His birth name was John Thompson.
News Journal, Massfield, Ohio, Thursday, January 12, 1967, page 8:
“Will Throws A Light On Ex-Playboy
By Rudy Villasenor, The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles – Who was he really, the frail, 91-year-old 3x-playboy extraordinary who died last November in a La Jolla, Calif., rest home?
Was he Jean Harals Edward Saint Cyr, the scion of an aristocratic French family – as he claimed?
Or was he plain old Jack Thompson, a one time Waco, Tex., hotel clerk?
Whichever he was, he caught the public’s fancy before World War II as one of the most spectacular party givers of all time – Bon vivant, wooer of wealthy women and pal of the rich and famous.
But a petition for probate of his will filed here in superior court appeared to confirm the suspicion held by many that the only thing French about him were the cuffs of his shirtsleeves – that he really began life as Jack Thompson.
The will, signed June 28, 1949, listed among Saint Cyr’s heirs a man named Hugh Thompson, a resident of Sherman, Tex. The will itself did not list Thompson as a relative. But the probate petition did, saying Hugh Thompson was Jean Saint Cyr’s brother.
The will, of course, does not wholly clear up the mystery of Saint Cyr’s identity. But it does show that he didn’t just play at being a rich man – he really was one. For it disposed of an estate of more than $500,000.
Personal effects and $30,000 were left to Henry G. Friss of La Jolla, who was identified as a foster son. About half of the remainder went to Harry A. Keithly, Saint Cyr’s friend and lawyer. The other half was divided among Hugh Thompson and five sisters, not identified in the will. All five sisters now are dead, and the will directed that their shares go to their 13 children and five grandchildren.
Saint Cyr attained his first prominence in 1906 when he married the widow of a Hartford, Conn., millionaire. Mrs. Caroline Redfield was 51 at the time, he 38. She died in 1915 and left him a fortune. Three months later, Saint Cyr married Mrs. William Rhinelander Stewart Smith, widow of a Wall Street speculator said to be worth $50 million. She died in 1925. In 1939, he married Mrs. Helen Strong Carter, widow of a former governor of Hawaii. They later divorced.
The parties he threw in Hollywood during his heyday were according to a writer of the time, 'considered more lavish by the press than those of Henry VIII.'”
News Journal, Massfield, Ohio, Thursday, January 12, 1967, page 8:
“Will Throws A Light On Ex-Playboy
By Rudy Villasenor, The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles – Who was he really, the frail, 91-year-old 3x-playboy extraordinary who died last November in a La Jolla, Calif., rest home?
Was he Jean Harals Edward Saint Cyr, the scion of an aristocratic French family – as he claimed?
Or was he plain old Jack Thompson, a one time Waco, Tex., hotel clerk?
Whichever he was, he caught the public’s fancy before World War II as one of the most spectacular party givers of all time – Bon vivant, wooer of wealthy women and pal of the rich and famous.
But a petition for probate of his will filed here in superior court appeared to confirm the suspicion held by many that the only thing French about him were the cuffs of his shirtsleeves – that he really began life as Jack Thompson.
The will, signed June 28, 1949, listed among Saint Cyr’s heirs a man named Hugh Thompson, a resident of Sherman, Tex. The will itself did not list Thompson as a relative. But the probate petition did, saying Hugh Thompson was Jean Saint Cyr’s brother.
The will, of course, does not wholly clear up the mystery of Saint Cyr’s identity. But it does show that he didn’t just play at being a rich man – he really was one. For it disposed of an estate of more than $500,000.
Personal effects and $30,000 were left to Henry G. Friss of La Jolla, who was identified as a foster son. About half of the remainder went to Harry A. Keithly, Saint Cyr’s friend and lawyer. The other half was divided among Hugh Thompson and five sisters, not identified in the will. All five sisters now are dead, and the will directed that their shares go to their 13 children and five grandchildren.
Saint Cyr attained his first prominence in 1906 when he married the widow of a Hartford, Conn., millionaire. Mrs. Caroline Redfield was 51 at the time, he 38. She died in 1915 and left him a fortune. Three months later, Saint Cyr married Mrs. William Rhinelander Stewart Smith, widow of a Wall Street speculator said to be worth $50 million. She died in 1925. In 1939, he married Mrs. Helen Strong Carter, widow of a former governor of Hawaii. They later divorced.
The parties he threw in Hollywood during his heyday were according to a writer of the time, 'considered more lavish by the press than those of Henry VIII.'”
His birth name was John Thompson.
News Journal, Massfield, Ohio, Thursday, January 12, 1967, page 8:
“Will Throws A Light On Ex-Playboy
By Rudy Villasenor, The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles – Who was he really, the frail, 91-year-old 3x-playboy extraordinary who died last November in a La Jolla, Calif., rest home?
Was he Jean Harals Edward Saint Cyr, the scion of an aristocratic French family – as he claimed?
Or was he plain old Jack Thompson, a one time Waco, Tex., hotel clerk?
Whichever he was, he caught the public’s fancy before World War II as one of the most spectacular party givers of all time – Bon vivant, wooer of wealthy women and pal of the rich and famous.
But a petition for probate of his will filed here in superior court appeared to confirm the suspicion held by many that the only thing French about him were the cuffs of his shirtsleeves – that he really began life as Jack Thompson.
The will, signed June 28, 1949, listed among Saint Cyr’s heirs a man named Hugh Thompson, a resident of Sherman, Tex. The will itself did not list Thompson as a relative. But the probate petition did, saying Hugh Thompson was Jean Saint Cyr’s brother.
The will, of course, does not wholly clear up the mystery of Saint Cyr’s identity. But it does show that he didn’t just play at being a rich man – he really was one. For it disposed of an estate of more than $500,000.
Personal effects and $30,000 were left to Henry G. Friss of La Jolla, who was identified as a foster son. About half of the remainder went to Harry A. Keithly, Saint Cyr’s friend and lawyer. The other half was divided among Hugh Thompson and five sisters, not identified in the will. All five sisters now are dead, and the will directed that their shares go to their 13 children and five grandchildren.
Saint Cyr attained his first prominence in 1906 when he married the widow of a Hartford, Conn., millionaire. Mrs. Caroline Redfield was 51 at the time, he 38. She died in 1915 and left him a fortune. Three months later, Saint Cyr married Mrs. William Rhinelander Stewart Smith, widow of a Wall Street speculator said to be worth $50 million. She died in 1925. In 1939, he married Mrs. Helen Strong Carter, widow of a former governor of Hawaii. They later divorced.
The parties he threw in Hollywood during his heyday were according to a writer of the time, 'considered more lavish by the press than those of Henry VIII.'”
News Journal, Massfield, Ohio, Thursday, January 12, 1967, page 8:
“Will Throws A Light On Ex-Playboy
By Rudy Villasenor, The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles – Who was he really, the frail, 91-year-old 3x-playboy extraordinary who died last November in a La Jolla, Calif., rest home?
Was he Jean Harals Edward Saint Cyr, the scion of an aristocratic French family – as he claimed?
Or was he plain old Jack Thompson, a one time Waco, Tex., hotel clerk?
Whichever he was, he caught the public’s fancy before World War II as one of the most spectacular party givers of all time – Bon vivant, wooer of wealthy women and pal of the rich and famous.
But a petition for probate of his will filed here in superior court appeared to confirm the suspicion held by many that the only thing French about him were the cuffs of his shirtsleeves – that he really began life as Jack Thompson.
The will, signed June 28, 1949, listed among Saint Cyr’s heirs a man named Hugh Thompson, a resident of Sherman, Tex. The will itself did not list Thompson as a relative. But the probate petition did, saying Hugh Thompson was Jean Saint Cyr’s brother.
The will, of course, does not wholly clear up the mystery of Saint Cyr’s identity. But it does show that he didn’t just play at being a rich man – he really was one. For it disposed of an estate of more than $500,000.
Personal effects and $30,000 were left to Henry G. Friss of La Jolla, who was identified as a foster son. About half of the remainder went to Harry A. Keithly, Saint Cyr’s friend and lawyer. The other half was divided among Hugh Thompson and five sisters, not identified in the will. All five sisters now are dead, and the will directed that their shares go to their 13 children and five grandchildren.
Saint Cyr attained his first prominence in 1906 when he married the widow of a Hartford, Conn., millionaire. Mrs. Caroline Redfield was 51 at the time, he 38. She died in 1915 and left him a fortune. Three months later, Saint Cyr married Mrs. William Rhinelander Stewart Smith, widow of a Wall Street speculator said to be worth $50 million. She died in 1925. In 1939, he married Mrs. Helen Strong Carter, widow of a former governor of Hawaii. They later divorced.
The parties he threw in Hollywood during his heyday were according to a writer of the time, 'considered more lavish by the press than those of Henry VIII.'”
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Additional information from member Carolyn (#46935641)
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