Perle Mesta | |
|---|---|
 First Lady Bess Truman with Perle Mesta (center) and President Harry S. Truman in 1949 | |
| United States Ambassador to Luxembourg | |
| In office July 6, 1949 – April 13, 1953 | |
| President | Harry S Truman |
| Preceded by | Alan G. Kirk |
| Succeeded by | Wiley T. Buchanan Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Pearl Skirvin October 12, 1889 Sturgis, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | March 16, 1975 (aged 85) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (after 1940) Republican (before 1940) |
| Spouse | George Mesta |
Perle Reid Mesta (born Pearl Skirvin; October 12, 1889 – March 16, 1975) was an American socialite, political hostess, and United States ambassador to Luxembourg (1949–53).
Mesta was known for her lavish parties for Washington, D.C., society. Attendees included artists, entertainers and many national political figures.
She was the inspiration for Irving Berlin's musical Call Me Madam, which starred Ethel Merman as the character based on Mesta in both the Broadway play and the movie. She appeared on the March 14, 1949, cover of Time. She was the title character played by Shirley Booth in the Playhouse 90 feature "The Hostess with the Mostess" in 1957. In a 2009 essay by Thomas Mallon, Mesta has been identified as a model for the character Dolly Harrison in Allen Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent.[1]
- ^ "'Advise and Consent' at 50" by novelist Thomas Mallon, The New York Times Book Review, 6/25/09 (p. BR23 of 6/28/09 NY ed.). Retrieved 6/28/09.