According to a 2009 interview in the San Francisco Chronicle, Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale wore a beautiful red dress to the 1975 premiere of this film, only she wore it backwards, with the zipper in front.
The film was something of an accident, in the sense that Albert Maysles and David Maysles came across Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale when involved in another project--a movie about (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's sister) Lee Radziwill's childhood. As part of research, the Maysles brothers were introduced to the Beales and were captivated by their world. Deciding not to make the Radzwill film, they turned instead to the Beales, and a year after first meeting the two women, began filming.
Edith Bouvier Beale was the sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's father, John V. "Blackjack" Bouvier. As a child, Jaqueline spent a great deal of time with her aunt and cousin Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale at Grey Gardens and considered "Big Edie" her favorite aunt throughout her lifetime.
Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale claimed that the house was haunted by the ghost of a sea captain, who used to climb a ladder into her room for midnight trysts. She also claimed the house was haunted by the ghosts of a woman and her daughter, who were the original residents of the house. However, the first resident of the house was Mrs. F. Stanhope Phillips, the daughter of the first editor of the "Detroit Free Press", and she had no children.
Drew Barrymore played Little Edie in the TV movie Grey Gardens (2009). In this film, David Maysles asked Little Edie who she would like to portray Big Edie if a movie based on Grey Gardens were made, suggesting Ethel Barrymore (Drew's great-aunt), despite the fact that Ethel Barrymore had been dead since 1959.
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