She was born on February 19, 1920, in Boston, Massachusetts to Vivian Hervey Wessell and Alexander Lynde Cochrane, an investment banker who belonged to a family of
Boston Brahmins. Her brother called her Sissy, and she transformed that into C.Z. She dabbled in acting, including an appearance in the
Ziegfeld Follies in 1944. On March 8, 1947, she married
Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, a U.S. national polo champion and the son of
Frederick Guest, who was a son of
Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, and Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill (daughter of
John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough) and who, through his mother, was a first cousin of Sir
Winston Churchill.
Ernest Hemingway was best man at the wedding, which took place at Hemingway's home in Havana, Cuba. The couple had two children,
Alexander Guest and
Cornelia Guest. C.Z. Guest was pictured on the cover of the July 20, 1962, issue of
Time magazine as part of an article on American society. After a horse riding accident in 1976, Guest was asked by the
New York Post to write a column on gardening. Her first book,
First Garden, was illustrated by her friend
Cecil Beaton. Other friends included
Truman Capote,
Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur,
Barbara Hutton,
Diana Vreeland,
Babe Paley and
William S. Paley,
Gloria Guinness and
Thomas "Loel" Guinness, and the
Duke and
Duchess of Windsor, who were the godparents of their children. She was painted by
Diego Rivera,
Salvador Dalí,
Kenneth Paul Block, and
Andy Warhol. In 1985, she designed a small fashion collection consisting mainly of
cashmere sweaters that was introduced at a show of the Cuban-born American designer
Adolfo, well known for dressing Nancy Reagan and Babe Paley. In 1986, she expanded her design work to include a limited line of
sportswear sold under license, and, in 1990, she came out with a fragrant
insect repellent and other garden merchandise. ==Death==