Everything about Phyllis Fraser totally explained
Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner (
April 13,
1916 –
November 25,
2006) was an
American actress, journalist, and children's book publisher, and the co-founder of
Beginner Books.
Early life
She was born
Helen Brown Nichols in
Kansas City, Missouri. Her mother was Virginia Owens, daughter of Walter and Saphrona Owens, who were of Welsh ancestry. Her two maternal aunts were Jean Owens, wife of radio actor Vinton Hayworth (uncle of
Rita Hayworth), and Lela (Owens) McMath, mother of
Ginger Rogers.
Not long after her birth, her mother moved to
Oklahoma City, where Fraser resided until age 16.
Hollywood
At 16, she went to live with her aunt, Lela, and first cousin, Ginger, in California. There, Ginger thought up her new name and introduced her to the
Hollywood scene. Between 1932 and 1939, Phyllis Fraser appeared in several movies, most notably
Winds of the Wasteland (
1936) with
John Wayne, and
Little Men (
1934).
New York
In 1939, she abandoned Hollywood for New York City to pursue a career in advertising at
McCann Erickson. Soon after her arrival, she was introduced by
The New Yorker editor
Harold Ross to publishing magnate and
Random House co-founder (and future
What's My Line? panelist)
Bennett Cerf, whom she married on
17 September 1940. They had two sons,
Christopher Cerf, an author and composer-lyricist who has contributed numerous songs to
Sesame Street, and
Jonathan Cerf, the author of
Big Bird's Red Book and the 1980 world champion of
Othello, the board game.
She wrote
The ABC and Counting Book, a children's book, and co-founded
Beginner Books, which is the Random House imprint for young children, along with
Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel.
After Cerf's death on
17 August 1971, she married the former
New York City mayor
Robert F. Wagner, Jr. on
30 January 1975. They remained married until Wagner died on
12 February 1991. She lived for the last half of the twentieth century, with both husbands, in a five-floor, townhouse at 132 East 62nd Street. 'Despite an undistinguished façade,
Denning & Fourcade did the décor. “It’s cozy and grand at the same time, but not elaborately fussy.'"
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