James Paul Donahue Jr.

James Paul Donahue Jr. (June 11, 1915 – December 6, 1966)[1][2] was an heir to the Woolworth estate and a noted New York City socialite.

James Paul Donahue Jr.
Born(1915-06-11)June 11, 1915
Greenwich, Connecticut, United States
DiedDecember 6, 1966(1966-12-06) (aged 51)
Manhattan, New York, United States
OccupationSocialite
RelativesFrank Winfield "F. W." Woolworth (maternal grandfather)
Barbara Hutton (first cousin)

Early life

Jimmy Donahue was the second son of James Paul Donahue (1887–1931), the scion of an Irish American family which had made a fortune in the fat rendering business (Retail Butchers' Fat Rendering Company), by his wife Jessie (née Woolworth; 1886–1971), one of the three daughters of Frank Winfield "F. W." Woolworth, founder of the Woolworth retail chain.[3] His older brother was Woolworth Donahue (1913–1972) who brought a cheetah to Cannes following a safari.

Donahue was a nephew of Edna Woolworth (1883–1917), a wealthy socialite[4] and a nephew by marriage of Franklyn Laws Hutton (1877–1940), a co-founder of the brokerage firm E. F. Hutton & Co. He was also the first cousin and confidant of the American socialite Barbara Hutton (1912–1979).

Donahue was a high school dropout. He initially attended the Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey, and after his parents were advised to remove him from there, he was shifted to the Choate School in Connecticut. However, he was expelled from that school at age 17. Following his expulsion from Choate he took tap dance lessons with the tap dance master Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.[5]

Career

Having been born into a wealthy family, Donahue never felt the need to earn a living, and indeed he lived lavishly, travelling the world with a valet in tow and staying at the most expensive hotels.[6] He was known within his circle by the nickname "Jeem".[7]

A playboy by nature, he was a gay man at a time when homosexual acts were illegal. Though press agents arranged for him to be seen with female escorts, his pursuits, until he met Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, were exclusively homosexual. In 1950, he was 35 when befriended by the Duke of Windsor and the Duchess. He claimed he had had a four-year affair with Simpson. This claim was verified by Lady Pamela Hicks, daughter of the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, a cousin of the Duke of Windsor.[8]

Donahue died in 1966 at the age of 51. He is buried in the Woolworth Family Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.[9]

References
  1. "Jane Bowles, Libby Holman Reynolds & Barbara Hutton".
  2. Wilson, Christopher (2001), Dancing with the Devil: The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue, London: St. Martin's Press, pp. 22–45, ISBN 0-312-27204-9
  3. Wilson 2001, p. 16
  4. New York Times, May 3, 1917
  5. Wilson 2001, pp. 16, 39–51
  6. "SGN Page 16".
  7. Wilson 2001
  8. "Royal In-Law: Princess Diana Favored "Disco-ing" to Married Life; Charles Has "Blossomed Again" With Camilla". Vanity Fair. September 5, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  9. "James P. Donahue Found Dead Heir to Woolworth Fortune, 51 '30's Playboy Later Turned to Philanthropic Work Offended Mussolini" (PDF). The New York Times. December 8, 1966. Retrieved September 10, 2019.

Further reading
  • Charles Higham. The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. 482 pp 1988: 370–2, 394–5.
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