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Bethenny Frankel Pays Tribute to Her Late Dad by Sharing a Rare Throwback Moment

The RHONY mogul posted a rare vintage memory of her late father, Bobby Frankel.

By Jocelyn Vena
Bethenny Frankel Dad Bobby Frankel

Bethenny Frankel shared a rare throwback moment with her late dad, Bobby Frankel, this week as a tribute to him to mark what would have been his birthday. The Real Housewives of New York City mogul shared a photo of herself smiling alongside her horse trainer dad on what would have been his 78th birthday.

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She remembered her father as a "Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer whose namesake is Frankel, the champion horse. Both the man and the horse will go down in history."

Bethenny's parents divorced when she was 4 (her mom, Bernadette, later married another horse trainer, John Parisella), and they weren't close during her childhood. Her father passed away in November 2009 after a battle with leukemia. Bethenny and her father reconciled before his passing; she was one of the few people allowed to see him as he finished out his battle with the illness, she later revealed to Larry King.

In an interview with Larry King Now, she spoke about her father: "He wasn't a really emotional person and we all are products of our parents' unresolved issues and he really just kind of wasn't there from the time I was 4 to 14 at all," she said crediting her stepdad for raising her. "My real father just never really connected with me... it was a very difficult journey."

During the Season 8 RHONY reunion, Bethenny revealed that she had reconnected with her mom after a long estrangement in a tearful and emotional moment.

Bethenny Frankel Talks About Reconciling With Her Mother
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