Fernande Grudet, Brothel Owner Known as Madame Claude, Dies at 92 (JFK's madame)

NY Times ^ | DEC. 23, 2015 | WILLIAM GRIMES

[TroutStalker]

Fernande Grudet, who under the name Madame Claude operated a deluxe call-girl ring in Paris in the 1960s and ‘70s that attracted the patronage of world leaders, business executives and playboys and made her a byword for sophisticated sex, died on Saturday in Nice. She was 92.

*

“Two things in life sell,” she once said. “Food and sex. And I was not meant to be a chef.”

Precisely how she built her business remains a mystery, despite two memoirs, larded with colorful and eminently uncheckable stories. But build it she did, grooming a finishing school’s worth of beautiful young women, many of them foreign, from the fringes of the film and fashion worlds, with a sprinkling of students looking for extra cash and housewives looking for adventure, in the manner of Catherine Deneuve in “Belle de Jour.”

Ms. Grudet zeroed in on “failed models and actresses, the ones who just missed the cut,” the high-society columnist Taki Theodoracopulos told William Stadiem, who spent many years interviewing Madame Claude for a book that never materialized but that did yield an article for Vanity Fair last year. “But just because they failed in these impossible professions didn’t mean they weren’t beautiful, fabulous,” Mr. Theodoracopulos said.

Ms. Grudet liked to call her charges “swans”; clients referred to them as “Claude girls.” The term prostitute, she once said, “was revolting and denigrating.”

She was choosy: Only one in 20 candidates made the grade. Requirements included beauty — plastic surgery could be arranged — poise and a familiarity with history, literature and current events. Also, talent in bed. This was assessed by Ms. Grudet’s testers, male acquaintances who took candidates for a trial run and reported back to her.

[TroutStalker]

Her wealthy clientele included not only political figures, but also members of the Mafia, and her status as an informant to the police ensured she was protected. Her address book, Grudet claimed, had included the names of the Shah of Iran, John F. Kennedy, and Gianni Agnelli, the one-time head of Fiat.

[GunsareOK]

What exactly is sophisticated sex?

[SaveFerris]

Cleaning supplies.....and gum.

[treetopsandroofs]

“What exactly is sophisticated sex?”

I’m guessing “No questions asked (or answered)”.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Is sophisticated sex referring to his she wanted the girls educated in history and culture and current events? So as to be proper companions to the men?

Or to minimize the sexual aspect of things, so as not to admit that the men were mainky seeking sex??

[treetopsandroofs]

Or better yet, now that I’ve read more, “Whatever You Desire”, a la LA Confidential.

[TroutStalker]

What exactly is sophisticated sex?

You talk about foreign policy while undressing?

[iowamark]

Apparently, she made a lot of money, but wound up penniless and in prison.

[MrEdd]

Prostitution is usually that way.

[erkelly]

Or does sophisticated sex mean kinky sex?

[bajabaja]

Just like Heidi Fliess, without the parrots.

[Chode]

high priced...

[llevrok]

Sophisticated sex (for sale) is like politics. Only less slimey.

[Bigg Red]

I would assume that she is in a very warm place tonight.

[who knows what evil?]

She can say ‘Hi!’ to all the Kennedy clan when she gets there...

[Disambiguator]

Also, talent in bed. This was assessed by Ms. Grudet's testers, male acquaintances who took candidates for a trial run and reported back to her.

Nice work, if you can get it. :^)

[cherry]

I assume hell has a new soul.....

you can call lipstick on a pig anything you want, but its still a pig...

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

And the NYT celebrates this! This is a pattern for the future.

No marriage in the new socialist paradise. All women will be reduced to the equivalent of Claude’s girls.

Forward!