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
William Waldorf Astor War I, his being made a peer. Willy fell prey to the Press again. After going into self-imposed exile, he unexpectedly died of heart failure in the lavatory of his Brighton, Sussex home. His ashes were buried under the marble floor of the chapel (also called the "Octagon Temple") at Cliveden. William Waldorf Astor William Waldorf "Willy" Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (March 31, 1848 – October 18, 1919) was a wealthy American-born attorney, politician, businessman, and newspaper publisher. He moved with his family to England in 1891, became a British subject in 1899, and was made a peer as Baron