Florence Pritchett

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.

Florence Pritchett
c. 1945
Born	June 28, 1920 West Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	November 9, 1965 (age 45) New York City, U.S.
Other names	Florence Pritchett Smith
Occupation(s)	Fashion editor, journalist, radio and TV personality
Spouses	Richard Canning ​ ​ (m. 1940; div. 1943)​ Earl E. T. Smith ​ (m. 1947)​

Biography

Florence Pritchett was born on June 28, 1920, in West Orange, New Jersey. In 1940, she married Richard Canning. They divorced in 1943. In 1944, she met John F. Kennedy.^[1] The two may have dated. They remained friends into the early 1960s.^[2] Pritchett was also romantically linked to actors Robert Walker^[3] and Errol Flynn.^[4]

Pritchett worked as the fashion editor for New York Journal-American^[5] and wrote articles for Photoplay.^[6] She appeared as a panelist on the radio and TV program Leave It to the Girls from 1945 to 1953.^[7] In 1946, she worked as a special representative for David O. Selznick, helping promote films like Duel in the Sun.^[8][9]

Pritchett married Earl E. T. Smith in 1947. Smith was appointed ambassador to Cuba 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.^[10]

Florence Pritchett died on November 9, 1965, in the Manhattan apartment where she lived with her husband and 12-year-old son.^[11] She suffered a cerebral hemorrhage after at least several weeks of struggling with leukemia.^[12] Her obituaries in the New York Times and New York Journal-American^[13] said she had been "in ill health since mid-August" and had been treated for it in what was then called Roosevelt Hospital.^[14] Her book, These Entertaining People, was released by Macmillan Publishers in 1966.^[15]

References

1. "Pritchett, Florence "Flo" | JFK Library". www.jfklibrary.org. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
2. Smith, Sally Bedell (2004-05-04). Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9781588364098.
3. MacFadden Publications, Inc (1945). Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1945). Media History Digital Library. New York, MacFadden Publications, Inc. p. 447. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
4. MacFadden Publications, Inc (1945). Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1945). Media History Digital Library. New York, MacFadden Publications, Inc. p. 275. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
5. Variety (1945). Variety (April 1945). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company. p. 191.
6. MacFadden Publications, Inc (1946). Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1946). Media History Digital Library. New York, MacFadden Publications, Inc. p. 317. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
7. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009-06-24). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 779. ISBN 9780307483201.
8. The Film Daily (Jul-Sep 1946). MBRS Library of Congress. Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. July 1946. p. 404.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
9. Smyth, J. E. (2018-03-02). Nobody's Girl Friday: The Women Who Ran Hollywood. Oxford University Press. p. 83. ISBN 9780190840846.
10. Pérez, Louis A. Jr. (2012-09-01). On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture. UNC Press Books. p. 410. ISBN 9781469601410.
11. "MRS. Earl e. T. Smith, 45, Dies; Columnist and Wife of Ex. Envoy; I Soctety Fgure and Hostess Appeared as TV Panelist as Florence Pritchett". The New York Times. 11 November 1965.
12. academic website that mentions Florence’s leukemia diagnosis
13. This is a citation of Florence’s New York Journal-American obituary in a book by John McAdams who is listed as an RS in several Wikipedia articles
14. "MRS. Earl e. T. Smith, 45, Dies; Columnist and Wife of Ex. Envoy; I Soctety Fgure and Hostess Appeared as TV Panelist as Florence Pritchett". The New York Times. 11 November 1965.
15. Smith, Florence Pritchett (1966). These Entertaining People. Macmillan.