Patty Hearst

Infobox Person
name = Patricia Hearst Shaw


caption = Patricia Hearst from a Symbionese Liberation Army publicity photo
birth_name=Patricia Campbell Hearst
birth_date = Birth date and age|1954|2|20|mf=y
birth_place = San Francisco, California
occupation = heiress and occasional actress
resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | residence = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for =Symbionese Liberation Army | education = | employer = | title = | salary = | networth = | height = | weight = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | religion = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents =Randolph Apperson Hearst
Catherine Wood Campbell | relatives =William Randolph Hearst, grandfather
George Hearst, greatgrandfather |
| website = | footnotes =

Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954), now known as Patricia Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, and occasional actress.

The granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst and great-granddaughter of self-made millionaire George Hearst, she gained notoriety in 1974 when, following her kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), she ultimately joined her captors in furthering their cause. Apprehended after having taken part in a bank robbery with other SLA members, Hearst was imprisoned for almost two years before her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. She was later granted a presidential pardon by President Bill Clinton.

Biography

Hearst was born in San Francisco, California, the third of five daughters of Randolph Apperson Hearst and Catherine Wood Campbell. She grew up primarily in the wealthy San Francisco suburb of Hillsborough. She attended Crystal Springs School for Girls in Hillsborough and the Santa Catalina School for Girls in Monterey. Among her few close friends she counted Patricia Tobin, whose family founded the Hibernia Bank, a branch of which Hearst would later aid in robbing.

Kidnapping and her time with the SLA

On February 4, 1974, the 19-year-old Hearst was kidnapped from the Berkeley, California, apartment she shared with her fiancé Steven Weed, by a left-wing, urban guerrilla group called the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). When the attempt to swap Hearst for jailed SLA members failed, the SLA demanded that the captive's family distribute $70 worth of food to every needy Californian — an operation that would cost an estimated $400 million. In response, Hearst's father arranged the immediate donation of $6 million worth of food to the poor of the Bay Area. After the distribution of food, the SLA refused to release Hearst because they deemed the food to have been of poor quality. (In a subsequent tape recording released to the press, Hearst commented that her father could have done better.) On April 3 1974, Hearst announced on an audiotape that she had joined the SLA and assumed the name "Tania" [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/timeline/timeline2.html "Timeline: Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst"] , from The "American Experience", accessed 6/6/08] (inspired by the "nom de guerre" of Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider, Che Guevara's comrade). ["Cuba honors the remains of 10 Guevara comrades" JOSE LUIS MAGANA. "Houston Chronicle". Houston, Tex.: Dec 31, 1998. pg. 24]

On April 15, 1974, she was photographed wielding an M1 Carbine while robbing the Sunset District branch of the Hibernia Bank at 1450 Noriega Street in San Francisco. Later communications from her were issued under the pseudonym Tania and asserted that she was committed to the goals of the SLA. A warrant was issued for her arrest and in September 1975, she was arrested in a San Francisco apartment with other SLA members. While being booked into prison, she listed her occupation as "Urban Guerilla" and asked her attorney to relay the following message: "Tell everybody that I'm smiling, that I feel free and strong and I send my greetings and love to all the sisters and brothers out there." [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,913456,00.html Patty's Twisted Journey, Time Magazine, September 29, 1975] ]

In her trial, which commenced on January 15, 1976, Hearst's attorney, F. Lee Bailey, claimed that Hearst had been blindfolded, imprisoned in a narrow closet and physically and sexually abused. The claim that her actions were the result of a concerted brainwashing program was central to her defense. (Hearst's actions have also been attributed to Stockholm syndrome, in which hostages sympathize with the aims of their captors.) Bailey also argued that she had been coerced or intimidated into taking part in the bank robbery.

Legal analysts and Hearst herself later said that Bailey did a poor job defending her. He gave very short and weak closing arguments. Hearst was convicted of bank robbery on March 20,1976. Her seven-year prison term was eventually commuted by President Jimmy Carter, and Hearst was released from prison on February 1, 1979, having served only twenty-two months. She was granted a full pardon by President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001, the final day of his presidency.

Family life

After her release from prison, she married her former bodyguard, Bernard Shaw. She now lives with her husband and two children, William Hatton and Sommer Jennings, both of whom are the results of prior relationships. She also has a daughter, model Lydia Hearst-Shaw, with husband Bernard.

Hearst's children are both models. Her niece is model Amanda Hearst.

Hearst owns French bulldogs; in 2008, CH Shann's Legally Blonde was named Best of Opposite Sex at the Westminster Kennel Club show. [ [http://westminsterkennelclub.org/2008/results/breed/frebulld.html The Westminster Kennel Club | 2008 Breed Results: French Bulldog ] ]

Documentaries about Hearst

*Hearst's 1982 autobiography "Every Secret Thing" was made into the biopic "Patty Hearst" by Paul Schrader in 1988, with Natasha Richardson portraying Hearst.
*Robert Stone in 2004 directed "", [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/ PBS] ] which focuses on the media frenzy surrounding the Symbionese Liberation Army, and includes new footage and interviews. (The film was released in some countries under the title "Neverland: The Rise and Fall of the Symbionese Liberation Army.")

Material produced by Hearst

*Dissatisfied with other documentaries made on the subject, Hearst produced a special for the Travel Channel entitled "Secrets of San Simeon with Patricia Hearst" in which she took viewers inside her grandfather's mansion Hearst Castle, providing unprecedented access to the property. (A video and DVD were later released of the special.)

*Hearst co-authored a novel with Cordelia Frances Biddle titled "Murder at San Simeon" (Scribner, 1996), based upon the death of Thomas Ince on her grandfather's yacht.

Acting roles

Hearst has cultivated a career as an actress.
*Her notoriety intersected with the criminal obsessions and camp sensibilities of filmmaker John Waters, who has used Hearst in numerous small roles in films including "Cry-Baby", "Serial Mom", "Pecker", "Cecil B. DeMented", and "A Dirty Shame".
*Hearst appeared in the films "Bio-Dome" and "Second Best".
*Hearst supplied the voice for the character Haffa Dozen, an ex-stripper appearing on the October 19, 2005 episode of the Sci-Fi Channel's animated TV series "Tripping the Rift". [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/354165p-301901c.html NY Daily News] ]
* She appeared in an episode of "The Adventures of Pete & Pete" as Mrs. Krechmar, the nicest housewife in the world.
* Notably playing against type, Hearst played a crack-addicted prostitute on an episode of the comedic "Son of the Beach".
* Hearst's voice was used as a caller in the "Frasier" episode, Frasier Crane's Day Off in 1994.
* She appeared as Anthony Clark's mother on the sitcom "Boston Common".
* She appeared in an episode of "Veronica Mars" portraying Selma Hearst, the granddaughter of the founder of Hearst College and college board member, who had faked her own kidnapping. Although Hearst college is fictional, it strongly echoes the real Stanford family history, with the founder being a railroad tycoon rather than a media baron. Additionally, the kidnapping plot echoes Patty Hearst's real life kidnapping, when it turns out her on-air kidnapping was staged.

Bibliography

*cite book|last=Boulton|first=David|title=The Making of Tania Hearst|year=1975|publisher=New English Library|location=London|id=ISBN 0-450-02351-6
*cite book|last=Hearst|first=Patricia Campbell|coauthors=with Alvin Moscow|title=Patty Hearst: Her Own Story|year=1988|publisher=Avon|location=New York|id=ISBN 0-380-70651-2 First published in 1982 as "Every Secret Thing".
*cite book|last=McLellan|first=Vin|coauthors=and Paul Avery|title=The Voices of Guns: The Definitive and Dramatic Story of the Twenty-two-month Career of the Symbionese Liberation Army, One of the Most Bizarre Chapters in the History of the American Left|year=1977|publisher=Putnam|location=New York|id=ISBN 0-399-11738-5
*cite book|last=Weed|first=Steven|coauthors=with Scott Swanton|title=My Search for Patty Hearst|year=1976|publisher=Crown|location=New York|id=ISBN 0-517-52579-8

References

Fictional accounts

*cite book|last=Choi|first=Susan|authorlink=Susan Choi|title=American Woman|year=2003|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|id=ISBN 0-06-054221-7
*cite book|last=Sorrentino|first=Christopher|authorlink=Christopher Sorrentino|title=Trance|year=2005|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|location=New York|id=ISBN 0-374-27864-4
*cite book|last=Davis|first=Brian Joseph|authorlink=Brian Joseph Davis|title=I, Tania|year=2007|publisher=ECW Press|location=Toronto|id=ISBN 978-1550227826

External links

* [http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0201/22/lkl.00.html CNN Patty Hearst Interview Transcript]
* [http://www.who2.com/pattyhearst.html Who2? Bio]
* [http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/terrorists/hearst/1.html The story of Patty Hearst on Crime Library]
*imdb name|id=0372553|name=Patricia Hearst
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/index.html "Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst"] PBS web site

Persondata
NAME = Hearst, Patty
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Shaw, Patricia Hearst
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American newspaper heiress and occasional actress
DATE OF BIRTH = February 20, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH = San Francisco, California
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =