January 5

 

Military Maneuvers:

I like a man in uniform:

Dashing Young Irish Soldier

With Celebrity Connections

Ancestor of Celebrity Journalist Ronan Farrow

Seventeen-year-old Second Lieutenant Edward Francis Frazer, pictured above in 1904 as a young Irish member of the British Royal Field Artillery, was born in China in 1887 and later attended Aravon boarding school in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.

His Royal Field Artillery helmet is of the new uniform design adopted in 1902. Edward went on to serve in Africa during World War I, receiving a “Nigeria 1918” clasp for his service. Fortunately, he survived the war, but his brother John died in the first Battle of the Aisne (France), September, 1914.

Edward was an uncle of Hollywood film star Maureen O’Sullivan, famous for playing Jane alongside Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan films of the 1930s and 40s. Edward’s sister Mary Frazer was Maureen’s mother. Maureen O’Sullivan’s first husband was John Farrow and among their seven children was actress Mia Farrow, making Edward her granduncle. An extended family of in-laws of Mia Farrow meant Edward was also related to Mia’s celebrity husbands Frank Sinatra and Woody Allen, not to mention Andre Previn. 

More importantly, Edward is the great-granduncle of Mia’s son Ronan Farrow, the openly gay journalist and author of the current best-selling book Catch and Kill that investigates the coverup of abuse allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The term “Catch and Kill” refers to a technique by which disreputable media companies purchase stories and subsequently bury them, thus preventing publication of damaging material. 

Responding to comments of Ronan's physical resemblance to Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow states that Ronan’s father could be either Woody Allen or Frank Sinatra, since her sexual relationship with Sinatra did not end upon her marriage to Woody Allen. On a less salacious note, it should be noted that Ronan also held positions in the Obama administration and the office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

I intend to write a blog post about Ronan in the near future,

so stay tuned.