Whitney JohnHay

American heir, U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and president of the Museum of Modern Art. Nicknamed "Jock," he was a member of the prominent Whitney family, inheriting great wealth. He made many theatrical investments, among them, the 1939 film Gone With The Wind, which he owned and co-produced. Whitney served in the United States Army Air Forces as an intelligence officer during World War II, assigned to the Office of Strategic Services. He was taken prisoner by the Germans in southern France, but escaped when the train transporting him to a POW camp came under Allied fire. A spectacular polo player, he was interested in sports and gambling. In 1928, he became the youngest member ever elected to The Jockey Club. He married the Pennsylvania socialite Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Altemus on 23 September 1931. While married, Whitney was romantically linked to Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Bennett, Paulette Goddard and Joan Crawford. The couple divorced in 1940. In 1942, he married Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney, ex-wife of James Roosevelt, son of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and adopted her two daughters. John Hay Whitney died after a long illness on 8 February 1982 at age 77 in Manhasset, New York. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less