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BRENDA FRAZIER, WHO CAUGHT EYE OF PUBLIC AS DEBUTANTE, DIES AT 60
By PAUL L. MONTGOMERY
Published: May 6, 1982
New York Times

Brenda Frazier Kelly Chatfield-Taylor, whose name was once synonymous with glittering debutante balls and the social whirl, died of cancer Monday at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Boston. She was 60 years old.

Mrs. Chatfield-Taylor, who as Brenda Frazier captured headlines in the 1930's and 40's, had lived quietly for more than 20 years at her homes on Beacon Hill and at East Harwich on Cape Cod. It was a stark contrast to the time when her photograph peered out almost daily from New York newspapers, lunching at the Stork Club, dancing with such eligible bachelors as Howard Hughes, John F. Kennedy and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Mrs. Chatfield-Taylor had no fond memories of the period around 1938 when she was grouped with Hedy Lamarr, Bette Davis, Anthony Eden and the Duke of Windsor as the epitome of glamour. In a bitter memoir published in Life magazine in 1963, she spoke of the confining and meaningless life that had frozen the smile on her face. 'True Meaning of Love'

''Though it hurts me, I must admit it: I have never known the true meaning of love,'' she wrote. ''I thought at the time that I loved everyone - all my beaux, all my relatives, everyone I met. But I loved them only because I wanted them to love me, because the faintest sign of rejection by another person, even a nightclub doorman whom I might never see again, brought back all my old childhood feelings of being unwanted and depressed.''

She said that with the help of psychoanalysis she had come to terms with herself, and vowed that her daughter would not become a debutante.

''I am free now to give her both love and the guidance that teenagers require and desperately want,'' she wrote. She was born Brenda Diana Duff Frazier, and to the end her friends called her Diana. Her father, Frank Duff Frazier, who died in 1932, was from a family that had grown rich by cornering the Western wheat market. Her mother, Brenda Taylor of England, was the daughter of Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor, a banker and friend of royalty. Said Her Fortune Was Mythical

Her family left her a fortune in trust, and at the age of 12 she was called one of the richest children in the world. She said much later that her fortune was largely a myth, and that she had difficulty meeting expenses.

Her debut in 1938 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York was the social event of the season, attracting 1,000 people. Her picture, showing her raven-black hair and hazel eyes, was on the cover of the leading magazines, and in interviews she spoke of her happiness. Much later, she quoted a poem she had written at the time: I give the impression of savoir-faire; Everyone I meet gives me an inward scare. They think I'm fast and they think I'm bad, For my favorite man is an invariable cad. I grit my teeth and smile at my enemies; I sit at the Stork Club and talk to nonentities.

In 1941, at the age of 21, she married John Sims (Shipwreck) Kelly, a stockbroker and former professional football player. They were divorced in 1956 and the next year she married Robert F. Chatfield-Taylor, a New York sales executive. They separated a few years later. Mr. Chatfield-Taylor died in 1980.
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United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries
Name: Mrs Brenda Kelly Service Duff Frazier Chatfield-Taylor
Event Type: Obituary
Event Date: 07 May 1982
Event Place: Richmond, Virginia
Residence Date: 07 May 1982
Gender: Female
Age: 60
Occupation: Sales Executive
Death Date: 1932
Newspaper: Richmond Times Dispatch
Spouse and Children
John Sims Husband Male
Robert F Chatfield Taylor Husband Male
Brenda Victoria Kelly Daughter Female
Parents and Siblings
Frank Duff Frazier Father Male
Brenda Taylor Mother Female
Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor Father Male
Extended Family
Jeremy Gates Grandson Male
Others on Record
Brenda Frazier Unknown Female

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