![]() She’d even dreamed of doing something like Pinky. She also loved Stagecoach, and she wanted “desperately” to do a picture with John Ford. ![]() She loved Howard Hawks, even though he was always “getting mad” at her. “You said ‘substantial.’ I know what you mean, like me wanting to play Montgomery Clift’s part in Red River.” She loved that film, she said. Personally, as an actor I want to do something worthwhile, or like what you said about it.” “If you want to look at it that way,” I said, “like if not hypnotized, then certainly captivated. I felt like I’d blabbed myself into a corner. She knew him but ignored him, and said to me, “I appreciate what you’ve said about being hypnotized, but are you saying hypnotized as if in a trance like a hypnotist puts you in?” Her eyes seemed to shine, but shifted to a heavyset guy in blue gabardine coming toward us. She’d been a bit player at Metro-a pal of Jean Harlow.” “My mom was in labor and rode the streetcar downtown to the hospital. “ I was born in General Hospital,” she said. We’re like fish in a dirty bowl.” Staring at me, she asked, “Where are you from?” Richard Sales said I was too young to be married to Barbara Bates-” I told her I’d been to Fox on Let’s Make It Legal, but “Robert Wagner got the part. ![]() I said I thought she was great in whatever she did-even the earlier movies. I don’t honestly have an idea why I’m doing what I’m doing. Keeping us moving, I asked what picture she’d be doing next. I mentioned the earlier movies she’d made and her eyes widened, her lip was going up and she put two fingers against her mouth. Unsure of what to say as I stared at her, I congratulated her on the work she did in the film Niagara. Laughter from the main room seemed to unnerve her. She was staring at me and fiddling with the telephone cord. She could stand completely still and just let the magnetic waves radiate. She had several unusual ideas about her appearance-commercially the most important thing about Marilyn-but she really didn’t have to do anything. I figured maybe her rationale was that by lengthening her upper lip, it made her nose appear smaller-even though her nose was beautiful. Marilyn would also often pull on her upper lip as she spoke, sort of tucking it against the edge of her front teeth, the tip of her tongue easing against it. It made me think of my former agent, Henry Willson, who said my teeth were small, needing porcelain caps, or should be extracted and replaced with a partial. From then on I noticed this tic more often: Her fingers against her upper lip, gently tapping, accenting her thinking or not wanting to show her teeth when speaking. “Line’s still busy!” She stretched her upper lip practically under her front teeth. “John’s an admirable person,” she said, then hung up the phone. She said, “Otherwise I’m not able to reach the person when you have to talk.” She dialed the long-distance operator again to try the number before asking if I’d seen Hodiak lately. Having trouble with the phone, Marilyn said, “Every time I call, the damn line is busy.” Flustered, she said she’d call the operator to interrupt the busy signal. John was a mentor to me, and not the kind of “friend” typically understood in Hollywood terminology. I was “John Hodiak’s friend”-she introduced me that way. I’d learn she didn’t forget things, or rather fixed faces in her mind with some label that she wouldn’t shake. ![]() I smiled-she remembered me didn’t recall my name, just said, “You’re John Hodiak’s friend.” I said yes, told her my name though wasn’t sure it logged in. He said he wasn’t Marilyn’s agent, but he was “working on it.” Rocamora tended a flock of stars, plus promising would-be’s like myself. It was not long after I’d met her on Doheny. Next came Wynn Rocamora’s soiree on Outpost Drive, and Marilyn in an alcove, tugging on the telephone cord. “They are not naughtier-they’re just more fun!” “Yours are naughtier,” he said, wagging his finger. “‘Different’ is the word, honey,” Hodiak said. Peering through those big sunglasses, she said, “Bring your friend John Hodiak down and join us.” Her party was better than ours, she said, and we’d have a marvelous time. “Jonathan’s a pal trying to be a star, so come on up and tell him your secrets.” Waving, she said, “Hi, John! Come join the party.” It was someone’s birthday, she said. Her breasts came to uplifted peaks, the nipples traced like two short fingertips. She glowed as if some radioactive core lay beneath her skin, blasting white-hot light through a white sleeveless top and illuminating her shoulders, arms, and throat. ![]() Red high heels with open toes with bright blood-red toenails. Her hair glowed almost white like a halo, and her long, slim legs in tight, white toreadors made her look taller than she was. The blond with the champagne, laughing with a couple people, glanced up when Hodiak called down, “Hello, gorgeous! What’re you doing?” Her teeth sparkled. ![]()
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