?” Brooke Hayward claimed that Pamela absconded with a string of pearls that Sullivan left to her. Pamela denied all knowledge, but a double strand of pearls became one of her ostentatious style trademarks." (The Rake)
"In 1958, during a visit to New York, Harriman was introduced to Leland Hayward, who had just begun work on Broadway’s The Sound of Music. Two years later Hayward, 57, divorced his third wife, socialite Nancy “Slim” Keith (his second was actress Margaret Sullavan) and married Pamela. Though she and Hayward were devoted to each other, all was not quiet on the domestic front. Two of Hayward’s children by Sullavan, Bill and Brooke, saw Harriman as the quintessential evil stepmother, and Brooke documented her charges in the juicy 1977 best-seller Haywire. When Hayward, nearly broke, died after a series of strokes, in 1971, Harriman and the children scrapped bitterly over his modest estate." (People)
"By 1958, unable to run the table in Europe, she headed for the U.S. to pursue the American dream of all 40-year-old divorcees raised to marry well. Through Babe Paley she met Leland Hayward, the charismatic agent and Broadway producer, who had become a multimillionaire with his productions of Mister Roberts, South Pacific, Call Me Madam, Gypsy and The Sound of Music. Fortuitously, Hayward’s fourth wife was traveling out of the country at the time, having confided to a friend months before that her ten year marriage to the Broadway impresario had become merely “companionable.” Within days Pamela became more than a companion; five months later he proposed." (New York Social Diary)
"While she had also remained on good terms with their wives the families were wary of her. One evening, Babe Paley (Bill’s wife) telephoned Slim Hayward, the wife of theatrical producer Leland Hayward, and asked permission to “borrow” her husband to accompany the visiting Pamela Churchill to the theatre. Observers have often said that Babe Paley knew what she was doing in getting the English predator safely away from her husband. The meeting led to the newly-introduced pair leaving before the end of the performance. The affair was immediate. The glamorous Slim Hayward was away in Europe with her friend, Lauren Bacall, mingling with “the Hemingway Crowd” and away from a restless and difficult marriage. Leland explained this to Pamela, who knew exactly how to turn the situation to her own advantage. Later that week, back in Paris, she invited Slim Hayward and “Betty” Bacall to dinner. Leland flew in from America and joined the party." (Tribune)
"Pamela Churchill did not repine; she turned to America, where she settled on Leland Hayward, a theatrical impresario and the producer of The Sound of Music. He had been married five times (though only to four women); and in 1962 the number increased to six. Though he turned out to be less than colossally rich -- and such fortune as he possessed was speedily diminished by her taste for interior decoration -- the marriage was a success. Pamela Hayward looked after her husband devotedly as his health failed. When he died in 1971, she moved speedily into action. Spurned by Frank Sinatra, that August she found herself -- whether by chance or design -- sitting next to her old flame Averell Harriman (now seventy-nine, recently widowed and one of the richest men in America) at a Washington dinner party given bny Katharine Graham, editor of the Washington Post. The opportunity was not wasted; they were married at the end of September 1971. In December Pamela Harriman became an American citizen." (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer)
Alfonso de Portago, Marques de Portago (1928-1957)
Spanish racing driver
Spanish racing driver
Alpert Rupp, Jr.
American millionaire
Aristotle Onassis.
Sir Charles Portal (Sir)
British Chief of Air Staff
"As Pamela Churchill's marriage deteriorated, she amused herself with American servicemen; Sir Charles Portal, the British Chief of Air Staff, was also much struck. But she did not confine herself to the military; her American admirers included William Paley, the president of CBS, Jock Whitney, who would later be American ambassador to London, and the broadcaster Ed Murrow."
Clare Booth Luce.
American broadcast journalist.
"Edward R. Murrow was one of the powerful men she regularly entertained at the club. Long faithful and down to earth, Murrow let his life be turned aorund by the vivacious blue-eyed red-head. He sometimes made his famous rooftop radio broadcasts in Pamela's company. As the Allies prepared for the D-Day invasion of Europe, rumors flew that Murrow would divorce his wife. But a few months later, he returned to America for a vacation, and his wife became pregnant. So Murrow gave up the woman Bill Paley's then-wife Dorothy called 'the great passion of his life.'" (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
Frank Sinatra.
"Hayward’s will left half of his property to his three children and half to his wife. But there were no liquid assets and she was not left in a good financial position. Terrified, Pamela did not want to be 51 and unmarried. She invited herself to stay with Frank Sinatra in Palm Springs. He was wealthy, famous and always interested in attractive women of questionable virtue – particularly one with the famous Churchill name. But she was not the kind of permanent woman Sinatra wanted." (Tribune)
Gen. Fred Anderson.
John Hay Whitney.
a.k.a. Jock Whitney.
"In 1955, at the age of 35, Pamela Churchill began spending more time in America. That Christmas, she went to her old friend Jock Whitney's estate near Manhasset, Long Island. Whitney's wife, Betsey, was one of society's Cushing sisters. Just like Pamela, they all gained prominence through---and brushed up the images of---men they married. In 1957, Whitney was named ambassador to London. 'Jock probably did have an affair with Pamela [during the war], but maybe not. It's a question mark,' says a family source. 'Pamela was part of their circle. It was unwise to be an ambassador's wife and have a vendetta against Churchill's daughter-in-law. So [Betsey] tolerated it. It was beneath her to be catty or vicious." (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
Joseph P. Kennedy.
Gen. Fred Anderson.
John Hay Whitney.
a.k.a. Jock Whitney.
"In 1955, at the age of 35, Pamela Churchill began spending more time in America. That Christmas, she went to her old friend Jock Whitney's estate near Manhasset, Long Island. Whitney's wife, Betsey, was one of society's Cushing sisters. Just like Pamela, they all gained prominence through---and brushed up the images of---men they married. In 1957, Whitney was named ambassador to London. 'Jock probably did have an affair with Pamela [during the war], but maybe not. It's a question mark,' says a family source. 'Pamela was part of their circle. It was unwise to be an ambassador's wife and have a vendetta against Churchill's daughter-in-law. So [Betsey] tolerated it. It was beneath her to be catty or vicious." (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
Joseph P. Kennedy.
French writer & intellectual.
"A relationship with writer Maurice Druon, today a secretary of the Academie Francaise, is mentioned by another friend in answer to the frequent charge that Pamela was a gold digger. 'She had a complicated private life,' the friend says, 'but she also loved a poor revolutionary writer. Many women have money and that's all. With Pamela, it's completely different.'" (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
"A relationship with writer Maurice Druon, today a secretary of the Academie Francaise, is mentioned by another friend in answer to the frequent charge that Pamela was a gold digger. 'She had a complicated private life,' the friend says, 'but she also loved a poor revolutionary writer. Many women have money and that's all. With Pamela, it's completely different.'" (New York Magazine 18 Jan 1993)
Robert Capa.
American photographer.
Stavros Niarchos.
American photographer.
Stavros Niarchos.
Greek hipping magnate:
"She became a friend of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos . . . ."
 |
| William Paley @Time |
a.k.a. Bill Paley.
Panache was Mr William S Paley’s calling card during his 60-year chairmanship of the Columbia Broadcasting Corporation, christened “the Tiffany network” under his stewardship. His suite at New York’s St Regis Hotel was an immaculate cube designed by Mr Billy Baldwin and filled with French furniture, modernist masterpieces and exquisite objets d’art. The centrepiece of his office was an antique chemin de fer card table rather than a drone’s desk. His wives were the socialite and Algonquin set mainstay Ms Dorothy H Hirshon, and the leading “swan” of Mr Truman Capote, Ms Barbara “Babe” Cushing Mortimer. His peak-lapelled dinner jackets were handmade at Huntsman in Savile Row and maintained by his valet, Mr John Dean, a former equerry to Prince Philip. All told, Mr Paley’s raison d’être was to display, as he put it, “a certain standard of taste”. In a world where The Real Housewives of New Jersey clogs up the networks and executives sport skater shorts, it’s a more vital aim than ever." (Mr. Porter)
"London was a 'romantic place, very romantic,' Paley confessed years later. 'It was sort of like the normal, conventional morals of the time were just turned on their ear because of the urgency. . . . The normal barriers, you know, to having an affair with somebody were thrown to the four winds. If it looked pretty good, you felt good, well what in Hell was the difference? And it was very light and bright, a fast-going kind of time'. For someone as powerful and bright as Paley, it was hard to know where to begin the amorous adventures. But an obvious start in those days was with Pamela Churchill, by then all of twenty-four years old. Randolph from whom she was separated, was serving with the British Army, leaving her free to work her charms on a succession of American men. She set up a salon in London where she entertained generals, prominent journalists, politicians and other dignitaries. 'Unless you were a high-powered journalist or important in some way, you weren't very welcome there,' said Janet Murrow, who never returned after her first chilly visit. Paley and Murrow, however, were two of Pamela's most frequent guests. . . Paley was doubtless as keen on seducing Pamela as she was eager to add him to her list of conquests. They had a short-lived affair, described by one of Paley's closest friends )and arch rival of Pamela) Nancy 'Slim" Keith, as 'a little slap during the war---a stop and a tickle.' Paley, in later years would titillate his girlfriends by admitting he had bedded Pamela but would go no further. 'I never discuss the women with whom I have been intimate,' he teased one friend in later years when she pressed for details." (In All His Glory: The Life and Times of William S. Paley)
Pamela's physical appearance
"Red-haired, but with a tendency to dumpiness, Pamela Harriman was far from being an overwhelming beauty -- though 'the best facelift in the world' (as her friends described the event which she herself refused to acknowledge), together with her undimmed vitality, made her an exceptionally stunning seventy-year-old." (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer: An Anthology of Great Lives in 365 Days)
"Pam was determined too to be good company. She was pretty, auburn-haired and sexy, with "kitten eyes full of innocent fun", in Evelyn Waugh's double- edged description. She always made the best of her looks, constantly struggling with a tendency to put on weight. There was little she could do about one defect, which attracted the witticism, 'Pam might have been beautiful if she had not had such a short neck, but that's because her head's screwed on so tight.'" (Independent)
"In 1938 Pamela Digby returned to do 'the season'. 'She was very plump and so bosomy that we all called her 'the dairy maid', one of her contemporaries remembered. 'She wore high heels and tossed her bottom around. We thought she was quite outrageous. She was known as hot stuff, a very sexy young thing.'" (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer)
"Pam was determined too to be good company. She was pretty, auburn-haired and sexy, with "kitten eyes full of innocent fun", in Evelyn Waugh's double- edged description. She always made the best of her looks, constantly struggling with a tendency to put on weight. There was little she could do about one defect, which attracted the witticism, 'Pam might have been beautiful if she had not had such a short neck, but that's because her head's screwed on so tight.'" (Independent)
"In 1938 Pamela Digby returned to do 'the season'. 'She was very plump and so bosomy that we all called her 'the dairy maid', one of her contemporaries remembered. 'She wore high heels and tossed her bottom around. We thought she was quite outrageous. She was known as hot stuff, a very sexy young thing.'" (Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer)
Personal & Family Background: Pamela was the daughter of Edward Kenelm Digby, 11th Baron Digby, Earl of Minterne, and his wife Constance Pamela Alice (a.k.a. Lady Pamela Bruce), the daughter of Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare.
Tangible benefits of Pamela's affairs with rich and famous men
"It was the opportunity she had been waiting for and she headed for New York, leaving her luxurious Paris apartment and former lovers Gianni Agnelli and Baron Elie de Rothschild behind. They gave her everything: the antique furniture as well as the apartment which had been a gift from Agnelli and which she sold immediately for $500,000. She kept the maisonette in Hyde Park Gardens in London (a present from Rothschild). It was to remain her legal English base – vital to keep custody of her son, Winston, by her marriage to Randolph Churchill. Everything else was moved to the Drake Hotel in New York City, thus embarking her on the last and important stage of her colourful career." (Tribune)
"Harriman had a reputation for being mean with his money but Pamela changed that. She began spending huge amounts and, as he aged, her control increased. She sold not only Averell’s Manhattan house but also the family house in Hobe Sound. She bought “Mango Bay” in Barbados and “Willow Oaks” in Virginia. And then Averell began introducing her to his diplomatic and political world. . . She kept steadily increasing her power base – not just with the Party but also with her husband. Averell Harriman, now 94 and in appalling health, completed his 50-page will in 1984 and left everything – except for the 23 paintings he had given to the National Gallery in memory of his wife, Marie – to Pamela. The remaining art, valued at almost $100m, was given to Pamela with the express undertaking that they be given to the National Gallery on her death. These included two Van Goghs - White Roses and Irises. Pamela was also to get all of their homes, and to be executrix of his estate – probably valued at about $150m." (Tribune)
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