The Marriages of Sunny von Bulow
Although her nickname "Sunny" was said to come from her sunny disposition, Martha "Sunny" von Bulow's sunny disposition did not help her with her two unhappy marriages. Both marriages ended in divorce, although she was in a coma when her second husband divorced her.
Born:
Martha Sharp Crawford aka Sunny von Bulow: September 1, 1932 in Manassas, Virginia.
Died:
Sunny von Bulow: December 6, 2008 at the age of 76 in New York at the Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home.
According to her children, Sunny had been in a persistent vegetative state since December 21, 1980. The cause of her death was cardiopulmonary arrest.
Occupations:
Martha von Bulow: Heiress, philanthropist, socialite.
Children:
Sunny had three children and nine grandchildren.
Maureen Connelly: Her children "... after a long period of estrangement, are “reconciling and moving forward together as a family, because that is what their mother would have wanted.”
Source: Enid Nemy. "Sunny von Bulow, 76, Focus of Society Drama, Dies." NYTimes.com. 12/6/08.
Sunny's Marriage to Prince Alfred von Auersperg :
Alfred was born on July 20, 1936 in Salzburg, Austria. Sunny and Alfred met in Austria at Schloss Mittersell resort where he was working as a tennis pro. They married on July 20, 1957 and divorced eight years later in 1965. Alfred and Sunny had two children.
Alfred later married Hannelore Auer from 1968 through 1979.
He then married Beatrice kyd Edler von Rebenberg in 1979. They had one daughter in 1980.
Alfred died on June 19, 1992. He had been in a coma for nine years after an automobile accident in Austria in 1983.
"The pair [Alfi and Sunny] genuinely loved each other, but they were incompatible. Alfie had a roving eye. He flirted, he cheated, he generally did whatever he wanted. Sunny, on the other hand, was lonely for New York and upset with Alfie’s infidelities. The couple separated, having produced two children, Ala and Alexander, but throughout their lives, Alfie and Sunny remained friendly and cordial."
Source: "The Claus von Bulow Case." CrimeLibrary.com.
Sunny's Marriage to Claus von Bulow :
Claus Cecil Borberg aka Claus von Bulow was born in Cophenhagen, Denmark on August 11, 1926. He previously worked as an aide to J. Paul Getty, a barrister, and as a broker.
Sunny and Claus met in London at a dinner party when she was separated from Alfred. Claus and Sunny later married on June 6, 1966.
After Sunny fell into a coma, Claus von Bulow was convicted in 1982 of trying to murder Sunny by injecting her with insulin. "That verdict was thrown out on appeal, and he was acquitted at a second trial in 1985 ... Two years later, Claus von Bulow agreed to give up any claims to his wife's estimated $25 million-to-$40 million fortune and to the $120,000-a-year income of a trust she set up for him. He also agreed to divorce her, leave the country and never profit from their story."
Source: Verena Dobnik. "Sunny Von Bulow Dies After 28 Years In a Coma." HuffingtonPost.com. 12/6/08.
After divorcing Sunny in 1988, Claus von Bulow moved to London. A book was written about the von Bulow case and a movie was made based on the book.
Claus: "We started talking and spent a lot of time in argument and Sunny was, by now, very depressed. We discussed splitting up. I was trying to have a discreet separation which would not be known to the world, not known to our child [Cosima], to see whether Sunny would find it was better having me as a husband, because we had no other problems ... than the issue of work versus marriage."
Source: "The Claus von Bulow Case." CrimeLibrary.com.
They seemed a fairy-tale couple: rich, handsome, cultured. But shortly after the birth of their daughter, Cosima, the marriage began to disintegrate. Sunny's reclusiveness and von Bulow's lack of gainful employment were among the differences that eroded their relationship. Claus complained publicly about his dissatisfaction with his marriage and began an affair with a former soap opera actress, Alexandra Isles, in 1979."
Source: "Claus von Bulow." VonBulow.com.
Born:
Martha Sharp Crawford aka Sunny von Bulow: September 1, 1932 in Manassas, Virginia.
Died:
Sunny von Bulow: December 6, 2008 at the age of 76 in New York at the Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home.
According to her children, Sunny had been in a persistent vegetative state since December 21, 1980. The cause of her death was cardiopulmonary arrest.
Occupations:
Martha von Bulow: Heiress, philanthropist, socialite.
Children:
Sunny had three children and nine grandchildren.
Maureen Connelly: Her children "... after a long period of estrangement, are “reconciling and moving forward together as a family, because that is what their mother would have wanted.”
Source: Enid Nemy. "Sunny von Bulow, 76, Focus of Society Drama, Dies." NYTimes.com. 12/6/08.
- Annie-Laurie von Auersperg Kneissl Isham: Born in 1958.
- Alexander von Auersperg: Born in 1959.
- Cosima Iona von Bulow Pavoncelli: Born in 1967.
Sunny's Marriage to Prince Alfred von Auersperg :
Alfred was born on July 20, 1936 in Salzburg, Austria. Sunny and Alfred met in Austria at Schloss Mittersell resort where he was working as a tennis pro. They married on July 20, 1957 and divorced eight years later in 1965. Alfred and Sunny had two children.
Alfred later married Hannelore Auer from 1968 through 1979.
He then married Beatrice kyd Edler von Rebenberg in 1979. They had one daughter in 1980.
Alfred died on June 19, 1992. He had been in a coma for nine years after an automobile accident in Austria in 1983.
"The pair [Alfi and Sunny] genuinely loved each other, but they were incompatible. Alfie had a roving eye. He flirted, he cheated, he generally did whatever he wanted. Sunny, on the other hand, was lonely for New York and upset with Alfie’s infidelities. The couple separated, having produced two children, Ala and Alexander, but throughout their lives, Alfie and Sunny remained friendly and cordial."
Source: "The Claus von Bulow Case." CrimeLibrary.com.
Sunny's Marriage to Claus von Bulow :
Claus Cecil Borberg aka Claus von Bulow was born in Cophenhagen, Denmark on August 11, 1926. He previously worked as an aide to J. Paul Getty, a barrister, and as a broker.
Sunny and Claus met in London at a dinner party when she was separated from Alfred. Claus and Sunny later married on June 6, 1966.
After Sunny fell into a coma, Claus von Bulow was convicted in 1982 of trying to murder Sunny by injecting her with insulin. "That verdict was thrown out on appeal, and he was acquitted at a second trial in 1985 ... Two years later, Claus von Bulow agreed to give up any claims to his wife's estimated $25 million-to-$40 million fortune and to the $120,000-a-year income of a trust she set up for him. He also agreed to divorce her, leave the country and never profit from their story."
Source: Verena Dobnik. "Sunny Von Bulow Dies After 28 Years In a Coma." HuffingtonPost.com. 12/6/08.
After divorcing Sunny in 1988, Claus von Bulow moved to London. A book was written about the von Bulow case and a movie was made based on the book.
Book: Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bulow Case by Alan Dershowitz, 1986.
Movie: Reversal of Fortune, 1990.
Claus: "We started talking and spent a lot of time in argument and Sunny was, by now, very depressed. We discussed splitting up. I was trying to have a discreet separation which would not be known to the world, not known to our child [Cosima], to see whether Sunny would find it was better having me as a husband, because we had no other problems ... than the issue of work versus marriage."
Source: "The Claus von Bulow Case." CrimeLibrary.com.
They seemed a fairy-tale couple: rich, handsome, cultured. But shortly after the birth of their daughter, Cosima, the marriage began to disintegrate. Sunny's reclusiveness and von Bulow's lack of gainful employment were among the differences that eroded their relationship. Claus complained publicly about his dissatisfaction with his marriage and began an affair with a former soap opera actress, Alexandra Isles, in 1979."
Source: "Claus von Bulow." VonBulow.com.
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