Socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein Known For ‘Cat’ Plastic Surgery Dies

Jocelyn Wildenstein, the Swiss socialite known for her catlike eyes has died in Paris.

Wildenstein’s partner, the fashion designer Lloyd Klein told the AFP she died on New Year’s Eve in a Paris hotel of a pulmonary embolism.

Newsweek contacted her manager be email on Thursday for comment.

What We Know

“Early reports from the doctors called to the scene indicate that she had endured heart failure and passed peacefully in her sleep,” Klein explained.

He spoke fondly of his fiancée telling media “an icon has left us.”

There were conflicting reports about her age at the time of her death, with reports saying she was either 79, 84 or 89 years old.

Who was Jocelyn Wildenstein?

The socialite was dubbed “Catwoman” for her alleged multiple plastic surgeries that transformed her features and gave her feline-like eyes.

She was born in Switzerland as Jocelyne Perisset and rose to fame as a New York socialite after marrying art dealer Alec Wildenstein, whose name she kept following their high profile divorce in the 1990s.

Wildenstein had spoken out about the rumors of her multiple surgeries, attributing her changing looks to her Swiss heritage and different hairstyles. But last year said she had not meant to change her looks so dramatically.

What did she say about her plastic surgery?

“I never wanted to change my face,” she told French television news channel C8.

She also said her changing hairstyles also affected how her face appeared.

“I have changed a lot,” she told Interview magazine in December. “My hair went from very curly to very straight, but I always had stylish, wild hair. I have all the pictures of myself, all the albums from my parents, from when I was in the carriage up to now.

“And when you look at the pictures of me, some with curly hair, some with exotic hair, some with straight hair, you can see how it completely changes your appearance. Also the way I dress changes how I am seen.”

Was Jocelyn Wildenstein married?

Wildenstein married her art dealer husband in 1978 after eloping to Las Vegas. They divorced in 1999 after a long and contentious battle. She received $2.5 billion in the settlement, and additional yearly payouts of $100 million. It was believed to be the biggest divorce settlement in history at the time.

The socialite began dating Klein in 2001 and the pair became engaged in 2017.

Did Jocelyn Wildenstein have children?

Wildenstein had two children during her marriage, a daughter named Diane and a son named Alec.