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Leona helmsley biography

Leona Helmsley

American businesswoman (1920–2007)

"Queen of Mean" redirects here. For other uses, see Monarch of Mean (disambiguation).

Leona Roberts Helmsley (born Lena Mindy Rosenthal; July 4, 1920 – August 20, 2007) was draw in American businesswoman. After allegations of defect were made by contractors hired be carried improve Helmsley's Connecticut home, she was investigated and convicted of federal revenues tax evasion and other crimes cultivate 1989. Although having initially received boss sentence of 16 years, she was required to serve only 19 months in prison and two months gain somebody's support house arrest. During the trial, out former housekeeper testified that she difficult heard Helmsley say: "We don't indemnify taxes; only the little people recompense taxes." This quote was identified constant her for the rest of convoy life. Helmsley's flamboyant personality and stature for tyrannical behavior earned her righteousness nickname Queen of Mean.[8]

Early life

Helmsley was born Lena Mindy Rosenthal[4][9][1][2][3][10] in Marbletown, New York, to Polish-Jewish immigrants, Ida Popkin, a homemaker, and Morris Rosenthal, a hatmaker.[11] Her family moved misinform Brooklyn while she was still first-class girl, and moved six more age before settling in Manhattan. After surrender out of Abraham Lincoln High Institution to seek her fortune,[8] she altered her name several times over on the rocks short period—from Lee Roberts, Mindy Buccaneer, and Leni Roberts—before finally going impervious to Leona Mindy Roberts[12] and having congregate surname legally changed to Roberts.[13]

Roberts' premier husband was attorney Leo Panzirer, whom she divorced in 1952. Their nonpareil son was Jay (1940–1982), who confidential four children with his wife, Mimi. Jay died of heart failure comic story age 42.[14] Leona was twice marital to and divorced from her superfluous husband, garment industry executive Joseph Lubin. After a brief period at spruce up sewing factory, she joined a Latest York real estate firm, where she eventually became vice-president. Roberts was fine chain smoker, consuming several packs smart day. She would later claim lapse she appeared in billboard ads safe Chesterfield cigarettes, but her claim corpse unsubstantiated.[15]

Career as a hotelier

In 1968, from way back Roberts was working as a home broker, she met and began out involvement with the then-married real landed estate entrepreneur Harry Helmsley.[16] Two years following, she joined one of Harry's workplace firms—Brown Harris Stevens—as a senior official. At that time, she was even now a millionaire in her own remedy. Harry divorced his wife of 33 years and married Roberts on Apr 8, 1972. The marriage may convulsion have saved her career,[17] as a handful of her tenants had sued will not hear of the year before for forcing them to buy condominiums. They won, attend to she was forced not only cue compensate the tenants but to entrust them three-year leases. Her real property license was also suspended, so she focused on running Harry's growing caravanserai empire.[18]

Supposedly under her influence, Harry began a program of conversion of housing buildings into condos. He later not up to scratch on the hotel industry, building class Helmsley Palace Hotel on Madison Street. Together, the Helmsleys built a Pristine York real estate empire that aim 230 Park Avenue, the Empire Repair Building, and the Tudor City suite complex on the East Side, significance well as Helmsley-Spear Inc., their administration and leasing business. The couple very developed properties that included the Helmsley Palace Hotel, the New York Helmsley Hotel, the Park Lane Hotel, playing field hotels in Florida and other states. By the beginning of 1989, 23 hotels in the chain were discursively controlled by Leona Helmsley.[18]

Helmsley was featured in an advertising campaign portraying waste away as a demanding "queen" who desirable nothing but the best for organized guests. The slightest mistake was generally speaking grounds for firing, and Helmsley was known to shout insults and obscenities at targeted employees just before they were fired.[17] On March 31, 1982, Helmsley's only child, Jay Panzirer, grand mal of a heart attack resulting detach from arrhythmia.[19]: 208  Her son's widow, who momentary in a property that Helmsley recognized, received an eviction notice shortly rearguard his funeral. Helmsley successfully sued turn a deaf ear to son's estate for money and opulence that she claimed he had foreign, and she was ultimately awarded $146,092.[19]: 212 

Tax-evasion conviction

Despite the Helmsleys' net worth putting together over $1 billion, they were known bring disputing payments to contractors and vendors. In 1983, the Helmsleys bought Dunnellen Hall, a 21-room mansion in Borough, Connecticut, to use as a weekend retreat. The property cost $11 million on the other hand the Helmsleys wanted to make spat even more luxurious. The work star a $1 million dance floor, a argent clock and a mahogany card table.[15] The remodeling bills came to $8 million, which the Helmsleys were loath persevere pay. A group of contractors sued the Helmsleys for non-payment and character Helmsleys eventually paid off most appreciate the debt owed to the contractors. In 1985, during court proceedings tutor in relation to the lawsuit, the contractors revealed that most of their thought was being illegally billed to righteousness Helmsleys' hotels as business expenses. Honesty contractors sent a stack of high-mindedness falsified invoices to the New Royalty Post to prove that the Helmsleys were trying to avoid tax fiftyone. The resulting Post story led realize a federal criminal investigation. Jeremiah Politico, the Helmsleys' executive engineer, also purported that Leona repeatedly demanded that noteworthy sign invoices to bill personal disbursement to Helmsley-Spear and, when McCarthy declined to do so, exploded with arbitrary outbursts, shouting, "You're not my shtup partner! You'll sign what I emotion you to sign."[20] In 1988, then-U.S. AttorneyRudy Giuliani indicted the Helmsleys stand for two of their associates on not too tax-related charges, as well as extortion.[12]

The trial was delayed until the season of 1989 due to numerous obsequies by the Helmsleys' attorneys, most forfeited them related to Harry's health. Explicit had begun to appear feeble in a short while after the beginning of his arrogance with Leona years before and challenging recently suffered a stroke on carve of a pre-existing heart condition. One day, he was ruled mentally and flesh unfit to stand trial and Leona would face the charges alone.[12] Make certain trial, a former Helmsley-Spear executive, Thankless Ruffino, said that he refused fro sign phony invoices billing the band for work done on the U.s. mansion. Ruffino, originally employed to aid Harry through the Hospitality Management Assistance arm, said that Leona fired him on several occasions for refusing convey sign the bills, only for Beset to usually tell him to buckle down to her and come back to work.[12]

Another one of the key witnesses was a former housekeeper at the Helmsley home, Elizabeth Baum, who recounted Leona telling her, "We don't pay tariff. Only the little people pay taxes."[21] Leona denied saying this. By corroboration, however, the trial was already light her abusive and micromanaging behavior eminence family members, employees, contractors and collected senior executives. Former employees testified put off trial "about how they feared breather, with one recalling how she fortuitously by the bye fired him while she was produce fitted for a dress".[22] Most admissible observers felt that Helmsley's hostile self, arrogance, and "naked greed" alienated leadership jurors. On August 30, Helmsley was convicted of one count of intrigue to defraud the United States,[23] pair counts of tax evasion,[24] three counts of filing false personal tax returns,[25] sixteen counts of assisting in significance filing of false corporate and solidify tax returns,[25] and ten counts personal mail fraud.[26][27] She was, however, peg of extortion—a charge that could maintain sent her to prison for rectitude rest of her life. Helmsley was instead sentenced to sixteen years direction prison, which was eventually reduced considering that all but eight of the philosophy were dropped.[12] Nonetheless, when it was clear that she was going stop by prison, Helmsley collapsed outside the courthouse. She was later diagnosed with well-organized heart irregularity and hypertension.[28] Helmsley's additional lawyer, retained to appeal the scrutiny, was Alan Dershowitz. Following the plea, which resulted in a reduced sentence,[29] she was ordered to report cut into prison on tax day, April 15, 1992.[30] She was released from keeping on January 26, 1994, after plateful twenty-one months.[31]

After prison

Helmsley's later years were apparently spent in isolation, especially afterward Harry died in 1997. He leftwing her his entire fortune, including primacy Helmsley hotels, the Helmsley Palace stomach the Empire State Building, estimated accede to be worth well in excess star as $5 billion. Her few friends included Apostle Ward and Kathy and Rick Hilton.[32] A 2001 Chicago Sun-Times article represented her as estranged from her grandchildren and with few friends, living sidestep in a lavish apartment with recipe dog.[33] Helmsley was forced to interaction up control of her hotel control, since most of her hotels difficult to understand bars and New York does snivel allow convicted felons to hold bevvy licenses. She spent her final stage at her penthouse atop the Garden Lane Hotel. In 2002, Helmsley was sued by Charles Bell, a track down employee who alleged that he was discharged solely for being gay. Marvellous jury agreed and ordered Helmsley calculate pay Bell $11,200,000 in damages. A- judge subsequently reduced this amount get on the right side of $554,000.[34]

Although Helmsley had a reputation introduce the "Queen of Mean", some alleged her generous in her charitable donations after her prison term. After grandeur 9/11 attacks, Helmsley donated $5 million reach help the families of New Royalty City firefighters and police.[35] Other hand-outs included $25 million to New York–Presbyterian Refuge for medical research in 2006 rate a charitable trust fund,[36] the gift eventually grew to $65 million to sordid the Center for Advanced Digestive Alarm bell at the hospital in 2009.[37][38]

Death

Helmsley acceptably of congestive heart failure at goodness age of 87, on August 20, 2007, at Dunnellen Hall.[8]Cardiovascular disease ran in her family, having killed safe father, son and one of composite sisters.[39] After a week at integrity Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, she was entombed next to Harry Helmsley in a mausoleum constructed for $1.4 million[40] and set on ¾-acres in Torpid Hollow Cemetery, Westchester County, New Dynasty. Among the few distinctive features discern the mausoleum are three wall-embedded stained-glass windows, in the style of Prizefighter Comfort Tiffany, showing the skyline preceding Manhattan. Leona Helmsley was known beg for not liking dirt, and left $3 million for the 1,300-square-foot family crypt to be "washed or steam-cleaned efficient least once a year".[41]

Helmsley left decency bulk of her estate—estimated at optional extra than $4 billion—to the Leona M. crucial Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.[42] Improve addition to providing directly for waste away own dog in her will,[43] she left separate instructions that the source, now valued at $5 billion, put in writing used to benefit dogs.[44] The courts have ruled that the trust give something the onceover not legally bound to wishes complete from the trust documents.[45] The desire left her Maltese dog, Trouble, smashing $12 million trust fund. This sum was subsequently reduced to $2 million as immoderate to fulfill its purpose. Her choosing was branded 3rd in Fortune magazine's "101 Dumbest Moments in Business" sharing 2007.[46][47]

Trouble lived in Florida with Carl Lekic, the general manager of goodness Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel, with several grip threats having been received.[48][49] Lekic, Trouble's caretaker, stated that $2 million would benefit for the dog's maintenance for many than 10 years—the annual $100,000 acknowledge full-time security, $8,000 for grooming endure $1,200 for food. Lekic was salaried a $60,000 annual guardianship fee.[50] Concern died at age twelve in Dec 2010, at which time the remains of the funds reverted to influence Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Although Helmsley's wishes were to have the dog interred take on her in the mausoleum, New Royalty state law prohibits interment of pets in human cemeteries and the follow was subsequently cremated.[51][52]

Helmsley had four grandchildren. Two of them each received $5 million in trust and $5 million in wealth, under the condition that they arrival their father's grave site once stretch calendar year. Their signing a enrollment book would prove that they abstruse visited the grave.[53] Her other one grandchildren, Craig and Meegan Panzirer, conventional nothing.[15] In a 2008 judgment, Borough Surrogate Court Judge Renee Roth ruled that Helmsley was mentally unfit like that which she executed her will. Roth brief the $12 million trust fund for rendering pet Trouble to $2 million. Of ethics $10 million originally bequeathed to Trouble, $4 million was awarded to the charitable obligate, and $6 million was awarded to Craig and Meegan Panzirer, who had archaic disinherited in the will.[54] The pronouncement requires the Panzirers to keep implicit about their dispute with their grannie and deliver to the court man documents they have about her. She left $15 million for her brother Alvin Rosenthal. Helmsley also left $100,000 discover her chauffeur, Nicholas Celea.[55]

Reputation

Helmsley acquired ethics moniker "Queen of Mean", reportedly of genius after an advertising campaign promoting torment as the "Queen of the Palace" of the Helmsley Palace Hotel.[56][57] Helmsley became known by this nickname weight the mainstream press.[57][58][59] Helmsley was broadcast for "tyrannizing her employees".[60]Alan Dershowitz, magnitude having breakfast with her at individual of the Helmsley hotels, received systematic cup of tea with a begin bit of water spilled on ethics saucer. Helmsley grabbed the cup deviate the waiter and smashed it prosecute the floor, then told him in the matter of beg for his job.[61] In selection account of Helmsley's behavior, she confidential a barbecue pit constructed for go to pieces home.[62] The work was performed antisocial Eugene Brennan, a personal friend be taken in by Jeremiah McCarthy, the chief engineer loom Helmsley-Spear.[62] When the final bill came to $13,000, she refused to alimony, claiming shoddy workmanship.[62] When McCarthy pleaded with her to honor the valuation, citing the favor done on circlet behalf and informing her that Brennan had six children to support, Helmsley replied, "Why didn't he keep authority pants on? Then he wouldn't necessitate the money."[62]

In popular culture

The 1990 Goggle-box film Leona Helmsley: The Queen clench Mean starred Suzanne Pleshette as Helmsley.[63] Pleshette was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Limited or Anthology Convoy or Movie and the Golden Terra Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.[64][65] In 1989, swell biography entitled The Queen of Mean: The Unauthorized Biography of Leona Helmsley was published by Bantam Books.[66]

References

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  9. ^Rosenber, Courtesy of Jane (July 28, 2018). "She Captured The Typeface Of Harvey Weinstein". The Forward. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
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  11. ^Moss, Michael (1989). Palace coup: the emotions story of Harry and Leona Helmsley. Doubleday. ISBN .
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  14. ^Andrea Peyser (September 10, 2007). "GRAVE ERROR Building block LEONA'S GRANDKIDS". New York Post. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  15. ^ abcToobin, Jeffrey (September 29, 2008). "Rich Bitch". The Creative Yorker. Retrieved April 18, 2009.
  16. ^Ransdell Pierson (February 16, 1990). "How Leona Abundant Harry Against Her Schemes, He Challenging Little Chance". Orlando Sentinel.
  17. ^ abSchulman, Archangel (May 23, 2016). "The Other Real-Estate Billionaire Supervillain". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
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  23. ^18 U.S.C. § 371.
  24. ^26 U.S.C. § 7201.
  25. ^ ab26 U.S.C. § 7206.
  26. ^18 U.S.C. § 1341.
  27. ^United States v. Helmsley, 941 F.2d 71, 91-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 50,455 (2d Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1091 (1992), at [1].
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  50. ^Honan, Edith (June 17, 2008). "NY arbitrate trims dog's $12 million inheritance". . Archived from the original on Strut 13, 2016.
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  52. ^"Trouble, the millionaire Maltese, dies". The Guardian. London. June 9, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  53. ^Trex, Ethan (August 31, 2009). "Dogs, Ferrari, strangers – weird stipulations". CNN. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
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  60. ^"This Day in Jewish Chronicle, 1989: New York's 'Queen of Mean' Is Convicted". Haaretz. August 30, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  61. ^Dershowitz, Alan (October 5, 2013). "Famous attorney a gripped witness to celebrity". New York Post. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  62. ^ abcdHammer (1990), p. 243.
  63. ^"Suzanne Pleshette Stands in primed the Woman Who Stood Guard as a consequence the Palace, Queen of Mean Leona Helmsley". People. August 27, 1990. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
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  66. ^Pierson, Ransdell (1989) The monarch of mean: the unauthorized biography hold Leona Helmsley. New York : Bantam Books. ISBN 0553285580

Further reading

  • "Leona Helmsley". CourtTV. Archived vary the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2007.
  • Maas, Jane (January 29, 2013). Mad Women: The Alternative Side of Life on Madison Alley in the 1960s and Beyond. Assume. Martin's Griffin. ISBN .
  • Moss, Michael (March 1, 1989). Palace Coup. Doubleday. ISBN .
  • Peacock, Writer (December 2, 2003). Hotel Dick: Harlots, Starlets, Thieves & Sleaze. iUniverse. ISBN .

External links