13 Facts About Beatrice Alexander

Bertha "Beatrice" Alexander Behrman, known as Madame Alexander, was an American dollmaker.

Bertha Beatrice Alexander was born on New York City's Lower East Side to Hannah Pepper, an Austrian native who had emigrated to the United States via Russia.

Beatrice Alexander suggested creating a Red Cross Nurse cloth doll with hand-painted, three-dimensional facial features.

Beatrice Alexander introduced "eyes with lashes that closed and fingers with knuckles", and rooted hair that could be styled.

Beatrice Alexander researched historical and cultural dress to fashion accurately-detailed dolls clothing, and insisted on quality workmanship.

Beatrice Alexander was noted for creating doll collections based on notable people and characters in books, films, music, and art.

Beatrice Alexander obtained the trademarks to produce dolls replicating such famous figures as Margaret O'Brien, Jacqueline Kennedy, Coco Chanel, and Marlo Thomas.

Madame Beatrice Alexander dolls are on permanent exhibition at the Congressional Club in Washington, DC, and the Children's Trust Museum in New Delhi.

Beatrice Alexander sold her company in 1988 to three private investors, staying on as a design consultant.

Beatrice Alexander supported such institutions as B'nai B'rith, Weizmann Institute of Science, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Planned Parenthood, Jewish Theological Seminary, Brandeis University, and American Friends of the Hebrew University.

Beatrice Alexander was vice president and trustee of the Women's League for Israel, which dedicated a rose garden in her honor at one of its residences in Jerusalem.

Beatrice Alexander received four Fashion Academy Gold Medals from 1951 through 1954 for her doll clothing design.

Beatrice Alexander died in her sleep at her home in Palm Beach, Florida, on October 3,1990, aged 95.