Liesel Matthews (born as Liesel Pritzker on March 14, 1984 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American heiress, socialite, and actress. Liesel is an heiress to the Hyatt Hotel fortune and was a child actress who starred as Sara Crewe in A Little Princess (1995), the film adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett classic.
Biography
Liesel was born into the wealthy Pritzker family. She is one of twelve surviving grandchildren of patriarch Abram Nicholas Pritzker, a financier and industrialist who died in 1986. Her uncle, Jay Pritzker, is the founder of the Hyatt Hotel chain, and owned Braniff Airlines from 1983-1988. The family controls the TransUnion Credit Bureau and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. The Pritzker family has been near the top of Forbes magazine's "America's Richest Families" list since the magazine began in 1982. Liesel uses the stage name "Matthews" after her brother, Matthew, after a battle between her parents regarding whether she should be credited as Liesel Pritzker-Bagley (Bagley being her step-father's name) or simply Liesel Pritzker.
Liesel graduated from New Trier High School outside of Chicago and enrolled at Columbia University. During her freshman year of college, Liesel filed a lawsuit against her father and the Pritzker family claiming her father had misappropriated money from trusts established for Liesel and her brother.
In early 2005, the parties settled the lawsuit filed by Liesel and Matthew Pritzker. The details of the settlement have not been made public, but it's believed they will both receive nearly $500 million. This would make Liesel and Matthew Pritzker the richest young adults in the United States.
Liesel presently attends The French Culinary Institute in New York.
She made her stage debut in Vincent in Brixton, and won a Theatre World award for her performance.
Filmography
- Blast (2000)
- Air Force One (1997)
- A Little Princess (1995)
External link
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