Historical records matching Joseph Russell Levy
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About Joseph Russell Levy
Paulette Goddard was the daughter of Joseph Russell Levy (1881–1954), the son of a prosperous cigar manufacturer from Salt Lake City, and Alta Mae Goddard (1887–1983). Her father was Jewish, her mother Episcopalian of English ancestry. They married in 1908 and separated while their daughter was very young, although the divorce did not become final until 1926. According to Goddard, her father left them, but according to J. R. Levy, Alta absconded with the child. Goddard was raised by her mother, and did not meet her father again until the late 1930s, after she had become famous.
In a 1938 interview published in Collier's, Goddard claimed Levy was not her biological father.] In response, Levy filed a suit against his daughter, claiming that the interview had ruined his reputation and cost him his job, and demanded financial support from her. In a December 17, 1945, article written by Oliver Jensen in Life, Goddard admitted to having lost the case and being forced to pay her father $35 a week.
To avoid a custody battle, she and her mother moved often during her childhood, even relocating to Canada at one point. Goddard began modeling at an early age to support her mother and herself, working for Saks Fifth Avenue, Hattie Carnegie, and others.
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Joseph Russell Levy's Timeline
| 1881 |
1881
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| 1910 |
June 3, 1910
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Whitestone Landing, Queens, New York, United States
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| 1954 |
1954
Age 73
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