This is not about gossip - at least not to me. This is about clearing up something for the record re the death of a foreign-born screen actress many years ago. We'll call her, 'Seven'. At the time I would hang out now and then at a house in the Hollywood Hills. There was partying going on there but I wouldn't describe it along the lines of weirdness, debauchery, and whatever else, in other accounts I've read of parties in Hollywood. It was basically a place that had people coming and going and most of it in a long weekend spanning from Thursday-Friday to Monday. Most of the people there were under 30 and the owner was maybe 40 or a couple of years older. One day I met someone at the house who said he lived up the road with Seven. We'll call him, 'Ray' (but don't bother trying to figure out who he is since he wasn't a celebrity and never became one). One thing led to another in the conversation and he said that Seven was looking for some help with the house in cleaning, fixing, etc., and in exchange I could stay there. In the conversation I had mentioned that I was looking for a place to stay before he even mentioned Seven's situation. A few days after I went to meet Seven and she agreed as to my staying there. I mentioned I knew a friend, "Don", who could help since he knew something about carpentry, etc., but that he wouldn't be staying at the house. I think she eventually worked out something with him money-wise, can't remember for sure, but I know that something was worked out relationship-wise. For the next month or so we'd do some minor work but I realized that she was going to need more help when it came to such things as the pool which looked like the Black Lagoon and some masonry features. In the meantime we had some of our friends visit and she didn't mind since mostly it was young men and she seemed to enjoy the company. A few days before the month was up she told me and Ray that we had to leave. No real explanation was given for it but I suspect it may have had to something to do with Don telling me earlier that he did not want to be with her anymore. As to the specifics of that, I'm not sure but I think it may have been her perpetual state of wine and pills. In general, she didn't exhibit any erratic behavior or mood swings, actually, she maintained a continuous keel even if it was a somewhat sedate sleepwalking. Of course, how that translates to a more intimate setting as that with Don, it may have been a different story. When given the notice from Seven about leaving I asked her for a couple of days to get my things in order. She said okay. I'd see her in that time but the talk was perfunctory at best and she mostly kept to herself in her bedroom. On the morning when I was going to leave, a friend of mine, 'Clark', came by since he was going to give me a ride to my new place. He was a Vietnam veteran whom I had also met at the aforementioned house where lots of people came through. While we were talking in the kitchen over some coffee, Ray came rushing down the stairs saying that Seven wasn't responding to his knock on her bedroom door and then when he went in and called out to her in bed she didn't answer. He was very nervous. I walked up the stairs and went into her bedroom. I called out her name but nothing. I nudged her a few times, still nothing. Then I noticed that part of her back was exposed and there was a line of red at the bottom as she laid at her side. The blood had settled. I stood back and just looked at her, everything seemed suspended. At that moment Clark walked into the bedroom, looked at her and then just grabbed her arm and pulled back. Rigor mortis had set in. He said, "She's dead". Ray was standing out in the hallway and when he heard Clark he just ran down the stairs voicing disbelief. I just stood there looking at her body, thinking how could this be. On her night tables there were those large bottles of wine that look like jugs with small handles and various prescription pill containers. There were more bottles throughout the bedroom. I walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs. I sat at the dining room table. I think it was Clark who called the police, Ray wasn't in a state to do anything. Soon enough, two officers showed up and Clark walked with them upstairs and explained to them what was what. More officers showed up. After a few minutes, one of the first officers who had gone upstairs came over to me and asked if I knew what had happened, if there were some events or whatever before the fact. I just looked at him said no, that I was talking to her last night and there was no indication for anything like this. The officer could see that I was still in a suspended state trying to make sense of it for myself. He nodded his head and told me to wait there. A half-hour or so later the detectives showed up. I think there were three of them, two sat with Ray, Clark, and me in a little, den room while the other one stood in the background by the doorway. They asked us questions about our stay there, how we came to know Seven, and so on. We gave them as thorough an account as possible and they, like the gray-suited, seasoned Los Angeles Police Detectives they were, no doubt scanned all our responses and behavior to their satisfaction. They took all the information, driver's license, social security number, where we were moving to, etc. As the detectives were leaving I could hear one of them asking the first officer who arrived on the scene (the one who talked to me in the dining room) if there was evidence of any foul play. The officer said no. The detective shook his head in affirmation then left. The officer came over and told us we were free to go. In past years I've come across brief articles and even a little website devoted to Seven. The website not so much but some of the articles of course got into the 'conspiracy' nonsense about what happened. They related how there was blood on the pillow where her head rested, how there were bruises on her body thus leading to the implication that there was foul play. If there had been any of that then the detectives would have certainly asked us questions about it and the autopsy even more cause for suspicion. Besides, the authorities already knew about Seven from previous, minor incidents. The fact is that the only 'conspiracy' is what Seven allowed herself to be caught up in re 'Hollywood' and its machinations. When I first met Seven and for those brief days I would have conversations with her with moments when she let her guard down, would seem more alive and even with a slight laugh or two about something. I could see the young woman, the young girl, her odyssey from Europe to Hollywood, and her brief dance with fame. But then I could also see the toll it had taken and how her only marriage ended in a divorce from an American actor also had its effect. As she got older then the calls and Hollywood friends became less. In some of those conversations I felt an undercurrent that there could possibly be a relationship between us by some of the things she said but left hanging. Being a young, straight male, I thought about it and the fact that she was more than twice my age didn't concern me at all. In her manner she had an attractive, European sensibility which was quite charming in itself. But there was something there, something unspoken and in the background that simply said for me to step back and just let things stay as they are. And that's what I did. So, to those who saw a conspiracy, including a member of her family who expressed as such, I am here to say that there was nothing. What there was is the unfortunate death of a woman who in other circumstances would have probably gone on to live a good life, possibly a family of her own, and who knows, maybe a longer career as an actress. She certainly had the classiness and charisma for it, but time and space - for all of us - can often be a chancy thing. And even if in the briefest sense, I wanted to state what happened in reality and not the luridness that some are predisposed to. Seven deserves far better than that. I wish her Spirit well and much Love. As for all the others: I would see Don now and then but he would never get into details about the time with Seven and I didn't solicit them. A few years later Don moved out of state and I never saw him again. About 8 or so years ago I found out he had passed away. Ray was not in the best mental state when all of that happened. I felt sorry for him and invited him to stay with me at my mother's house. My mother got to know him and cared for him. She revealed later on that in conversations with him she saw a young man that was trying to come to terms with his sexuality and all that it entailed by his fear of letting others now. He stayed for around two weeks then moved in with some friends. He called by phone a few times to let us know how he was doing but eventually the calls stopped. Never heard from him again. He was really a nice guy. I hope he found his way to a better place wherever. Clark, I knew for a couple of more years until we had a falling out. A woman came between us. Classic story so the readers can fill in the details to their preference. Last time I saw him was decades ago at the Bodhi Tree bookstore. He just looked at me from the other side of a square counter they had at the time. I was wearing dark shades and pretended that I didn't notice him. The woman? Lived with her for 3 years or so then she went back to NYC. Interesting gal, she had been married to a big-time producer back then. As for the people at the house I mentioned earlier, the owner and his girlfriend at the time passed away and all the rest of them, except for a very good friend I've known through all these years, have gone on never to be heard of again. The only person I've heard of (not on a personal basis) is a girl who was very young at the time and is now a Life Coach in LA. Whatever the situations and circumstances, at this time in my life the best is to wish them all well. We've all had to manage life in one way or the other.
Gia Scala
No comments:
Post a Comment