trust, and $6 million was awarded to Craig and Meegan Panzirer, who had been disinherited in the will. The ruling requires the Panzirers to keep silent about their dispute with their grandmother and deliver to the court any documents they have about her. She left $15 million for her brother Alvin Rosenthal. Helmsley also left $100,000 to her chauffeur, Nicholas Celea. The "Queen of Mean" Helmsley acquired the moniker "The Queen of Mean", reportedly inspired after an advertising campaign promoting her as the "Queen of the Palace" of the Helmsley Palace Hotel. Helmsley became known by this nickname in the mainstream press. Helmsley was known for "tyrannizing her employees". Alan Dershowitz, while having breakfast with her at one of the Helmsley hotels, received a cup of tea with a tiny bit of water spilled on the saucer. Helmsley grabbed the cup from the waiter and smashed it on the floor, then told him to beg for his job. In another account of Helmsley's behavior, she had a barbecue pit constructed for her home. The work was performed by Eugene Brennan, a personal friend of Jeremiah McCarthy, the chief engineer of Helmsley-Spear. When the final bill came to $13,000, she refused to pay, citing shoddy workmanship. When McCarthy pleaded with her to honor the bill, citing the favor done on his behalf and informing her that Brennan had six children to support, Helmsley replied, "Why didn't he keep his pants on? Then he wouldn't need the money." In 1989, an unauthorized biography titled The Queen of Mean: The Unauthorized Biography of Leona Helmsley was published by Bantam Books (). In popular culture The 1990 TV movie Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean starred Suzanne Pleshette as Leona and Lloyd Bridges as Harry. Pleshette was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the portrayal. References Further reading Author Steve Peacock was former Helmsley Palace house detective External links New York Times articles related to Leona Helmsley 1920 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American criminals American female criminals Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni American hoteliers American people convicted of fraud American people convicted of tax crimes American people of Polish-Jewish descent American real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from New York City Criminals from New York (state) People from Brooklyn Businesspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut People from Marbletown, New York Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery American