Jocelyn Wildenstein

{{Infobox person

| name = Jocelyn Wildenstein

| birth_name = Jocelyne Alice Périsset

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|9|7|df=y}}

| birth_place = Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|12|31|1940|9|7|df=yes}}

| death_place = Paris, France

| known_for = Extensive facial surgeries

| spouse = {{marriage|Alec N. Wildenstein|1978|1999|end=divorced}}

| children = 2

| partner = Lloyd Klein (2003–2024; her death)

}}

Jocelyn Wildenstein{{efn|name = E|On whether to use a second "e" at the end of her forename, Wildstein once told The Times, "People in Europe want to put the 'e' and in America, they don't put the 'e' – it came on and off, this 'e'".{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/nyregion/jocelyne-wildenstein-dead.html|title = Jocelyne Wildenstein, Socialite and Tabloid 'Catwoman,' Dies at 79|last = Green|first = Penelope|date = 3 January 2025|accessdate = 3 January 2025|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}}{{cite news|url = https://www.thetimes.com/article/d4ba3ebd-bb98-458e-8449-b92bb6ef933f|title = What happened to the Bride of Wildenstein and her $2.5 billion?|last = Mulkerrins|first = Jane|date = 17 June 2023|accessdate = 3 January 2025|work = The Times|url-access = subscription}}}} (née Jocelyne Alice Périsset; (7 September 1940{{efn|name = Birth|Wildenstein was reported to have been born in 1940,{{cite news |title=Jocelyn Wildenstein obituary: socialite dubbed 'bride of Wildenstein' dies aged 84 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/jocelyn-wildenstein-obituary-socialite-dubbed-bride-of-wildenstein-dies-aged-84-03cvlzfh9 |access-date=2 January 2025 |work=The Times |date=1 January 2025}} but other sources reported she was born in 1945, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation noting the discrepancy.{{cite news|url = https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-02/swiss-socialite-jocelyne-wildenstein-dies/104778250?future=true&|title = Swiss socialite Jocelyne Wildenstein, famed for her extensive plastic surgery, dies in Paris|date = 1 January 2025|accessdate = 3 January 2025|work = ABC News|quote = Mr Klein told the agency she had died aged 79, while other outlets reported she was 84 at the time of her death.}}}} – 31 December 2024) was a Swiss socialite{{sfn|McCracken|2008|p=25}} known for her extensive cosmetic surgery, which created a cat-like facial appearance; her 1999 high-profile divorce from billionaire art dealer and businessman Alec Wildenstein;{{sfn|Dunford|2009|p=181}}{{sfn|DeMello|2007|pp=13, 36}} and her extravagant lifestyle and subsequent bankruptcy filing.

Early life and relationships

Wildenstein{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/indepth/the-crazy-life-of-billionaire-socialite-jocelyn-wildenstein/ar-BBp15tO|title=The Crazy Life of Billionaire Socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein|website=MSN |access-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510070341/http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/indepth/the-crazy-life-of-billionaire-socialite-jocelyn-wildenstein/ar-BBp15tO|archive-date=10 May 2017|url-status=dead}} was born as Jocelyne Alice Périsset in Lausanne, Switzerland.{{efn|name = Birth}}{{sfn|Konigsberg|1997|p=34}}{{Cite magazine |date=9 March 1998 |title=Jocelyne's Revenge |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1998/03/jocelyn-wildenstein-199803 |access-date=8 March 2023 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}} Her father, Armand Périsset, worked in a sporting goods store and her mother Liliane Périsset was a housewife.{{sfn|Konigsberg|1997|p=34}} She began dating Swiss Cyril Piguet, producer of the 1964 film Un commerce tranquille, at the age of 17.{{sfn|Konigsberg|1997|p=35}} She later lived in Paris with Italian French filmmaker Sergio Gobbi.{{cite journal |last=Carlin |first=Peter Ames |date=26 January 1998 |title=Surgical Strike |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20124319,00.html |journal=People Magazine |volume=49 |issue=3 |issn=0093-7673 |access-date=4 January 2012}} While there, she became a skilled hunter and pilot.{{sfn|McCracken|2008|p=25}}

Périsset was introduced to Alec N. Wildenstein, of the family of wealthy art dealers,{{sfn|Felder|Victor|2011}} by Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi at a shooting weekend at the Wildenstein ranch "Ol Jogi" in Kenya in 1977. Périsset and Wildenstein eloped to Las Vegas on 30 April 1978. They had two children together.{{cite news|last1=Heigl|first1=Alex|title=The Famous Life and Face of Jocelyn Wildenstein|url=http://people.com/crime/jocelyn-wildenstein-catwoman-what-to-know/|access-date=7 February 2017|work=People|date=9 December 2016}}

The Wildensteins' divorce in 1999{{sfn|Dunford|2009|p=181}}{{cite web |last=Faith |first=Nicholas |date=22 February 2008 |title=Alec Wildenstein: Art dealer and racehorse owner who divorced in a blaze of publicity |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alec-wildenstein-art-dealer-and-racehorse-owner-who-divorced-in-a-blaze-of-publicity-785555.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220609/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alec-wildenstein-art-dealer-and-racehorse-owner-who-divorced-in-a-blaze-of-publicity-785555.html |archive-date=9 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Independent |access-date=4 February 2012}} was not amicable.{{sfn|Crowley|2005|pp=164–165}} Jocelyn walked in on her husband and a 21-year-old Russian model in her bedroom at the couple's New York City home, and he threatened Jocelyn with a gun.{{cite news |title=People & Places: Art dealer admits he pulled gun on wife |date=9 September 2000 |work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal |page=A2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=20000908&id=3TcfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3242,3047241 |access-date=9 February 2012}}{{sfn|Konigsberg|1997|p=32}} This resulted in a night in jail for Alec Wildenstein.{{sfn|Konigsberg|1997|p=32}} The presiding judge, Marilyn Diamond, received death threats in the mail during the proceedings.{{sfn|Felder|2004|pp=122–126}} During her divorce, the judge stipulated that she could not use any alimony payments for further cosmetic surgery.{{sfn|Portmann|2004|p=66}} Jocelyn enlisted the services of Ed Rollins{{cite news |last=Grove |first=Lloyd |date=9 June 2000 |title=The Reliable Source |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/00/source/source0609.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=4 February 2012}} for public-relations assistance and at various times both Bernard Clair{{cite web |last=Gupte |first=Pranay |date=17 May 2005 |title=It's Personal for a Top NYC Divorce Lawyer |url=http://www.nysun.com/business/its-personal-for-a-top-nyc-divorce-lawyer/13956/ |location=New York |work=The Sun |access-date=4 February 2012}} and Kenneth Godt{{cite web |date=10 November 1999 |title=Jocelyn gives bankrupt beau the brush-off |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/access/68516024.html?dids=68516024:68516024&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+10%2C+1999&author=Kieran+Crowley&pub=New+York+Post&desc=JOCELYN+GIVES+BANKRUPT+BEAU+THE+BRUSH-OFF&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717075732/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/access/68516024.html?dids=68516024:68516024&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+10,+1999&author=Kieran+Crowley&pub=New+York+Post&desc=JOCELYN+GIVES+BANKRUPT+BEAU+THE+BRUSH-OFF&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 July 2012 |work=New York Post |page=30 |access-date=4 February 2012}} {{subscription required}} for full content. for legal counsel. Wildenstein began dating fashion designer Lloyd Klein in 2003.{{cite web|url=https://people.com/crime/jocelyn-wildenstein-lloyd-klein-interview/|title=Jocelyn Wildenstein's Boyfriend Lloyd Klein Reveals What Happened the Night of the Attack|website=PEOPLE.com}}

Cosmetic surgery

Wildenstein had extensive cosmetic surgeries to her face.{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=123}} Her cat-like appearance{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/catwoman-jocelyn-wildenstein-denies-having-any-plastic-surgery-cites-her-swiss-heritage|title='Catwoman' Jocelyn Wildenstein denies having any plastic surgery, cites her Swiss heritage|first=Tyler|last=McCarthy|date=13 February 2018|website=Fox News}} led media outlets to nickname her "Catwoman", "The Lion Queen", and "The Bride of Wildenstein".{{cite web|url=http://pressfrom.info/news/entertainment/-3732-the-crazy-life-of-billionaire-socialite-jocelyn-wildenstein.html|title=The crazy life of billionaire socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein|website=PressFrom – AU}} She denied having excessive plastic surgery, citing her Swiss heritage, but admitted to a multimillion-dollar surgery to make her eyes more cat-like,{{Cite web |last=Wet |first=Nici de |title=Stop posting fake pictures of me, rants Catwoman who claims she's never had plastic surgery |url=https://www.news24.com/you/news/international/stop-posting-fake-pictures-of-me-rants-catwoman-who-claims-shes-never-had-plastic-surgery-20230224 |access-date=8 March 2023 |website=You |language=en-US}} which she did with her husband. According to Alec Wildenstein, "She was thinking that she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin does not work that way, but she wouldn't listen".

Finances

Wildenstein was known for having lived her life in an extravagant manner. She once calculated her yearly telephone bill at $60,000 and food and wine costs at $547,000.{{sfn|Felder|Victor|2011}} Wildenstein received $2.5 billion in her divorce settlement (although this amount has been rumored to be as high as $3.8 billion{{Cite news |last=Corbett |first=Rachel |date=23 August 2023 |title=The Inheritance Case That Could Unravel an Art Dynasty |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/23/magazine/wildensteins-inheritance-case-art.html |access-date=14 September 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}) and $100 million each year for the following 13 years.{{cite web |last=Petridou |first=Ria |date=29 September 2011 |title=Queens of plastic: Jocelyn Wildenstein |url=http://www.fashionlove.gr/en/people-en/talk-of-the-town-en/queens-of-plastic-jocelyn-wildenstein/ |work=Fashion Love |access-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930051343/http://www.fashionlove.gr/en/people-en/talk-of-the-town-en/queens-of-plastic-jocelyn-wildenstein/ |archive-date=30 September 2011 |url-status=dead }} The judge stipulated that she could not use any alimony payments for further cosmetic surgery.{{sfn|Portmann|2004|p=66}} Following her divorce, Wildenstein sold the marital home in New York City to real estate developer Janna Bullock for $13 million.{{cite web |last=Greene |first=Penelope |date=26 July 2007 |title=Buy High, Sell Higher |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/26/garden/26janna.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=4 February 2012}}

Wildenstein filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2018, claiming she had $0 in her bank account and listing various tangible assets of $16.39 million against $6.38 million in liabilities.{{cite web|url=https://money.com/jocelyn-wildenstein-catwoman-bankrupt/|title=How the Former Billionaire Known as 'Catwoman' Went Bankrupt With $0 in Her Bank Account|first=Paul|last=Schrodt|publisher=Money.com|date=17 July 2018|accessdate=27 August 2024}} Her three apartments in Trump Tower were repossessed in 2020. Wildenstein told The Times in 2023 that she attributed her financial difficulties to problems with the trust set up following her divorce, and that the family of Alec Wildenstein had cut her off from payments in 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/d4ba3ebd-bb98-458e-8449-b92bb6ef933f|title=What happened to the Bride of Wildenstein and her $2.5 billion?|first=Jane|last=Mulkerrins|work=The Times|date=17 June 2023|accessdate=27 August 2024}}

Death

Jocelyn Wildenstein died from a pulmonary embolism at a hotel in Paris on 31 December 2024.{{cite news |title=Exclu – Jocelyne Wildenstein : la femme "chat" est décédée hier soir à Paris. Jocelyn Wildenstein was 84 years old |url=https://www.public.fr/exclu-jocelyne-wildenstein-la-femme-chat-est-decedee-hier-soir-a-paris |access-date=1 January 2025 |publisher=Public |date=1 January 2025}}

References

= Bibliography – books =

{{citation |last=Cottom |first=Daniel |year=2006 |title=Unhuman culture |edition= illustrated |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-3956-0 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PCjO3WjZ_xYC&q=%22jocelyn+wildenstein%22&pg=PA143 }}
{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Kieran |year=2005 |title=Almost Paradise: The Murder of Multimillionaire Ted Ammon in the Hamptons |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's |isbn=978-0-312-99913-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/almostparadisemu00crow }}
{{cite book |last=DeMello |first=Margo |year=2007 |title=Encyclopedia of body adornment |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-33695-9 }}
{{cite book |last=Dunford |first=Martin |year=2009 |title=The Rough Guide to New York City |url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetonewy0000dunf |url-access=registration |edition=11 |location=London |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-0-8070-1618-3 }}
{{cite book |last=Felder |first=Raoul |year=2004 |chapter=The Wildenstein Divorce |title=Bare Knuckle Negotiation |location=Hoboken |publisher=Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-46333-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/bareknucklenegot0000feld }}
{{cite book |last1=Felder |first1=Raoul |last2=Victor |first2=Barbara |year=2011 |chapter=The Wildenstein Case |title=The Good Divorce: How to Walk Away Financially Sound and Emotionally Happy |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-59296-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312592967 }}
{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Jessica Dorfman |year=2007 |title=The Art of Cheating |url=https://archive.org/details/artofcheatingnas0000dorf |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Pocket |isbn=978-1-4165-4913-0 }}
{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Meredith | author-link=Meredith Jones (author) |year=2008 |title=Skintight: an Anatomy of Cosmetic Surgery |location=Oxford |publisher=Berg Publishers |isbn=978-1-84520-669-7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SvoVzL81i_YC }}
{{cite book |last=McCracken |first=Grant David |year=2008 |title=Transformations: Identity Construction in Contemporary Culture |location=Bloomington |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21957-2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YJzy2HmHLBcC&q=jocelyn+wildenstein&pg=PA316 }}
{{cite book |last=Portmann |first=John |year=2004 |title=Bad for Us: the lure of self-harm |url=https://archive.org/details/badforuslureofse00port |url-access=registration |location=Boston |publisher=Beacon Press |isbn=978-0-8070-1618-3 }}
{{citation |last=Tebbel |first=Cyndi |year=2000 |title=The body snatchers: how the media shapes women |edition=illustrated |location=Sydney |publisher=Finch |isbn=978-1-876451-07-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fe5hAAAAMAAJ&q=%22jocelyn+wildenstein%22 }}

= Bibliography – periodicals =

{{cite journal |last=Konigsberg |first=Eric |date=15 December 1997 |title=What Money Can't Buy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gugCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 |journal=New York |volume=30 |issue=48 |pages=31–37, 109, 116 |issn=0028-7369 |access-date=5 February 2012 }}

Notes

External links

{{IMDb name|3387745}}

Category:1940s births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:20th-century Swiss women

Category:21st-century Swiss women

Category:Swiss women in business

Category:Socialites

Category:Swiss expatriates in the United States

Category:Swiss socialites

Jocelyn

Category:People from Lausanne

Category:Former billionaires

Category:People known for their body modification

Category:Deaths from pulmonary embolism