How to Be a Movie Star (64 page)

138 "Whom does he think": Hedda Hopper to Mike Cowles, Hedda Hopper Collection, AMPAS. For more, see Anthony Slide's discussion of this in
Stallion,
June 1986, and my
Behind the Screen.

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"Oh, Mikey": HCSBU.

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"an oasis": ET,
Elizabeth Taylor.

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Hedda could be counted on: This is seen in a letter she wrote to the actor Raymond Burr, who costarred with her son on TV's
Perry Mason.
Confronted with evidence of Burr's homosexuality, Hedda wrote that his secret was safe with her. All he had to do was "call on the mother of Paul Drake [her son's role on
Perry Mason
] and I will stand up and swear anything for you." (Hedda Hopper to Raymond Burr, September 16, 1963, HHC, AMPAS.)

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Wilding's career would have been ruined: Wilding himself (or his cowriter, Pamela Wilcox) alleged in
The Wilding Way
that Hedda published the charges about him and Granger around the time of his marriage to Elizabeth under a two-column headline with a photo of the two of them "larking about" on Granger's boat. He even has Humphrey Bogart calling him to alert him about the story. But it is not true. An exhaustive computerized check of Hedda's columns and the pages of the
Los Angeles Times,
as well as a thorough search of all articles collections at NYPL, USC, and AMPAS, failed to turn up any such piece. The story never appeared until Hedda's 1963 memoir
The Whole Truth and Nothing But.
It was only then that Wilding launched a lawsuit, not a decade earlier as some accounts imply. Stewart Granger compounded Wilding's error in an interview he gave to C. David Heymann by claiming that he wasn't part of the story until he called Hopper to tell the "frigging bitch" exactly what he thought of her. In Granger's version, Hedda inserted him into the story to retaliate. It seems as if both Wilding and Granger were doing their best to spin the stories to their advantage years later. Their distortions unfortunately made it into official accounts of Elizabeth's life, not only in Heymann's, but also in Donald Spoto,
A Passion for Life: The Biography of Elizabeth Taylor
(HarperCollins, 1995).

138 "as fond of Stewart Granger": LAT, February 23, 1952.

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"holding hands": HCSBU.

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"like drunken sailors": Wilding,
The Wilding Way.

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"Walt Disney,
Snow White
setting": ET,
Elizabeth Taylor.

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"Elizabeth Taylor is an example":
Hartford Courant,
July 18, 1955.

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"a born mother":
Ladies' Home Journal,
April 1954.

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On July 9 a convoy of Warner Bros. trucks: Most previous accounts have reported that Elizabeth and the cast and crew spent the entire summer—or three months—in Marfa. The
Giant
production materials in the Jack Warner Collection, USC, disprove this. A small film crew did remain for at least another week, getting some additional location footage.

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"guarantee Liz Taylor": LAT, September 12, 1955.

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"My tastebuds get in an uproar":
Look,
July 24, 1956.

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"He became very introspective": Interview on
Larry King Live,
January 15, 2001, CNN transcripts.

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"It was a very liquid evening": From "George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey," GSC, AMPAS.

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"causing acute pain": Memo dated July 15, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"she must have medication": Eric Stacey to J. L. Warner and Steve Trilling, July 16, 1955, JWC, USC.

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a few hours for wardrobe talks: Memo from Eric Stacey to J. L. Warner and Steve Trilling, July 21, 1955, JWC, USC.

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"caused by wearing very tight breeches": Report of John H. Davis, MD, to A. Morgan Maree and Associates, March 12, 1956, GSC, AMPAS.

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didn't return until August 8: Memo from Eric Stacey to J. L. Warner and Steve Trilling, August 8, 1955, JWC, USC.

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both of them were stung by a bee:
Ladies' Home Journal,
September 1990.

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"If she opens a beer can":
Look,
July 24, 1956.

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"Elizabeth Taylor might be facing blindness": unsourced, undated article, NYPL.

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"I couldn't wear it":
Look,,
July 24, 1956.

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ruptured intervertebral disc: Report of John H. Davis, MD, to A. Morgan Maree and Associates, March 12, 1956, GSC, AMPAS.

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Meticorten and Demerol: Letter from Paul E. McMaster, MD, "to whom it may concern," dated September 23, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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caused the
Giant
company to shoot around her: Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, August 8, 1955, GSC, AMPAS. This is also described in a memo from Eric Stacey to J. L. Warner and Steve Trilling, August 11, 1955, JWC, USC.

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"If she felt well enough": Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, August 11, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

146 "Dr. McMasters recommended": Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, August 12, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"Hey, wait for me!":
Look,,
July 24, 1956.

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"very bad headache": Memo, August 31, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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her temperature was found to be 99.6: Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, September 26, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"remain in bed": Memo from Eric Stacey to J. L. Warner and Steve Trilling, September 27, 1955, JWC, USC.

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"losing her breakfast": Memo dated October 4, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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distress over Dean's death: "We felt she was upset over James Dean's death," reads a memo found in the GSC dated October 4, 1955.

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she'd sustained some serious damage: Memo dated October 3, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"more ill than she had ever been": Memo dated October 3, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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MGM agreeing to release Warners: Memo from Hoyt Bowers to Henry Ginsberg, October 3, 1955, JWC, USC.

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"exploratory operations," "to finish the picture": Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, October 3, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"following completion of the picture": Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, October 4, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"the extreme mental duress": Report of John H. Davis, MD, to A. Morgan Maree and Associates, March 12, 1956, GSC, AMPAS.

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the primary diagnosis was volvulus: These were written up in a letter sent to Stevens, found in the GSC. It's important to remember, especially with the very unusual volvulus diagnosis, that Elizabeth was trying to insist that her illnesses were work-related for insurance purposes, hence the blame being put on Stevens.

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"obstruction in her intestine": Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, October 5, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"he saw no reason": Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, October 8, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"the Taylor situation": Memo from Eric Stacey to J. L. Warner and Steve Trilling, October 7, 1955, JWC, USC.

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"she had been a very sick girl": Memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, October 8, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"Then why do I feel this terrible pain?":
Look,
July 24, 1956.

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totaled $44,309.40: Letter from Charles Mackie, certified public accountant, to the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, December 26, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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"and she's forgotten all about illness": LAT, November 11, 1955.

149 rated as a "good" risk: Insurance folder,
Giant,
memo dated May 13, 1955, GSC, AMPAS.

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Strip City: Various sources allowed me to describe this long-running, popular club, including ads in the
Los Angeles Mirror
and online interviews with jazz patrons. The NYT noted on July 13, 1960, that many delegates to the Democratic National Convention, held that year in Los Angeles, visited Strip City. See also Roy Porter and David Keller,
There and Back: The Roy Porter Story
(Continuum Publishing, 1991) and Rachel Shteir,
Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show
(Oxford University Press, 2005).

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Jennie Lee: LAT, July 19, 26, August 23, 1955; May 31, 1956; April 30, 1957;
Adam
magazine, Vol. 1, No. 11, 1957;
San Bernadino Sun,
July 8, 2007. Her fame would be immortalized in the debut single of the pop duo Jan and Dean, aptly called "Jennie Lee."

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"fond of his Scotch":
Beverly Hills [213]
magazine, January 11, 2006.

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"strip movie":
Confidential,
November, 1955.

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Robert Harrison: I based my account of Harrison and
Confidential
on various sources, including Harold Conrad,
Dear Muffo: 35 Years in the Fast Lane
(Stein and Day, 1982);
American Film,
February 1990; Sam Kashner and Jennifer MacNair,
The Bad and the Beautiful: Hollywood in the Fifties
(W. W. Norton, 2002); Robert Hofler,
The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson
(Carroll & Graf, 2005); and Samuel Bernstein,
Mr. Confidential: The Man, His Magazine and the Movieland Massacre That Changed Hollywood Forever
(Walford Press, 2006).

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"The progressive coming of age": Memo prepared for Dorothy Manners,
Giant
Collection, Warner Bros. Archives, USC.

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"What
Confidential
proved": Ezra Goodman,
The Fifty Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood
(Macfadden Books, 1962).

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"to flipping over":
American Film,
February 1990.

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"A neighbor of Liz Taylor": LAT, September 21, 1955.

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"Whether it's true or not":
Look,
July 24, 1956.

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"brother and sister": ET,
Elizabeth Taylor.
She also made this comment to Larry King in an interview on CNN that aired February 3, 2003.

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"typical row": Wilding,
The Wilding Way.

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"It does something to a man": Interview on
Larry King Live,
February 3, 2003, CNN transcripts.

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she and Mature carried on an affair: Fisher,
Been There, Done That.
There may also have been an affair with Frank Sinatra; Fisher would report that Elizabeth told him that she'd gotten pregnant by Sinatra and had an abortion. Elizabeth has denied the story.

156
WHEN MIKE WILDING CAUGHT:
Confidential,
July 1956.

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about actress Kim Novak: This is based on revelations from the
Confidential
trial in Los Angeles. See Bernstein,
Mr. Confidential.

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months earlier than has ever been reported: Hank Moonjean believed that Todd may have even been present at Elizabeth's house the night of Montgomery Clift's accident in May 1956. Moonjean, who was not present, claimed that Elizabeth told him Todd paid the ambulance driver. However, there are no other reports of Todd being present that night; Kevin McCarthy, who was there, insisted Todd was
not
present.

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"the beautiful wife": unsourced fan magazine, August 1956, NYPL.

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all-night romp through Paris:
Look,,
July 24, 1956.

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Sammy was having an affair with Ava Gardner: Kashner and MacNair,
The Bad and the Beautiful.

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"I know how to pose for a picture": The quote comes from J. Randy Taraborrelli,
Elizabeth
(Warner Books, 2006), although specific original attribution is not given.

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"I feared it": Wilding,
The Wilding Way.

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"restless to be back":
Photoplay,
January 1957.

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Kevin McClory and Elizabeth Taylor: Information comes from interviews with Shirley MacLaine and Susan McCarthy Todd, as well as Michael Todd Jr. and Susan McCarthy Todd,
A Valuable Property: The Life Story of Michael Todd
(Arbor House, 1983).