John Jacob Astor VI

Early life

John Jacob Astor VI was born at 840 Fifth Avenue in New York City on August 14, 1912. He was the son of Colonel John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV (1864–1912) and socialite Madeleine Talmage Force (1893–1940). Jakey's parents' marriage, on September 9, 1911, had sparked much controversy both because of their 29-year age difference and since Colonel Astor had only previously been divorced from his first wife, socialite Ava Lowle Willing (1868–1958), one year earlier, on March 5, 1910.

The newlyweds were returning home aboard the Titanic after about three months of honeymooning in Egypt and Europe. Madeleine was five months pregnant with Jakey when her husband put her in one of the ship's lifeboats. She was rescued eight hours after her husband went down with the ship.

After Jack's death, Madeleine raised their son at the Astors' Newport, Rhode Island, mansion, Beechwood, as part of the Astor family. She would later remarry to banker William Karl Dick (1888–1953) in June 1916, and boxer Enzo Fiermonte (1908–1993) in November 1933. Through Dick, she would have two more sons: William Force Dick (1917–1961) and John Henry Dick II (1919–1995). Fiermonte taught her sons boxing.

Jakey, who had become close to Dick, highly opposed the union with Fiermonte and repeatedly tried to convince his mother to end the relationship. He and his mother frequently argued over the union. This caused a rift between the two, though they later reconciled within several months of the marriage. When asked if his mother was marrying Fiermonte, he responded "Unfortunately, it's true".

Jakey graduated from St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island and from Harvard University.

Inheritance

Under the terms of Colonel Astor's will, Madeleine received relatively little from her husband's $85 million estate (approximately equivalent to $2.1 billion in 2016 dollars). This value included his estate in Rhinebeck and his yacht, the Noma. William Vincent Astor (1891–1959), the Colonel's son from his first marriage, received $69 million (about $1.7 billion in 2016 dollars), while the Colonel's daughter from his first marriage, Ava Alice Muriel Astor (1902–1956), received a $10 million trust fund (about $250 million in 2016 dollars).

The Colonel's 19-year-old widow Madeleine received the annual income from a $5 million trust fund (about $120 million in 2016 dollars), sweetened by an annual payment of $500,000 (about $12 million in 2016 dollars), as well as use of his New York mansion 65th & Fifth Avenue, all its furnishings, and his Newport mansion Beechwood and all of its furnishings, the pick of whichever luxury limo she wanted from his collection, and five of his prized horses, provided that she did not remarry. While not listed by name, his father's will mentioned that any surviving child other than his children Vincent and Ava would receive a bequest of $3 million, to be held in trust until the child reached age 21. Jakey inherited the $3 million on his 21st birthday, which by that point had grown to $5 million (about $93 million in 2016 dollars). When Madeleine died in late March 1940, she left him a diamond solitaire ring worth $50,000 (about $850,000 in 2016 dollars) and a pearl necklace worth $1,525 (about $26,070 in 2016 dollars).

Elder half-brother Vincent's contempt for Madeleine led him to believe that Jakey was not even a biological Astor. Having despised his younger half-brother since birth, Vincent left him nothing in his will. Jakey felt cheated and resentfully stated Vincent "had the legal, not the moral right to keep all the money". After Vincent died childless in early February 1959, Jakey sued Vincent's widow Roberta Brooke Russell (1902—2007) to inherit his money. He was convinced that Vincent was "mentally incompetent" when signing his last will in June 1958 due to alcoholism, though Brooke insisted Vincent was "fully competent". While Vincent was hospitalized, Brooke would often bring him liquor. Jakey accused her of using the liquor to influence the will in her favor. Jakey ended up settling for $250,000 (about $2.1 million in 2016 dollars). The rest of money remained with the Vincent Astor foundation and Brooke.

Personal life

Astor became engaged to Eileen Sherman Gillespie (1915–2008), the elder daughter of Lieutenant Lawrence Lewis Gillespie (1876–1940) and Irene Muriel Augusta Sherman (1887–1972), in early December 1933. Irene's parents were businessman William Watts Sherman (1842–1912) and Sophia Augusta Brown (1867–1947). They planned to marry on February 6, 1934. However, she called off the wedding on January 22, 1934 after a bitter argument. Heartbroken, he went to Shanghai shortly afterwards to grieve, returning to America in early May 1934. Astor blamed her parents for interfering with the relationship. He once suggested they could potentially reconcile, stating "I was willing to marry her, and if I were to think about it, I might still be willing to marry her." Eileen's daughter Marguerite "Margy" Slocum later said of him: "She felt that he had grown up lonely... He was a bit eccentric, and she felt he wasn't mature enough to get married."

A few weeks after returning from Shanghai, he became engaged to Eileen's close friend socialite Ellen Tuck "Tucky" French (1915–1974), the elder daughter of Francis Ormond "Frank" French II (1888–1962) and Eleanor Livingston Burrill (1891–1974). They married on June 30, 1934 at Trinity Church in Newport, Rhode Island. Tucky was a first cousin of Rhode Island Governor William Henry Vanderbilt III (1901–1981), and had previously been attracted to Jakey while he was engaged to Eileen. Along with Eileen's sister Phyllis, Tucky was scheduled to be a bridesmaid at Jakey and Eileen's wedding. Together, the couple had one son before divorcing in May 1943.

At the time of their son's birth, Jakey was working at the International Mercantile Marine Co. Another of Tucky's sisters, Virginia Middleton French (1917–2011), would marry William Force Dick, Astor's half-brother through his mother, on December 18, 1941, before her marriage to Philip B. Pool. The two had respectively served as matron of honor and usher to Astor and Tucky's wedding. Astor served as an usher and Tucky was matron of honor to Virginia and William's wedding. Virginia and Vincent were appointed as the godparents of William Backhouse Astor III.

On September 18, 1944, in New York City, he married for the second time to Gertrude Gretsch (1923–1999), the daughter of Walter and Gertrude Gretsch. Their marriage ended in divorce on August 2, 1954 after being separated for four years, though the Mexican divorce was ruled invalid in 1956. An American divorce soon followed. Before their separation and divorce, the couple had a daughter:

On August 6, 1954, Astor married for the third time to Dolores Margaret "Dolly" Fullman (born c. 1928) in Arlington, Virginia. For the 26 year old Dolly, it was her second marriage. They separated soon after returning from their honeymoon and divorced.

Astor married his fourth, and final wife, Sue Sandford in 1956. They remained married until her death in 1985.

Astor died in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1992 at the age of 79. His body was returned to New York for burial with his parents in the Trinity Church Cemetery. At the time of his death, he was survived by his son, daughter, three grandsons, and younger half-brother.

Descendants

Through his son, Astor was a grandfather to two boys, William Backhouse Astor IV (b. 1959) and Gregory Todd Astor (b. 1966) who portrayed Colonel Astor in Titanic the Musical in April 2012 Gregory married Robin Rhodes, and together, they have three children: Alexandra Ellen "Allie" Astor (b. 1997), Rebecca Charlotte "Becca" Astor (b. 1998), and Stephen William Astor (b. 2002).

Through his daughter, Astor was a grandfather to Nicholas Astor Drexel (b. 1988).

In popular culture

Astor's name is shown on one of the page buttons on an apartment building in Mel Brooks' 2005 movie musical The Producers.

Name confusion

Even though some sources refer to Jakey as John Jacob V, John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever (1886–1971) was born first and therefore is actually John Jacob Astor V. Jakie Astor (1918–2000), youngest brother of David Astor, was John Jacob Astor VII; the 3rd Baron Astor of Hever is John Jacob Astor VIII. Jakey is sometimes (incorrectly) referred to as John Jacob III.