Barbara Hutton
- Bobby Kelley
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Barbara Woolworth Hutton was born on November 14, 1912, in New York City, New York, the only child of Franklyn Laws Hutton and Edna Woolworth Hutton. She was born into two of the most powerful financial dynasties in the United States. Her maternal grandfather was Frank Winfield Woolworth, founder of the F. W. Woolworth Company, whose five-and-dime stores became one of the great retail empires of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her father was a co-founder of the Wall Street brokerage firm E. F. Hutton & Company, established alongside his brother Edward Francis Hutton.
Barbara’s early childhood was marked by immense wealth but very little stability. Her parents’ marriage was troubled by Franklyn Hutton’s repeated affairs and long absences, and the emotional strain upon Edna Woolworth Hutton became severe. On May 2, 1917, Edna died at the Plaza Hotel in New York at the age of thirty-three. Officially, her death was attributed to complications connected to mastoiditis, though rumors of suicide circulated for decades afterward. Four-year-old Barbara reportedly discovered her mother’s body, an event that profoundly affected her for the rest of her life.
After her mother’s death, Barbara was largely raised by governesses, servants, boarding schools, and various relatives. Her father remained emotionally distant, and despite the enormous fortune surrounding her, she grew up lonely and insecure. She attended Miss Hewitt’s Classes in New York and later Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut. Friends and relatives later recalled that she was shy, withdrawn, and uncomfortable with the public attention that followed her family name.
In 1919, Frank W. Woolworth died, leaving behind one of the largest fortunes in the United States. Barbara inherited a substantial portion of the estate through trusts established for her benefit. Additional wealth came from her mother’s inheritance and later from her grandmother Jennie Woolworth. By the time she reached adulthood, she was one of the richest women in the world.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Barbara Hutton became internationally famous as an heiress and socialite. Newspapers closely followed her life, and public fascination with her wealth intensified during the Great Depression.
On November 18, 1930, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, she was introduced to society at an extravagant debutante ball held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York City. The celebration reportedly cost tens of thousands of dollars at a time when millions of Americans were struggling financially. The lavish event generated widespread criticism in newspapers across the country and firmly established her public image as the “Poor Little Rich Girl,” a phrase that would follow her for the remainder of her life.
Following her debut, Barbara traveled extensively through Europe and quickly became part of the international aristocratic and celebrity social world of the interwar period. She developed a passion for fashion, jewelry, art, and collecting, while newspapers chronicled her romances and spending habits in extraordinary detail.
On June 20, 1933, she married Alexis Mdivani, a member of the exiled Georgian aristocratic Mdivani family, at the Russian Orthodox Church in Paris. Mdivani and his siblings became famous during the 1920s and 1930s for marrying wealthy American heiresses and socialites. The marriage immediately attracted enormous press attention and introduced Barbara fully into the European titled society she had long romanticized. The couple lived lavishly and traveled constantly, but the marriage rapidly deteriorated amid financial disputes and accusations of infidelity. They divorced in 1935.
Only one day after her divorce from Mdivani became final, Barbara married Danish nobleman Count Court von Haugwitz-Hardenberg-Reventlow on May 14, 1935.
The marriage initially appeared more stable than her first, and on February 24, 1936, their only child, Lance Reventlow, was born in London.
Barbara’s second marriage soon became deeply troubled. Reventlow reportedly exercised controlling behavior and subjected her to emotional and physical abuse. Their relationship deteriorated into public legal battles and scandals. During the marriage, Barbara renounced her American citizenship and became a Danish citizen for tax reasons, a decision that generated additional criticism in the United States. She later regained her American citizenship.
The couple divorced in 1938 after bitter courtroom disputes and custody battles over their son. Barbara eventually retained custody of Lance, though like many wealthy children of the era he spent much of his youth in the care of governesses, tutors, and boarding schools.
During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Barbara Hutton became one of the most photographed women in the world. Her residences, clothing, jewelry, and travels were followed obsessively by the international press. She owned or occupied a succession of spectacular homes, suites, and estates across Europe and the United States. Among the best known was Winfield House in London, an enormous residence originally built for Woolworth family members in Regent’s Park. The mansion later became the official residence of the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom after Barbara donated it to the American government.
Barbara also assembled one of the most important private jewelry collections of her era. She acquired historic jewels from Cartier and other major houses, including pieces once associated with European royalty and nobility. Her collection included emeralds, diamonds, pearls, Fabergé objects, and elaborate antique settings. Among her best-known gems was the famed Pasha Diamond.
In 1942, Barbara married actor Cary Grant. The marriage to Grant became her most famous relationship and remains the one most commonly associated with her public image.
Unlike several of her previous and later husbands, Grant was independently wealthy and professionally successful before the marriage, leading many observers to conclude that he had not married her for money. The two became one of Hollywood’s most glamorous couples during World War II.
Grant reportedly attempted to provide Barbara with emotional stability and encouraged her to reduce her dependence upon alcohol and prescription medications. The couple divided their time between California and fashionable international resorts. Although their marriage ended amicably in 1945, the two remained close friends for many years afterward.
After her divorce from Grant, Barbara became romantically involved with numerous aristocrats, sportsmen, and social figures.
In 1947, she married Prince Igor Troubetzkoy, a Russian-born aristocrat and race car driver. Troubetzkoy became the first Russian-born driver to compete in Formula One racing. Their marriage reflected Barbara’s continued fascination with European nobility and cosmopolitan society. The couple divorced in 1951.
In 1953, she married Dominican diplomat and international playboy Porfirio Rubirosa, one of the most notorious social figures of the mid twentieth century. Rubirosa was celebrated for his charm, romantic relationships, polo playing, and extravagant lifestyle. Their marriage lasted less than a year.
Barbara married German tennis champion Baron Gottfried von Cramm in 1955. Von Cramm had achieved international fame before World War II as one of the world’s leading tennis players and was admired for his sportsmanship and dignity. Although Barbara hoped the marriage would provide lasting companionship, it too ended in divorce in 1959.
Her seventh and final marriage was to Pierre Raymond Doan, a Vietnamese chemist and adventurer whom she married in 1964. The marriage ended in divorce in 1966.
Despite the endless publicity surrounding her marriages, Barbara Hutton’s private life was often marked by loneliness, insecurity, and deteriorating health. She struggled for years with anorexia nervosa, alcoholism, depression, and dependency upon prescription medications. Her health problems became increasingly severe as she aged, and she underwent numerous medical procedures and hospitalizations.
She also became known for extraordinary generosity and impulsive philanthropy. Barbara frequently gave away large sums of money to friends, employees, charities, and even strangers. She assisted refugees and war victims during and after World War II and provided financial help to numerous individuals throughout her life. Yet her spending habits, poor financial management, legal expenses, failed marriages, and exploitation by advisers and associates significantly reduced her fortune over time.
Barbara maintained a close emotional attachment to her son Lance Reventlow, despite periods of distance and strain. Lance became a racing driver and automobile designer during the 1950s and 1960s and founded the Scarab racing car company, one of the most ambitious American sports racing ventures of the period.
On July 24, 1972, Lance Reventlow was killed in a plane crash near Aspen, Colorado, at the age of thirty-six. His death devastated Barbara. Friends later recalled that she never emotionally recovered from the loss. In the years following his death, her physical and emotional condition declined rapidly.
By the 1970s, Barbara Hutton had largely withdrawn from public life. Once regarded as one of the world’s most glamorous women, she became increasingly frail and reclusive. Years of illness, malnutrition, surgeries, medications, and emotional distress severely weakened her health. She spent much of her final years living quietly in hotel suites and private residences, including long stays at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
Although widely believed to have squandered nearly all of her fortune, Barbara still retained valuable possessions and vast assets at the end of her life, though nothing close to the enormous wealth she once controlled. Stories circulated that only a few thousand dollars remained in her bank account at the time of her death, though some relatives and associates disputed the exact figure.
Barbara Woolworth Hutton died of a heart attack on May 11, 1979, in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California, at the age of sixty-six. Her funeral attracted surprisingly few attendees considering the enormous fame she had once commanded around the world.
She was entombed on May 25, 1979 in the Woolworth Mausoleum in the Pine Plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, Bronx County, She rests in a solid bronze casket in crypt 6, just above her son Lance who rests in crypt 5.
Below is a gallery of photos of Barbara Hutton:
