Town & Country November 2017

1978 NAME CHECK “What is a Biddle?” the future Edward VII asked on a visit to Philadelphia in 1860. The monarch-to-be was at a party, and an aide kept whispering, “He’s a Biddle, she’s a Biddle…” The family had arrived in 1730 and quickly established a dynasty. By 1978, when this portrait of the Brigadier General Nicholas Biddle branch was taken at an Easter gathering, Biddles were everywhere: heads of law firms and banks, a novelist, an ambassador (see “Economy Class,” page 59). Some revel in the famous name; others keep it discreet. Short answer: an American family.…

Sometimes you scan the newspaper for bylines, not headlines. Brooks Barnes, the New York Times’s man in Hollywood, has become that kind of writer for me. So while I can quote from his profiles of the Twinkies owner who bought the Playboy Mansion and of the hacked studio head Amy Pascal, I also find myself reading about studio streaming wars just because the story comes after his name. Barnes, who previously wrote about Kirk Douglas’s family for this magazine, tackles two other Hollywood dynasties in this, our annual Families issue. The first story, about a hit-factory upstart production company called Black Label Media (page 78), is rooted in business; the other is our cover story on the most visible figure from one of entertainment’s most storied clans. Jane Fonda (page…

MAX VADUKUL “I have photographed many great performers,” says Vadukul, who shot Jane Fonda for this month’s cover story, “SEE JANE RUN” (page 124). He says Fonda “did not disappoint. The black-and-white cover says it all—the Fonda family in one shot.” Vadukul, who also contributes to Esquire and Elle, shot John Legend and Cate Blanchett for T&C’s philanthropy issue. BROOKS BARNES “I want Jane Fonda to be my shrink,” says the Hollywood correspondent for the New York Times, who wrote “SEE JANE RUN” (page 124). “As a guy, I didn’t expect to be moved by hearing her talk about her life—ups, downs, sideways spins—and how she kept moving forward. But it was empowering.” CLAIBORNE SWANSON FRANK AND ALEXIS SWANSON TRAINA It’s hard to imagine anyone better positioned to capture the…

There’s somebody I’d like you to meet, whose example has a lot to offer us in these bumptious and shameless times. Our story is supposed to be about a well-dressed man—one of the best of them all, right up there with Fred Astaire and Gary Cooper, but not as widely remembered today. This is Anthony Drexel Biddle Jr., or A.J., all-around winning fellow and definitely one of the top three most stylish men the New World has ever produced. But alongside the facts, there’s also a message about the qualities that go into being truly stylish—namely, good character and the power of understatement. In 1960, Esquire published George Frazier’s essay “The Art of Wearing Clothes.” This seminal piece from the golden age of journalism explores the history of male style…

Of all the Ivy League schools, Brown has always been a bit of an outlier (no famed football rivalry, no law school, no idyllic town—apologies to “the Divine City”). But the one thing Brown has always had in spades is famous students. Who can forget Jackie O at the Van Wickle Gates, waiting for John John to graduate, or Diana Ross lunching in a downtown diner on Parents Weekend, unrecognizable but for her signature ’do? Back in the early ’90s, when I was a student there, life on College Hill featured Ross’s glamorous progeny (Rhonda and Tracee), and also that of Diane von Furstenberg (Alexander and Tatiana), Carolina Herrera (Patricia), plus a smattering of Forbeses, Forbes 400 members, royals, and grads of Switzerland’s Le Rosey boarding school. And while the…

.COM FOR MORE THINGS TO DO, GO TO TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM October 27 “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez” Louis Vuitton tapped fashion historian Olivier Saillard to curate a new exhibit exploring the history of the luxury maison, which was founded in 1854. LV is taking over the former American Stock Exchange building in lower Manhattan for the show, which opens with the brand’s iconic trunks and will also display ones that belonged to such families as the Goulds, the Huttons, and the Woolworths. MOVABLE FEASTS November 4 LACMA Art + Film Gala Hollywood (and the Stallones) will help honor George Lucas and Mark Bradford. November 16 Guggenheim Gala Dior sponsors the NYC event, so you would be wise to wear one of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s designs. November 17–19 Reboule du Rhône The NYC festival celebrates wine from the…