Search: beatrice wood
Why: Dana told me she was said to have inspired the character Catherine in the novel and film Jules & Jim.
Answer: An artist and studio potter who late in life was dubbed the "Mama of Dada." While working as a stage actress in New York, she met artist Marcel Duchamp, who introduced her to her first great love interest, journalist Henri-Pierre Roché. She worked with Duchamp and Roché in the 1910s to create The Blind Man, a magazine that was one of the earliest manifestations of the Dada art movement in New York. Though she was involved with Roché, the two would often spend time with Duchamp, creating a love triangle. Biographies of Wood traditionally link Roché's novel (and the consequent film), Jules et Jim, with the relationship between Duchamp, Wood, and himself.
In her early 40s, she enrolled in a ceramics class at Hollywood High School because she wanted to make a teapot to match some plates she found. This hobby turned into a passion that would last 60 years, as she developed a unique form of luster-glaze technique.
When asked the secret to her longevity, she responded, "I owe it all to chocolate and young men."
Source: Wikipedia
The More You Know: Beatrice Wood died in 1998 in Ojai, CA, nine days after her 105th birthday. In addition to inspiring Roché, she also served as a partial inspiration for the character of old Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic. She even drew nudes!
