James Paul Donahue Jr.

James Paul Donahue Jr.
Born	Template:Birth date Greenwich, Connecticut, United States
Died	December 6, 1966(1966-12-06) (aged 51) Manhattan, New York, United States
Occupation	Socialite
Relatives	F. W. Woolworth (grandfather) Barbara Hutton (cousin)

James Paul Donahue Jr. (June 11, 1915 – December 6, 1966) was a prominent heir to the Woolworth fortune and a distinguished figure within New York City's social circles.

Early life

Jimmy Donahue was born as the younger son of James Paul Donahue (1887–1931), descending from an Irish-American lineage that amassed wealth through the fat rendering industry via the Retail Butchers' Fat Rendering Company. His mother, Jessie (Template:Nee Woolworth) Donahue (1886–1971), was one of Frank Winfield Woolworth’s three daughters, the founder of the Woolworth retail empire. His elder sibling, Woolworth Donahue (1913–1972), was known for bringing a cheetah to Cannes after a safari expedition.

He was related to Edna Woolworth (1883–1917), a wealthy socialite, and connected by marriage to Franklyn Laws Hutton (1877–1940), co-founder of the brokerage firm E. F. Hutton & Co. Additionally, he was the first cousin and close confidant of American socialite Barbara Hutton (1912–1979).

Donahue did not complete high school; he initially enrolled at the Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey, but following recommendations to withdraw him, he transferred to Connecticut’s Choate School. At age seventeen, he faced expulsion from Choate. Afterward, he pursued tap dance training under renowned instructor Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Against his mother’s wishes, he briefly appeared as a dancer in a Broadway musical that closed just ten days after its September 1933 premiere.

Draft

In 1944, at the age of 29, Donahue received notification in Florida where he had been serving with the Civil Air Patrol for two years (while simultaneously remaining on the Army Air Force reserve inactive list during his CAP service) that his draft board had classified him as 1-A and he was to be inducted. Despite his resistance to reporting in New York, his appeal was denied by the draft board. Subsequently, he returned to New York where he officially enlisted in the U.S. Army.

Career

Born into considerable wealth, Donahue never felt compelled to pursue a traditional career and instead led an extravagant lifestyle, traveling internationally with a personal valet and lodging exclusively at luxury hotels. Among acquaintances, he was affectionately known as "Jeem".

As a natural playboy, Donahue was openly gay during an era when homosexual behavior was criminalized. Although publicists arranged appearances for him with female companions, his romantic interests were solely male until his encounter with Wallis, Duchess of Windsor. In 1950, at age 35, he formed a friendship with the Duke of Windsor and the Duchess. Donahue asserted that he had engaged in a four-year relationship with Simpson, a claim corroborated by Lady Pamela Hicks, daughter of the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was related to the Duke of Windsor.

Donahue passed away in 1966 at the age of 51 and was laid to rest in the Woolworth Family Mausoleum located at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.

Further reading

• Charles Higham. The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. 1988, 482 pages: 370–372, 394–395.

External links

• Template:Find a Grave