You mean, which one is Manny? That is Denise Hale. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Hale was raised mostly by her father’s parents. She was only 7 when the Gestapo began looting the city, and because she was very close to her grandfather, he entrusted her alone with the location of the family’s hidden gold.
Although the family made it through the Second World War, the Nazis were soon followed by the Russian occupation which brought on more hardships. Fleeing Sebria by rowboat, she was soon plucked from the Adriatic by a British minesweeper, whose captain took a shine to her. But instead of shipping her back home, he dropped her off at a refugee camp in Bari, Italy.
At 16 she landed a job in Rome as a model, where she quickly caught the eye of an older Italian mogul, “one of the richest men in Italy,” according to Hale. He would become her first husband, taking her around the world. But in 1958 she walked away from the marriage, financially independent and with a world-class collection of jewels. When she eventually did divorce him years later she had begun forging a new life for herself.
Landing in New York at the height of “the season”, Denise quickly assimilated into the upper echelons of New York society, and decided to stay on. It was there that she soon met her second husband, the director Vincente Minnelli. But the love of her life proved to be her third husband, Prentiss Cobb Hale, the San Francisco department store magnate, to whom she was married for 27 years. Hale jokes that her European friends “thought I was marrying down,” because he was “in-the-trade (retail).” The two went on to build an extraordinary life together in San Francisco.
who is the lady?, I love her earrings!
ReplyDeleteYou mean, which one is Manny? That is Denise Hale. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Hale was raised mostly by her father’s parents. She was only 7 when the Gestapo began looting the city, and because she was very close to her grandfather, he entrusted her alone with the location of the family’s hidden gold.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the family made it through the Second World War, the Nazis were soon followed by the Russian occupation which brought on more hardships. Fleeing Sebria by rowboat, she was soon plucked from the Adriatic by a British minesweeper, whose captain took a shine to her. But instead of shipping her back home, he dropped her off at a refugee camp in Bari, Italy.
At 16 she landed a job in Rome as a model, where she quickly caught the eye of an older Italian mogul, “one of the richest men in Italy,” according to Hale. He would become her first husband, taking her around the world. But in 1958 she walked away from the marriage, financially independent and with a world-class collection of jewels. When she eventually did divorce him years later she had begun forging a new life for herself.
Landing in New York at the height of “the season”, Denise quickly assimilated into the upper echelons of New York society, and decided to stay on. It was there that she soon met her second husband, the director Vincente Minnelli. But the love of her life proved to be her third husband, Prentiss Cobb Hale, the San Francisco department store magnate, to whom she was married for 27 years. Hale jokes that her European friends “thought I was marrying down,” because he was “in-the-trade (retail).” The two went on to build an extraordinary life together in San Francisco.
Was that the short answer?
ReplyDeleteUmmmm, so, do you think she will let me borrow the earrings?
ReplyDelete