The Tragedy Of Edie Beale: Grey Gardens’ Darkest Secret

Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn describe the animals left behind at Grey Gardens when they took possession of the house in November 1979. TRIGGER WARNING: Ben tells us that they had to put down 52 diseased cats that were left behind. Edie always claimed she'd given away most of the cats and only took 5 with her to her apartment in Southampton. I beklieve this is true. I think Ben may be exagerating but whatever the number, it was likely the feral cats who came and went and were not considered pets.

In this opening scene from 2005's "Ghosts of Grey Gardens" we see Big Edie undermining her daughter and Al's camera captures her being amused with herself in doing so. Then cinematograoher Al Maysles describes how meeting the Beales coincided with the illness and death of his mother Ethel (who died Feb 13th, 1973). | Staunch Character : Edith Bouvier Beale, Jr. of Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens’ Darkest Secret: The Tragedy Of Edie Beale

The tragedy of Grey Gardens: was the landmark documentary actually an exploitation movie?