Brooke Astor Brooke Astor Roberta Brooke Astor (née Russell; March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and writer who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, which had been established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV and great-great grandson of America's first multi-millionaire, John Jacob Astor. Brooke Astor was the author of two novels and two volumes of personal memoirs. Brooke was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the only child of John Henry Russell, Jr. (1872–1947), the 16th Commandant of the Marine Corps, and his wife, Mabel Cecile Hornby Howard
Beechwood (Astor mansion) ballroom to fit the famous "Four Hundred". Beechwood became the show place for many of Mrs. Astor's dinner parties. Beechwood also boasts a library, dining room and a music room with wallpaper imported from Paris. When Mrs. Astor died she left it to her son John Jacob Astor IV, who married his second wife Madeleine in its ballroom. After John's death on the "Titanic" in 1912, it passed to his son Vincent, by his first wife Ava. In 1940, Countess Allene T. deKotzebue purchased Beechwood from Vincent Astor. Between 1940 and 1980 it was owned in succession by: James Cameron