Stanley G. Mortimer Jr.

Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. (May 12, 1913 – August 11, 1999) was an American sportsman and advertising executive.

Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr.
Born(1913-05-12)May 12, 1913
Tuxedo Park, New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 11, 1999(1999-08-11) (aged 86)
Harriman, New York, U.S.
EducationSt. Mark's School
Alma materHarvard University
OccupationAdvertising executive
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1940; div. 1946)​

Kathleen Lanier Harriman
​
​
(m. 1947; his death 1999)​
Children5
Parent(s)Stanley Grafton Mortimer Sr.
Kathleen Hunt Tilford
RelativesJohn Jay Mortimer (brother)
Katharine Mortimer (sister)
Richard Mortimer (grandfather)
Henry Morgan Tilford (grandfather)

Early life

Mortimer was born in Tuxedo, New York on May 12, 1913. He was the eldest of six children born to Stanley Grafton Mortimer (1890–1947)[1] and Kathleen Hunt (nee Tilford) Mortimer (1890–1970).[2] His father was a stockbroker and U.S. amateur court tennis champion.[1] His siblings included Henry Tilford Mortimer,[3][1][4] Richard Mortimer;[1] John Jay Mortimer;[5] and Eve Mortimer[6] (who married Clarence Pell Jr. and, later, Lewis Cass Ledyard III).[7] His youngest sister, Katharine Mortimer, was married three times, including to Francis Xavier Shields (the grandfather of actress Brooke Shields).[8]

His paternal grandfather was Richard Mortimer, a real estate investor and member of Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families.[9][10] Through his father and paternal grandmother, Eleanor Jay Chapman Mortimer, he was a descendant of the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Jay, as well as the first colonial Governor of New York, Robert Livingston[11][8]

Mortimer grew up at Keewaydin, the family home in Tuxedo Park designed by Stanford White for Pierre Lorillard III.[12] His family, along with the Lorillards, were the founding families of Tuxedo Park.[13] His maternal grandfather was Henry Morgan Tilford, a Standard Oil founder.[14] His materanl grandmother was known as "one of the reigning dowagers of Tuxedo Park" for four decades. According to author Sally Bedell Smith, "her annual debutante dinners before the Autumn Ball determined which young women were approved for New York society."[15]

Education and career

He was educated at St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts and then Harvard University, where he graduated in 1936.[15]

From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, he served in the Pacific Ocean theater, rising to Lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.[15]

Mortimer worked as a director of advertising for Trans World Airlines and Pan American World Airways.[15]

Sporting and club life

A renowned sportsman, Mortimer was a member of the Jockey Club, and his racing stable at Keewaydin was successful in France for many years. He also was an avid tennis player (a member of the Racquet and Tennis Club in New York) and golfer (a member of the National Golf Links in Southampton) who took part in hunting-dog field trials. He was also a member, and served on the board of governors, of the Tuxedo Park Club.[15]

Personal life

In 1940, Mortimer was married to Barbara "Babe" Cushing (1915–1978) at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Hampton, New York.[16] Babe was the daughter of Dr. Harvey Cushing. Together, with her older sisters, she was part of the "fabulous Cushing sisters."[17] Her sister Minnie Cushing was the second wife of Vincent Astor, and another sister, Betsey Cushing married James Roosevelt (the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt), and later John Hay Whitney.[18] Before their divorce in 1946, Babe and Stanley were the parents of two children:

After their divorce, Babe married William S. Paley, the longtime leader of CBS. In 1947,[22] Mortimer remarried to Kathleen Lanier Harriman (1917–2011),[23] the daughter of W. Averell Harriman (U.S. Ambassador to Russia and the U.K., a governor of New York and a U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman) and a granddaughter of railroad tycoon E. H. Harriman.[24] Together, they had a home in Harriman and an apartment at 149 East 73rd Street in Manhattan,[25] and were the parents of three children:[15]

  • David Harriman Mortimer (b. 1948)[26]
  • Jay Lawrance Mortimer (b. c. 1950), who married Prudence Bach in 1986.[27]
  • Averell Harriman Mortimer (b. c. 1956), who married Gigi H. Newhard in 1988.[28]

In 1969, Mortimer, who suffered from manic-depression, shot himself in what may have been a suicide attempt,[25] but survived.[24] Mortimer died on August 11, 1999 at his home in Harriman, New York.[15]

References
  1. Staff (April 6, 1947). "S.G. MORTIMER DIES". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  2. "Deaths BLAINE, KATHARINE MORTIMER". The New York Times. April 17, 2003. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  3. Smith, Sally Bedell (2012). In All His Glory: The Life and Times of William S. Paley and the Birth of Modern Broadcasting. Random House Publishing Group. p. 436. ISBN 9780307786715. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  4. Staff (September 8, 1993). "Henry T. Mortimer; Stockbroker, 77". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  5. Theodoracopulos, Taki (9 November 2013). "Taki: RIP John Jay, my brave friend who refused to take part in vulture capitalism". The Spectator. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  6. "Eve Mortimer Ledyard of West Grove". 10 October 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  7. Wallace, Andrew (December 5, 1990). "Lewis C. Ledyard 3d, A Lawyer Who Turned To Art, Horse Breeding". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  8. "Deaths BLAINE, KATHARINE MORTIMER". The New York Times. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  9. McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  10. Patterson, Jerry E. (2000). The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor's New York in the Gilded Age. Random House. p. 218. ISBN 9780847822089. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  11. L. Hamilton, William (May 27, 2007). "Stephen Gaghan and Minnie Mortimer". The New York Times.
  12. Gaffney, Adrienne (March 6, 2014). "Minnie Mortimer's Upper East Side". Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  13. Conant, Jennet (2013). Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II. Simon and Schuster. p. 59. ISBN 9781476767291. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  14. Morgan, Spencer (18 December 2006). "The Mortimer Family". Observer. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  15. Nemy, Enid (14 August 1999). "Stanley G. Mortimer Jr., 86, Sportsman and Ad Executive". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  16. Nemy, Enid (July 7, 1978). "Barbara Cushing Paley Dies at 63; Style Pace-Setter in Three Decades; Symbol of Taste". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  17. Bumiller, Elisabeth (January 3, 1999). "THE LIVES THEY LIVED: Betsey Cushing Whitney; The Last Princess". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  18. Nemy, Enid (26 March 1998). "Betsey Cushing Whitney Is Dead at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  19. "Sin A. Larsen, a Teacher Here, Bride of Stanley G. Mortimer 3d" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 February 1971. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  20. "Amanda Jay Mortimer Married on L.I.; '62 Debutante Bride of S. Carter Burden Jr., a Law Student" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 June 1964. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  21. Cohen, Roger (21 December 1992). "The Creator of Time Warner, Steven J. Ross, Is Dead at 65". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  22. "Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. Marries Kathleen Harriman, Secretary's Daughter". The New York Times. 12 October 1947. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  23. Fox, Margalit (February 19, 2011). "Kathleen Mortimer, Rich and Adventurous, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  24. Fox, Margalit (19 February 2011). "Kathleen Harriman Mortimer, a Scion of Wealth, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  25. "Harriman Son-in-Law Recovering After Shooting; Stanley Mortimer Improves Following What Police Call an Attempted Suicide" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 June 1969. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  26. Masters, Kim (11 October 1994). "THE HARRIMAN BUNCH". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  27. "Jay L. Mortimer Weds Prudence Bach". The New York Times. 27 June 1986. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  28. "Averell Harriman Mortimer Married to Gigi H. Newhard". The New York Times. 26 June 1988. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
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