Leona Helmsley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leona Helmsley (born Lena Rosenthol July 4, 1920 in Ulster County, New York) is a New York City hotel operator and real estate investor. She was convicted of federal income tax evasion in 1989 and served 18 months in prison.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
As a young woman, she displayed intelligence but dropped out of high school. She claims to have later attended Hunter College, but that institution says that it has no record of her ever having attended. Before her involvement with Harry Helmsley she was previously married to two other men, once to attorney Leo E. Panzirer, and on two different occasions to garment industry figure Joseph Lubin.
[edit] Business success and controversy
She was a real estate agent when she met and began her involvement with the then-married multi-millionaire real estate investor Harry Helmsley. Supposedly under her influence, he began a program of conversion of apartment buildings to condominiums, confounding some of the tenants. He eventually despaired of the legal complications that this entailed and began to concentrate on the hotel industry, building the Helmsley Palace on Madison Avenue near Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Leona, by now married to Helmsley, became known as the "queen" of this palace, supposedly acquiring the nickname "The Queen of Mean" from its employees. However, the hotel was well-located and apparently well-managed in some regards; some reviewers found it to be well worth its rather extravagant pricing. Former Senior Vice President of Helmsley Spear and chief witness in Helmsley's prosecution, Jeremiah McCarthy, claims Leona fired him on eight different occasions. He said that he usually reported directly to Harry Helmsley and when asked what to do, Harry usually replied "Get back to work." Both were accustomed to her short-lived temper tantrums. McCarthy claims that Leona forcefully demanded that he sign illegal invoices and when he declined to do so on numerous occasions she exploded with tyrannical outbursts claiming, "You're not my f***ing partner you'll sign what I tell you to sign." Many former employees have had similar dealings with "the Queen of Mean".
[edit] 1980s
In the 1980s she became infamous primarily for two things – as a tyrannical "boss from hell" whose petulance seemed ill-suited to the "hospitality" industry, and for being prosecuted, and eventually convicted and sentenced to prison, for income tax evasion. Harry was initially charged as well; however, he was found to be both physically and mentally unfit to stand trial, having begun to appear at least somewhat enfeebled shortly after the beginning of his relationship with her years before. At her trial, one of the key witnesses against her was a former hotel maid who recounted having heard her say, "Did you know that only the little people pay taxes?" Most legal observers tended to feel that her personality tended to alienate the jurors so strongly that it trumped some rather compelling points made by her defense team, such as the fact that the item mentioned above was an example of usually-inadmissible hearsay. She was convicted but eventually managed to have her sentences, originally decades long, largely set aside except for 18 months which she actually served. She became something of a popular culture symbol of 1980s values for a time, but is now largely forgotten outside of the New York City area, other than that her last name was adopted by star pro-wrestler Hunter Hearst Helmsley ("Triple H") as part of his wrestling gimmick. Harry left her his entire fortune, estimated to be worth well in excess of $1 billion, upon his death. However, her legal difficulties were not over. In 2002, she was sued by Charles Bell, a former employee, who sued her alleging that he was discharged solely for being homosexual. A jury agreed and ordered Mrs. Helmsley to pay Bell $11,700,000 in damages; a judge subsequently reduced this amount to $554,000.
Forbes magazine has recounted that a feud between her and fellow billionaire real estate tycoon Donald Trump is well-known within the real estate community.
[edit] Film adaptations
The story of her adult life was dramatized in the 1990 TV movie Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean, which starred Suzanne Pleshette as Leona and Lloyd Bridges as Harry. Pleshette was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the portrayal.
