Florence "Flo" Pritchett, also known as Florence Pritchett Smith (June 28, 1920 – November 9, 1965), was an American fashion editor, journalist, and radio and TV personality.

Biography

Florence Pritchett was born on June 28, 1920, in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

. In 1940, she married Richard Canning. They divorced in 1943. In 1944, she met

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

. Author Sally Bedell Smith has theorized that Pritchett and Kennedy dated in the 1940s and remained friends until the early 1960s. Pritchett was also romantically linked to actors Robert Walker and

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...

. Pritchett worked as the fashion editor for ''

New York Journal-American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 ...

'' and wrote articles for ''

Photoplay ''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film fan magazines, its title another word for screenplay. It was founded in Chicago in 1911. Under early editors Julian Johnson and James R. Quirk, in style and reach it became a pacesetter for fan m ...

''. She appeared as a panelist on the radio and TV program ''

Leave It to the Girls ''Leave It to the Girls'' is an American radio and television talk show, created by Martha Rountree, and broadcast, in various forms, from the 1940s through the 1980s. Broadcast details Radio version The series was originally a radio progra ...

'' from 1945 to 1953. In 1946, she worked as a special representative for

David O. Selznick David O. Selznick (born David Selznick; May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca (1940 film), Rebecca'' (1 ...

, helping promote films like ''Duel in the Sun''. Pritchett married

Earl E. T. Smith Earl Edward Tailer Smith (July 8, 1903 – February 15, 1991) was an American financier and diplomat, who served as ambassador to Cuba from 1957 to 1959 and as mayor of Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach from 1971 to 1977. Early life Smith was born ...

in 1947. Smith was appointed ambassador to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in 1957. That year, Pritchett established a three-year scholarship for Cuban students to study fashion, textile design, and interior design in the U.S. Florence Pritchett died on November 9, 1965, in the Manhattan apartment where she lived with her husband and 12-year-old son. She suffered a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

after at least several weeks of struggling with leukemia. Her obituaries in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and ''New York Journal-American'' said she had been "in ill health since mid-August" and had been treated for it in what was then called

Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The fa ...

. Her book, ''These Entertaining People'', was released by

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

in 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchett, Florence American fashion journalists American film people 1920 births 1965 deaths People from West Orange, New Jersey American radio personalities American television personalities American women television personalities