Phelan Beale (May 23, 1881 – June 12, 1956) was an American attorney and sportsman in New York City who was married to Edith Ewing Bouvier, an aunt of former First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Beale is probably best remembered as the absent father chronicled in the Grey Gardens saga portrayed in a 1975 movie documentary, 2006 Broadway musical, and 2009 HBO film, all of which were named for his home in East Hampton, New York.

[4] In 1924, Beale and his wife acquired the 28-room Grey Gardens mansion fronting the ocean (the oceanfront parcels were sold much later) in the Georgica Pond neighborhood.

Beale and his wife separated in 1931 and were legally divorced in 1946, but continued his presence in East Hampton.

[6] Washed up sand during the New England Hurricane of 1938 joined the island to the land via an isthmus.