Who is Prudence Farrow? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Prudence Anne Villiers Farrow

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Albert Bruns

mother: Maureen O'Sullivan

siblings: Felice Patricia Farrow, John Charles Farrow, Mia Farrow, Michael Damien Farrow, Patrick Villiers Farrow, Stephanie Farrow, Tisa Farrow

Born Country: United States

American Women University Of California, Berkeley

Ancestry: Australian American

U.S. State: California

City: Los Angeles

More Facts

education: University Of California, Los Angeles, University Of California, Berkeley

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Career

Prudence Farrow was only a teenager when she got interested in meditation and yoga. In 1966, she learned the Transcendental Meditation technique at the UCLA. Her fascination with yoga only increased after this. In 1967, she opened the Integral Yoga Institute in Boston. However, she was keen to learn more about Transcendental Meditation from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi himself. In 1968, she got an opportunity to meet Maharishi, who was in New York at that time. She, her sister Mia, and her brother Patrick travelled to India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They then came to Rishikesh, where they learned Transcendental Meditation at his ashram.

It so happened that the Beatles also arrived at the ashram during that time. They were also there to learn meditation, but they would spend a lot of their time having fun and playing music. Farrow, on the other hand, would spend days meditating. She was rarely seen outside her room, so John Lennon was given the task of getting her to socialize more. It was during this time that John Lennon wrote the famous song, ‘Dear Prudence’ with Farrow as the subject.

After she returned from India, Farrow started teaching Transcendental Meditation in 1970. She still continues to teach in Florida. In 1986, she went back to India to learn more about meditation from the Maharishi.

Once her kids were grown up, she went back to college to earn her BA, MA, and PhD degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Her doctoral thesis, which was finished in 2007, was titled, ‘Nadivijnana, the Crest-Jewel of Ayurveda: A Translation of Six Central Texts and an Examination of the Sources, Influences and Development of Indian Pulse-Diagnosis.’

She landed a job as an elementary school teacher. She was also participating in many conferences held across the country, including at the University of California, University of Wisconsin, and Rutgers University. She has also taught courses at Rutgers University and UC Berkeley.

Besides teaching, Prudence Farrow also got involved in film production. In 1984, she became the production assistant of ‘The Muppets Take Manhattan.’ In 1985, she was given the job of art department coordinator in the movie, ‘The Purple Rose of Cairo.’ In 1994, she enhanced her movie resume by becoming the co-producer of the movie, ‘Widow’s Peak’. She conceived the main story and her sister, Mia Farrow, played the main lead. In 1999, she dabbled in theatre by becoming one of the producers of ‘Up From the Ground, which was staged at the Westbeth Theatre in New York.

In the 2000s, Prudence Farrow turned her attention to writing. She wrote several articles for magazines. World religions, healthy living, Asian studies, and Ayurveda were the subjects of most of her articles. In 2013, she made a documentary on the Kumbh Mela Festival, which is held after every twelve year in India. She founded the Dear Prudence Foundation to raise money for this documentary.

In 2015, her book, ‘Dear Prudence: The Story Behind the Song’, was published. The memoir delves into the three months that she spent at the Maharishi’s ashram in India. It also examines the Vietnam War, youth movement, Eastern philosophy, drugs, music, and her own family.

Today, she is one of the most successful Yoga teachers in USA. She has helped set up numerous Affiliate Programs on TM in yoga studios across America.

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Family & Personal Life

Prudence Farrow was born on January 20, 1948, in Los Angeles, California, USA. Her birth name is Prudence Anne Villiers Farrow Bruns. She is the daughter of John Farrow, who was a film director, and Maureen O’Sullivan, who was an actress. Her older sister, Mia Farrow, is quite famous in Hollywood. She had a Catholic upbringing and was schooled in convent schools.

In 1969, she married Albert Morrill Bruns, who is also a TM teacher. Her marriage went through a rough phase in the late 1970s when she had a three-year affair with Robert Durst, the New York real estate heir who was eventually charged with the murder of his confidante Susan Berman in 2000. Their affair ended in 1981, the year when Durst’s wife went missing. After this her marriage had smooth sailing and today they have three children and four grandchildren. They live in Seagrove, which is located in Northwest Florida.

Prudence Farrow Biography