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Quick Facts
- NAME: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy
- BIRTH DATE: January 07, 1966
- DEATH DATE: July 16, 1999
- EDUCATION: Boston University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: White Plains, New York
- PLACE OF DEATH: Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
- AKA: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy
- Full Name: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy
- Maiden Name: Carolyn Bessette
Best Known For
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy married John F. Kennedy Jr. and was considered a trendsetter and fashion icon. She died in a small plane crash in 1999.
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John F. Kennedy, Jr - Full Biography
John F. Kennedy, Jr. was only three years old when his father, JFK, was assassinated. At the age of 38, he died after the plane he was piloting crashed near Martha's Vineyard.
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Play NowCarolyn Kennedy. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:08, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-9542176.
Carolyn Kennedy. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-9542176 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Carolyn Kennedy." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 12:08 http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-9542176.
"Carolyn Kennedy," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-9542176 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Carolyn Kennedy," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-9542176 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Carolyn Kennedy [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-9542176.
Carolyn Kennedy, http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-9542176 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Carolyn Kennedy. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-bessette-kennedy-9542176. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Synopsis
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was born on January 7, 1966, in White Plans, New York. She studied education in college, but worked in public relations for a nightclub. She later worked for Calvin Klein in Boston and New York, and married John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1996. Declared a trendsetter by the national press, Bessette was often compared to her late mother-in-law,
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, because of her fierce protection of her own (and Kennedy's) privacy, as well as her work for charitable causes. Bessette was killed, along with JFK Jr. and her sister, Lauren, when their small private plane, piloted by Kennedy, crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on July 16, 1999.
Early Life
Born in White Plains, New York, and voted "ultimate beautiful person" of her high school class of 1983, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy grew up in a wealthy corner of Connecticut, just outside of New York City, with her older sisters, twins Lisa and Lauren. Bessette moved to Connecticut with her mother and sisters at age 8 when her parents divorced. Her mother, a school administrator, remarried a prominent doctor.
After graduating from a Catholic high school, Bessette earned an undergraduate degree in education at Boston University. (She was the cover girl for the "Girls of BU" 1988 calendar.) Her first job after college was in public relations for a nightclub company in New England. She went to work at Calvin Klein's store in Boston and then transferred to the company's New York location.
Marriage to JFK Jr.
Six feet tall with long blonde hair, Bessette was linked with an assortment of men before John F. Kennedy Jr., including a Calvin Klein model, a pro hockey player and the heir to the Benetton fashion company fortune. She first met and spoke with John F. Kennedy Jr. when they were both running in Central Park; she impressed him with her beauty, intelligence and sincerity. Their fairy-tale marriage in 1996 took place in a 100-year-old, flower strewn chapel on a secluded island off the Georgian coast.
After her marriage to JFK Jr., or "John-John," as her husband was often affectionately called, Bessette was the focus of much media attention. Declared a trendsetter by the national press, she was often compared to her late mother-in-law, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, because of her fierce protection of her own (and Kennedy's) privacy, as well as her work for charitable causes.
Death in Plane Crash
John F. Kennedy Jr., Bessette and her sister, Lauren, were killed when their small private plane, piloted by Kennedy, crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on July 16, 1999. Nearly two years later, the parents of Carolyn and Lauren Bessette received a monetary settlement as a result of their wrongful death lawsuit against the Kennedy estate.
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View groupThere's no such thing as royalty in the United States, but if anyone has ever come close to that level, it's the Kennedy family. For 64 years, Washington had at least one Kennedy in public office. Descended from Irish Catholics who fled the potato famine, the family has a strong tradition in the Democratic party, the most prominent member being President John F. Kennedy. In addition to fame and political power, the Kennedy clan has had more than its fair share of tragedy—several members of the family have died in accidents and assassinations, in what's been called the "Kennedy curse."
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