In 1953, Maxwell published a single issue of her magazine, Elsa Maxwell's Café Society, which had a portrait of Zsa Zsa Gabor on the cover. Anne Edwards's biography of Maria Callas (Callas, 2001) and Peter Evans's biography of Aristotle Onassis both claim that Maxwell introduced Callas to …

Callas and Onassis were introduced in 1957 by the predatory social columnist Elsa Maxwell, one of a number of exotic secondary characters in the lovers' drama. According to Gage, Maxwell...

Mar 12, 2020 · In the 1950s, Elsa was living as ever, only now she was in love—with Maria Callas. As Mr. Staggs recounts it, Elsa gave Callas bad notices in her column till the scandal-prone Greek diva initiated a friendship—”scripted,” he writes, “like the plot of a verismo opera.”

Aug 16, 2021 · Callas smiles as playwright Noel Coward and famed party-giver Elsa Maxwell greet her at “Cuba Gala Night,” a benefit dinner dance intended to promote scholarships for Cuban fashion designers studying in the U.S. The event was held at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria by Earl Smith, U.S. Ambassador to Cuba.

Dec 3, 2024 · Elsa Maxwell and Maria Callas—Love and Jealousy. Elsa Maxwell was in love with Maria Callas. A writer and journalist, Maxwell, with her connections and her desire to entertain, amuse, and organize parties, had made the Lido of Venice a stop in the leisurely wanderings of high society in the 1940s and 1950s—the Café Society that emerged ...

Hosted a radio program, was a legendary party guest and hostess, best selling author, and introduced Maria Callas to Aristotle Onassis. Columnist, songwriter and professional party-giver. In her own words she was a short, fat, homely piano player from Keokuk, Iowa with no money, no background...who decided to become a legend, and did just that!

Oct 16, 2012 · All the while, Elsa dashed off newspaper columns, made films in Hollywood, wrote bestselling books, and turned up on TV talk shows. She hobnobbed with friends like Noel Coward and Cole Porter. Late in life, she fell in love with Maria Callas, who spurned her …

Nov 30, 2023 · Top photographers like Horst P. Horst and Cecil Beaton wanted to shoot her; jet-set celebrities such as Marlene Dietrich and Elsa Maxwell clamoured to befriend her. Elsa, among her various talents, was a professional party hostess with a star-studded little black book.

Jan 25, 2025 · People like Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis, Cole Porter, Noel Coward, Edgar Bergen, Tommy Dorsey, Dinah Shore, Lucille Ball, plus congressman, presidents and scores of other entertainers were honored to attend her parties and to hire her as a hostess.