The Resume

(July 16, 1931-February 14, 1996)
Born in London, United Kingdom
Daughter of Basil Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, and brewery heiress Maureen Guinness
Married painter Lucian Freud (1953-58), pianist Israel Citkowitz (1959-72) and poet Robert Lowell (1972-77)
Wrote the novels ‘The Stepdaughter’ (1976), ‘Great Granny Webster’ (1977), ‘The Fate of Mary Rose’ (1981) and ‘Corrigan’ (1984)
Published the short story collections ‘For All That I Found There’ (1973) and ‘Good Night Sweet Ladies’ (1983)
Non-fiction works include ‘The Last of the Duchess’ (1980), ‘On the Perimeter’ (1984) and ‘In the Pink’ (1987)

Why she might be annoying:

Christopher Isherwood wrote, ‘She is only capable of thinking negatively. Confronted by a phenomenon, she asks herself: What is wrong with it?’
As a mother, she tended to alternate between neglectful and overindulgent.
She was a chain smoker and a heavy drinker.
Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Lowell’s ex-wife, said that in her Lowell met his match ‘for unreality and carelessness.’
A visitor to an apartment rented by her and Lowell noted, ‘The squalor was unbelievable. There were bloody sanitary napkins on the floor. Cigarette butts, bottles of liquor and empty pill bottles were scattered around the room. It looked like the room of an addict.’

Why she might not be annoying:

Growing up, she and her siblings were left in the care of a nanny who fed them so little that they would beg for food from the tenants on the family estate.
She was called ‘one of the most beautiful women of her generation.’
Several of Freud’s best early paintings were portraits of her.
She had a sharp, if often dark, sense of humor.
After contributing recipes to a cookbook titled ‘Darling, You Shouldn’t Have Gone to So Much Trouble,’ she quipped, ‘We should do one on sex with the same title.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Black and White
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 65]
• I Died in 1996 (Ranked: 64)
• I Have Cervical Cancer
• I Married in 1972
• I Mothered Children Out of Wedlock
• I Outlived My Child
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• My Heart Stopped Beating on Valentine's Day [February 14th] (Ranked: 1996)
• My Spouse is at Least Ten Years Older than Me
• Profiles 38751-38951 (Ranked: 38946)
• Tree Names

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying