Book Read Free

A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940

Page 97

by Victoria Wilson


  I would like to thank:

  John Kobal, who spent many afternoons at the Knopf offices at 201 East 50th Street regaling me with enchanted bedtime stories about actors and actresses, designers, cameramen, photographers, and directors he had come to know during his many decades as a fan and then collector for a book we were working on together, I as his editor. It was John who talked to me about Barbara Stanwyck with the excitement, appreciation, and thrill that made me see Miss Stanwyck in a way I hadn’t before. That appreciation stayed with me, long after John and I had worked together on several books, long after John had died.

  James Curtis, early on, opened an important door that led me to Walda Mansfield, the third in the triumvirate of show girls—Ruby Stevens, Mae Clarke, and Walda—who banded together in New York’s 1920s and made a pact to work together onstage no matter what—in nightclubs, musical revues, and on Broadway. It was Walda Mansfield, through extensive interviews, who first made Ruby Stevens real to me. She was no longer abstract, an actress on the screen.

  Jim Curtis’s perceptive, thorough interviews with Mae Clarke (Featured Player, Scarecrow Books, 1996) and movie producer David Lewis (The Creative Producer; The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series, Book 36, 1993) were an invaluable help. Anthony Slide and his pathfinding press, Scarecrow Books, have performed a great service over many decades, making available an important, perhaps arcane but vital history of Hollywood.

  Barbara Stanwyck’s family—Gene Vaslett, an adorable, loving man—believed in this book and spent many hours telling me stories of his life with his aunt Barbara and entrusting me with photographs, letters, and notes and making available Barbara Stanwyck’s archives at the University of Wyoming. Gene’s wife, the effusive, supportive Barbara Vaslett, daughter of one of the busiest character actors in Hollywood’s great age, Irving Bacon; Barbara and Gene’s children, Christine, Kathleen, and Victoria, and grandchildren, Megan and Darcey, have all been supportive and generous.

  A special appreciation to Tori Burns for leading me to June D. Merkent, wife of Barbara Stanwyck’s nephew, Al Merkent. June, at first wary and formal, became an insightful, beloved friend to this book.

  Judith Stevens, former wife of Brian Stevens, nephew of Barbara Stanwyck, somehow found me and gave of her time, telling me a side of the Stevens story I hadn’t yet been able to find.

  Suzanne Frasuer, avid fan and staunch sentry, opened an important door into the Stanwyck inner sanctum.

  Barbara Stanwyck’s closest friends—her adopted family who spent holidays with her year in and year out, each pal as much a mensch as was Barbara Stanwyck—all were generous with their time and thoughts, willing to open up about their adored friend.

  Larry Kleno, former assistant to Helen Ferguson, amanuensis and longtime confidante to Barbara Stanwyck, was steadfast and generous, loving and supportive in so many ways.

  The distinguished Dick Wells and David Janzow were always helpful, fun, full of impish talent, invention, and insight.

  John Testa was generous with his time and stories about Stanwyck and the years of their friendship.

  Barbara Stanwyck’s closest friend (theirs was indeed the perfect blendship), the beautiful, sublime Nancy Sinatra Sr. Her faith in this book meant more to me than she could ever know.

  Alicia Smith, longtime friend of Harriett Coray, was steady-as-she-goes; Alicia’s help and support were crucial in the writing of this book as was her double-dose of wry humor.

  Dion Anthony Fay, adopted son of Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay, who opened his heart and his memory to me during the course of many years when it would have been much easier, and less painful, to have kept both locked away.

  Michael Coray, son of Harriett Coray, gave of his time and family history and helped me with a crucial aspect of Barbara Stanwyck’s story. I am grateful for his assistance, his honesty, his trust.

  Tim Marx, for telling me about his parents, Marion and Zeppo, so central to Barbara’s life—as actress and adventurer, and for sharing family photographs.

  Bobbie Poledouris, for her generosity and her stories.

  David Chierichetti, for the use of his photographs and for his eminent knowledge of movies; of the men and women who worked at the studios, and about studio photography, negative retouching, and prints; about Edith Head, Mitchell Leisen, and many others.

  Tom Toth, film collector extraordinaire, who had in his impressive library of 16mm films every Stanwyck picture no one else owned or knew where to find—this, years before most were available, as they are now, on DVD. Tom was more than generous in making the films available to me and screening 16mm pictures other than Stanwyck’s, films I’d never seen before, or had never seen on a large screen.

  The Mandelbaum brothers, Howard and Ron, for continuing on with the great stock archive, Photofest, founded by Carlos Clarens, and for their service above and beyond on so many books, including the one in your hands.

  John Slotkin for his many stories of Barbara Stanwyck as Shirley Eder’s closest friend, and for making available to me Stanwyck’s letters to her, as well as their taped conversations.

  Ella Smith for offering her time when she had so little left and for sending on her vast correspondence with the many directors, cameramen, and actors who worked with Barbara Stanwyck.

  Ursula Thiess, for her perspective and her time. And her son, Terry Taylor, for being so gracious and open.

  Lois Wilson and John Henderson, for their wisdom and for providing the way.

  I’d like to thank the following for their conversations about acting, Hollywood, and all things Barbara Stanwyck: Ellen Adler, Steve Allen, Jacques d’Amboise, Army Archerd, Lauren Bacall, Joan Benny, Milton Berle, Nancy Bernard Levy, Edward L. Bernds, A. I. Bezzerides, Peter Bogdanovich, Patti Bosworth, Peter Breck, Norman Brokaw, Tom Capra, Frank Capra Jr., Leslie Caron, Stan Cohen, Jerry Cohen, Nancy Coleman, Jackie Cooper, Wendy Cooper, Alvin Cooperman, Mara Corday Long, Cheryl Crane, Christina Crawford, Luther Davis, Frances Dee, Bruce Dern, Edward Dmytryk, Kirk Douglas, Lynn Duddy, Daryl Duke, Yvette Eastman, Doris Eaton Travis, Kate Edelman, Shirley Eder, Jeannie Epper, Linda Evans, Irving Fein, Lucille Fletcher, Nina Foch, Jane Fonda, Christa Fuller, John Gallagher, Peter Gardiner, Arthur Gardner, Irvin Gelb, Herbert G. Goldman, Farley Granger, James Gregory, James Grissom, John Guare, Dolores Hart, June Haver, Harry Hay, Dorothy Herrmann, Charlton Heston, Daryl Hickman, Charles Higham, Leonora Hornblow, Kim Hunter, Josephine Hutchinson, Maria Janis, Fay Kanin, Elia Kazan, Evelyn Keyes, Richard Kiley, Joann Koch, Kurt Kreuger, Diane Ladd, Gavin Lambert, Betty Lasky, Arthur Laurents, Piper Laurie, Ernest Lehman, Joe Lewis, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Joan Lorring, Sidney Lumet, A. C. Lyles, Kathy Mackay, Sharon Madearia, Randal Malone, Dorothy Manners, Jacques Mapes, Andy Maree, Stan Margulies, Bill Marx, Maxine Marx, Virginia Mayo, Joseph McBride, Todd McCarthy, Gavin MacLeod, Roddy McDowall, John Miehle, Nolan Miller, Juanita Moore, Dick Moore, Ivy Mooring, Patricia Neal, Dana O’Connell, Maureen O’Sullivan, Robert Osborne, Barry Paris, Julie Payne, Eleanor Perenyi, Christopher Plummer, Abraham Polonsky, Jane Powell, Ellen Pucky Violet, Tom Purvis, Anthony Quinn, José Quintero, Nancy Reagan, Rex Reed, Art Reeves, Michael Ritchie, Jill Robinson, Peter Rogers, Betty Rowland, Tom Del Ruth, Ted Sannella, Budd Schulberg, Daniel Selznick, Jean Simmons, John Slotkin, Edward Slotkin, Ann Sothern, Aaron Spelling, Robert Stack, Leonard Stanley, George Stevens Jr., Dr. Michael Taylor, Studs Terkel, Phyllis Thaxter, Lee Thuna, André de Toth, Catherine Turney, Dorothy Van Als, Michael Vollbracht, Robert Wagner, Jane Ellen Wayne, J. Watson Webb, Dorothy Wellman, William Wellman Jr., Jesse White, Oona White, David Wolper, Fay Wray, Teresa Wright, Jane Wyman, Richard Ziegfeld, and Victoria Danzig.

  A special heartfelt thanks to Marilyn Goldin, beloved pal, the most dazzling of thinkers and storytellers.

  Irene Diamond, age eight-five when I met her and still a knockout, former head of the story department under Hal Wallis at Warner Bros., then with Wallis at Paramount from 1941 through 1971. Irene, unsung but deserving of great accolades, who chose
many of the pictures Stanwyck made at Warner Bros. and Paramount, was walking on the Warner lot one day when Barbara Stanwyck stopped her and said, “You know we look alike . . .”

  E. A. Kral for his diligent research and reporting on the history of Nebraska and on Robert Taylor, boy Nebraskan.

  Nils Hanson for being the keeper of the Ziegfeld flame, and for his hard work and generosity.

  I am grateful to those who assisted in research: Peter Bankers, Maria Ciaccia; Ellen Martin, Don Tango, Anat Soloman, Bradley Friedman (when he got out of bed), and especially, the dogged and reliable duo, East Coast and West, Stephen Bowie and Jonathan Ward.

  Katherine Hourigan, longtime pal, trusty editor, who came forth with suggestions, notes, and wisdom and her famous Hourigan enthusiasm. She was there at every stage of this book and patiently answered, or rightfully pooh-poohed, my annoying relentless questions.

  Helen Brann, Colorado cowgirl, fellow dog lover, ace handicapper at Inner Track, true friend, literary agent, who gave of her time and read the manuscript—and read it again—during its many stages.

  At Knopf, Sonny Mehta graciously allowed me to undertake this book, and over the years, never inquired about its completion, which could be read two ways; either way, I’m grateful for it and to him; Andy Hughes and Romeo Enriquez for their supreme production expertise and for their enduring friendship; Carol Carson, the best of jacket designers, for her perfect jacket—and for being game; Lydia Buechler, copy chief, for her wise suggestions; Anke Steinecke, Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel, for just that, her much appreciated counsel; Kathy Zuckerman for her expert publicity know-how, years of experience, and sense of fun; Paul Bogaards, amidst all the dust and commotion of his uber-self, for his good heart; Nicholas Latimer, elegant hard worker, longtime Borzoi standard-bearer; Altie Karper for her appreciation of Barbara Stanwyck, and for her anticipation and excitement about this book; my assistants, past and present, each of whom crucially helped at various stages of its making: Lee Buttala, there at the outset, Zachary Wagman, Daniel Schwartz, and, in particular, Carmen Johnson and Charlotte Crowe, valiant and indispensable. Interns Nick Naney, Christina Sontag, Audrey Silverman, Gene Tajada, and Eric Herskovic, who worked so diligently to get the job done, whatever it was. Anne Diaz, wise soul who could manage the world—and should. Most of all, Shelley Wanger, who knows everyone who is anyone on the planet, and perhaps on a few others nearby, and who generously vouched for me to those from her Hollywood childhood past.

  Jill Ciment for her offhand comment at lunch one day that sent me in a new direction.

  Foster Hirsch, quiet impresario, master interviewer, admired cultural historian and biographer, for his time and efforts.

  G. D. Hamann for his research, culling of articles decade by decade, subject by subject, and for his love of the movies.

  Brenda Wineapple, for her generosity and for our many conversations on the white heat of writing biography.

  The American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films, available only in book form when I began this book, now online and an invaluable tool. The AFI deserves a national medal for their valiant and important archival work.

  The New York Times Archive, a researcher’s dream, which should be celebrated as a national treasure.

  In New York and the surrounding area, Maryan Chach, head archivist of the Shubert Archive, who made me feel at home in the stacks of her magical collection. My thanks to the staffs at the Billy Rose Theatre Collection at the Performing Arts Research Center, Lincoln Center; the Theater Collection of the Museum of the City of New York; the Columbia University Center for Oral History. Edward Cypress, Principal, P.S. 152, Brooklyn, New York.

  To Eva Tucholka and Harriet Culver of Culver Pictures, for their determined efforts and generosity.

  To Jeanine Basinger, Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies and Founder and Curator of the Cinema Archives Center for Film Studies at Wesleyan University.

  In Gloucester, Massachusetts, my appreciation to the Cape Ann Museum, Cape Ann Historical Society, Lanesville Historical Society, and Barbara Lambert, and to Fred Bodin of Bodin Historic Photographs.

  The Maine Historical Society Research Library and Nancy Taylor.

  The Philadelphia Theatre Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia, and Geraldine Duclow.

  In Washington, the Library of Congress, Raymond Chandler Collection, and to Heather Burke for her research.

  In Atlanta, the Turner Entertainment Company, which opened their archives when they could easily have maintained their policy and kept them closed.

  In the midwest, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, and the Gage County Historical Society.

  In the southwest, the Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin; Southern Methodist University, DeGolyer Library, Ronald Davis Oral History Collection of the Performing Arts, Dallas, Texas.

  A special nod of gratitude to the University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center Archives, the Barbara Stanwyck Collection, and to Rick Ewig, Associate Director, for his help and the help of his efficient staff.

  To Helen Cohen, President of Entertainment Management and on behalf of the DeMille Estate, and James V. D’Arc, Curator of the Motion Picture and Arts Communications Archive, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, for their help with the Cecil B. DeMille Archives, 1863–1983.

  In Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Brigitte Kueppers, Librarian and Archivist, the Department of Special Collections, the Arts Library of the University of California, Los Angeles.

  At the Warners Archive at the University of Southern California Cinematic Arts Library, Edward S. (Ned) Comstock, Senior Library Assistant, the biographer’s best pal and essential guide to almost everything Hollywood-related. For his boundless generosity, for his being at the crossroads of all books Hollywood in nature, for “meritorious conduct, extraordinary valor, conspicuous bravery against”—and on behalf of—needy biographers, Edward S. Comstock is hereby awarded the “Triple Cross.”

  The Archives Department of Los Angeles District Court; the Motion Picture & Television Country Home and Hospital.

  IMDB and IBDB—the greatest movie and theater reference this side of the cyber Rio Grande.

  Valerie Yaros, Screen Actors Guild and SAG-AFTRA historian, for her generous guidance with the Guild’s complex beginnings.

  Lynn Nesbit, literary agent, colleague, longtime friend . . . Who knows what lurks in the heart of that brusque, no-nonsense affect? Anyone knows who has worked with her—decency, honor, taste, and above all, loyalty.

  Michael Korda, publisher, novelist, biographer, equestrian, photographer, illustrator, and a few other incidentals, who contracted for this book many a year ago and who continued to act as its editor long after life took him into the realms of writing military history and biography. Thank you for your patience, your eye, your constancy; your Korda sense of the heroic.

  David Rosenthal, for his daring choices and for his long-standing admiration of Barbara Stanwyck.

  At Simon & Schuster, Gypsy da Silva, pro of pros, upholding the long traditions of S&S’s diligent sower; the ever efficient—and adorable—Nick Greene, who weathered the storm with charm and good cheer. The jazzed Jessica Zimmerman Lawrence, Senior Publicist, who spread the word with grace and zip; Elina Vaysbeyn, Online Marketing Manager, for her online energy and webmaster know-how; George Turianski, Senior Production Manager; Joy O’Meara, Director of Interior Design; Gina DiMascia, Associate Managing Editor; and Brittany Dulac, Assistant Managing Editor; Irene Kheradi, Executive Managing Editor; Jackie Seow, Executive Director of Trade Art—all first-rate book producers who did a yeoman’s job with a complicated manuscript.

  Ingrid Sterner, the book’s copy editor, for her thoroughness and care, who dutifully tortured me with questions and more questions . . .

  And Jonathan Karp, a true publisher and an elegant man, who stood at the helm of the good ship Barbara Stanwyck with a st
eady hand and heart, and who brought us into port and made it all fun.

  To friends and family who were there through thick and thicker: Tony Chirico (good neighbor; better pal), Mike Comerford, Lynne Cox, Brenda Feigen, Jane Friedman (sister-in-heart; woman of the year; empire builder on an open road with an open soul), Faith Stewart Gordon, Gail Hochman, Melanie Jackson, Martha Kaplan, who forged the path westward into the hills of Sullivan County and led the way for the rest of us, Ruth Lippman (Miss Subways to the core and one of the book’s earliest readers), Lena Mitchell (who kept me sane), Joanne Parent, Marjorie Pleshette, Alice Quinn (from black skirt and 3 Loop Road to 121 Madison and beyond), Anne Rice, writer, worker, friend (ours has to be one of the longest marriages in publishing), Ethan Silverman, John Torre, Blossom and Walter Wilson.

  And to my sister, Erica Silverman, wise reader and supporter, with memories of Vineyard summers, Tisbury winters, Madame Alexander dolls, onion grass, and nifty cookouts on the opening nights of the MV Agricultural Fair.

  My father, Mitchell Wilson, taught me laughter and silliness, discipline and quiet work; about how anything is possible, and how you can go from being almost thrown out of high school to becoming a physicist (seesaws to cosmic rays) assisting the likes of Enrico Fermi and I. I. Rabi; and who opened up for me the world of writing, silk scarves, and book publishing.

  Regina Tierney, artist, entrepreneurial force, and computer whiz who can read a five-hundred-page manual on Unix, Boolean geometry, and C++ as if it were Anna Karenina, for all of our (loopy) years together and for so much more.

  To the dedicatees of this book—to my mother, Helen Wilson; and to Nina Bourne; and to Bob Gottlieb. How could a person be so lucky as to have known and been taught by all three of these extraordinary people?

 

‹ Prev