In spite of the persistent rumor that Elsa Maxwell was born in a theater in Keokuk, Iowa, during a performance of the opera
Mignon, she actually admitted late in life that the outlandish story was a fabrication that she went along with, since she was actually born at her maternal grandmother's home in the same town. She was raised in
San Francisco, where her father sold insurance and did freelance writing for the
New York Dramatic Mirror. Maxwell never completed grammar school because her father did not believe in formal education; as a result, he tutored his daughter at home. Her interest in parties began when she was 12 years old and was told she would not be invited to a party because her family was poor. She developed a gift for staging games and diversions at parties for the rich, and began making a living devising treasure-hunt parties, come-as-your-opposite parties and other sorts, including a scavenger hunt in Paris in 1927 that inadvertently created disturbances all over the city. Later, the principality of Monaco employed Maxwell's services to put it on the map as a tourist destination as she had done for the Lido. Maxwell and Porter were lifelong friends, and he mentioned her in several of his songs, including "I'm Throwing a Ball Tonight" from
Panama Hattie (sung by
Ethel Merman) and "I'm Dining with Elsa (and her ninety-nine most intimate friends)." She is also mentioned in
Rodgers and Hart's "
I Like to Recognize the Tune" from
Too Many Girls,
Irving Berlin's "The Hostess With the Mostes' on the Ball" from
Call Me Madam and in "Listen, Cosette!" from
Sherry! Returning to the U.S., Maxwell worked on
movie shorts during the Depression, unsuccessfully. "Her imprimatur of social acceptability carried so much weight that the
Waldorf Astoria gave her a suite rent-free when it opened in New York in 1931 at the height of the Depression, hoping to attract rich clients because of her." for which
Esther Bradford Aresty was a writer and producer. French writer,
Simone de Beauvoir, met her at a Los Angeles party in March of 1947 and described her as "A heavy, voluble old lady, her bulk none too well hidden in black satin, she embodies all the faults of America with non of its virtues. She is almost a caricature. [...] 'In America' she says, 'no one needs to read because no one thinks. Look at me -- hundreds of thousands of people think nothing but what I tell them to think in my daily column, and I myself don't think. It's find this way. People who think are wasting their time -- it's anarchy. [...] Her optimism brings her a great deal of money and prestige. Even the sight of
Buchenwald would not have shaken such a comfortable faith." Maxwell was responsible for the success of ventriloquist
Edgar Bergen. Bergen had been playing small theaters for 17 years; when he decided to ask for Maxwell's help, he was persistent enough in his telephone calls that Maxwell agreed to meet with him. When Bergen arrived, Maxwell asked him if he was a singer; Bergen replied that he was a ventriloquist and told her he wanted her to meet Charlie McCarthy. Charlie's meeting with Maxwell was an instant success; Maxwell asked crooner
Rudy Vallée to find him a place on his radio program. Maxwell was a closeted lesbian who publicly condemned same-sex love despite enjoying an almost 50-year partnership with the Scottish singer
Dorothy Fellowes-Gordon ("Dickie"). The two met in 1912 and remained together until Maxwell's death. In the 1950s, her friendship with the
Duke of Windsor and
Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, attracted much publicity in the United States, as did her long running feud with the Duchess. She had encountered the Duke several times when he was the Prince of Wales, and became acquainted with him and the Duchess in 1946 when they were all living at the Waldorf Astoria Apartments in New York. They became friends the following year, in France. The Duke and Duchess frequently entertained her and sometimes Fellowes-Gordon at their chateau on the Riviera and over the coming years they attended Elsa's parties in Paris, Monte Carlo, New York and elsewhere. A fall-out between Elsa and Wallis was first reported in May 1953, rumored to have started at a charity event the previous January, although reports from that event suggest they were friendly. Over the next few years the feud was much detailed in US gossip columns. In April 1957,
Cholly Knickerbocker announced there had been a "peace treaty" between them. It followed a reconciling letter from Elsa after newspapers accused her of deliberately trying to upstage Wallis by inviting her to a party and then getting
Marilyn Monroe to make a grand late entrance, driving all attention away from Wallis. Maxwell took credit for introducing
Rita Hayworth to
Prince Aly Khan in the summer of 1948. In 1953, Maxwell published a single issue of her magazine, ''Elsa Maxwell's Café Society'', which had a portrait of
Zsa Zsa Gabor on the cover.
Anne Edwards's biography of
Maria Callas (
Callas, 2001) and Peter Evans's biography of
Aristotle Onassis both claim that Maxwell introduced Callas to Onassis. Edwards also claims that Maxwell fell obsessively in love with Callas, 40 years Maxwell's junior. Callas biographer Stelios Galatopoulos produced love letters from Maxwell written to Callas, who was less than receptive. Maxwell told interviewer
Mike Wallace in 1957: In the late 1950s,
Loretta Swit worked as Maxwell's personal secretary. She died of heart failure in a Manhattan hospital. Fellowes-Gordon was Maxwell's sole heir. She is buried at
Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York. ==Filmography==