Life and Career
She was born on February 19, 1920 in Boston, Massachusetts to Vivian Wessell and Alexander Lynde Cochrane, an investment banker. Her brother called her "Sissy" and she transformed that into "C.Z." She dabbled in acting, including an appearance in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1944.
On March 8, 1947, she married Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, the son of Frederick Guest, who was a son of Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne and Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill ( daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough) through his mother he was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill, also he was a national polo champion, member of the Guest family. Ernest Hemingway was best man at the wedding, which took place at Hemingway's home in Havana, Cuba. The couple had two children, Alexander Guest and Cornelia Guest. C. Z Guest was pictured on the cover of the July 20, 1962 issue of TIME magazine as part of an article on American society.
After a horse riding accident in 1976, Guest was asked by the New York Post to write a column on gardening. Her first book, First Garden, was illustrated by her friend Cecil Beaton. Other friends included Truman Capote, Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur, Barbara Hutton, Diana Vreeland, Cecil Beaton, Babe Paley and William S. Paley, Gloria Guinness and Thomas "Loel" Guinness and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor who were the godparents of their children.
Much photographed, she was also painted by Diego Rivera, Salvador Dalí, Kenneth Paul Block and Andy Warhol.
In 1985 she designed a small fashion collection consisting mainly of cashmere sweaters that was introduced at a show of the designer Adolfo Domínguez. In 1986, she expanded her design work to include a limited line of sportswear sold under license, and in 1990 she came out with a fragrant insect repellent and other garden merchandise.
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