Louise Cromwell Brooks
Encyclopedia
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
and the first wife of General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
. She was "considered one of Washington's most beautiful and attractive young women" .
Biography
She was born around 1890 to Eva Roberts Cromwell and Oliver Eaton Cromwell. Her brother was James H. R. CromwellJames H. R. Cromwell
James Henry Roberts Cromwell was an American diplomat, candidate for the United States Senate, author, and one-time husband of Doris Duke, "the richest girl in the world".-Biography:...
, the American diplomat and husband to Doris Duke
Doris Duke
Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
. After her father's death her mother married Edward T. Stotesbury
Edward T. Stotesbury
Edward Townsend "Ned" Stotesbury was a prominent investment banker, a partner in Drexel & Co. and its New York affiliate J. P. Morgan & Co. for over fifty-five years....
.
She made her debut
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
in Washington, DC in 1910. Louise Cromwell married Walter J. Brooks, Jr. in 1911. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Brooks and Cromwell divorced in 1919. She married Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
in 1922 and she claimed that General John J. Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
threatened to send MacArthur to the Philippines if they married. That marriage ended in 1929. She next married the actor Lionel Atwill
Lionel Atwill
Lionel Atwill was an English stage and film actor born in Croydon, London, England.He studied architecture before his stage debut at the Garrick Theatre, London in 1904. He become a star in Broadway theatre by 1918, and made his screen debut in 1919. He acted on the stage in Australia but was most...
, whom she divorced in 1943. In 1944 she married Alf Heiberg. That marriage also ended in divorce.
Brooks died of a heart attack in Washington, DC at the age of 75.
Legacy
- William ManchesterWilliam ManchesterWilliam Raymond Manchester was an American author, biographer, and historian from Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, notable as the bestselling author of 18 books that have been translated into over 20 languages...
in his biography of Gen. Douglas MacArthur has stated that Gen. Pershing summarily transferred MacArthur from West Point Military Academy where he was holding the Superintendent's post to the Philippines because he (Gen. Pershing) was himself interested in Mrs. Brooks.
Further reading
- "Gen. MacArthur Weds Mrs. Brooks", The New York Times, February 15, 1922
- "Wife Divorces General M'Arthur", The New York Times, June 18, 1929
- "Louise Cromwell Brooks Dies; First Wife of Gen. MacArthur", The New York Times, June 1, 1965