WIFE O’ THE PARTY
Socialite widow of Sen. Javits dies at 92
Marian Javits, the glamorous wife of late New York Sen. Jacob Javits and city arts socialite who had a steamy affair with Geraldo Rivera died peacefully Tuesday in her Upper East Side apartment, her son said. She was 92.
Joshua Javits said his mother suffered a stroke six months earlier and had residual walking and breathing problems.
The Anne Bancroft lookalike was born in Detroit and initially dreamed of becoming an actress, but gave up on the idea and took a job with the Republican Party as a researcher.
In 1945, she began dating Javits, who was 21 years her senior. They married in 1947.
While her husband pursued a political career and was elected to the Senate in 1957, Marian stayed in New York with their three children.
Their relationship was often the subject of gossip, which was known to have embarrassed the hard-driving politician, who served in the Senate until 1981. They were still married, however, when Javits, whose name graces the city’s Javits Convention Center, died in 1986 at age 81.
Marian’s affair with Rivera was revealed in the TV newsman’s 1991 autobiography, “Exposing Myself.”
“It was one of the most thrilling sexual experiences I’ve ever had, made magical by Marian, of course, and by the sheer illicitness of the moment,”Rivera wrote.
Joshua Javits, 67, a Washington lawyer and labor-relations arbiter, said his mom was vivacious and smart.
“As a mother, she was extremely exciting. She was very interested in everything going on particularly in arts and politics,” he told The Post.
Marian Javits is survived by three children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
As an actress, she appeared in a couple of movies, including the 1960 flick “Who Was That Lady?” starring Tony Curtis and Dean Martin.
In a self-published memoir, “Senator’s Wife: Ahead of My Time,” Marian Javits wrote about how she felt entrapped by public life.
“I became a political woman in a time when powerful men were committed to their ideals and the United States they served,” she said in the book, which went online in 2015.
“Public life remains arduous for women,” she said. “It is difficult to be daring when everyone is watching.”