Trivia

At a net worth of over $5 billion, she is by far the richest actress in the world. While this list changes every year, she has consistently held the #1 spot every year.

Her cousin was heiress Barbara Hutton, who at one time was married to Cary Grant, who later co-starred with Merrill on Operation Petticoat (1959).

Her mother's first husband, Edward Bennett Close, was the grandfather of actress Glenn Close.

When one of her children was diagnosed with diabetes, she became one of the founders of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, which is dedicated to diabetic research. She is also a director of Project Orbis, a flying ophthalmological hospital which teaches advanced eye care and performs surgical techniques around the world.

As an actress, socialite and model, she made the cover of Life magazine on January 11, 1960.

Both she and her then husband Cliff Robertson played "Special Guest Villains" on Batman (1966).

Third husband Ted Hartley was a regular on the television series Peyton Place (1964). In 1989, they bought RKO Pictures, which she managed until her death.

She was a trustee of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Centern and a director of the Museum of Broadcasting. She was also a presidential appointee to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Her son David Post Rumbough (DOB: September 27, 1949) was killed in a boating accident on September 8, 1973 when the twin engine racing boat in which he was riding capsized in choppy seas in Gardiner's Bay off eastern Long Island. His remains were recovered on September 13th.

Daughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post and E.F. Hutton.

Her three children with first husband Stanley Rumbough, Jr--a Colgate heir--are Stanley, David (deceased), and Nedenia (Nina). She and second husband Cliff Robertson are the parents of daughter Heather Robertson (deceased).

Received a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. (April 2005)

She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.

On Broadway in the 1940s before moving to film, she was hardly ever stretched during her career, being typed rather severely as a tactful, altruistic wife in family fare or as an elegant socialite and patron of the arts in sophisticated fluff.

Ex-stepmother of Stephanie Robertson.

Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award (1994).

Alumna of the AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Class of 1944.

Spent her winters growing up at Mar-A-Lago, the largest and most elaborate estate in Palm Beach, Florida. As of this writing, Mar-a-Lago is owned by Donald Trump, who runs the estate as a private club and residence. Trump rescued the estate from condemnation in 1985 and painstakingly restored it to its former glory.