THANK YOU TO THE MANY INDIVIDUALS OVER THE YEARS who provided insight and information regarding the fascinating lives and times of Audrey Hepburn and William Holden; people who knew what really went on behind the scenes and who weren’t shy about answering the questions of a young publicist, a native New Yorker recently graduated from New York University who had an insatiable curiosity about stars, films, and Hollywood.
As New York press contact for MCA/Universal for well over a decade, and author (or co-author) of twenty books ranging from such subjects as Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward to Clara Bow, the original “It” Girl, I had the unique opportunity of meeting, working with, and spending “insider” time with many who were one-of-a-kind in their respective fields, both in front of and behind the cameras, including legendary reporters and PR executives, John Springer and his lovely wife, June, prominent among the latter. Their recollections never failed to spark my curiosity. Interesting how, during the 1960s and 1970s, when the movie business was changing so dramatically, questions regarding the “old days” to industry veterans who were still functioning in top capacities brought forth an enthusiasm—indeed, passion—that was somewhat lacking regarding the then “current” scene.
Jennings Lang, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, George Seaton, Hal Wallis, Martin Rackin, Ross Hunter, and David Brown were spellbinding raconteurs. Jerry (Jerome B.) Evans, whose association with Universal before MCA’s takeover in the 1960s went back to the late 1940s, Paul Kamey, Bernie (Bernard) Serlin, Fortunat Baronat, Bob Ungerfeld, Milton Livingston, Herman Kass, Bernie (Bernard) Korban, and Dick Delson were the well-connected PR executives in New York who, along with their West Coast counterparts, kept MCA/Universal front and center in the public’s mind. And all of us were kept informed, via our counterparts at other studios, as to exactly what was happening in all corners of the industry. It was an invaluable education and has proven to be a great asset for my career as an author.
Presiding over MCA/Universal was the iconic Lew Wasserman. Visiting studio executives from the West Coast, and from overseas, always had colorful off-the-record anecdotes, complaints, and so on, to report; many of these men had been, and in some cases were still, instrumental in the careers (and lives) of a number of great stars, including not only Audrey and Bill, but Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Grace Kelly, and a host of others.
Earl Wilson, one of the best of the veteran show business columnist-reporters, was not only a close personal contact but a veritable gold mine of anecdotes, as was Gannett Newspapers entertainment guru (and former protégé of Dashiel Hammett) Bernie (Bernard) Drew. Thank you to Pat Gaston Manville, a wonderful friend whose experiences, insight, and intelligence matched her striking beauty. And thank you to Teet Carle, Anita Colby Flagler, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Hal Boyle, Alice Hughes, Doug Anderson, and Johnny Madden.
And to the individuals I spoke to, and in some cases worked with, long before Audrey and Bill became a reality, including Joshua Logan, Dore Schary, Eddie Albert, Charlton Heston, Shelley Winters, Cliff Robertson, Gregory Peck, Bert Stern, and Gloria Swanson and her husband, writer William Dufty.
Renowned critic Judith Crist and husband Bill’s annual “Survival” parties, in their Riverside Drive apartment in New York, brought together a potpourri of show-business insiders, past and present, whose intimate knowledge of the goings-on in the world of films and theater always left one much wiser, to say the least, by the end of the evening (more accurately, the early hours of the next morning).
Thank you to Edith Head and Sheilah Graham for that memorable, intimate winter afternoon tea in an almost deserted Edwardian Room of the Plaza Hotel. With their mile-a-minute chatter, and cutting-edge observations, the two women would have struck gold in today’s reality TV marketplace.
For their support and help, special thanks to Joan Perry, Chris Kachulis, Lou Valentino, Scott Schwartz, Jeffrey Ziffer, and Phyllis Schwartz.
My sincere gratitude to my great editor, Cindy De La Hoz; and to production editor Cisca Schreefel.
Many thanks to my agent, Eric Myers.