Brooke Astor: New York Philanthropist and Socialite Dies at 105

Brooke Astor was an American philanthropist and socialite who gave away much of a fortune she inherited from her third husband, Vincent Astor. Born Roberta Brooke Russell on March 30, 1902, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, she grew up partly in China and Washington.

She led the Vincent Astor Foundation for decades, giving away nearly $200 million to the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and neighborhood projects such as parks and playgrounds. She wrote novels and a memoir and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

Astor was widely known as the grande dame of New York society. She died at her estate in Briarcliff Manor, New York, on August 13, 2007, at age 105.

Achievements: Presidential Medal of Freedom (1998), gave away nearly $200 million.

Birth: March 30, 1902 - Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Profession: Philanthropist.

Interesting Facts: She was married three times.