Berry Berenson: Difference between revisions

| birth_place        = New York City, [[New York (state)|New York]]

| death_place        = New York City, New York

'''Berinthia''' "'''Berry'''" '''Berenson-Perkins''' ({{née}} '''Berenson'''; April 14, 1948 – September 11, 2001) was an American actress, model and photographer. She was the widow of actor [[Anthony Perkins]].  

Berry Berenson was born in [[Murray Hill, Manhattan]], New York City. Her mother was born Maria-Luisa Yvonne Radha de Wendt de Kerlor, better known as [[Elsa Schiaparelli#Family|Gogo Schiaparelli]], a socialite of Italian, Swiss, & French ancestry.<ref name="htgxkf">Elsa Schiaparelli. ''Shocking Life''. New York. Dutton, 1954</ref> Her father, Robert Lawrence Berenson, was an American career diplomat turned shipping executive. He was of [[Russian Jews|Russian-Jewish]] and [[Polish Jews|Polish-Jewish]] descent, and his family's original surname was Valvrojenski.<ref>Bernard Berenson. ''Sketch for a Self-Portrait''. New York. Pantheon. 1949</ref><ref>"Robert L. Berenson, Ex-Envoy and Head of Shipping Line, Dies". ''[[The New York Times]]''. February 3, 1965, page 35</ref><ref>[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0A15F93859167B93CAA91788D85F458485F9 "Marisa $chiaparelli Is Married in Gown Designed. by Her Mother, the Cougurlere"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref>

Berenson's maternal grandmother was the Italian-born fashion designer [[Elsa Schiaparelli]],<ref>Linda Greenhouse, "Schiaparelli Dies in Paris; Brought Color to Fashion", The New York Times, November 15, 1973</ref> and her maternal grandfather was Wilhelm de Wendt de Kerlor, a [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophist]] and [[psychic medium]].<ref name = "htgxkf"/><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Thurman |first=Judith |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/10/27/031027fa_fact_thurman |title=Mother of Invention|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=October 27, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ritmanlibrary.nl/c/p/h/bel_18.html |title=Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica entry |website=ritmanlibrary.nl |date=February 27, 2006 |access-date=November 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524140757/http://www.ritmanlibrary.nl/c/p/h/bel_18.html |archive-date=May 24, 2011 }}</ref> Her elder sister, [[Marisa Berenson]], became a well-known model and actress. She also was a great-grandniece of [[Giovanni Schiaparelli]], an Italian astronomer who believed he had discovered [[Martian canals|canals on Mars]], and a second cousin, once removed, of art expert [[Bernard Berenson]] (1865–1959), and his sister [[Senda Berenson Abbott|Senda Berenson]] (1868–1954), an athlete and educator who was one of the first two women elected to the [[Basketball Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9125376/Senda-Berenson#668134.hook |title=Encyclopædia Britannica Online entry |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |date=February 16, 1954 |access-date=November 12, 2010}}</ref>

Following a brief modeling career in the late 1960s, Berenson became a freelance photographer. In 1972, Berenson's fiancé [[Richard Bernstein (artist)|Richard Bernstein]] was hired as the cover artist for [[Andy Warhol]]'s ''[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]]'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Colacello |first=Bob |url=https://archive.org/details/holyterrorandywa0000cola_a4e9/page/104/mode/2up?q=bernstein |title=Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up |date=1990 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-016419-5 |location=New York, NY |pages=105–106}}</ref> Berenson would recruit models for the cover and photograph them, and Bernstein illustrated the images.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Winecoff |first=Charles |url=https://archive.org/details/splitimagelifeof00winerich/mode/2up?q=bernstein |title=Split Image: The Life of Anthony Perkins |date=1996 |publisher=Dutton |isbn=978-0-525-94064-7 |location=New York, N.Y. |pages=3, 322, 331}}</ref> By 1973, her photographs had been published in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', ''[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]'', ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' and ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref>[[Judy Klemesrud]], "And Now, Make Room for the Berenson Sisters", The New York Times, April 19, 1973, page 54</ref>

Berenson was engaged to artist [[Richard Bernstein (artist)|Richard Bernstein]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-09-19 |title=The Fabulous Magazine Artist Who Lived Like the Cover Stars |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/richard-bernstein-artist-interview-magazine-covers-book |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=W Magazine |language=en}}</ref> In 1972, Berenson had an affair with actor [[Anthony Perkins]] and they married on August 9, 1973, in [[Wellfleet, Massachusetts]] while she was three months pregnant.<ref name=":0" /> The couple raised two sons: actor-director [[Oz Perkins]] and folk/rock singer-songwriter [[Elvis Perkins]].<ref>Maynard, Joyce (January 12, 1977). [https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/12/archives/westchester-weekly-tony-perkins-and-family-a-study-in-informal.html "Tony Perkins and Family: A Study in Informal Togetherness"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250502143126/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/12/archives/westchester-weekly-tony-perkins-and-family-a-study-in-informal.html |date=May 2, 2025 }}. ''The New York Times''. Westchester Weekly Section. p. 58</ref> Although Perkins was gay, they remained married until Perkins died from [[AIDS]]-related complications on September 12, 1992.<ref>Goodman, Mark (September 28, 1992). [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20108694,00.html "One Final Mystery: Surrounded by Family, Friends and a Wall of Silence, Tony Perkins Succumbs to AIDS"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323095700/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20108694,00.html |date=March 23, 2016 }}. ''People''. Vol. 38 No. 13.</ref><ref>Weinraub, Bernard (September 16, 1992). [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/16/arts/anthony-perkins-s-wife-tells-of-2-years-of-secrecy.html "Anthony Perkins's Wife Tells of 2 Years of Secrecy"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref><ref>Ferrell, David (September 13, 1992). [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-13-mn-1407-story.html "Anthony Perkins, 60, Dies; Star of 'Psycho' Had AIDS"]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.</ref>

Berenson died on September 11, 2001, a day before the ninth anniversary of Perkins’ death, as she was returning home to Los Angeles from a vacation on [[Cape Cod]]. She and the other passengers and crew aboard [[American Airlines Flight 11]] died when the plane was hijacked and deliberately crashed into the [[List of tenants in 1 World Trade Center (1971–2001)|North Tower]] of the [[World Trade Center (1973-2001)|World Trade Center]] during the [[September 11 attacks]] on the US.<ref>Hopkinson, Amanda (September 14, 2001). [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/sep/14/guardianobituaries.september11 "Berry Berenson"]. ''The Guardian''.</ref>

[[Category:21st-century American people]]