Whitney Sudler-Smith: Dilettante Buffoon

[pasdetrois]

Babyfoot I asked those questions over on TWOP during the first season. I did a lot of Googling and came up with very little, other than the Serena connection and the fact that Patricia is originally from Virginia. Probably NYC socialites know the scoop.

 

I used to work for a SC Member of Congress ("vote early and vote often"), so I was also interested in Kathryn and Thomas. Kathryn had/has a champion online - I'm too lazy to find the sites again - but there was an admirer who was trumpeting her as the Next Great Thing. Maybe it's the same guy who we saw helping establish Thomas' campaign.

Edited April 11, 2015 by pasdetrois

[wovenloaf]

Until the past 40 years or so, Whitney was actually considered to be a boy's name. Then for whatever reason people kind of simultaneously stopped naming boys that and started naming girls that, so we think of it as a girl's name now.

[link417]

My sister was here today, watching the recording of this week's episode. When she saw the picture of young Whitney, she said, "OMG, he looks like that Omen kid, Damien!"

 

Thank you!  When I saw his childhood photo I immediately thought of evil/undead Gage from Pet Sematary, so now I don't feel like such an asshole.

[Babyfoot]

Pasdestois, I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one who a fruitlessly searched Google on the Sudler-Smith/Altschul family tree. I just find it odd that it's so hard to find any backstory on them online in this day and age. That sounds creepy stalkerish, doesn't it?

I want a picture of Whitney holding that footlong wiener and dancing from Thomas's dancing girl ad as my avatar.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Babyfoot

[MissMel]

I'm not great with links, and I'm even worse with pictures, but TamaraTattles has a new Whitney article up. There is a picture of him that is, well, disturbing. Chuckie and Chuckie's Bride dolls are included. It's very weird.

[cooksdelight]

I want to know why he's wiping clean any mention anywhere of his father?

http://tamaratattles.com/2015/04/15/would-you-like-some-whitney-sudler-smith-tea/

This quote from the comment section below the article bears repeating, over and over and over!

He’s a tedious turd. His mother is a hoot and should have own show following Crissley. I love her! He reminds me of the face I make when my dog drags his butt across the lawn.

[RedHawk]

I just find it pathetic that Whitney has so little going on in his life -- aside from "dating" a supermodel and appearing in European tabloids -- that he has to get his kicks by antagonizing a 23-year-old new mommy. Path-et-ick!

 

Talk about someone who needs to "do something with his life".

 

And I'm tired of Patricia. Keep hoping for those grandkids, Drunkie-O!

Edited April 16, 2015 by RedHawk

[Alison]

One of the commenters on that article compared Whitney and Drunkie-O to Buster and Lucille on Arrested Development....that's spot-on.

[Alison]

This is a very interesting read on Drunkie-O, husband collector and antique stealer:
http://tamaratattles.com/2015/04/14/the-tea-about-patricia-altschul/#more-15264

[cooksdelight]

I had to laugh when I read Suzanne Cooke's name as being the one quoted about Patricia. That woman is a piece of work herself. I crossed paths with her when I lived in Richmond and had friends in No. VA who I'd visit for various horse events.

Now I really want to know more about Lon Hayes Smith.

[scrb]

I think the feud with Katherine is something they're playing up for the show ...

[JenE4]

This is a very interesting read on Drunkie-O, husband collector and antique stealer:

http://tamaratattles.com/2015/04/14/the-tea-about-patricia-altschul/#more-15264

Ooh! Alison, that is a juicy story! Thanks for posting it!

[pasdetrois]

I knew she was a carpetbagger. Apparently she's also a thief. I am not surprised.

 

I've lived in the DC area for decades and never heard of Patricia when she lived here. Suzanne Kent Cooke, however, who is quoted in the articles, is infamous locally. She married the owner of the Redskins and then shamelessly pushed for money for a very long time. Her criticizing Patricia is fundamentally the pot calling the kettle black.

[RedHawk]

Pat Altschul! Yes, I know that name from old DC gossip columns. 

[ChippedLaps]

Some interesting info on Patricia and Whitney (I apologize if this has been posted before)

Whitney's father Lon Hayes Smith

http://okhereisthesituation.com/2015/04/whitney-sudler-smiths-father/

Here's a pic of the father (I'm assuming he's last on the right)

http://www.stardem.com/news/article_dbcb5b9b-b99d-56d2-8d95-2beed94db1c5.html

And here's a little info on Patricia and her husbands.  I'm not sure if the black and white photo is Whitney's father or Whitney!?

http://okhereisthesituation.com/2015/04/patricia-altschul-southern-charm-2015-bio-photos-twitter-age/

[cooksdelight]

Whitney is a dead-ringer for his dad.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Except his dad looks like a lovely, charming man and not a dilettante buffoon!

[jonesingjay]

And here's a little info on Patricia and her husbands.  I'm not sure if the black and white photo is Whitney's father or Whitney!?

http://okhereisthesituation.com/2015/04/patricia-altschul-southern-charm-2015-bio-photos-twitter-age/

 

That's Whitney.

[Albanyguy]

If Whitney's father's name is Smith, his mother's name was Dey and his stepfathers' names were Fleming and Altschul, where does the "Sudler-Smith" come from? Since it doesn't sound like it was his surname through birth or adoption, I'm guessing that 'Sudler" is a name from somewhere in the family that Pat (or possibly Whitney himself) hyphenated with "Smith" in order to make it sound more aristocratic.

[cooksdelight]

"Sudler" is German for "to soil"... HAHA! Maybe ol' Whitney needs to brush up on his foreign language skills.

[arejay]

The black & white photo is Whit's Dad. Look how young Patricia is.

[fliptopbox]

If Whitney's father's name is Smith, his mother's name was Dey and his stepfathers' names were Fleming and Altschul, where does the "Sudler-Smith" come from? Since it doesn't sound like it was his surname through birth or adoption, I'm guessing that 'Sudler" is a name from somewhere in the family that Pat (or possibly Whitney himself) hyphenated with "Smith" in order to make it sound more aristocratic.

I wondered that too. I could easily buy that Whitney's surname was his own creation, possibly with help from a publicist, to make himself stand out.

[cooksdelight]

We need to get Andy to ask him that if he's ever on WWHL. I want to know where there's a Sudler in his lineage.

Whitney Smith just doesn't have the same ring to it, I'll admit. I once knew someone who changed his last name to a hyphenated one, neither name had anything to do with his family. He was trying very hard to sound like he was related to royalty somewhere.

[walnutqueen]

My stepdad had a hyphenated name.  We even visited a distant relative from the first half of that name's lineage, and saw the family tree that went back to Shakespeare and the Lord Mayor of London or some such rot.  Stepdad had a gold ring made of the "family crest" for my half brother.  Decades later, I met my stepdad's half brother, who asked me where the hell the first part of the name came from, because they'd never heard of it!  He also told me my stepdad's nickname was "Pisser Max" (pisser being the Aussie slang for liar).  Didn't surprise me a bit; stepdad was a pathological liar!   :-)

 

I laughed at Whitney throwing shade at notSandyDuncan, like he's some political campaign wizard because he lived in D.C. or something.

Edited April 22, 2015 by walnutqueen

[fliptopbox]

Well if Andy has him on the show one of us is going to have to call in and ask. I have no idea how that works though. But, if I listen to a friend of  mine, apparently they film earlier in the day and that's when the callers are taken. A guy I know has called in numerous times and been on the air, but he always talks about it the day beforehand like it's already been taped.

[cooksdelight]

I've been a caller twice, with Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men, and NeNe Leakes of RHoATL.

Here's how it works: They will sometimes post on their Facebook page that they want you to message them via FB with your question and phone number. That's how I got in. They called me back in the afternoon and went over my question and explained how things work. Then, at 9 pm when they are taping they call me back and put me on hold. Andy picks up and says "Hi caller, what's your question, blah blah blah..."

Other nights, it's live and they will ask you to Tweet Andy with a question. I'm not sure how that one works. Other times they'll show the number and ask you to call. Believe me, if I ever see Whitney is going to be on, I'll be on the phone trying to get through.

[Lola16]

Thanks to the person who mentioned Whitney's documentary on Netflix - Halston. It was fabulous and weird all at the same time. Whitney was Whitney as we see him today. When Whitney makes himself the star of the documentary, you know it has to be "good". His hair color changes frequently and his interview skills and research on the topic were terrible but in a "good" way. My favorite part was when he was interviewing Andre Leon Talley and his cell phone rang with the ringtone of Dixie and had no idea why Andre was pissed. lol

 

I found this old NY Times article on the documentary.  Of course, his mother got him the interviews!

 

 

His mother and her third husband, the financier Arthur G. Altschul, later gave parties at their art-filled Fifth Avenue apartment featuring members of the Halston circle like Bob Colacello and André Leon Talley. Several of those friends appear in the film.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/fashion/29Close.html?_r=0

[fliptopbox]

I dunno if it's been discussed already, but why is Whitney's documentary called Halston? Is that some designer or something?

[cooksdelight]

Yes, Halston was a designer to the stars at one time, back in the 70s. Born in Des Moines, IA of all places.

http://www.biography.com/people/halston-20672697

[fliptopbox]

I knew it sounded familiar. Sort of. I wouldn't be surprised if Halston is part of any of Bret Easton Ellis's books. The timeframe sounds right, so it's possible. Most of his books are set in the 80's and were full of name dropping of all kinds.

[OnceSane]

Whitney being butt hurt that TRav doesn't want to use his commercials anymore made me laugh.

[fliptopbox]

Watching Whitney's documentary now. So far all the music sounds like that bow-chicka-wowow porno music from the 70's....and Whitney as a blonde? Blech!!! I'm also seeing that he doesn't seem to know how to use any other scene wipe but the slide. Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer makes a video and it's all "star wipes" between scenes. Or was that Family Guy? Shit, I don't remember. Hahaha.

 

I also notice he referred to himself as just "Whitney Smith"....and of course Pats makes an appearance within the first 15mins.

 

And why are the camera angles so low? Seems like most of the takes are ass level, but looking up. WTF?

Edited April 22, 2015 by fliptopbox

[jumper sage]

Because for 2.2 mil you get Whitneys own camera sitting on a table.

[jonesingjay]

The black & white photo is Whit's Dad. Look how young Patricia is.

 

I'm pretty sure that's Whitney or he's his own father. These are from Whitney's Bravo photo page. Either way, he looks like he could be the inspiration for Patrick Bateman.

 

 

Edited April 22, 2015 by jonesingjay

[zenme]

Those appear to be both pics of Whit.

[Cheetosandchoc]

          With all the plastic surgery and injections Whitney and his mom look like they could be married and the same age. so weird. Pat looks like she sold her soul to the Devil for eternal youth. While watching this show I came up with a story about her actually being 700 years old, and she kidnaps young beautiful women, keeps them in her basement and drains their youth and beauty from them leaving them shriveled corpses. She needs to do this every full moon or she ends up looking like the Crypt keeper.

[RedHawk]

While watching this show I came up with a story about her actually being 700 years old, and she kidnaps young beautiful women, keeps them in her basement and drains their youth and beauty from them leaving them shriveled corpses. She needs to do this every full moon or she ends up looking like the Crypt keeper.

 

 

That's where all her animals come from -- she keeps her victims' pets!

 

I think Whitney looks every minute of 47. Thomas doesn't look bad for 52.

[jonesingjay]

Those appear to be both pics of Whit.

 

Exactly.

[cooksdelight]

Well, I was fooled into thinking that was his father. I still want to know where the man is, photos, etc.

[SweetCaroline]

That picture of Whit and Pat just screams Norman Bates to me.

[JenE4]

That's where all her animals come from -- she keeps her victims' pets!

 

I think Whitney looks every minute of 47. Thomas doesn't look bad for 52.

 

Ah! And all of the Anne Taylor clothes strewn about!

 

Whitney is ridiculously botoxed. Watching these Bravo shows has definitely been a "just say no to botox " public service announcement to me. It's like the first dosage, you might think, Oh, this Bravolebrity looks refreshed, but then by the next season, it's Dear lord, what happened to this person's face?!?!

 

I agree that T-Rav looks great! I had a bit of a crush on him last season, but, damn, he ruined it with his personality (or lack thereof) this season! Still looking good, though!

[RedHawk]

Whitney's "While in Europe my interests are numerous, and varied" cracked me up! Even he realized how pretentious it sounded, and yet even as he was laughing at himself I could see he was thinking it made him look so superior to the rest of us commoners, who do not regularly get invitations to parties at Blenheim Palace.

([raising nose in air] Which if memory serves was one of the first of the Great Houses to go commercial and invite hordes of unwashed tourists to vi$it.) So, not everyone watching is as impressed as he imagines we are. And that makes it even more fun!

 

Yes, you were to the manor born Whitney, and you party with Churchills. The thing is that he's clearly still a little rich boy inside. He almost threw a tantrum over being gently let go from his "campaign ad director" position. In those scenes Thomas came across as so much more of an adult man than Whitney. Whatever Thomas' screwups, he did win an election and serve as the State Treasurer for a time. What has Whitney accomplished? All it takes is money to make a film and have it shown it at some festivals. He's not had any real success in his music or film endeavors -- unless of course you count this show, so I concede there's that. Probably because he knew he didn't really have to try, or was afraid to really try and fail. Shep in comparison is mature and generally unpretentious. I'm sure he'd be a lot more fun at a Great House party and pheasant hunt as well!

[MyAimIsTrue]

Whitney's "While in Europe my interests are numerous, and varied" cracked me up! Even he realized how pretentious it sounded, and yet even as he was laughing at himself I could see he was thinking it made him look so superior to the rest of us commoners, who do not regularly get invitations to parties at Blenheim Palace.

([raising nose in air] Which if memory serves was one of the first of the Great Houses to go commercial and invite hordes of unwashed tourists to vi$it.) So, not everyone watching is as impressed as he imagines we are. And that makes it even more fun!

 

Proud to say that this commoner has been to Blenheim Palace.  Unfortunately it was not by invitation as I had to pay to get in. 

[cooksdelight]

My sister is going with me on the Charleston road trip in a couple of weeks. She informed me she's bringing a huge crucifix in case we run into Whitney. :)

[ScoobieDoobs]

I think Whitney looks every minute of 47. Thomas doesn't look bad for 52.

 

 

The dark hair dye is catching up with Whit & making him look so haggard.  Thomas?  Wait a few short years.  The decades of booze is gonna catch up on his mug.

 

So on the latest ep, Whiney babbles about some broad in Europe who he claims is his . . . er, "girlfriend".  Oy.  I guess coming out & telling us he really wants peen would be unthinkable, right?  What is with all these 'lifelong bachelors" down south who actually think they're fooling anyone?  Well, actually I'm just thinkin' of Lindsey Graham.  But Whit fits the same mold to me.

[SFoster21]

That picture of Whit and Pat just screams Norman Bates to me.

I see Angela Lansbury and Lawrence Harvey in Manchurian Candidate.

[RedHawk]

Except Harvey's character was actually a good guy.

[lillypforme]

I knew it sounded familiar. Sort of. I wouldn't be surprised if Halston is part of any of Bret Easton Ellis's books. The timeframe sounds right, so it's possible. Most of his books are set in the 80's and were full of name dropping of all kinds.

No. Halston peaked much earlier than Bret Easton Ellis's timeframes. None of his characters would have been caught dead in Halston.  In '83 Halston went mass (JC Penney- which bombed spectacularly) and had previously sold the rights to his name, effectively destroying his brand. It's still around, but for all intents and purposes is ruined. 

Edited May 3, 2015 by lillypforme

[DrSparkles]

"Throughout, Sudler-Smith -- an irritating charisma vacuum of a personality, incapable of possessing chemistry with an interview subject -- is also shown in a parade of new outfit after new outfit, sporting a litany of new hairstyles, facial hair choices and other affectations." --> thud, I am dead.

[Bronzedog]

Even Whit's dog Monty doesn't want to be left alone with him.