Feud: Capote vs the Swans features numerous real 20th-century figures including socialite Babe Paley. Among other elements of her life, the series shows what happened to Babe Paley and her teeth in an accident.
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Who Was Babe Paley?
Babe Paley (1915-1978) was born Barbara Cushing and later became known as Barbara Cushing Mortimer Paley through her two marriages, though she was always called by the affectionate nickname "Babe."
Paley was a magazine editor and prominent New York socialite. Her father, neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing, was the first doctor to discover what came to be known as Cushing's Disease.
Paley debuted in Boston's high society in the 1930s, at the age of nineteen.
A year later, in 1934, an accident changed her life.
How Did Babe Paley Lose Her Teeth?
For much of her life, Babe Paley's teeth were artificial dentures, as she lost her real front teeth in a car accident in 1934, just one year after her debut.
The accident reportedly left her with facial scarring and she had to undergo reconstructive jaw surgery.
However, this didn't deter her from following her dreams. Very soon after her recovery, she was able to get a job at Glamour magazine and began her career as an editor.
By 1939, she had become a Vogue editor. Her reputation as a 20th-century fashion icon still endures.
Feud: Capote vs the Swans reimagines some events from Babe Paley's life. Paley appears as the leader of the titular swans -- socialite friends of Truman Capote's, who turned against him after the publication of his Answered Prayers.
The book was a thinly veiled account of the scandalous personal lives of Capote's female friends and their husbands. In it, they recognized events they'd confidentially shared with him which led them to shun the author.
In the FX TV series, Babe Paley is portrayed by Naomi Watts. The actress's previous roles include Nora Brannock from The Watcher (2022) and Queen Gertrude from Ophelia (2018).
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