He grew up moving around from place to place, with the family having many residences across Europe, and from 1960 the family based themselves in Paris. His friends had urged for his release and the doctor had decided he was doing well so he ended up somehow being released. In a somewhat sinister act of unintentional irony, his shocking and sad end had been brought about by the very synthetic material that had made his family rich decades before. View AlexDonaldsMultiverses profile on Facebook, View alexandradonalds profile on Twitter, View donaldalexandras profile on Instagram. Cooper was far from the sort of man the Baekelands wanted their son to hang out with, and in a matter of days, their friendship went from uncomfortable to scandalous. Brooks and Barbara Baekeland lived a nomadic albeit high-rolling lifestyle. When Tony is still a boy . Unfortunately for Barbara, the screen test did not spawn a film appearance but did land her a beau. In short, the wealthy, dashing, and intelligent Brooks was everything Barbara wanted in a man. One ferocious stab with a domestic knife ended what had been a turbulent and at times combative mother-son relationship. It was her tall, thin 25-year-old son Tony, the only child of Barbara and Bakelite heir Brooks Baekeland who hours after she returned home to their exclusive Cadogan Square apartment viciously murdered her in the kitchen. Whew, that was a close one, right? Dinner guests noted Barbaras emotional instability, her occasionally vile manners, and her excessive drinking. Hardened clay and glass were used for storage, but they were heavy and brittle. Initially, Barbara was thrilled that Antony was dating a woman named Sylvie. Jake, who was bisexual and had a girlfriend lived on a commune with people who partook in hallucinogenic drugs. But Tonys response was so disturbing, its impossible to forget. The brutal murder was the violent climax to an emotional rollercoaster ride for the beautiful socialite who was linked by marriage to the Bakelite empire - the world's first plastic. Usually, Brooks had no reason to go flaunting his sidepieces around his wife, but this time it was different. Instead of taking Tony to therapy, Barbara insisted on pretending everything was fine. In the early 1960s, when Antony was a young man, people did not accept homosexuality. It was the kind of suffocating devotion borne out of possessiveness and controlling behaviour that may have led to such tragic events and ruining several lives of one of the most privileged wealthy American families. The nanny would care for young Antony until Barbara had company over the house and tried to show him off. Brooks Baekeland believed his son had been murdered, perhaps because he had threatened to . Both highly recommended by moi! Although Tony was out of the psychiatric hospital, Barbara did at least pay a therapist to visit her son at home. By the third generation, the fortune has . One day, Barbara even let an excruciatingly awkward detail slip. While in Europe, they rented homes and villas in London, Paris, Switzerland, and Italy. However things were not as perfect as they seemed; Barbara drank heavily and was prone to depression, and her husband was cold and distant. In late July 1972, Tonys rage grew to epic proportions and he suddenly tried to throw Barbara into the busy street outside of their London penthouse. Barbara Daly Baekeland, a previous model for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, had married into wealth and high-society when she wed Brooks Baekeland, whose grandfather was chemist Leo Baekeland, the . The fact that Antony was weak and small saved Barbaras life. When the grisly scene was uncovered by the police finding Barbara dead on her back, Tony appeared to be in denial of the seriousness of his actions and was somewhat bizarrely in the throes of ordering a Chinese takeaway on the phone. She believed that Tony simply needed to find the right girl, and if he did he would no longer be gay. So its no surprise that trouble came knocking. Before the invention of plastic, the only substances that could be molded were clays (pottery) and glass. He was intelligent, polite, and well-mannered, but that didnt matter to Barbara. This went about as badly as youd expect. Leo Baekeland, in full Leo Hendrik Baekeland, (born November 14, 1863, Ghent, Belgiumdied February 23, 1944, Beacon, New York, U.S.), U.S. industrial chemist who helped found the modern plastics industry through his invention of Bakelite, the first thermosetting plastic (a plastic that does not soften when heated). Because of her high social status, Barbara received invitations to many gatherings of people of wealth and stature. Rarity and desirability are some of the reasons Bakelite is so expensive. For one, Barbaras son delighted in investigating and nearly dissecting insects and other small animals. Usually, after a woman has a baby, she relaxes and her partying days slow down but not Barbara Baekeland. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. Disturbingly, throughout all these warnings, Barbara still refused to believe there was anything fundamentally wrong with her son. Before their marriage, Brooks was unaware of Barbaras struggle with mental illness and emotional issues. As well see, Barbara never fully accepted Tonys diverse bedroom tastes, so she was especially thrilled when he stopped hanging around Jake Cooper and his hippie friends, and instead brought home a real live girl. A judge charged him with second-degree murder and sentenced him to Broadmoor Hospital psychiatric hospital. A combination of misguided trust by his grandmother Nini and a lack of responsibility by authorities on both sides of the Atlantic saw the disturbed, schizophrenic Tony now living with the elderly woman in New Yorks Upper East Side. Anthony, an only child, was born in August 1946 and by the time the boy was ten years of age his parents led a nomadic life around the world with an apartment in Paris where matrimonial problems, exacerbated by emotional issues and affairs on both sides, led to various suicide attempts by Barbara. My mom never told me how her best friend died. It must have been the worst outcome that Barbara could have predicted, and she was at sea for many long months following the split. I felt she was controlling my mind. If the Baekelands thought that escaping to Europe would help them outrun their marital issues, they were very, very wrong. The source of such conflicts was due to Barbara having arranged and encouraged her son to sleep with female prostitutes in the hope of curing his homosexuality. He thought his first son was still a threat, especially to him. He was released soon after. Still connected to one of the most rich and powerful American dynasties Barbara lived a privileged life where its material trappings of great wealth hid from the outside world the reality of her dealing with an increasingly out of control son who had threatened her life with knives, choking and even trying to push her in front of vehicles outside of the London family penthouse apartment. This time there was no rich influential people in the US defending Tonys right to freedom and he was incarcerated for life at Rikers Island, New Yorks main prison where his access to family money provided a merry-go-round of sexual partners, protectors and possible enemies in the top security prison. So she allegedly decided to have sex with him herself. Brooks vehemently denied this idea. However, eight months after psychiatric assessments of the now thirty-three-year-old Tony attempts to grant him bail were delayed by a decision to wait for his medical records from Broadmoor back in the UK. With his behaviour being inadequately dealt with by his grandmother and family psychiatrist, it was only 6 days after his release, on July 27th, that he would attack his grandmother with a kitchen knife. Check your DNS Settings. A woman who tried to "cure" her gay son through sick incestuous threesomes was killed by him. The Murdaugh Family Murders: Why did Alex Murdaugh kill his wife and son? They gave the apperance of a happy American family; at first. Whether an incestuous relationship between mother and son actually happened is debatable as some close friends believed that Barbara simply enjoyed shocking people with such admissions that may have been fuelled by fantasy and pathological attention seeking. Even from a young age, she knew she wanted bright lights, big cities, and a whole lot of money. If they only knew. Catherine of Aragon was King Henry VIIIs first wife and longest-lasting Queen of England. Barbara Daly Baekeland (1922 - November 17, 1972) was a wealthy socialite who was murdered by her son, Anthony Baekeland. . Tonys new love interest was a French beauty named Sylvie, but she was a little too much of a hit with the family. He attacked his grandma with a kitchen knife. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. It came to a head when Tonyfirst showed signs of homosexuality at a young age and it is rumoured that his mothers reaction to this was to seduce her own son, hoping to make him heterosexual and therefore more socially acceptable in her eyes. In 1967, the Baekelands were still bouncing around the continent when their son Tony, now 20 years old, met a bisexual Australian bad boy by the name of Jake Cooper. The young socialites introduction to the dashing Brook Baekeland, a trainee pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force, cemented the status of a celebrity couple bestowed with looks, money and in Brooks case, a lineage linked to the Bakelite empire, as he was the grandson of Leo Baekeland who invented what was the worlds first plastic. He was then arrested by the New York City Police Department, charged with attempted murder and sent to Rikers Island Prison. A poorly constructed, flaccid drama that treats complex emotional and psychological issues with all the depth of a particularly dull rock. He had also inherited his grandfathers expansive mind, starting a PhD in physics before switching to writing. At the age of 33 Tony Baekeland, upon his release for Broadmoor, flew straight to New York City to stay with his maternal grandmother, 87 year old Nina Daly. Soon after Tony began his relationship with Sylvie, the Baekelands home life turned downright scandalous. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. When Tony eventually did bring home a girlfriend, his father ended up stealing her away from him. Nina loved her grandson and believed she could help him to lead a happy life. Cornelia introduced Barbara to her younger brother Brooks Baekeland, a trainee pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the grandson of Leo Baekeland who invented Bakelite plastic. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Barbara Baekeland, allegedly seduced her own son, Tony, to 'cure' him of being gay | Image: Shutterstock. However, there was a delay in the transfer of his medical records from the UK which led to the judge adjourning the case. Tony Baekeland, born on August 28, 1942, was an average little boy whose mother wanted him to be extraordinary. Today, Hyman says, The prices have skyrocketed. A pin that sold for 79 cents now could be worth $300 to $500. Brooks Baekeland finally did leave the marriage for a nubile female classmate that Tony brought home from school for a weekend visit in the mid-1960s. Only, that wasnt the end of Tony or his wrath. The thirty-three-year-old former Broadmoor inmate was accompanied on the plane to the US solely by a stranger, the daughter of one of his grandmothers friends who just happened to live near Broadmoor. The movie tells the true story of the marriage of Barbara Daly (Julianne Moore) and Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane), who glittered erratically in the social circles of the 1940s through the 1960s. We want our readers to trust us. In 1968, Barbaras already dramatic life came to a screeching climax. Inadequate provisions had been made for the young mans release with it seems no one in both the UK and the US understanding how unstable Tony was. The movie tells the true story of the marriage of Barbara Daly (Julianne Moore) and Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane), who glittered erratically in the social circles of the 1940s through the 1960s. The film is based on the true story of Barbara Daly Baekeland (Moore), her husband Brooks Baekeland (Dillane), heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune, and their only child Antony (Redmayne), who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Brooks Baekeland ( div. ) He had suffocated on a plastic bag. At the age of 20 in 1967, Antony Baekeland goes to live in Italy where he meets an Australian bisexual man by the name of Jake Cooper. Hardened clay and glass were used for storage, but they were heavy and brittle. Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. When Barbara was barely an adult, she got the attention of some very powerful men. Despite the couples odd behavior and rude outbursts, they were still popular, and everyone wanted to attend a Baekeland party in their extravagant apartment. Many companies stopped using Bakelite in the early 1940s as the need for World War II related products took hold. The attack ended a toxic and combative mother son relationship. On November 17, 1972 a 25 year old Antony Baekeland grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed 51 year old Barbara Baekeland. This made Tony Baekeland very depressed and after returning to his cell at 3:30 pm, he was found dead just 30 minutes later. His concerns were to be proven correct. Brooks Baekeland's grandfather, Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944), was a Belgian-born chemist who invented Bakelite in 1907, one of the first forms of plastic. Still, Harnden couldn't bring herself to say anything. As weve seen, Barbara was so obsessed with maintaining her picture-perfect facade that there was almost nothing about her troubled son that she couldnt wave awayemphasis on almost. Although, this didnt go to plan and instead of developing a relationship with Antony Baekeland, she became involved with Brooks. The pair allegedly became romantically involved, and when Barbara heard about this, she drove down to Spain to bring Antony Baekeland back to Switzerland. Barbara Daly Baekeland, 51, would die at the hands of her own son in a killing that shook both the high society in Britain and in America. Whether this admission came from a place more to do with Tonys unstable mind than actual behaviour by his mother is unknown but the fact is minutes after a frightened Barbara ran into the kitchen Tony followed and picking up a knife stabbed her without hesitation. It was a decision that enraged Tonys father Brooks who had made attempts to get his sons release reversed as he believed Tony was capable of killing again. The vicious cycle kept repeating itself until, in the mid-sixties, Brooks followed through on his divorce and left Barabra. Although his doctor would later admit that was a mistake, and seemed somewhat aware that without proper supervision and psychiatric care, Tonys release would end in tragedy. He ultimately stabbed her 8 times, breaking several bones in the process, although Nina Daly did survive. It was natures gifts that blessed Barbara with the advantages of finding work as a model with some of the top magazines of the day from Vogue to Harpers Bazaar. Antony fell deeply in love with Jake during his time in Spain, and Jake, a poor hippie, enjoyed the lavish gifts Antony would buy for him. His future looked brightfor six days. Frequently Asked Questions Is Anthony Baekeland still alive? One of their first moves was to throw a lavish dinner party for their friends. In late July 1972, Tony threw his mother into oncoming traffic outside of their Cadogan Square home in Chelsea. After cellulose nitrate, formaldehyde was the next product to advance the technology of plastic. Now, this news would upset many an uptight mother, but Barbara took it to the next level. Although we dont know for sure if they carried on their grim bedroom relationship into the new decade, the damage was very much done. Today, Barbara Baekeland dark story lives on in tell-all books like Savage Grace, which describes her relationship with both Brooks and Tony through the people who were close to the family. The pair would become close, and Cooper introduced Tony to a plethora of hallucinogenic drugs. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from Life to Compact Cars and Trucks to A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius. Well get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics youre interested in.
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