In Loving Memory of Chase Mishkin

I just attended today, the gravesite service for my extraordinary of 46 years, Chase Mishkin.

She was a woman of exquisite and refined taste and an extremely successful Broadway producer. Chase and her husband Ralph have owned some of the finest residences in Los Angeles. It was my honor to complete 9 real estate transactions over my career. God speed Dear Chase.

Below, I am including the commentary from our mutual friend, Wanda McDaniel Ruddy’s Facebook post:

” Tears won’t stop. RIP brilliant Chase Mishkin. Our dearly beloved friend, world famous, award-winning Broadway producer and godmother to Ally @ruddybuddy. We cannot believe she is gone. Forget #Equus or #SweeneyTodd or #DameEdna or #TheMusicMan or #TheBeautyQueenOfLeenane, Chase was also the savvy matchmaker for the unlikely coupling of Wanda & Al. Chase introduced us at her legendary #Owlwood estate in Holmby Hills in 1978. I was “conquering LA”that night with Bobby Shriver and Mary Anne Dolan — aka a pack of wide-eyed Herald Examiner journalists who didn’t know Fountain from Highland. Chase’s screening room was bigger than the one at the White House. Bobby was intrigued. Off we went. The film that night was “Matilda” starring Elliott Gould and Robert Mitchum. The movie’s handsome producer #AlbertRuddy, who was far more fascinating than the film, was there to host the party with his buddy Chase and her husband Ralph, aka the carpet king of the USA. Al asked for my phone number but never called. Cut to two years later, the social maven Chase had another dinner party. I didn’t have a date so she fixed me up with Guess Who, admonishing me to “have fun but don’t fall in love. He’s the biggest bachelor in town and will break your heart. But I guarantee, he will make you laugh!” Voila. Al Ruddy and I were married a year later, feted and loved our whole married life by this force of nature known as #ChaseMishkin. She suffered no fools, yet had a heart of gold. Fierce, fashionable and formidable, she was a queen of the Beverly Hills social swirl, owning five of the most historic homes in LA thanks to her wonderful pal @joycereyrealestate. She kept her crown when she moved East to become a #TonyAward winning producer. On the personal side, Chase was generous to a fault, lavishing Alexandra with a wardrobe so exquisite that it made Ally quip that she “peaked at age six” on the fashion front. Ruddy always called Chase “the last great dame.” And as the song goes, “There is nothing like a dame, Nothing in the world. There is nothing you can name, That is anything like a dame!” Chase was that singular sensation. You were our Cupid. Our light. Rest In Peace, dear one. “