American journalist (1920–1993)
Phelan Beale Jr. (June 16, 1920 – June 26, 1993)[1][2] was an American journalist and unemployment compensation law expert.[1] He was a son of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and a brother of Edith Bouvier Beale whose lives were highlighted in the documentary Grey Gardens. He was a first cousin of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Lee Radziwill.
Early life
Beale was born on June 16, 1920, in New York City, New York.[1][2] He was the middle child of Phelan Beale Sr. and his wife Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (known as "Big Edie"), the daughter of his father's law partner, John Vernou Bouvier Jr.[1][2] Beale grew up at Grey Gardens at 3 West End Road in the wealthy Georgica Pond neighborhood in East Hampton on Long Island.[1] Beale was known as "Phe" to his friends and family.[2]
Beale was educated at the Westminster School for Boys in Simsbury, Connecticut.[1] He then attended Columbia University, where he studied journalism, and was a member of the class of 1944.[1][2][3]
Career
During World War II, Beale was drafted into the United States Army in 1942 and was sent to Camp Gruber near Braggs, Oklahoma.[1][2] He served in the Pacific Theater of Operations, participating in the battles of Saipan and Okinawa.[1][2] Beale was wounded in action and received two bronze battle stars and a Purple Heart for his service.[1][2]
Public service career
Beale was employed with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission in Tulsa and Oklahoma City for 30 years.[1][2] Following his retirement from the commission, he consulted on unemployment compensation law.[1][2]
Writing career
Beale was well known as an accomplished speaker and writer.[1][2] He delivered speeches to numerous organizations on a variety of subjects and wrote magazine and newspaper articles.[1][2] Throughout his writing career, Beale won hundreds of writing contests.[1][2] He later appeared in television commercials for MCI Communications.[1][2]
Personal life
Beale married Rosella Ramsey on December 26, 1942, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[1][2][4] He and Rosella met at a United Service Organizations dance in Tulsa in 1942 and eloped two weeks later.[4] They had one daughter, Michelle Beale.[1][2][4]
Beale was an American Kennel Club-licensed dog judge and toured the United States judging obedience trials.[1] He enjoyed fishing in Galveston, Texas.[1][2]
Grey Gardens
In 1971, Beale wrote "The Maysley Brothers — is that their name?," an article that appeared in The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin.[2] In the article, he deplores the attention accorded his mother and sister at that time: "Such heartbreak and degradation…not the best publicity in the world for the family."[2] He noted that he would see Grey Gardens "out of curiosity."[2] Beale's younger brother Bouvier sent him the documentary's reviews, which Beale expressed made him decidedly unhappy about "those two people (who) made the movie."[2] In the article, Beale reminisced about "the entertainment, the parties" at the Grey Gardens estate and his sister's coming out party at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City.[2] He referred to all these activities as "all that Great Gatsby stuff."[2] He wrote that his father refused his mother alimony and that there was a trust fund but that "trying to keep up that white elephant Grey Gardens is what ruined it."[2]
References
