“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” is a statement from the Holy Bible’s Book of Ecclesiastes. New York socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein, widely known both for her embrace of extreme plastic surgery and record divorce settlement, has died after a life that seemingly embraced that credo.
The Switzerland-born 84-year-old – who was nicknamed “Catwoman” by her detractors because she had her numerous procedures done in the aim of looking feline – suffered a pulmonary embolism and passed away in a palace in Paris on Tuesday, according to local reports.
“Her partner Lloyd Klein is saddened to announce the death of Jocelyn Wildenstein in Paris,” according to AFP.
Fille/Socialite Jocelyne Wildenstein poses for a picture February 10, 1999 in New York City. Wildenstein is the wife of wealthy art dealer Alec Wildenstein. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Liasion)
Born Jocelyne Périsset in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1940 she eloped in 1977 with art dealer Alec Wildenstein. They shared two children, Diane and Alec Jr.
The couple split in 1997 in a headline-making divorce that was finalized two years later. She kept his name in the years since.
Tabloids dubbed her “The Bride of Wildenstein” and “Catwoman” because of her cosmetic odyssey and surgically-altered appearance, People reports.
Alec, who died in 2008, ultimately paid his ex-wife $2.5 billion as well as $100 million annually to settle the divorce.
File/Amanda Lepore and Jocelyn Wildenstein attend as Honey Birdette celebrates Halloween at Bartschland on October 28, 2021 in New York City. ( Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Honey Birdette)
During their divorce, Jocelyn claimed she had undergone so many cosmetic procedures because of her husband, who she said “hates to be with old people.” But she also denied her feline-like features were all because of plastic surgery.
She told Vanity Fair in 1998, “The lynx has perfect eyes. If I show you pictures of my grandmother, what you see is these eyes — cat eyes — and high cheekbones.” She also told the outlet she spent $1 million every month to maintain the family’s lifestyle.
Alec had a different perspective about her surgeries, claiming to the outlet, “I would always find out last. She was thinking that she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin does not work that way. But she wouldn’t listen.”
CNN reports much of Wildenstein’s life remains a mystery wrapped inside a myth: her true age, the origins of her feline looks, where all her money really went.
She’d promised to tell more of her story in an HBO series that she claimed would air in 2023, but the project has yet to materialize, not that it seemed to matter to her.
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