Elisabeth Moss To Play The Lead In Kennedy Family Biopic ‘A Letter From Rosemary Kennedy’

While much is known about certain members of the Kennedy family, especially John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy, far less is known about their sisters, and that is most true about their oldest sister, Rosemary Kennedy, who spent most of her life in a mental institution. But now a biopic is being planned about Rosemary Kennedy, called A Letter From Rosemary Kennedy, starring Elisabeth Moss, most recently of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu. For years the life of Rosemary Kennedy was a secret because her father Joseph Kennedy had taken her secretly to have a prefrontal lobotomy. Joseph Kennedy believed that the lobotomy would be curative.

Rosemary Kennedy Had A Lobotomy At 23 And Lived Until 86 In An Institution In Wisconsin

The Boston Globe reports that Kennedy patriarch Joseph Kennedy took Rosemary Kennedy to have a lobotomy at age 23 to curb her reported erratic behavior and mood swings. The surgery left Rosemary Kennedy incapacitated, and she was forced to live out the rest of her life in a Wisconsin mental institution. After being committed, Rosemary Kennedy rarely saw any Kennedy family members but lived until 2005.

Director Ritresh Batra of A Letter From Rosemary Kennedy says that this movie will be very different than any other Kennedy movies that have been made.

“The movies about the Kennedy family are deservedly stormy affairs, but here’s a story about the storms within all of us. This is why I am excited to tell this story and to collaborate with Elisabeth, a fabulously talented actor.”

Elisabeth Moss To Portray JFK's Sister Rosemary Kennedy Who Underwent a Secret Lobotomy at 23 https://t.co/rfQ5kMaraE

— Dallas VideoFest (@videofest) March 3, 2018

Many Stories Have Been Told Of The Kennedy Brothers, But None Of Rosemary Kennedy

Producers Jason Michael Berman and Kevin Turen say that there is something special about telling a hidden story of the Kennedy family.

“We are thrilled to be bringing this poignant and true story to life, based on one of the hidden gems of the Kennedy family, with a masterful filmmaker in Ritesh Batra, the brilliant Elisabeth Moss, and a beautifully crafted screenplay by Nick Yarborough.”

According to People Magazine, Rosemary Kennedy was born in 1918, and always had some kind of mental impairment which made it difficult for her to keep up with her competitive Kennedy family.

Her nephew, Timothy Shriver, son of Eunice Shriver and brother of Maria Shriver, said that the family was ashamed of Rosemary’s disability.

“The shame of her disability was our family secret.”

Rosemary Kennedy And Her Disability Were A Kennedy Family Secret

Timothy Shriver wrote about his aunt Rosemary in his book, Fully Alive.

“She grew up in a time where there was enormous shame surrounding children with special needs. People didn’t want to admit it.”

Rosemary was known in her teens for wild behavior, often running away, and spending time with boys. At the age of 18, Rosemary Kennedy was said to be educated at approximately a fourth-grade level, while her other Kennedy siblings were thriving in school. When Rosemary was 23, Joseph Kennedy took Rosemary to have a lobotomy without telling his wife Rose. The results of the lobotomy left Rosemary Kennedy with the mental capacity of a toddler.

Rosemary Kennedy lived to the age of 86 in an institution in Wisconsin, far away from her Kennedy kin. Many sources say that Rose Kennedy never forgave Joseph Kennedy for having Rosemary Kennedy lobotomized. Timothy Shriver says it is difficult to understand.

“I don’t know how other than just from sheer devastation he [Joe Sr.] could allow her to disappear so much from his life. He had to be destroyed by it. That’s the only way I can explain it. It’s an incredibly heartbreaking story of a dad trying to help his daughter and hurting her. What could be worse?”