Blind Items Revealed #8 - Anniversary Month

January 16-19, 2015

Part One

Back in the day when I was just getting started and helping out at film festivals and making connections and going to law school I ran into Johnny Grant. I had no idea who he was when I looked at him, but knew the name when I heard it. For those of you who don’t know who Johnny was, he was the honorary Mayor Of Hollywood until his death in 2008. He started out in radio though and when he heard I had worked with some bands and radio stations we tossed some names around and found a few we both knew or worked with. We made plans to meet for lunch one day when we were both back in LA. I didn’t know if he was serious, but he was the one who did the calling and we met a couple of days later for our first of many lunches. Generally we only had lunch. There were only a handful of times we even saw each other at night and that is when we would cross paths or one of us would spot the other in the Roosevelt Hotel bar. One day at lunch he asked what I was doing the next night because he had something in mind that he thought I would enjoy. We met at The Roosevelt. It was easier for him because that is where he lived. He met everyone there. We sat down in the lobby and had a drink while we waited for the guest to arrive. A short time later I heard a loud voice yell out, "Why the f**k are you here in the lobby drinking like you own the place? I told you to meet me out front" Johnny was laughing, but I didn’t until I turned around and saw this permanent A list singer/actor. Permanent A list in both (Lets call him OE). I had never seen him anywhere other than from an audience, but here he was in the flesh and it was a reddened/tan jowly kind of flesh. It was hard to describe but it was as if the perception of the man and reality were exactly the same. You could tell he was gruff and impatient just from looking at him and didn’t even need the way he greeted Johnny when he walked in to know it. When Johnny introduced me the handshake was firm but then he said, "Johnny told me you like old Hollywood kind of things. Tonight you are going to feel like Scrooge because you are going to see the f**king past and present of Hollywood." I asked him about the future and he told me, "I’m not going to be alive much f**king longer so I’m only worried about me right now and waking up every day." He then turned to Johnny and said, "Grab a few of those bottles from behind the bar and lets get out of here." Johnny turned and asked the bar tender for a couple of bottles. You weren’t supposed to take them out of the bar, but no one was going to tell Johnny no, and they sure weren’t going to turn down the guy who told Johnny to get them. Before Johnny could even get the bottles OE was walking through the side door by the bar and was seated in a limo before we could make it down the stairs. When Johnny opened the door, there was someone waiting with OE and I knew this was going to be one hell of a night.

Part 2

When the door to the limo opened, I could only see a pair of legs. It was not until I bent over to climb in that I saw the legs belonged to another permanent A lister who did just as much in as many different forms of media as OG. Lets call this guy, RP. When I think back to that night which was awhile ago, I always remember the smell of cigarette smoke. It was like a cloud that made everything hazy and surreal. Looking back now I also remember there was no music playing which now I find really strange. I didn’t think much of it back then because I was so caught up in the moment. Usually when I hung out with Johnny it was during the day and he would tell me a story or two about the old days in radio or Hollywood or he would tell me which stars showed up wasted to their Walk Of Fame presentations. One of his favorite Walk Of Fame stories was about this former A+ list mostly movie actor who had a wife and offspring who were also A list or close. The actor was drunk and running late and had a girlfriend with him even though his wife was waiting patiently for the ceremony to start. The actor introduced his girlfriend to his wife as the wife of an executive. That was all good until about three weeks later our actor and his wife were at a party and the executive the actor had name dropped was at the party with his real wife. The wife of our A+ lister then accused the executive of cheating and what about the woman she had met two weeks earlier. Anyway, back to the limo. By the time I sat down I had been handed a drink. There was not any choice about what I was having or how it was going to be served. It was whiskey with one ice cube. One. Never two. Never none. Always one. So, I don’t forget later, there was a place we went to that night. I didn’t know about the one ice cube thing at the time. I know I got a drink with one ice cube in it, but it wasn’t until later that I saw what a tyrant OE could be. A waiter brought him a whiskey, but it was on the rocks and OE went after the waiter like he was an idiot and made it very clear that only one ice cube should be used. When OE went to the bathroom later at that place, RP apologized for OE to everyone at the table and to the waiter and said he actually preferred his drinks to be on the rocks, but it was just better to have one ice cube than to have to listen to crap all night from OE about it. So, back to the limo and RP hands me a drink and I’m trying to sit and get used to the smoky haze and handle a drink at the same time. We only traveled for about five or ten minutes at the most and I remember not even touching my drink. I was taking it all in. Johnny was reminiscing with OE and RP about the first time they worked together and name dropped just about everyone in Old Hollywood. This was ten minutes of just back and forth. There was never a pause. They never stopped talking or even take a breath. When we pulled up to where we were eating, I looked out and I remember smiling. I thought I was doing it internally, because, it just all fit. OE saw me though and said, something about me smiling and don’t waste the whiskey, so I drank it all in one shot while he looked at me. When I finished he just nodded, and said, "Come on." I have spent a lot of time with a lot of famous people. I have never seen someone walk through a crowd or work a line of people at a valet stand like OE. The guy was part politician, part wizard. I don’t remember any paps, but that was not unusual. It was a different time. They would be there on the way out though. I had been to this restaurant many times and I still frequent it once a month or so. I hate the offshoot that former employee started. Hate it and think it is pretentious and more akin to a hotel lobby with its ambiance. People stand at the bar and stare at celebrities walking in like they are bird watchers trying for a big year. The place I go to and was at so many years ago is so different. There is no pretension. Everyone is on top of each other. Everyone feels like a family. We got a booth. A round booth. It was in a corner. Johnny held me back because OE goes first. He slid around the booth until he was in the middle. He lit a cigarette and put his arms on the back of the booth and just took it all in. Then we were allowed to sit. Waiters rushed up and were respectful but OE was a regular and the guys working his table were all known to him. He joked with them and teased them and you could see a little of the bullying. Drink orders were taken. I could have ordered anything but I just said I will have what OE is having. It could not have been more than a minute after the waiters left that the first of many people stopped by the table. It was also one of the most beautiful women on the planet at the time.

Part 3

The actress that walked up to the table was at her peak. She was getting nominated and winning the big awards and was on a nice long streak of great roles and she was stunning. At the time she could play comedies, romantic comedies and of course would long be remembered as the smoking hot actress in one of the biggest movies of all time. That role seemed long ago when I saw her, but she was a presence in that room. One hundred or so diners in that room and I don’t think anyone was talking to each other, or if they were, they were doing so while looking over at her. This was a movie star. She might not be a movie star now, but she is still B+ list and I saw her a few months ago from across the room and she still could command a room when she wanted. At some point that night a few months ago, we crossed paths and as we always do when we meet said what OE first said to her when he saw her that night (Lets call her NQ). I expected OE to have a huge grin on his face. I mean this actress was coming to him. Instead, he looked like he was ticked off. The first words out of his mouth were. "Where the fuck have you been?" No hello, or good to see you. No pleasantries whatsoever. It was just straight to what he was thinking with no filter. There was no offer for her to sit or any other courtesy shown. Watching NQ and OE stare at each other, it looked as if neither was going to blink. NQ said that she only found out the night before that OE had been looking for her. OE then said he left word with a guy we will call PI and that PI had been trying all over the place to find NQ. PI was and is an actor. He is actually still on a hit network show but in a minor recurring role. He had his run a couple of decades ago and was about five years removed from the end of a long running hit show. The thing is our actor also had another side business and apparently as a result of that side business and connections he had, met OE. They had a long shared history together and that history apparently included NQ. Our actress was not always an actress and sometimes had to make ends meet. Now, even though she was arguably the biggest actress in the world at that time, OE wanted her to earn some money to help out a friend of his. Lets take a break for a second. All of this banter between NQ and OE was filled with half sentences and things that did not make a lot of sense to someone who was put right in the middle of this. Later Johnny filled in some of the blanks. Some. There were a ton of blanks he didn’t ever fill, and he kept a lot of secrets. He told me several hundred, but he kept several thousand to himself. One of the blanks that he answered was that NQ actually married a guy just to have an excuse to avoid OE’s requests. Even though OE was an a-hole who would cheat on his own wife in a second, he would never force NQ to cheat on her husband. Now that NQ had split with her husband though, the past year or so had been one excuse after the other. She tried to work as much as possible just to avoid even having to see OE. Bringing in PI though notched everything up a level. She knew it was serious which is why she showed up. That last little bit I got directly from NQ. I had not seen her since that night until we ran into each other in of all places at a grocery store. Ice cream aisle. I closed one of the glass doors and there she was. She remembered that night and I reminded her of what OE had said to her when he saw her and since then, we use that line. Being the inquisitive person I am, I started asking her some questions, and she also filled in some blanks. Obviously she didn’t know me, so her answers were somewhat guarded, but she was still talking to me while my hand nearly froze from holding that ice cream so long. Over time we talked more and because of that grocery store meet she actually got me a client or two. Now, back to the restaurant. NQ agreed to meet whoever OE wanted her to meet, but only for a drink. I found out later they did meet for a drink, but she refused to do anything more with him and OE decided it was fine and found someone else for the guy. NQ said her goodbyes and turned around and headed straight for the door. All dressed up and alone and every guy watched her walk out of the place. I had a lot of questions for OE, but Johnny told me to not ask any for a few hours and to be very careful if I chose to do so. I ended up not asking him very much at all that night except things that I knew he would answer because they were all about his successes. Later that year though I saw him and had drinks with him the same weekend I wrote about a long time ago with some members of the original 90210 cast. He was much more forthcoming then. He seemed different too, maybe because he didn’t have to do anything but talk to me, and not be the center of attention at a restaurant in Hollywood. That conversation is for another day though. Shortly after NQ left, plates of food started appearing. No one had ordered anything, but no one was supposed to. Everyone ate what OE ate and he always ate the same thing so the food just started coming out. There were lots of plates and lots of waiters so I stood up to give them more room and while I was up thought I would take a quick lap around the place. Take it all in. I could not have been gone for more than two minutes but when I got back there was another guy sitting in my seat and talking to OE. There was no room for me, so I just stood there looking like a fool. I think OE kind of liked that.

Part 4

The guy who was sitting in my seat got up after just a few minutes. I learned that I shouldn’t take it personally and even OE lost his spot a few times during the night when he would get up and wander. He would not actually lower himself to the point where he would make a point to go visit someone at another table, but if he were walking to or from the restroom and someone called him over that he liked or found interesting or could help him he would go slightly out of his way to shake their hand or say a few words. No lingering though. This was OE’s version of make everyone come to your office. I noticed that RP didn’t have that issue. He was happy to go with other people and seemed to get a big thrill of being the big shot at a table which he definitely was when seated with almost anyone other than OE. It was when he was seated with others that he smoked. Most of the time when he lit up near OE, he would get a look. OE smoked, but for some reason RP was shamed for doing so. The most fun OE seemed to have all night other than when some teenage girls asked him for his autograph and weren’t doing it for their parents was when this at the time B+ list mostly television actor and hiatus movie actor came by to say hello. OE actually got up and came out and gave the actor a hug. The actor, who we will call LM, was all smiles and laughs but then OE had to go and ruin it by asking LM to do a little comedy bit and LM said it wasn’t really the time and place and the two went back and forth and it became really awkward until Johnny intervened and told OE that one of the waitresses wanted to show OE something. Apparently there was no waitress who wanted to show OE anything, but I didn’t know that until later. It was code for OE and one of his many escorts or side pieces to head up to a room that was next door to the restaurant. A little attic space that is now a club was the place OE would take women for 30 minutes when he was in town. At the time there was a side door and he never had to go out front or in the back and no one ever knew what he was doing. Apparently it was supposed to happen later in the night, but Johnny decided it would be best to mention it right then so OE could save some face and there would be less of a chance for things to be said that could not be taken back. As it was, I don’t think OE and LM ever really got along after that incident. OE carried a lot of money, but I never saw him pay for anything. He would tip people all the time, but never actually pay for anything. I’m not sure how he handled the whole escort thing. From what Johnny told me, there were others who would pay for him, and the women he slept with who were not escorts were all hoping for a favor or were paying off a debt. I think I went into the limo that night hoping for lots of stories and learning more about what happened in Old Hollywood. I got stories, but they seemed to be the same stories the same group of people had been telling for years and although they were excited about the stories, it involved people that were only specific to them and not all that exciting. What that night did give me was something that a lot of people never get the chance to do. I got to spend a night with some legends and see them in a mostly unguarded way and that is something I will never forget. When I did see OE a few months later, he continued to be unguarded. Because I had been introduced by a friend he assumed I wouldn’t go talking to the press or write a book about the guy. He was right. I kept my mouth quiet. I would tell bits and pieces to friends, but it was not like any of it was revolutionary or demanding to be told. A few months later when we spoke, some of that began to change.

OE: Frank Sinatra
RP: Merv Griffin
A+ drunk Walk of Fame Actor side story: William Holden
Wife of drunk actor: Brenda Marshall
Girlfriend of Drunk actor: Stefanie Powers
Restaurant: Dan Tana's
(offshoot: Craig’s - owned by Dan Tana’s former long-time maitre d')
NQ: Michelle Pfeiffer 
LM: Dean Martin