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Tuesday, Feb 9, 2010
Women who wield sex and power now do it in 3-inch heels. Second of two parts.
Nov 16, 2000 | Two thousand years of history, genetics and killer wardrobes converged in two 20th century women who rocked the world in true courtesan style: Clare Boothe Luce and Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman. Neither woman had any formal education. Neither got along very well with other women. And they both wielded political and business power, as well as an explosive sexuality, to get what they wanted -- their queen-size cojones hidden beneath a patina of charm, wit and beauty.
The two women had drastically different ways of charming men. Christopher Ogden, Harriman's biographer, chalks up her success to being the world's greatest nanny. "She had an extraordinary capacity to focus on her men. She made them think they were the greatest thing since the convergence of the planets," he says. "She knew everything about her men -- what they ate, drank, read. If you looked uncomfortable, she'd grab a pillow and place it behind your back. If you were squinting, a shade would be drawn."
Harriman, who eventually became the U.S. ambassador to France (and died swimming in the rooftop pool of the Paris Ritz in 1997), began her training as a courtesan at age 19 with her first marriage, to Randolph Churchill, Winston's son. She often spent evenings with Winston -- whom she called "Papa" -- at 10 Downing St., discussing the war. "This is where she learned that any man, no matter how powerful, how wealthy they are, has uncertainties. She could pinpoint that and try to help. And these men would eat it up," Ogden says.
After her marriage to Churchill dissolved, Harriman was on her way to becoming the heavyweight champ of courtesans. What made her a courtesan was the number and type of people she was involved with, and the technique, skill and talent that she brought to every endeavor, says Ogden. And to get what she wanted -- political power -- she zeroed in on the men who could benefit her the most. As Ogden wryly puts it, "She never fell in love with any poor men." Her list of lovers includes Edward R. Murrow, Elie de Rothschild, Aly Khan, Jock Whitney and Gianni Agnelli. And there were also her subsequent husbands: producer Leland Hayward and statesman Averell Harriman.
But was she good in bed? Ogden won't speculate, but he does say he wasn't blown away by her in person. "She wasn't my kind of woman," he sniffs. "She didn't have a sense of humor. I don't think she'd be a fun date."
It's up for grabs whether Luce was a fun date, but her biographer, Sylvia Jukes Morris, argues quite vehemently that she was absolutely not a courtesan. "Clare would never bring a man slippers like Pamela," says Morris in her clipped British accent, clearly aghast at that image. "She didn't want to be in the service business. She was more ambitious than that. She used men for what she wanted and then left them, while a courtesan pays attention to men. She was more of a femme fatale."
With all due respect to Morris, Harriman's husband Hayward called Harriman "the courtesan of the century." Born into poverty and an illegitimate child, Luce married millionaire George Brokaw at age 19 after impressing a mutual acquaintance. When she was 26 Brokaw died, leaving her his New York mansion on Fifth Avenue and his fortune. More important, she inherited her freedom.
After Brokaw died, Luce went into overdrive -- which is when the legendary lode of Clare Boothe Luce stories started emerging (most likely self-generated). One incident occurred in 1929. After being rejected for work at Vanity Fair magazine, she waited until publisher Condé Nast left for vacation, marched into the magazine's offices and plopped down at a desk. Someone handed her work to do and by the time Nast returned, she was already an invaluable member of the staff. He hired her. She was introduced to Time magazine publisher Henry Luce at a party, and after only two more public introductions, he left his wife for her.
It was "a very calculated move on Clare's part," says Morris. "Her marriage to Luce was her entree into that world. Every phase of her life was planned out." She went on to become a successful war correspondent, playwright, congresswoman and ambassador to Italy.
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