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Joan Bennett Kennedy - Wikipedia Jump to content

Joan Bennett Kennedy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joan Bennett Kennedy
Kennedy in 1971
Born
Virginia Joan Bennett

(1936-09-02)September 2, 1936
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 8, 2025(2025-10-08) (aged 89)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationManhattanville College (BA)
Lesley University (MA)
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1958; div. 1982)​
Children

Virginia Joan Kennedy (née Bennett; September 2, 1936 – October 8, 2025) was an American socialite, author, and advocate. She was the first wife of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. In 1992, she published a guide to classical music and later became associated with mental health awareness, drawing public attention to addiction and recovery through her own experiences.

Early life

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Virginia Joan Bennett was born on September 2, 1936, at Mother Cabrini Hospital in New York City.[1] She was raised in a Roman Catholic family[1] in suburban Bronxville, New York. Her parents were Virginia Joan Stead and Harry Wiggin Bennett Jr.[1] Her father was a graduate of Cornell University and was president of the Joseph Katz Company, a New York advertising agency.[2] She grew up with one younger sister, Candace ("Candy"), born 1938. She attended Manhattanville College (then a Sacred Heart college), in Purchase, New York.[1] Manhattanville was also the alma mater of her future mother-in-law Rose Kennedy and future sisters-in-law Jean Kennedy Smith and Ethel Skakel Kennedy. In 1982, Bennett received an MA in Education from Lesley College, now known as Lesley University. As a teenager, she worked as a model in television advertising.[3]

Marriage, family and divorce

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In October 1957, at the dedication of a gymnasium at Manhattanville College in memory of another Kennedy sister, Kathleen – who had died in a plane crash in France in 1948 – Jean Kennedy Smith introduced Joan to her younger brother Edward (a.k.a. Ted), then a student at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville.[4] The couple became engaged quickly and Joan grew nervous about marrying someone she did not know well. His father Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. insisted that the wedding should proceed,[5] and they were married on November 29, 1958, in Bronxville, New York.[1][6] The small family wedding was held just a few weeks after Ted's older brother United States Senator John F. Kennedy won his landslide re-election for his United States Senate seat representing Massachusetts in 1958. They had three children: Kara Kennedy (1960–2011), Edward M. Kennedy Jr. (Ted Jr.) (b. 1961), and Patrick J. Kennedy (b. 1967).[7]

Two of their children were cancer victims. Ted Jr. developed bone cancer at age 12, which resulted in the removal of a portion of his right leg in 1973, and Kara was treated for lung cancer in 2003;[8] Kara died of a heart attack at the age of 51 on September 16, 2011.[9]

Ted suffered a severe back injury in a 1964 airplane crash while campaigning for his first full Senate term.[10] Joan assumed his campaign appearance duties during his successful re-election bid.[11] He had previously won a special election in November 1962 to serve the remaining two years of his brother John F. Kennedy's Senate term, following John's resignation upon his election as the 35th President of the United States in November 1960.[12]

In July 1969, Ted was involved in a car accident at a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts that resulted in the death of his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.[13] Although pregnant, and having been confined to bed in the wake of two previous miscarriages, Joan attended Kopechne's funeral. Three days later, she stood beside her husband in a local court when he pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. She suffered a third miscarriage shortly thereafter.[14]

The couple separated in 1978 after twenty years of marriage.[15] Around this time, Kennedy gave interviews to People and McCall's magazines discussing her struggles with alcoholism.[16] She described using alcohol to cope with unhappiness and social pressure, and spoke openly about her recovery through the Alcoholics Anonymous twelve-step program.[17] Despite their separation, they remained legally married during his failed 1980 U.S. presidential campaign.[18] They later announced plans to divorce in 1981; the divorce was finalized in 1982.[19][20]

Later life and death

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In 1992, she published the book The Joy of Classical Music: A Guide for You and Your Family. Kennedy worked with children's charities, remained an accomplished pianist, and taught classical music to children.[21]

Kennedy's later years were shaped by chronic alcoholism, which developed during her marriage. The alcohol problem escalated with sporadic, uneven sobriety, repeated drunk-driving arrests,[3] court-ordered rehabilitation,[3] and a return to drinking. This ultimately led to kidney damage, with the possibility of dialysis[4] and protracted complications. In July 2004, her son, Ted Jr., was appointed her legal guardian; in 2005, her children were granted temporary guardianship. That year she was hospitalized with a concussion and a broken shoulder after being found lying in a Boston street near her home.[3][22][23] In 2005, she requested that her cousin, financial planner Webster E. Janssen of Connecticut, establish a trust to control her estate. This was in violation of her sons' guardianship.[24] Her children later took successful legal action against Janssen, removing him as trustee and later filing a complaint against him with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[25] That October, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery.[26] She agreed to strict court-ordered guardianship and her estate was subsequently placed in a new trust overseen by two court-appointed trustees.[4]

Apart from a brief relationship shortly after her divorce, she never remarried or pursued another relationship.[4] She attended Ted's funeral at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston.[27]

Her last public appearance was with the extended Kennedy family at their annual Fourth of July gathering, three months before her death.[28]

Kennedy died at her home in Boston on October 8, 2025, at the age of 89.[17] Public visitation is scheduled for October 14 in Boston.[29] Her funeral mass is set to be held on October 15 at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, followed by a private burial.[29]

Written works

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  • Kennedy, Joan Bennett (1992). The Joy of Classical Music: A Guide for You and Your Family. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, New York. ISBN 978-0-385-41262-9.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Taraborrelli, J. Randy (April 2, 2012). Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot. Grand Central Publishing. pp. 81–86. ISBN 978-0-446-56463-2.
  2. ^ "M. Kennedy, Student, Fiance Of Joan Bennett; Son of Ex-U.S. Envoy to London Will Marry". The New York Times. September 21, 1958. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Lindsay, Jay (April 2, 2005). "Joan Kennedy's troubles linked to alcohol struggle". Associated Press via Deseret News. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d McPhee, Michelle; Wedge, Dave (August 2005). "The Fall of Joan". Boston. Archived from the original on May 21, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2008.
  5. ^ Clymer, A Biography, pp. 23–24.
  6. ^ "American Experience: The Kennedys". Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on March 13, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  7. ^ Keller, Jon (October 8, 2025). "Joan Kennedy, former wife of late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, dies at 89". CBS News Boston. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  8. ^ Jacobs, Sally (May 25, 2008). "Kennedy, his children, and cancer". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  9. ^ Harris, Elizabeth (September 17, 2011). "Kara Kennedy, Daughter of Edward Kennedy, Is Dead at 51". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  10. ^ "Nation: Ted's Aching Back". Time. March 10, 1980. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  11. ^ Jennes, Gail (October 8, 2025). "Joan Kennedy's Candid 1978 PEOPLE Cover: Read the Revealing Interview Before Her Divorce". People. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  12. ^ "The Kennedy Brothers". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  13. ^ Bly, Nellie (1996). The Kennedy Men: Three Generations of Sex, Scandal, and Secrets. Kensington Books, New York. p. 200. ISBN 1-57566-106-3.
  14. ^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2000). Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot. Warner Books, New York. ISBN 0-446-52426-3.
  15. ^ Staff writer (November 5, 1979). "The Vulnerable Soul of Joansie". Time. Archived from the original on May 29, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  16. ^ Burke, Richard E.; Hoffer, Marilyn; Hoffer, William (1992). The Senator: My Ten Years with Ted Kennedy. St. Martin's Press. New York. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-0-312-09134-7.
  17. ^ a b McNeil, Liz (October 8, 2025). "Joan Kennedy, Former Wife of Sen. Ted Kennedy, Dies at 89". People. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  18. ^ Casey, Michael (October 8, 2025). "Joan Kennedy, first wife of Sen. Edward Kennedy, has died". Associated Press. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  19. ^ Keller, Jan (October 8, 2025). "Joan Kennedy, former wife of late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, dies at 89". WBZ News. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  20. ^ Maier, Thomas (2003). The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings. Basic Books, New York. p. 555. ISBN 0-465-04317-8.
  21. ^ Staff writer. "Joan Bennett Kennedy Biography (1936– )". Biography. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  22. ^ Hancock, David (March 30, 2005). "Joan Kennedy Unconscious in Street – Senator's Ex-Wife Recovering from Concussion, Broken Shoulder". The Associated Press via CBS News. Archived from the original on April 5, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  23. ^ Johnson, Glenn (February 25, 2005). "Kennedy's Children Become Her Guardians". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  24. ^ Jeffrey, Karen (June 14, 2005). "In her best interest". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  25. ^ Ellement, John; Sacchetti, Maria (June 13, 2005). "Joan Kennedy, Children Reach Agreement – Medical, Financial Team, Rehab Cited". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  26. ^ Staff writer (October 15, 2005). "Rep. Kennedy Gets 'Personal' on Cancer – With Mother Ill, He Lauds Advocates". The Associated Press via The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  27. ^ "Ted Kennedy's First Wife Joan Kennedy: Casualty of Camelot". ABC News. August 28, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  28. ^ Raposas, Rachel (October 8, 2025). "Joan Kennedy Made Her Last Public Appearance with the Whole Kennedy Family 3 Months Before Her Death". People. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  29. ^ a b Cullen, Maggie (October 8, 2025). "Joan Bennett Kennedy, former wife of Sen. Edward Kennedy, dies: When, where is her funeral?". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved October 8, 2025.

Further reading

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