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Mrs. Astor’s Son Denies Claims of Neglect
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Bill Cunningham/The New York Times
Mrs. Astor at her 100th birthday party with her grandsons, Philip Marshall, center rear, and Alec Marshall, and Philips wife, Nan Starr.
July 28, 2006
Mrs. Astors Son Denies Claims of Neglect
By SERGE F. KOVALESKI
Anthony D. Marshall, who has been accused of neglecting his 104-year-old mother, the philanthropist and socialite Brooke Astor, spoke out yesterday for the first time in his own defense, saying that he had overseen expenditures of more than $2.5 million a year for his mothers care and comfort and calling the allegations against him completely untrue.
Mr. Marshall, in a statement, said that he loved his mother and was mystified that one of his twin sons, Philip Marshall, had brought legal action against him without sharing his concerns with him beforehand.
I am shocked and deeply hurt by the allegations against me, Mr. Marshall said. I love my mother, and no one cares more about her than I do. Her well-being, her comfort and her dignity mean everything to me.
The necessity for Mr. Marshall, at 82, to publicly proclaim his love for his mother and defend her care came as Mrs. Astor was being treated at Lenox Hill Hospital, where she was reported in stable condition.
She had been taken there after the court filing by Philip Marshall, which accused his father of failing to fill her prescriptions, stripping her apartment of artwork, reducing her staff, confining her dogs, and generally darkening her final years. Mrs. Astors welfare was being looked after by Annette de la Renta, a friend of Mrs. Astors who is married to the designer Oscar de la Renta, a spokesman said.
Last night, Anthony Marshall and his wife, Charlene, walked from their Upper East Side apartment to Lenox Hill to visit his mother, buying a bouquet of pink roses at a corner grocery on the way.
Were going through a hard time, Mr. Marshall said as he strolled on the humid evening in a dark blue suit, pin-stripe shirt and a red-and-blue tie. Its going to be very difficult for a long time now.
His wife offered her own staunch defense of her husbands actions, and seemed to belittle claims by her stepson that Mrs. Astor living as she does in a large Park Avenue apartment with a retinue of servants and assistants exists in near squalor.
Not everyone has a Park Avenue apartment, not everyone has eight servants, not everyone has this man, she said, gesturing toward her husband.
Yesterdays developments seemed to cast the legal dispute as a contest between father and son, whose relationship has been described by some friends and relatives as distant and strained by decades of divorce, remarriage and the complicated conditions of caring for a woman who has lived past the century mark.
Little is known about what prompted Philip Marshall to file a lawsuit, replete with affidavits from David Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger. But Mr. Marshall, a 53-year-old university professor who was never very much in the news despite being a member of one of New Yorks highest-profile families, is now a pivotal character in the public drama.
In his lawsuit, Philip Marshall accuses his father a Broadway producer and former diplomat who also worked for the C.I.A. for several years of not only mistreating Mrs. Astor, but also of enriching himself with millions of dollars. He asks that his father be removed as Mrs. Astors legal guardian and replaced by Mrs. de la Renta. The court papers were quoted extensively in The Daily News but have been sealed by a judge.
Philip Marshall lives far from the city that his grandmother captivated for decades with her philanthropy and social activities. He lives in South Dartmouth, Mass., and is a professor of historic preservation in the school of architecture, art and historic preservation at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. Reached by telephone yesterday, he declined to comment.
Some friends of Mrs. Astor said that she hardly ever talked about her grandson. I didnt even know she had a grandson, said John Fairchild, the retired publisher of Womens Wear Daily and a friend. She never mentioned a grandson.
But Richard Cryan, 50, Mr. Marshalls first cousin, who lives in Needham, Mass., said that Mr. Marshall was very fond of his grandmother and feels a strong responsibility for her welfare. He said any speculation or suggestion that Mr. Marshall was somehow trying to cash in on Mrs. Astors fortune was unfounded.
Philip is not an individual motivated by greed, Mr. Cryan said. He is a college professor and not money-oriented. I accept on face value that this is motivated by his concerns about the well-being of his grandmother.
Mr. Cryan described Anthony Marshall as a classic father of the 50s, in that he was very dedicated to his career. And the flip side to that was he was not very accessible to Philip emotionally, he said. Philip Marshalls mother, Elizabeth Cryan, Mr. Cryan continued, is very warm, engaged and nurturing. I would say the relationship between Philip and his father was more distant, rather than contentious or hostile.
One of the peripheral players in the situation is Mrs. Astors daughter-in-law, Charlene, who turned 61 yesterday. Though the Marshalls have already been demonized in tabloid accounts, those who know them find it shocking and incomprehensible that they could be accused of ignoring Mrs. Astors health, safety and personal needs.
Charlene has been a great daughter-in law, and takes great care of Brooke, said David Richenthal, the Marshalls theatrical producing partner for such plays as the 2003 production of Long Days Journey Into Night. There is simply no connection between the reality of how loving and caring she has been, and these allegations, he said.
The Marshalls divide their time between homes on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Northeast Harbor, in Maine, which they met and where friends are also perplexed by the legal allegations. Im so surprised to hear these things about them, said Nan Lincoln, the arts editor of the weekly Bar Harbor Times.
Ms. Lincoln recalled the days when her children went to the same elementary school as those of Charlene Marshall, who as a preachers wife, was living in the rectory. Charlene was married to the Rev. Paul Gilbert, the Episcopal minister at St. Marys by the Sea in Northeast Harbor. She was a friend before she ran off and shocked us all, Ms. Lincoln said of Mrs. Marshall. It was no small scandal, when she ran off.
That was with Mr. Marshall, in 1992. Mr. Gilbert left shortly after that, Ms. Lincoln said. It was an uncomfortable situation.
It is perhaps this past that has heightened speculation about family tensions. Though Mrs. Marshall has been a prominent participant with Mrs. Astor in legendary celebrations, those who know Mrs. Astor have described moments when she made it publicly clear even when her daughter-in-law was present that she was no fan of Mrs. Marshalls.
And a neighbor, speaking of St. Marys by the Sea in Maine, recalled Mrs. Astor saying, after her sons affair with the ministers wife, I cant go to the church anymore.
Yesterday, Mrs. Astor was visited at the hospital by Mrs. de la Renta, who was once considered her protégée. They have served on many charities and boards together and raised millions of dollars for the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When the investment banker Felix Rohatyn and his wife, Elizabeth, set off debate in 1986 by criticizing the opulence of their charity balls, Mrs. Astor and Mrs. de la Renta responded that the galas were critical fund-raising events. Mrs. Rohatyn was then shut out of many prestigious events for some time.
Annette is an incredibly smart choice to act as her guardian, said Patrick McCarthy, the editorial director of Fairchild Fashion Group, which publishes Womens Wear Daily and W magazine.
Mrs. de la Renta, 66, in addition to her work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Morgan Library and Museum, the Animal Medical Center and Rockefeller University, joins in her husbands support of orphanages in the Dominican Republic.
She is a powerhouse, the fashion publicist Paul Wilmot said. She has opinions and she is not afraid to voice them. But she does not go out for self-publicity.
Mrs. Astors hospitalization was first reported yesterday by The Daily News and The New York Post. The hallway where Mrs. Astor is a patient looks different from the other floors: it has mahogany walls, artwork, a carpeted floor and a meditation room. It also has a special security detail with restrictions for visitors, including hospital staff. IDs are always required.
After visiting his mother at the hospital, Mr. Marshall spoke outside his apartment building. His wife eventually pulled him away, saying that hes been dizzy; he needs his rest.
Mr. Marshall said: I was very touched and encouraged by the fact that my mothers present state of age has brought attention to the need for care of elderly people. My mother always liked to spearhead a problem, whether it was within the New York community or throughout the nation. Im happy she can still do what she did for years for the foundation, even if she doesnt know it.
Reporting for this article was contributed by Glenn Collins, Kate Hammer, Ethan Wilensky-Lanford and Eric Wilson in New York, Polly Saltonstall in Maine, and Stacey Stowe in Massachusetts.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company |
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