40 Facts About Martha Stewart That Cast Her Life In A Whole New Light

The world practically spat out its coffee in unison when the news broke that Martha Stewart was going to prison. The squeaky-clean lifestyle queen behind bars? Well, yep. But the stock trading scandal wasn’t the only skeleton in Stewart’s closet. And you may be surprised by what happened on her journey to becoming America’s favorite domestic diva. Yes, these fascinating facts about Snoop Dogg's BFFg ive people an entirely new perception of the mogul.

40. She’s how old?

Despite having barely changed over the years, Stewart turned 82 in 2023. You read that right! Martha Helen Kostyra entered the world in August 1941 – yes, really! – as the second of six children to parents of Polish heritage. She’s a Jersey girl, too, having grown up in the township of Nutley not far from Passaic.

39. Martha and “Big Martha”

Stewart was close to her late mom, who was nicknamed “Big Martha” by her nearest and dearest. In fact, when the businesswoman went to prison in 2004, she had one pressing request: to not be placed in a facility too far away from her then-90-year-old mother. But Stewart’s wish was ultimately rejected, and she served her sentence at the secluded Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia – which, let’s face it, is a few miles from New Jersey.

38. Learning the ropes

According to Stewart’s website, her parents were “avid do-it-yourselfers” who passed on their skills to their daughter. The star’s mom and dad taught her to sew, cook and cultivate her own green thumb. And if you’re wondering just how Stewart knows how to perfectly preserve a peach? Well, it’s all down to her grandparents, who showed their grandaughter the ropes when it came to canning.

37. Sitting for the Yankees

At the age of just ten, the future lifestyle guru started babysitting for several players of the New York Yankees baseball team. One of those clients was none other than Mickey Mantle! And it seemed that she did a good job for the Commerce Comet, as she also put on birthday parties for his kids, according to Jane Leavy’s book The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood.