Cruising The Past Cruise News Maxwell and host Garry Moore enjoy stuffed pheasant under glass, whereas the panel have been served food appropriated from each other’s refrigerators.
ELSA MAXWELL – Gilded Gatekeeper – Pianist, gossip columnist, TV star, and above all a giver of great parties, Elsa Maxwell was famous for being herself.
Elsa Maxwell, Tyrone Power and the Duke of Windsor at a 1948 party at Maxwell’s house on the French Riviera.
Review of Inventing Elsa Maxwell by Sam Staggs – St. Martin’s, 340 pages, $29.99
By ETHAN MORDDEN from the Wall Street Journal
Mention a celebrity, and she would reply, “My most intimate friend!” If it was anyone below the level of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, she would add, “I discovered him, you know!” Occasionally, for the spice of variation, she would draw the line at, say, Vladimir Horowitz: “I’ve turned on pianists!”
Elsa Maxwell sails for Europe… The party giver made dozens of crossing on great liners as the France, Normandie, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, America and United States.
EElsa Maxwell knew everyone, specializing in royalty and achievers—Cole Porter, Duff and Diana Cooper, Elsie de Wolfe, Jacqueline Kennedy, Gary Cooper, Mussolini, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Maria Callas. Elsa (1881-1963) was everywhere, from Venice to Hollywood. And she did everything: She played the piano, published (“Elsa Maxwell’s Etiquette Book”), took on public relations assignments, ran a gossip column for the Hearst press, appeared in films, introduced wealthy unknowns to society, served as a television talk-show guest and was Seen in the right Places.
