Born Cora Levinson in Cincinnati on July 18, 1868, she was the only daughter of the dry goods multi-millionaire, Isidore Levinson and his wife Martha Levinson, and had an Aunt. Cora has a strained relationship with her mother.
As a young woman, she was brought to London around the 18th July 1888 for her first season by her socially ambitious mother, in order to marry a member of the British nobility. During the season she met Robert Crawley, Viscount Downton, the future Earl of Grantham. Much to Robert's mother's chagrin, Cora became engaged to him and the two of them married in 1889[4]. As part of their marriage contract, Cora's fortune was tied to the family estate to prevent it from going bankrupt.

Life at DowntonEdit
While their marriage was initially one-sided in love, after a year Robert fell in love with her and their marriage was perfectly happy. After her father-in-law died, Cora became the Countess of Grantham, her husband Robert became the Earl of Grantham, and, over their long marriage, which had spanned twenty four years by the time of 1912, the Countess would give birth to three daughters, Mary in 1892, Edith in 1894, and Sybil in 1895, however none of her daughters could inherit the title or her wealth.