Prudence Anne Villiers Farrow Bruns (born January 20, 1948) is an American author, meditation teacher, and film producer. She is a daughter of film director

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, he was nomina ...

and actress

Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (May 17, 1911 – June 23, 1998) was an Irish actress who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She starred in dozens of feature films across a span of more than half a ...

and younger sister of actress

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera ''Peyton Place (TV series), Peyton Place'' and gained further recogn ...

. Farrow is the subject of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

song " Dear Prudence," which references her time studying Transcendental Meditation in

Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in the Indian state Uttarakhand. The northern part of Rishikesh is in the Dehradun district while the southern part is in the Tehri Garhwal district. It is situated on the right bank ...

with the Beatles in early 1968.

Early life

Farrow was raised as a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and attended

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

schools. She learned the

Transcendental Meditation technique The Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique is that associated with Transcendental Meditation, developed by the Indian spiritual figure Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It uses a private mantra and is practised for 20 minutes twice per day while sitt ...

(TM) in 1966 at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, and the next year became interested in yoga, opening a yoga institute at a former church in Boston. In 1968, Farrow, along with her sister Mia and brother Johnny, traveled with

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 191? – 5 February 2008) was the creator of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and leader of the worldwide organization that has been characterized in multiple ways, including as a new ...

from New York to India, and then to the Maharishi's ashram in

for a Transcendental Meditation teacher training course."Although the Beatles left the retreat before the course on transcendental meditation was finished, Prudence Farrow, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and others stayed on and became TM teachers" The Beatles arrived shortly thereafter. Farrow was dedicated to practicing the TM technique so she could become a TM teacher. She said: "I would always rush straight back to my room after lectures and meals so I could meditate.

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, George and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

would all want to sit around jamming and having a good time and I'd be flying into my room. They were all serious about what they were doing, but they just weren't as fanatical as me". She "turned into a near recluse" and "rarely came out" of her cottage. Lennon was asked to "contact her and make sure she came out more often to socialize" and he wrote the song " Dear Prudence". According to Lennon, "She'd been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anyone else".The American book of the Dead, Oliver Trager, page 90, Simon and Schuster, 1997

Career

Farrow taught TM for several decades after her teacher training course in India. Among those she mentored was comedian

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-humor, anti-comedian". He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was tra ...

. She returned to India for further instruction from the Maharishi in 1986 and has taught Transcendental Meditation in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

since 1970. Later in her life, Farrow earned a BA, an MA, and a PhD from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she majored in Asian studies. Her doctoral dissertation was on

pulse diagnosis Pulse diagnosis is a diagnostic technique used in Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Mongolian medicine, Siddha medicine, traditional Tibetan medicine, and Unani. Pulse diagnosis is ill-defined and subjective. Traditiona ...

, titled ''Nadivijnana, the Crest-Jewel of Ayurveda: A Translation of Six Central Texts and an Examination of the Sources, Influences and Development of Indian Pulse-Diagnosis''. Farrow became an elementary school teacher and according to her résumé she has held teaching positions or presented at conferences held at the University of California at Berkeley,

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Farrow has worked in the theater and film industry as a

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

on '' The Muppets Take Manhattan'' (1984) and the art department coordinator for ''

The Purple Rose of Cairo ''The Purple Rose of Cairo'' is a 1985 American period fantasy romantic comedy film, written and directed by Woody Allen. Set in Depression-era New Jersey, it stars Mia Farrow as a film lover who flees her abusive husband (Danny Aiello) after ...

'' (1985). She also "conceived and co-produced" the film '' Widows' Peak'' (1994), which featured her sister, Mia, in a part originally written for their mother, Maureen O'Sullivan. In 1999, she was one of four producers involved in staging '' Up From the Ground'' at the Westbeth Theatre in New York City. Farrow became a magazine writer in the 2000s. Using her married name, Prudence Bruns, she has authored articles on Asian studies, world religions,

ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

, and healthy living. In 2012, Farrow established the non-profit Dear Prudence Foundation to raise funds for a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

of the 2013

Kumbh Mela Kumbh Mela (, ; ) is an important Hinduism, Hindu pilgrimage, celebrated approximately every 6 or 12 years, correlated with the partial or full orbital period, revolution of Jupiter. It is the largest peaceful gathering of people in the w ...

festival which is held in India every twelve years.

Personal life

Farrow married teacher Albert Morrill Bruns in December 1969.'Mia's sister Prudence to wed N.Y. teacher in Delco Rites' Philadelphia Daily News 17 December 1969 p. 5 They have three children and four grandchildren. Farrow was also known to have been in a relationship with convicted murderer Robert Durst, whom she dated for three years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrow, Prudence 1948 births Living people Prudence Farrow Film producers from Los Angeles American people of Australian descent American people of Irish descent Transcendental Meditation exponents