26 Facts About Brenda Frazier

Brenda Diana Duff Frazier was an American socialite popular during the Depression era.

Brenda Frazier was known and dubbed a "Poor Little Rich Girl" by the media, along with other famous debutantes and socialites Barbara Hutton, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Doris Duke.

Brenda Diana Duff Frazier was born on June 9,1921, in Quebec, Canada.

Brenda Frazier had a strained relationship with food and eating from her early years, overeating being a main issue.

Brenda Frazier found dieting difficult, especially since her mother was overweight and kept a cache of sweets in the home.

Brenda Frazier's friends have told stories about her eating huge lunches at restaurants and then going into the ladies' room to make herself purge so she could remain thin even if she failed the diets her mother wanted her on.

Brenda Frazier had begged her mother to let her stay there and continue to study, but her mother refused, and thus her formal education ended at the age of 17.

Brenda Frazier gained attention as a teenager after columnist Walter Winchell began writing about her; he reportedly coined the portmanteau "celebutante" in her honor.

Brenda Frazier was routinely photographed and popularized the famous "white-face" look: powdered white skin contrasted with red-painted lips, combined with perfectly coiffed dark hair.

Concurrently, Brenda Frazier developed anorexia and bulimia to keep her weight down; she once quipped that she had "invented" anorexia.

Brenda Frazier later recalled collapsing into bed from exhaustion in the early morning hours and not being able to remember any of the days that followed.

Some media outlets and critics commented that Brenda Frazier was only famous for being rich and possessed no discernible talents.

Brenda Frazier later admitted that she was never delighted as a debutante.

Brenda Frazier said there were times when she did relish the attention she received, but that she had never felt loved by either of her parents or valued as anything more than a status symbol or a trophy.

At the age of 21, Brenda Frazier inherited a total of $3.9 million.

Brenda Frazier contended that the entire sum was sequestered in a trust fund, distributable only to her children upon her death.

Brenda Frazier married football star Shipwreck Kelly at her mother's apartment at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City on June 30,1941.

Brenda Frazier gave birth to a daughter, Brenda Victoria, in 1945.

Brenda Frazier later told friends that she regretted marrying Chatfield-Taylor right away.

On March 16,1961, Brenda Frazier attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills.

Brenda Frazier was discovered and survived the attempt but would make thirty more suicide attempts throughout her life.

Brenda Frazier became reclusive and developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol.

The photo featured a gaunt Brenda Frazier heavily made up in her signature white face powder and red lipstick, propped up in bed with a cigarette in hand, looking wearily toward the camera.

On May 3,1982, Brenda Frazier died of bone cancer at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Boston at the age of 60.

Brenda Frazier's fame was noted in the introduction to the Rodgers and Hart song "Disgustingly Rich", the first-act finale from their 1940 show Higher and Higher:.

Brenda Frazier is namedropped in the Stephen Sondheim song "I'm Still Here" from the 1971 musical Follies.