Editing Clare Boothe Luce (section)

==Early life==
Luce was born Ann Clare Boothe in New York City on March 10, 1903, <!-- see talk page re birthdate --> the second child of Anna Clara Schneider (also known as Ann Snyder Murphy, Ann Boothe, and Ann Clare Austin) and William Franklin Boothe (also known as "John J. Murphy" and "Jord Murfe").<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;15–32.</ref> Her parents were not married and would separate in 1912. Her father, a sophisticated man and a brilliant violinist,<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;17–18, 152–53.</ref> instilled in his daughter a love of literature, if not of music, but had trouble holding a job and spent years as a traveling salesman. Parts of young Clare's childhood were spent in Memphis and [[Nashville, Tennessee]], [[Chicago, Illinois]], and [[Union City, New Jersey]] as well as [[New York City]].<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;29–42.</ref> Clare Boothe had an elder brother, David Franklin Boothe.

[[File:Clare Boothe Luce cph.3b02741.jpg|thumb|left|Clare Boothe as a young socialite in the 1920s]]
She attended the cathedral schools in [[Garden City, New York|Garden City]] and [[Tarrytown, New York]], graduating first in her class in 1919 at 16.<ref>{{cite book |title=Clare Boothe Luce, Author and Diplomat |first=Joseph |last=Lyons |publisher=[[Chelsea House]] |year=1989 |page=26}}</ref> Her ambitious mother's initial plan for her was to become an actress. Clare understudied [[Mary Pickford]] on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] at age 10, and had her Broadway debut in Mrs. Henry B. Harris' production of "The Dummy" in 1914, a detective comedy. She then had a small part in Thomas Edison's 1915 movie, ''The Heart of a Waif''.<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;49–52.</ref> After a tour of Europe with her mother and stepfather, [[Dr. Albert E. Austin]], whom Ann Boothe married in 1919, she became interested in the [[women's suffrage]] movement, and she was hired by [[Alva Belmont]] to work for the [[National Woman's Party]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] and [[Seneca Falls, New York]].<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;110–14, 120–21.</ref>

She wed [[George Tuttle Brokaw]], millionaire heir to a New York clothing fortune, on August 10, 1923, at the age of 20. They had one daughter, Ann Clare Brokaw (1924–1944) who was killed in a car accident. According to Boothe, Brokaw was a hopeless [[alcoholic]], and the marriage ended in divorce on May 20, 1929.<ref>Morris 1997, pp.&nbsp;130–31, 146–48.</ref>

On November 23, 1935, she married [[Henry Luce]], the publisher of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', and ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''. She thereafter called herself Clare Boothe Luce, a frequently misspelled name that was often confused with that of her exact contemporary [[Claire Luce]], a stage and film actress. As a professional writer, Luce continued to use her maiden name.

In 1939 she commissioned [[Frida Kahlo]] to paint a portrait of the late [[Dorothy Hale]]. Kahlo produced ''[[Dorothy Hale#Frida Kahlo painting|The Suicide Of Dorothy Hale]]''. Luce was appalled and almost destroyed it; however, [[Isamu Noguchi]] dissuaded her. Luce later anonymously donated the painting to the [[Phoenix Art Museum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herrera |first=Hayden |title=Frida, a biography of Frida Kahlo |date=1983 |publisher=Harper and Row |isbn=978-0-06-011843-3 |location=New York |page=290 (footnote)}}</ref>

On January 11, 1944, her only child, Ann Clare Brokaw, a 19-year-old senior at [[Stanford University]], was killed in an automobile accident.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/12/archives/ann-brokaw-dies-in-auto-collision-daughter-of-clare-boothe-luce.html "Ann Brokaw Dies in Auto Collision"], ''The New York Times'', January 12, 1944. Accessed August 2, 2009.</ref> As a result of the tragedy, Luce explored [[psychotherapy]] and religion. After grief counseling with Bishop [[Fulton Sheen]], she was received into the [[Catholic Church]] in 1946.<ref>''The New York Times'', February 17, 1946.</ref> She became an ardent essayist and lecturer in celebration of her faith, and she was ultimately honored by being named a [[Dame of Malta]]. As a memorial to her daughter, beginning in 1949 she funded the construction of a Catholic church in [[Palo Alto]] for use by the Stanford campus ministry. The new Saint Ann Chapel was dedicated in 1951. It was sold by the diocese in 1998 and in 2003 became a church of the [[Anglican Province of Christ the King]].<ref name="A Spiritual Home Finds Salvation">[http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2003/julaug/show/heritage.html "A Spiritual Home Finds Salvation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402034813/http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2003/julaug/show/heritage.html |date=April 2, 2012 }}, ''[[Stanford Magazine]]'', July/August 2006. Accessed August 2, 2009.  Ann Brokaw graduated cum laude from [[Foxcroft School]] in Middleburg, Virginia at the age of 17 and went to Stanford University as a way to see the western United States. {{cite book | last = Hatch, Alden | author-link = Alden R. Hatch | title = Ambassador Extraordinary | publisher = Holt and Company | year = 1956 | location = New York | url = https://archive.org/stream/ambassadorextrao017753mbp/ambassadorextrao017753mbp_djvu.txt }}  While at Stanford she was a member of the [[Kappa Kappa Gamma]] sorority.</ref>