In the 1950s the April in Paris Ball was one of the main events of the New York social season. The 1957 edition took place at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, and it attracted 1,300 guests who each paid $100—more than $1,100 in today’s dollars—to attend, with the money going to French and American charities. Women wore dresses specially designed for the event. The 1957 ball featured a reenactment of Marquis du Lafayette’s reception in New York in 1824—he was the last surviving general of the Revolutionary War—complete with two horses pulling a carriage through the hotel ballroom.
LIFE’s coverage focused on the spectacle, the charity and the famous guests, which included Marilyn Monroe and her husband of nearly a year at that point, playwright Arthur Miller (see photos of their wedding day here). John F. Kennedy, who was at that time a U.S. senator, also came to the gala, with wife Jackie. In hindsight Marilyn and JFK being in the same room is notable because the two reportedly had an affair when Kennedy was president.
But at the time of the ball Monroe’s presence stirred intrigue because the actress may have been an unwitting pawn in a high-society feud.
The organizer of the April in Paris Ball was Elsa Maxwell, who had a well-developed grudge with the Duchess of Windsor, another one of the attendees. As reported by the Times-Standard newspaper, Maxwell invited Monroe with the idea of upstaging the Duchess of Windsor, who was the honorary chair of the event and the supposed star of the evening. That star status apparently dimmed when Monroe showed up fashionably late and immediately became the center of attention. “More than 30 photographers abandoned the Duchess’ table in a body,” the newspaper reported. “They were followed at a pace only slightly more sedate by some of New York’s upper crust society dowagers, waving programs for autographs.”
Among those photographers with their lens on Monroe was LIFE’s Peter Stackpole, who captured the actress chatting and dancing with Miller and also talking to Winthop Aldrich, a banker who was coming off a four-year stint as ambassador the United Kingdom. Monroe looked both glamorous and delighted with her company.
While it is entirely unfair to read too much into a single still photo taken during an hours-long party, the one photo of Stackpole’s which included the Duchess of Windsor was not nearly as festive.
The April in Paris Ball continued as a major New York social event until its last edition in 1979. After that the American Friends of the Louvre picked up the mantle, staging its own April in Paris Ball and keeping the tradition alive.
During the 1957 April in Paris Ball held at the Waldorf Astoria, Lafayette’s visit to New York in 1824 was recreated with horse and buggy.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
About 1,300 people attended the April in Paris Ball, which celebrated French-American relations and raised money for charity, New York City, 1957.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Marilyn Monroe and her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, shared a laugh at the April in Paris Ball at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, 1957.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Marilyn Monroe with Winthrop Aldrich, a banker who had just completed a four-year term as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, during the April in Paris ball at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 1957. At the far right is playwright Arthur Miller, who was Monroe’s husband.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Marilyn Monroe spoke with Winthrop Aldrich, a banker who had just completed a four-year term as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, during the April in Paris ball at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 1957.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The head table at the April in Paris Ball, held at the Waldorf Astoria, included (from left) American socialite Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, French Ambassador to the United States Herve Alphand, Chairman of the Ball Rosemary Warburton Gaynor, Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor, and Mrs George Baker, 1957.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Marilyn Monroe and her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, were centers of attention at the April in Paris Ball at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, 1957.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Marilyn Monroe and her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, were centers of attention at the April in Paris Ball at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, 1957.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Marilyn Monroe danced with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, at the April in Paris Ball held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City, 1957.
Peter Stackpole/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
