Everything about Patricia Hearst totally explained
Patricia Campbell Hearst (born
February 20,
1954), now known as
Patricia Hearst Shaw, is an
American newspaper
heiress 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. She currently lives on Upper Station Road in Garrison, New York.
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.) In early April 1974, Hearst announced on an audiotape that she'd joined the SLA and assumed the name "Tania" (inspired by the
nom de guerre of
Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider,
Che Guevara's comrade).
On
April 15,
1974, she was photographed wielding an assault rifle 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."
A little known fact about Hearst is that before her arrest, Marianne Tavare (now Simpson) was thought to have been Hearst. One day while Simpson was out at lunch from work, an anonymous tip came in that someone had spotted Hearst (Simpson) at a gas station, and followed her to her work, where the police showed up to arrest her. They only found a room full of frightened bank tellers.
In her trial, which commenced on
January 15,
1976, Hearst's attorney,
F. Lee Bailey, claimed that she'd 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'd 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, Hearst married her former bodyguard, Bernard Shaw. She now lives with her husband and two daughters in
Wilton, Connecticut.
Hearst's daughters are model
Lydia Hearst-Shaw and Gillian Hearst-Shaw. 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.
Documentaries about Hearst
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.
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
First published in 1982 as Every Secret Thing.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Patricia Hearst'.
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