backstory: Who NEU?
Roy R. Neuberger was once Kitty Carlisle Hart’s “beau.”
(They were both in their 90s at the time and it was long after Roy’s beloved wife, Marie, had passed.)
From time to time, backstory will bring you insider tidbits— things you may not have known about the people, places, and moments that shaped the Neuberger Museum of Art and its history. Things that might make you say, “Huh, Who NEU?”
Earlier this week, the New York Times published an obituary for Anne Kaufman Schneider, who passed away at the age of 99 and was a longtime friend of Kitty’s. If you look closely at the photos in that piece about Schneider’s remarkable life, you’ll see her with Kitty at a Neuberger event back in 2000.
I remember being at the Neuberger gala several years later when we honored Kitty after she passed away. Roy was there, and we all watched a clip from A Night at the Opera, the 1935 black-and-white film in which Kitty played the “straight man” to the Marx Brothers’ antics.
Roy and Kitty spent many years as companions, and their shared love of the arts made them a natural pair. Kitty—an actress, singer, and champion of the arts—was a fixture in New York’s cultural scene, and Roy, as we know, was deeply devoted to supporting artists and museums. Their connection was just one of many ways that the Neuberger’s story intertwines with the larger world of art, music, and film.
Stay tuned for more “Who NEU?” discoveries in the weeks ahead.
Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director, Neuberger Museum of Art
