Dorian M. Bennett

Dorian M. Bennett, beloved New Orleanian, patron of the arts, and legendary real estate figure, passed away on August 9, 2025—on the eighth anniversary of the death of his beloved wife, Micaela “Kell” Kelly Bennett. He left this world after courageously enduring the lingering effects of a glioblastoma, a cancer he survived for twenty-one wholly miraculous years. First diagnosed in 2004 and given just three months to live, Dorian instead filled more than two decades with humor and an unyielding light.

A self-described aesthete, Dorian’s life was guided by his deep love for beauty and history. Born in Hammond, Louisiana, he studied Fine Arts and Russian History at Tulane University and the College of William & Mary. Classically trained in piano, he also found joy in painting and pottery, often working in the studio behind his home in the French Quarter.

Dorian made New Orleans his home for over fifty years, where his personal charm and appreciation for antiques, architecture, and preservation led him into a celebrated career in real estate as the founder and owner of Dorian M. Bennett Sotheby’s International Realty. He quickly became known as the “Real Estate Agent to the Stars,” selling properties to and for Lenny Kravitz, Taylor Hackford and Helen Mirren, Jimmy Buffett, Zachary Richard, Trent Reznor, John Goodman, Nicholas Cage, and Paul Allen. While primarily focusing on residential sales, his commercial real estate successes included securing the Decatur Street property for the House of Blues.

His passion for architecture extended beyond business. He received a restoration award for the renovation of his Marigny office, and his residence of over thirty years in the historic “Bend of Bourbon Street”—built in 1825 and once home to the son of Louisiana’s first governor, Clay Shaw, and local broadcast pioneer Terry Flettrich Rohe aka Mrs. Muffin.

Dorian’s civic and cultural contributions were extensive. Over the course of his life he held leadership roles and served on the board of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the New Orleans Opera, Le Petit Théâtre, the Creative Alliance of New Orleans (CANO), the Newcomb Art Museum, Contemporary Arts Center, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the French Market Corporation, the Historic District Landmarks Commission, Tulane Alumni Board, and Family Service of Greater New Orleans, among many others. He even produced a feature film that premiered and was awarded a jury prize at the New Orleans Film Festival.

He is survived by his daughter, Delia Caroline Kelly Bennett; numerous sisters-and-brothers-in-law; nieces and nephews; aunts; a multitude of friends; and all the art he leaves behind. He was preceded in death by his wife of thirty years, Micaela “Kell” Kelly Bennett; his sister, Debi L. Bennett (Mike); his mother, Theresa Costanza Bennett; and his father, Archie Felton Bennett.

In the final years of his life, Dorian was immensely grateful for the love and care of his daughter and his devoted sister-in-law, Pam Kelly Sills and her husband Ken Sills, for the weekly Sunday lunch visits from his best-friend Mary-Virginia Hughes, and for all of his neighbors at both Lambeth House and on the “Bend of Bourbon Street” who supported and kept him company in the years following his wife’s death.

In lieu of flowers, Delia asks you to honor her father’s life by viewing the arts through a collector’s eye and, if so inclined, supporting them by making a donation to either the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, or Newcomb Art Museum in his name.

Services will be held at the Basilica of St. Stephen on August 23rd with visitation beginning at 9:00 a.m. and the service at 11:00 a.m. Inurnment will take place at Metairie Cemetery on August 25th at 10:00 a.m.