Jennifer Lopez is developing a new Amazon Prime video series about Manhattan’s most famous women-only residence the 1970s.
The 52-year-old Marry Me star’s project, entitled Backwards in Heels, is set to follow the ‘aspirational and timeless story about the glamorous women living at the Barbizon Hotel in post-WWII New York City’ according to Deadline.
Oscar nominee Richard LaGravenese has already signed on to write and direct the flick while Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, and Benny Medina will produce under their Nuyorican Productions with Julie Goldstein.
Coming next: Jennifer Lopez is developing a Amazon Prime Video series Backwards in Heels about Manhattan’s most famous women-only residence the 1970s; seen in May 2021
Former famous guests and tenants of the property include Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, Lauren Bacall, Betty Buckley and more.
The Barbizon Hotel, located at 140 East 63rd Street on the Upper East Side, was a place young women flocked to while pursuing work opportunities in post-war America.
According to Deadline: ‘No men were allowed above the ground floor, and strict dress and conduct rules were enforced.’
Familiar faces: Former famous guests and tenants of the property include Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, Lauren Bacall, Betty Buckley and more; Grace Kelly pictured in 1955
Wild history: Judy Garland is said to have driven the staff crazy by calling every three hours to check up on her daughter, Liza Minnelli (pictured in 1972. If she wasn’t in her room, they were ordered to find her
Jutting 23-stories into the Manhattan sky, developers completed construction of the imposing salmon-colored brick Gothic building in 1927. The 720-modestly sized rooms came with outsize amenities like a swimming pool, gymnasium, rooftop gardens, music rooms, lecture rooms, a dining room, library and daily maid service.
They hoped to attract the single and stylish Jazz Age women that suddenly poured into New York City to chase their dreams of finding stardom, independence and a rich husband.
The sprawling lobby was decorated with large potted plants, sumptuous Oriental rugs, rich furnishings and warm antique lanterns. Free afternoon tea was served daily which came in handy for the girls who didn’t come from money.
In good company: American poet Sylvia Plath also famously lived in the building
Some guests were even assigned chaperones. Judy Garland drove the staff crazy by calling every three hours to check up on her daughter, Liza Minnelli. If she wasn’t in her room, they were ordered to find her.
No men were allowed above the lobby floor without strict supervision, but that’s not to say they didn’t try. Countless young suitors attempted disguising themselves as doctors, fathers, priests. While others tried their luck by cramming themselves in dumbwaiters. Mrs. Sibley called it ‘the oldest gag in the Barbizon.’
Even male elevator operators were switched out for female ones at sundown, according to Paulina Bren’s book, The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free.
For admission, the hotel’s assistant manager, Mae Sibley, required that all prospective tenants provide three references that attested to her good moral character. She graded women on their family, looks, dress and demeanor and quietly rated the quality of each applicant as an A, B, or C. ‘A’s were under the age of twenty-eight. B’s were between twenty-eight and thirty-eight, and C’s, well, they were over the hill,’ Bren wrote.
An iconic building: The Barbizon Hotel, located at 140 East 63rd Street on the Upper East Side, was a place young women flocked to while pursuing work opportunities in post-war America
The halcyon days of the Barbizon were all but over by the 1970s. As New York City collapsed on the brink of bankruptcy, so too did the hotel. Crime rates shot through the roof and even the fortress which long-prided themselves on protecting its residents was not immune.
In 1975, one of the hotel’s oldest residents, Ruth Harding, 79, was found strangled to death in her eleventh floor room. The crime remains unsolved to this day.
The hotel went co-ed in 1981 and was converted to luxury condos in 2007.
0