Greater Astoria Historial Society 35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor | L.I.C., NY 11106 718.278.0700 | www.astorialic.org Gallery Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 2-5 PM Saturdays 12-5 PM Exhibits ~ Lectures ~ Documentaries ~ Books Walking Tours ~ Historical Research Unique & Creative Content For more information visit us on the web at www.astorialic.org This image adapted from an invitation to the Long Island City Athletics 33rd Annual Masque Ball, 1909. 32 november 2014 i LIC COURIER i www.queenscourier.com legends In 1925, the biggest story in Astoria was the tale of Mary Spas, a young girl of Bohemian ethnicity, whose age was given as between 16 and 18. The neighborhood around Steinway Street and 25th Avenue, Steiner with Lana Turner and Spencer Tracy on the set of “Cass Timberlane”(1947). Astoria was agog with the local Cinderella who was being adopted by Edward W. Browning, a Manhattan millionaire. Browning picked Mary after searching hundreds of photographs. She was described as having “golden Mary Pickford curls, wide Czech cheekbones and cheeks ruddy with health.” Her father, John Spas, approved the adoption. Things suddenly went sour. Mary’s beau, Emil Vesalek of 14th Street, came forward and told the press that he and Mary had planned to be married in June. Father John Spas suddenly had a change of heart and wanted her to return home. At this point the press reported that the girl’s mother, Marie Spas, had confessed that her daughter was in fact 21! Browning’s attorney entered into the fray by issuing a statement that, if the girl was found to be over 21, her rich fairy godfather would have to set aside the adoption. When Mary heard that Browning was in fact willing to invalidate her adoption, she cried hysterically that she would soon leave her sumptuous suite at the Kew Gardens Inn to soon return to her simple home in Astoria. Supposedly people in the street could hear her shriek, “I want to go to my mother!” Hoping to escape the growing media circus, Browning’s secretary, Robert Dunnet, moved young Mary to his Brooklyn home where she could be under the watchful eye of his wife. To no avail. A few days later the press gleefully reported “Cinderella” had been “kidnapped” from Browning’s home by a Manhattan newspaper reporter, who gave her a check that would be worth nearly $7,000 today. He offered to make her a movie queen if she would write the story of the time she spent with Browning. Browning reportedly retorted: “Never for a moment have I been in a room alone with Mary. I have refrained from doing anything that would compromise me.” The following day the adoption was annulled by Surrogate Daniel Noble in Jamaica. A crowd of 2,000 had gathered outside the courthouse. For days afterward the police had to clear a path through the crowd outside the Spas apartment to bring food to the family. Mary had refused offers by Broadway producers to appear in “Gay Paree” and George White’s “Scandals” for amounts that each exceeded a quarter million in today’s dollars. The papers further noted that Browning had sent Mary all of the expensive clothes and jewelry he had bought her, valued at about $250,000 today. Browning told reporters that he never expected to see Mary again. When this finery arrived at the Spas residence, Mary refused to accept it and sent it all back. Mary Spas faded into obscurity. But Edward Browning’s travails with women would continue to grab headlines for years to come. In 1926 he married buxom bathing beauty Frances “Peaches” Heenan, only to have her leave him within six months. In August 1933 Browning was booed by the audience when he donated a silver cup for a Coney Island beauty contest. LEGENDS OF LIC BY GREATER ASTORIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LEGENDS OF LIC
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