Brenda Frazier
| Brenda Frazier | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Brenda Diana Duff Frazier June 9, 1921 Quebec, Canada |
| Died | May 3, 1982 (aged 60) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Bone cancer |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Brenda Frazier Kelly Chatfield-Taylor |
| Education |
Miss Chapin's School for Girls Miss Porter's School |
| Spouse(s) |
Shipwreck Kelly (m. 1941; div. 1956) Robert Chatfield-Taylor (m. 1957; div. 1962) |
| Children | 1 |
Brenda Diana Duff Frazier (June 9, 1921 – May 3, 1982) was an American socialite popular during the Depression era. Her December 1938 debutante ball was so heavily publicized worldwide, she eventually appeared on the cover of Life magazine for that reason alone. She was known and dubbed as a "Poor Little Rich Girl" by the media, together with socialites and other famous debutantes Barbara Hutton, Gloria Vanderbilt and Doris Duke.
Frazier was born in Quebec, Canada. Her father, Frank Duff Frazier, came from a prosperous Boston family. Her mother, the former Brenda Germaine Henshaw Williams-Taylor, was the only daughter of Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor (a general manager of the Bank of Montreal who was knighted in 1910 and combined his middle name and birth surname into a new hyphenated surname) and his wife, the former Jane Fayrer Henshaw. Frazier's parents were married in December 1916.
Both of Frazier's parents drank heavily. At the time of her birth, Frazier's father went on an alcoholic bender and did not return home for months. After public fights and infidelity from both sides, the couple divorced in January 1926. In March 1926, Frazier's mother married Frederick N. Watriss with whom she had been having an affair. After Watriss' death, she married Henry Pierrepont Perry. Over the next eight years, Frazier's parents fought over custody of Brenda. Both attempted to gain sole custody by accusing the other of immoral behavior, alcoholism and being an unfit parent. During the custody battle, she was largely ignored by both parents and spent the majority of her time at school (Miss Chapin's School for Girls, Miss Porter's School and a finishing school in Munich) or with her paternal grandmother. In 1933, a judge finally ruled that Frazier's parents would share custody. The judge stated, "Neither parents appears to have been in the past, nor appears to be now, any paragon of virtue in parenthood." A month after the decision was handed down, Frank Frazier died of throat cancer.
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