NEWPORT – George Russell survived the Season 3 finale of "The Gilded Age," but is his marriage to Bertha long for this world?

Not if the experience of the real-life socialite on whom Bertha is based is any guide.

Alva Vanderbilt, the model for Bertha Russell , was born Alva Erskine Smith into a prominent Southern family in Alabama and married a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, William Kissam Vanderbilt, in 1875. In 1895, Alva divorced William Vanderbilt, citing alleged infidelity on his part, eventually trailblazing divorce as socially acceptable for society women.

Will Bertha's life follow the same path as Alva's?

"She is based on Alva," actor Carrie Coon , who plays Bertha, told The Providence Journal this spring, "but they’re always so quick to deviate from the history that

See Full Page