Felicia Montealegre: How Did Leonard Bernstein’s Wife Die?

Felicia Montealegre was a Costa Rican actress, social activist, and the wife of Leonard Bernstein. Felicia’s husband Leonard was a conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian of American nationality. He established himself as one of the most important conductors of his time. He held the record of being the first American conductor to receive international acclaim.

Felicia Montealegre: Bio Summary

Who Was Leonard Bernstein’s Wife, Felicia Montealegre?

Felicia Montealegre was a Costa Rican born Felicia María Cohn Montealegre, in the year 1922, in San José, Costa Rica. Clemencia Cristina Montealegre Carazo and Roy Elwood Cohn were her parents. Her mother was a Costa Rican while her father was an American. Her father Roy was a United States mining executive then stationed in Costa Rica.

Felicia wasn’t the only child her parents had. She had two siblings, both sisters. Her sisters are Nancy Alessandri and Madeline Lecaros. Felicia’s great-great-grandfather was Mariano Montealegre Bustamante, the first vice-head of Costa Rica. Felicia studied in Chile. Although she was raised Catholic, she later converted to Judaism.

Felicia Montealegre’s paternal grandfather was Jewish. She took piano lessons from Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau, in the year 1944, in New York. She decided to become an actress. She went ahead to take her acting lessons at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research and continued studying at HB Studio.

Felicia made her first New York acting appearance in 1945, in the English-language premiere of Federico Garcia Lorca’s If Five Years Pass at the Provincetown Playhouse. Her Broadway debut was in July 1946, at The Booth Theatre as the ingénue in Ben Hecht’s Swan Song. She landed several Shakespearean roles.

Felicia’s Shakespearean roles include Jessica in a 1953 production of The Merchant of Venice at New York City Center and Katharine in Henry V in a 1956 production at the Cambridge Drama Festival in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is known for her appearance as Margot Wendice in Dial M for Murder at the Palm Beach Playhouse (Florida) in 1957.

Felicia was Sally Bowles in Van Druten’s I Am A Camera at the North Jersey Playhouse. In 1973, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Andromache in Berlioz’s opera Les Troyens, the work’s first staging in New York City. Her final Broadway appearance was in the 1976 play Poor Murderer. She has also appeared in several TV series.

ALSO, READ: Nina Maria Felicia Bernstein: Who Is Leonard Bernstein’s Daughter?

Felicia has appeared in television series including “The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre”, “The Silver Theatre”, “Starlight Theatre”, “The Philco Television Playhouse”, “Lux Video Theatre”, “Lights Out”, “The Web”, “The Revlon Mirror Theater”, “Goodyear Playhouse”, “Suspense”, “You Are There”, “Kraft Theatre”, and “Studio One”.

Felicia played Ismene in an episode of The Kaiser Aluminum Hour. She was a Narrator for an episode of Omnibus. She also appeared in an episode of Play of the Week. She appeared as herself on The Merv Griffin Show, Person to Person, The Match Game, and Camera Three. She appeared with symphony orchestras throughout the United States in dramatic acting and narrating roles.

In 1963, Felicia became the first chair of the Women’s Division of the New York Civil Liberties Union. She supported the anti-war grassroots campaign Another Mother for Peace.

Felicia Montealegre Was The Mother Of 3

Felicia Montealegre was the mother of Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein, and Nina Bernstein. Leonard Bernstein was the father of her children. Felicia and Leonard who met in 1946, were married on September 9, 1951. The family lived in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut. They had a great relationship with their family and friends.

Felicia and Leonard often hosted parties and opened their doors to friends. However, Leonard was involved in several affairs with both men and women. Felicia had written to her husband: “You are a homosexual and may never change — you don’t admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?”

“I am willing to accept you as you are, without being a martyr…let’s try and see what happens if you are free to do as you like, but without guilt and confession,” Felicia added. “Let’s relax in the knowledge that neither of us is perfect and forget about being HUSBAND AND WIFE in such strained capital letters, it’s not that awful!”

Felicia was a supportive wife and mother. It was when she married Leonard that she converted to Judaism. She gave up her career to raise their children. Felicia and Leonard had a taste of ups and downs in their marriage but they were never divorced. They remained married until Felicia died.

ALSO, READ: Jamie Bernstein: Inside The Life Of Leonard Bernstein’s Daughter

How Did Leonard Bernstein’s Wife Die?

Felicia Montealegre was killed by lung cancer. She died on June 16, 1978, at age 56, in East Hampton, New York, U.S. In memory of Felicia, her husband Leonard Bernstein came up with the Felicia Montealegre Bernstein Fund of Amnesty International USA. Felicia was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA.

Felicia’s husband Leonard Bernstein died of a heart attack brought on by mesothelioma, on October 14, 1990, at age 72, in New York City, U.S. He was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, next to his wife Felicia Montealegre.