Ding Dong, The Queen of Mean Is Dead

Enough time passed since the late 1980's that this woman had faded from public view.

Well, now she's dead. One can only imagine the tales that will be told now that there are no fears of repercussion.

She was, quite possibly, the nastiest woman ever.

Leona Helmsley has died at 87

Leona Helmsley, the hotelier who went to prison as a tax cheat and was reviled as the "queen of mean," has died.

Her publicist made the announcement this morning that she died from heart failure at her summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Helmsley was 87.

Helmsley helped her husband, Harry, run a $5 billion real estate empire that included managing the Empire State Building.

Back in 1989 she was tried on tax evasion charges in a sensational trial that included testimony from disgruntled employees who said she terrorized all those around her at her homes and hotels.

But what really sealed her image was when a housekeeper testified to hearing Helmsley say: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."