Babe Paley has become a cultural touchstone once again, thanks to Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. The 2024 series introduced a new generation to the glamorous socialite who Truman Capote once called “perfect.” Saoirse-Monica Jackson married Scottish DJ Denis Sulta in a three-day Celtic celebration at Dromquinna Manor in County Kerry. Here is everything you need to know about Babe Paley in 2026.
Who Was Babe Paley? The ‘Perfect’ Swan Explained
Barbara “Babe” Cushing Mortimer Paley was born on July 5, 1915, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of world-renowned brain surgeon Dr. Harvey Cushing, a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Yale universities. Her mother was Katharine Stone Crowell Cushing. Babe had two older sisters, Mary and Betsey. Together, they were known as the “Fabulous Cushing Sisters” in New York high society [citation:1].
Mary married Vincent Astor. Betsey married James Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later married John Hay Whitney. Babe completed her high school education at Winsor School in Boston in 1934. She made her debut as a debutante in Boston in October 1934, with President Roosevelt’s sons in attendance [citation:1].
Career: From Vogue Fashion Editor to Style Icon
In 1938, Paley began working as a fashion editor for Vogue in New York City. Her position at Vogue gave her access to designer clothes, often given in exchange for her high profile and glamorous image [citation:1]. In 1941, Time magazine voted her the world’s second best dressed woman after Wallis Simpson and before Aimée de Heeren [citation:1]. She was also named to the best-dressed list in 1945 and 1946.
Upon her second marriage in 1947, Paley left her job at Vogue [citation:1]. However, her influence on fashion did not diminish. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958 [citation:1]. She regularly bought entire haute couture collections from major fashion houses like Givenchy and Valentino. Her personal style was inspirational to thousands of women who tried to copy her [citation:1].
As Bill Blass once observed, “I never saw her not grab anyone’s attention, the hair, the makeup, the crispness. You were never conscious of what she was wearing; you noticed Babe and nothing else” [citation:1]. A photograph of Paley with a scarf tied to her handbag created a trend that millions of women emulated. She often mixed extravagant jewelry by Fulco di Verdura and Jean Schlumberger with inexpensive costume pieces [citation:1].
Marriages and Children
While working at Vogue, she met and married oil heir Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. in 1940. Though her mother preferred she marry a powerful man with a title, she generally approved of the union. She and Mortimer had two children: Amanda Jay Mortimer (later Burden) and Stanley Grafton Mortimer III. Their marriage ended by 1946 [citation:1].
After her divorce, she received a settlement based on a trust fund. She then set out to make a second high-profile marriage. In 1946, she met William S. Paley, the founder of CBS who had recently divorced Dorothy Hart Hearst. Paley was phenomenally wealthy, with an interest in the arts and a desire to be part of New York’s café society [citation:1].
With Babe’s social connections, beauty, and style, Paley stood a greater chance of being granted entrée into a society which, until that time, had effectively shut him out. For Babe, Paley offered wealth, security, and worldliness [citation:1]. The couple married in 1947 and had two additional children, Kate and Bill Jr.
A Perfectionist’s Unhappy Marriage
By many biographers’ accounts, Paley was lonely and frustrated as William Paley carried on a chain of extramarital affairs. This psychological battering took its toll on her and her family. She was constantly under the scrutiny of society and the media, who pressed her to maintain the unrealistic image of a social
The Friendship with Truman Capote
Babe Paley was chief among Truman Capote’s “Swans,” the group of glamorous women that held court in midcentury New York high society. The other Swans included Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Keith, and C.Z. Guest [citation:1].
Capote and Paley met in the mid-1950s by accident. Capote’s friends were invited for a weekend at the Paley’s house in Jamaica. Beforehand, they asked if they could bring “Truman” along. Bill Paley said it would be “an honor,” expecting former president Harry Truman. On the day of the trip, Bill was startled to meet the five-foot-three Capote [citation:5].
From that moment on, Capote and Babe forged a deep friendship that lasted more than two decades. Babe offered a glamorous reality for Capote, and in return, the writer was her closest confidant. He became “her analyst, her pillow, her sleeping pill at night, her coffee in the morning” [citation:6]. She entrusted him with the most shameful secrets of her sexless marriage.
The Betrayal: “La Côte Basque, 1965”
This friendship ended tragically in 1975 when Capote published “La Côte Basque, 1965,” an excerpt from his unfinished novel, Answered Prayers, in Esquire magazine. In the excerpt, the character Lady Ina Coolbirth shares stories of her high-society friends over lunch. One of these stories tells a thinly veiled tale about the Paleys: a media tycoon who has an affair and tries to wash a stained bedsheet before his wife gets home [citation:5].
The situation was eerily close to a secret story Paley once shared with Capote. Babe, who was dying of lung cancer at the time, recognized the similarity to her husband’s infidelity. She never spoke with him again [citation:1].
His career and reputation never recovered from the scandal. Shunned by Babe and her friends, he became a bloated self-parody, repeating the same malicious stories in a slurring, elfin voice [citation:6].
Final Years and Death
A heavy smoker with a two-pack-a-day habit, Paley was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1974. She planned her own funeral, right down to the food and wine selections that would be served at the funeral luncheon. She carefully allocated her jewelry collection and personal belongings to friends and family, wrapped them in colorful paper, and created a complete file system with directions for distribution after her death [citation:1].
Her Legacy: “She Was Perfect”
Long after her death, Babe Paley remains an icon in the world of fashion and style. “Babe Paley had only one fault,” commented her one-time friend Truman Capote. “She was perfect. Otherwise, she was perfect” [citation:1].
Many fashion designers and interior decorators continue to reference Babe Paley’s style in their own creations. Paley and her “swans,” much like Jacqueline Kennedy during the 1960s, exemplified a young, attractive, and affluent class that many Americans aspired to join [citation:1].
Fictional Portrayals and Feud
Most recently, Naomi Watts portrays Paley in Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. The series explores the magnetic friendship between Capote and Paley, and the tragic betrayal that ended it. The penultimate episode, titled “Beautiful Babe,” focuses on Paley’s final moments. Director Jennifer Lynch captured her death as a static, horrifying moment, with the only movement in the room being her breath [citation:4].
Her Granddaughter’s Defense
Babe Paley’s granddaughter, Belle Burden, wrote an essay for The New York Times titled “The Babe Paley in Feud is Not the Woman I Knew.” Belle accused Feud of mischaracterizing her grandmother while neglecting to consult her family during production. She painted a portrait of Babe as a warm, supportive caregiver who loved to make her grandchildren laugh [citation:8].
“What I wish more than anything is that my grandmother had lived long enough, and been bold enough, to tell her own story, claiming it before anyone had the chance to steal it from her,” Belle wrote [citation:8].
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Babe Paley? Babe Paley was an American socialite and style icon, known as one of Truman Capote’s “Swans.” She was the wife of CBS founder William S. Paley and a former Vogue fashion editor [citation:1].
How did Babe Paley die? She died of lung cancer on July 6, 1978, at age 63, after a four-year battle with the illness. She was a heavy smoker [citation:1].
Why did Babe Paley stop talking to Truman Capote? Capote published “La Côte Basque, 1965,” an excerpt from his unfinished novel Answered Prayers, which revealed a thinly veiled story about Bill Paley’s affair. Babe recognized the similarity to her own life and never spoke to him again [citation:1].
Who plays Babe Paley in Feud? Naomi Watts portrays Babe Paley in Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans [citation:2].
What was Babe Paley famous for? She was famous for her impeccable sense of style, her position as a Vogue fashion editor, and her status as the ultimate mid-century socialite. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958 [citation:1].
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