A major American icon,Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has been portrayed, alluded to, and referred to in many media in thepopular culture from the 1960s and continuing into the 21st century.
Andy Warhol's16 Jackies (1964) uses four news images of Kennedy prior to, the day of, and shortly after her husband's assassination. Warhol made several copies of this piece, using a combination ofsilkscreen and painting; one is in the collection of theWalker Art Center inMinneapolis, Minnesota.[1][2][3]
Gerhard Richter's 1964 paintingFrau mit Schirm (Woman with Umbrella) is an emotional but respectful portrait of Kennedy, painted from a newspaper image.[4]
In the 1968 movieEat Your Makeup directed byJohn Waters,Divine plays Jackie Kennedy in a re-enactment of the JFK assassination. Waters later said onThe Graham Norton Show that the scenes were filmed on his parents' home street to the neighbors' disgust, as it was not long after the real assassination had occurred.[citation needed]
InThe End of a Dynasty (1988), a docudrama about the "Kennedy curse", Cortnie Campbell plays Kennedy.
In the 1991 filmJFK, actress Jodie Farber plays Kennedy.
The 1992 filmLove Field, set during (and after) the President Kennedy's assassination, a Dallas housewife's life centers around Kennedy's actions, and she finds herself ruined by the President's assassination inDallas. The role of Kennedy is played by actressRhoda Griffis, in what is regarded as her breakout role.[citation needed]
Kat Steffens portrays her in the 2013 filmParkland.
The 2016 filmJackie centers around the first lady (played byNatalie Portman, who was nominated for anAcademy Award forBest Actress for her performance) as she reacts to her husband's death in the days following the assassination.
The 1978 filmThe Greek Tycoon is a fictionalized portrayal of the story of Kennedy and her second husband, with the names changed. The Jackie Kennedy character, named Liz Cassidy, is portrayed byJacqueline Bisset, who also portrayed Kennedy inAmerica's Prince. Bisset's clothes were designed by Halston, who was also designing for Kennedy at the time.[citation needed]
In the 1997 filmSpice World, bandmemberPosh Spice of theSpice Girls, appears in the photoshoot scene as Jackie Kennedy wearing a brown matching Pill box hat andChanel suit with Jackie's trademark sunglasses and a handbag.
In the 1997 movieThe House of Yes, actressParker Posey played a main character who referred to herself as "Jackie O.", due to her obsession with the First Lady.
In the 2001 filmLegally Blonde, the main character is left by her boyfriend with the following explanation: "If I'm going to be aSenator by the time I'm thirty, well, I need to marry a Jackie, not aMarilyn."
In the 2007 filmHairspray, Tracy made a reference to Kennedy's hairstyle when Edna Turnblad says her hair is "naturally stiff". Tracy also mentioned her as the first lady because the movie took place at the time of her husband's presidency.
In the 2015 animated filmMinions, supporting character Scarlet Overkill's style is very similar to and based on Jackie Kennedy's as she wears similar glasses, the same gloves and has a similar hairstyle that strongly resemble hers.
InJackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000 TV miniseries), a 4-hour adaptation of the book byDonald Spoto,Sally Taylor-Isherwood plays Jackie Bouvier at 8,Emily VanCamp plays Jackie Bouvier at 13, andJoanne Whalley plays Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis as an adult
In season two ofThe Crown (2016Netflix original TV series), South African film and television actressJodi Balfour plays Kennedy. The season is set in the early 1960s, duringQueen Elizabeth II's early reign.[9]
For theseason 43 of sketch comedy seriesSaturday Night Live, Natalie Portman reprised the role of Kennedy who comes as a ghost to give advice to First LadyMelania Trump (portrayed byCecily Strong). In the sketch, Melania refers to Kennedy as "Jackie O's".[10]
Ira Levin'sRosemary's Baby (1967) features adream sequence in which Rosemary Woodhouse finds herself on a yacht with the First Family and briefly speaks to Kennedy. This scene is depicted inthe 1968 film version, but the identity of the Kennedys is not made clear.[11]
InKurt Vonnegut'sGalápagos (1985), Onassis is one of several celebrity guests who abandon the cruise before it leaves port.[12]
Steven Rowley's The Editor is a novel about a writer for whom Jackie Onassis is the receptive and kind editor of his first novel.
The following are books in which Onassis is referenced biographically:
Branch, Shelly Branch; Callaway, Sue (2006).What Would Jackie Do? An Inspired Guide to Distinctive Living. Gotham Books.
Branford, Sarah (2000).America's Queen The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Illustrated ed.). New York: Viking.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
"Jackie Will Save Me" by American rock bandShiny Toy Guns
"Jump Down, Spin Around (Pick A Dress O' Cotton)" lyrics byAllan Sherman - one of the earliest songs that mention her: "See how this one looks on me, Just like Jackie Kennedy."
"La, La, La" (Excuse me Miss Again)" byJay-Z - Kennedy is referenced in the lyrics
"The Lady is a Vamp" bythe Spice Girls - Kennedy is referenced in the lyrics
"Linda Lovelace" byDavid Allan Coe - Kennedy is referenced in the lyrics
"National Anthem" byLana Del Rey - Del Rey emulates Kennedy while reenacting the JFK assassination and the couple's life together alongside rapperASAP Rocky in the song's music video
In one episode ofThe Drew Carey Show, Mimi Bobeck shows up to work wearing oversized glasses and a scarf over her hair due to an allergic reaction to her makeup. This prompts Drew to remark, "It's Jackie! Oh my God!"
InFamily Guy: "E. Peterbus Unum", Lois is dressed in the a pink Chanel suit while giving tours of Petoria. There is also a reference to Jackie Onassis in "The Road to the Multiverse", in which she is portrayed as the wife of the "Mayor Mccheese" on a scene similar to Zapruder film.
Jackie O's famous pillbox hat is featured inThe Flintstones: "Social Climbers" (original airdate November 17, 1961). In it, Wilma and Betty are visiting one of Bedrock's houses ofHaute Couture to look for a dress for the Ambassador's Reception and Betty comments on the new "Jackie Kennerock" look.
InFuturama: "A Taste of Freedom", the outfit Amy wears during Zoidberg's trial is similar to Onassis' style.
In Series 6, Episode 21 ofGilmore Girls, Lorelai walks into her parents' living room to find Emily lying on the couch and says, "Oh, I'm sorry Mrs. Onassis, I was looking for my mother".
In the season two episodeGossip Girl: "Seder Anything",Blair Waldorf mentions that "if being a socialite is good enough for Jackie O, it's good enough for me."
In one episode ofKing of the Hill, several 1970's icons are on a murder mystery train. As Jacqueline enters, a character says: "Oh look, Jackie O." Jackie is wearing large sunglasses and a scarf.
InMarried... with Children: "Dud Bowl" (season nine), Polk High School's rival, George S. Patton High, is renamed Jackie Onassis High. The school's mascot is the First Ladies, and the uniforms are pink and black. This is a reference to a famous Chanel suit Onassis wore on the day her first husband was assassinated.
The school attended by the characters ofPopular is named Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School.
The season five premiere ofQuantum Leap involves a storyline where Sam "leaps" intoLee Harvey Oswald and fails to save President Kennedy from his assassination. Then, "leaping" into Secret Service agentClint Hill, Sam discovers from Al that he wasn't there to save the President, he was there to save Onassis (implying that in an earlier timeline she died as well).
In one episode ofQueer as Folk, Emmett dresses up as Onassis for a party thrown by Michael and David. In an apparent reference to her husband's assassination, shrimp cocktail is spilled on his coat, causing it to resemble Onassis' blood-spattered suit after JFK's assassination.
OnRowan & Martin's Laugh-In (second season), Jackie Onasis is impersonated in a "Cocktail Party" segment lampooning her newly acquired image as a materialistic spendthrift: "Ari and I had a garage sale. We made a lot of money. So far, we've sold three garages."
InScream Queens, Chanel Oberlin dresses in a Jackie Kennedy inspired outfit for Halloween in the first season's fifth episode, which is also later worn by Libby Putney / Chanel #5 in the same episode.
InSeinfeld: "The Chaperone",Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) interviews for Onassis' former job as editor at Doubleday and wears large sunglasses and a scarf over her hair in a style similar to that of Onassis.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is referenced inThe Simpsons in several ways.Marge Simpson's mother is namedJacqueline Ingrid Bouvierα, and Marge Simpson was made known of the origin of her maiden name by Lisa when she wanted to adopt the maiden name after exposing Homer's betting scandal onHomer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words. Marge mistakenly thought "Jackie-O", as in Onassis, was her maiden name. Mayor Quimby speaks with inflections similar to those of the former president, and his wife resembles Onassis. Marge is also seen buying and wearing the Pink Chanel suit to a country club in one episode.
InThunderbirds (TV series)Tin-Tin Kyrano is seen wearing Jackie Kennedy styled outfits and hairstyles in some of the episodes whilst the female driver in the episode City of Fire bears some resemblance to Jackie.
InThe Vampire Diaries: "The Last Dance" (season two), Caroline goes to the sixties decade dance as Jackie Kennedy and her boyfriend Matt goes as JFK.
The Venture Bros. character Dr. Girlfriend resembles Onassis, but talks in a deep male voice meant to be an exaggeration of Onassis' voice, made husky due to her excessive smoking. In the fourth episode of the third season, "Home Is Where the Hate Is", Dr. Girlfriend is given the following clues during a party game: "You're married to a powerful man", "You're famous for your pink suit and pillbox hat". Dr. Girlfriend is confused and, upon discovering the name she was assigned, exclaims: "Who the hell is Jacqueline Onassis?"
In 2022 onTwitter andTikTok, users began posting memes that satirizing Jackie Kennedy's physical appearance and depicting her as a feral creature who ate and enjoyed multiple obtuse objects such assheet metal, spare change (pennies) and the White House's marble columns, among others. The memes are usually accompanied by audios of growling noises and captions in similar vein to "JACKIE WANT SHEET METAL!!!"[21][22]
α The show's developers created this character and named her after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whose maiden name was Bouvier. It is also noted that Marge Simpson has the maiden name "Bouvier", and all Bouvier women are voiced byJulie Kavner.
^Fallon, Michael (2010), "16 Jackies",How to Analyze the Works of Andy Warhol, ABDO, pp. 48–52,ISBN978-1-61613-534-8,Besides Marilyn Monroe, another favorite celebrity subject early in Warhol's career was Jacqueline "Jackie" Kennedy, the wife of President John F. Kennedy. ... Warhol had been deeply affected by [president Kennedy's assassination], which was covered widely in the mass media.
^Morris, Daniel (2002),Remarkable Modernisms: Contemporary American Authors on Modern Art, University of Massachusetts Press, pp. 157–158,ISBN978-1-55849-324-7,Warhol wanted to exist as an "after" image in the realm of appearances alongside such celebrated survivors of cultural violence as Jackie O., whom Warhol depicted in a series of panels as she appeared on the day of President John F. Kennedy's assassination and in the sad days that followed.
^Dietmar Elger (2010),Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting, Elizabeth M. Solaro (trans.), University of Chicago Press, p. 50,ISBN978-0-226-20323-2,But he also painted prominent figures without revealing their identities; the nearly unmistakable figure of Jacqueline Kennedy thus hides behind the titleWoman with Umbrella.
^"New Faces In Washington",CBS News, February 11, 2009,Two pieces from Mion's series of paintings of the first ladies - "Stop Action Reaction" portraying Kennedy and "Eyes Only for You" portraying Reagan - show the subjects not as "stiff formal figures but as women whose personal stories represent women's experiences," Reaves said. The portrait of Kennedy shows her holding a "king" playing card depicting her husband, John F. Kennedy, with the card shattered by a bullet.
^O'Sullivan, Michael (June 1, 2007),"Portraiture Now: Framing Memory",The Washington Post, archived fromthe original on September 19, 2012,In "Stop Action Reaction," Jacqueline Kennedy holds a playing card -- with JFK as the king of hearts -- that's been penetrated by a bullet. It's a clever conflation of that famous high-speed photograph with the equally well-known Zapruder film, whose every frame has been analyzed, and argued about, to a fare-thee-well.
^Tally, Robert T. Jr. (2009), "Apocalypse in the Optative Mood:Galápagos, or, Starting Over", in Simmons, David (ed.),New Critical Essays on Kurt Vonnegut(PDF), American Literature Readings in the 21st Century, Macmillan, pp. 114–131,ISBN978-0-230-61627-1,a globally marketed event that was supposed to feature celebrity guests such as Jacqueline Onassis ... A severe financial crisis has put the cruise in jeopardy, as the celebrities have all dropped out.
