“He’s Getting Worse”/A Baroness Named Betsy/The Shadow of Her Smile/If Only
Interviews conducted: Bob Neal (March 1, 1998; May 4, 2005; June 1, 2005; August 4, 2005); Connie Espinoza de Amaté (October 1, 2011); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012); Stewart Armstrong (November 13, 2011; November 14, 2011; November 15, 2011); Betsy von Furstenberg (May 10, 2012; May 11, 2012; May 12, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton.
Articles referenced: “Nicky Hilton and Air Force Officer Battle in Night Club,” Los Angeles Times, February 22, 1951; “Hilton to Wed Actress After Elizabeth Taylor Decree Final,” Associated Press, September 20, 1951; “Starlett Says She’ll Be Nicky Hilton Bride,” Los Angeles Times, September 20, 1951; Hedda Hopper, “Will Nicky Marry Again?,” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 1951; “Hungarian Rhapsody,” Escapade, August 1956.
NOTES
The interaction between Nicky, Conrad, Barron, and Maria de Amaté was reconstructed as per Maria’s memory in recalling the events to her daughter, Connie Espinoza de Amaté.
All conversations between Nicky and Betsy von Furstenberg were reconstructed from the first-person accounts of Ms. von Furstenberg.
All conversations between Nicky and Bob Neal were reconstructed from the first-person accounts of Mr. Neal.
Zsa Zsa Finds Her Niche
Interviews conducted: Zsa Zsa Gabor (February 2, 1986); Dylan Terrell Thomas (October 22, 2011); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012); Betsy von Furstenberg (May 10, 2012; May 11, 2012; May 12, 2012); Lena Burrell (September 12, 2012; October 11, 2012; December 2, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Jolie Gabor by Cindy Adams; One Lifetime Is Not Enough by Zsa Zsa Gabor; Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story by Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gerold Frank; Gaborabilia by Anthony Turtu and Donald F. Reute; Eva Gabor an Amazing Woman: “Unscrupulous” by Camyl Sosa Belanger; How to Catch a Man, How to Keep a Man, How to Get Rid of a Man by Zsa Zsa Gabor; A Dreadful Man: A Personal, Intimate Book About George Sanders by Brian Aherne; George Sanders, Zsa Zsa and Me by David R. Slavitt; Making the Good Life Last by Merv Griffin.
Articles referenced: “Love Hints from Zsa Zsa,” Life, October 15, 1951; “Zsa Zsa Gabor Is Married Here to Corporation Head,” New York Times, November 6, 1962; “Zsa Zsa Decides It’s Time to Sell Beauty Formulas,” New York Times, January 29, 1969; Leslie Bennetts, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Zsa Zsa World,” Vanity Fair, September 2007.
Legal documents referenced: miscellaneous file notes from Zsa Gabor Plaintiff vs. Fawcett Publications, Inc. (November 1960); “Contestant Constance Francesca Hilton’s Responses to Defendants William Barron Hilton and James E. Bates Interrogatories” (May 29, 1979); “Deposition of Sari Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara” (June 14, 1979; July 9, 1979; July 10, 1979); “Deposition of Constance Francesca Hilton” (September 12, 1979; September 13, 1979; September 14, 1979); “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979); “Deposition of Frances Kelly Hilton” (October 19, 1979).
Television programs referenced: The Jack Paar Program, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, October 19, 1962; The Jack Paar Program, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 23, 1962; The Jack Paar Program, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 29, 1964; The Jack Paar Program, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, December 4, 1964; The Joey Bishop Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 8, 1968; The Joey Bishop Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, August 16, 1968; The David Frost Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 12, 1970; Phil Donahue, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, August 10, 1971; Geraldo, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor and Francesca Hilton, March 31, 1980; The Pat Sajack Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, September 13, 1989; The Geraldo Rivera Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, September 13, 1990; One on One with John Tesh, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, September 10, 1991; Larry King Live, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 26, 1991; The Howard Stern Summer Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 2, 1992; One on One with John Tesh, interview with Eva Gabor, 1992; Intimate Portrait: Eva Gabor, February 1, 1998.
Note: I corroborated much of Zsa Zsa Gabor’s account of her life during this time, such as her conversation with Conrad Hilton regarding Bachelor’s Haven, by utilizing Bart Andrews’s extensive files and transcripts relating to his interviews with Zsa Zsa Gabor for a possible autobiography collaboration between the two.
Filling Elizabeth’s Shoes/Assault/Magic Words/Mamie/Marilyn’s Party/Dinner at the Manse
Interviews conducted: Bob Neal (August 4, 2005); Robert Wentworth (June 11, 2012; June 12, 2012; June 13, 2012); Mamie Van Doren (February 9, 2011; February 10, 2011; February 11, 2011); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 3, 2012); Betsy von Furstenberg (May 10, 2012; May 11, 2012; May 12, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Elizabeth Takes Off by Elizabeth Taylor; Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor by C. David Heymann; Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Taylor by Alexander Walker; Elizabeth: The Last Star by Kitty Kelley; Elizabeth by J. Randy Taraborrelli; Sinatra: The Complete Story by J. Randy Taraborrelli; Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story by Whitney Bolton.
NOTES
All conversations between Nicky and Mamie Van Doren were reconstructed from the first-person accounts of Ms. Van Doren. All details of Ms. Van Doren’s unusual evening at Casa Encantada as the dinner guest of Nicky Hilton were also reconstructed from details she herself provided.
All conversations between Nicky, Bob Neal, and Robert Wentworth were reconstructed from Mr. Neal’s and Mr. Wentworth’s first-person accounts.
I utilized the John Carroll file in the Hedda Hopper Papers in the Margaret Herrick Collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
We referenced photographs taken on the night of Marilyn Hilton’s Polynesian-themed party in order to describe the events of that evening.
I also referenced Mamie Van Doren’s website, and her blog about her love affair with Nicky Hilton (“Bedtime Stories”), at www.MamieVanDoren.com.
PART SEVEN. THE BIG BOON
The Hilton Junket
Interviews conducted: Everett Long (December 14, 2011; January 15, 2012; March 3, 2012); Doris Roberts (January 4, 2012); Patricia Skipworth Hilton (February 27, 2012; February 28, 2012; April 5, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012); Mike Dipp (March 16, 2012); Patricia McClintock Hilton (April 2, 2012; April 8, 2012; April 16, 2012; April 20, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012); George Schlatter (April 7, 2012); Terry Moore (April 11, 2012); Ann Jeffreys (April 25, 2012); Margaret O’Brien (May 1, 2012); Dale Olsen (July 9, 2012); Mark Young (July 20, 2012); Debbie Reynolds (August 2, 2012); Ruta Lee (April 23, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story by Whitney Bolton; Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture by Annabel Jane Wharton; The Man Who Bought the Waldorf by Thomas Ewing Dabney; Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier by Mildred Houghton Comfort; Miller’s High Life by Ann Miller.
Articles referenced: “Hilton: The Stuff of a Hotel Man,” Newsweek cover story on Conrad Hilton, September 27, 1954; Hedda Hopper, “Rough draft notes re: Istanbul Hilton Opening,” June 15, 1955, Hedda Hopper Papers; “The New Istanbul Hilton,” Asta Travel News, July 1955; Henry Bonnett, “Press List for Opening of Dallas Hilton,” January 1956; “Rough draft notes re: Opening of the Dallas Hilton,” January 16 and January 18, 1956; Bill Cunningham, “Heigh-Ho Dallas, Here We Come,” Boston Herald, January 16, 1956; John Brehl, “1,000 Guests Attend Hotel Opening,” Toronto Daly Star, April 16, 1958; Richard Carter, “A Hotel Is Built,” Chicago Tribune Magazine, May 25, 1958; Amy Vanderbilt, “The Day the Queen Arrived,” Chicago Tribune Magazine, May 25, 1958; Irv Kupcinet, “The World’s Largest Hotel,” Chicago Tribune Magazine, May 25, 1958; Joan Winchell, “Conrad Plays Host,” Los Angeles Times, August 3, 1958; Joan Winchell, “Junketeers Climb Pyramids (Uh-Almost); Athens Viewed,” Los Angeles Times, March 8, 1959); “Letter from Hedda Hopper to Conrad Hilton, re: Cairo Press Junket,” Marc
h 13, 1959, Hedda Hopper Papers; Conrad Hilton, “The Anvil of Civilization: An Address Delivered at the Official Opening of the Nile Hilton,” February 22, 1959; “Hilton Joins Rockefeller Center and Uris in New Hotel,” News Release from Hilton Hotels, October 29, 1960; “Hilton Announces Expansion,” News Release from Hilton Hotels, May 3, 1961; Henry Bonnet, director of public relations, Hilton Hotels, “Letter to All Media” (regarding the opening of the Hong Kong Hilton and Tokyo Hilton), May 10, 1963; “Hotels: By Golly!,” Time cover story on Conrad Hilton, July 19, 1963, Hedda Hopper Papers.
Legal documents referenced: “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979).
Television programs referenced: What’s My Line?, Conrad Hilton, June 5, 1955; Person to Person, interview with Conrad Hilton, 1955; Larry King Live, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 26, 1991; The Hiltons, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Biography: Conrad Hilton, CNBC, 2010).
NOTES
I utilized the extensive Hedda Hopper Papers at the Margaret Herrick Collection of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Library for many of the details about the Hilton junkets found on these pages. I also referenced press material—schedules and itineraries—relating to every junket written about on these pages, most of which was sent by the Hilton organization to the media at the time.
Regarding Conrad Hilton and Hedda Hopper, worth noting is an interesting set of correspondence found in the Hedda Hopper Papers that illuminates the kind of relationship Conrad Hilton had with members of the media, like Ms. Hopper:
By August 1962, Hopper had traveled the world over on Conrad’s dime, covering his hotel junkets. One might imagine that any problem she might have had with her accommodations—especially when not on a junket—would be handled by someone other than Conrad, the president and chairman of the board of the Hilton Hotels Corporation, perhaps a press agent or an assistant. However, typical of Conrad and his hands-on philosophy, he personally handled any issues Hopper had with her Hilton hotel status.
Contention between the powerful columnist and the hotel tycoon started on August 8 when Hedda sent Conrad a typewritten letter stating that she feared that she was soon going to have to find another hotel to stay in while in Manhattan. “The Waldorf has become too rich for my blood,” she wrote. “I just can’t pay $40 a day! You know, we working girls have to stay on a budget!” She claimed to have an offer from the manager of the Americana Hotel offering her free accommodations. What should she do? She left the ball in Conrad’s court.
On August 9, Conrad responded to Hopper’s letter, asking if she really wanted to find herself “staying at some ordinary hotel in New York.” It was not his fault, he observed, that she required a $40-a-day suite. She was already getting a 25 percent discount, he wrote, so in actuality she was staying in a $60-a-night suite. If she wanted to do so, he added, she could always stay in a cheaper room. But, he continued, “you are used to something grand and I don’t blame you. You want a lovely living room, with not a spot on the walls or the rugs. You want your visitors to come in to a room where they will greet you like a queen.” Then he concluded, “Here is what I don’t understand: I read your newspaper column all over the world—even down in Mexico. Certainly you must be receiving pay for these articles!” He suggested that she deduct from her taxes the business expense of any hotel room in which she stayed. She might be a “working girl,” he continued, “but I also consider you a capitalist because you are in the business of selling your stories all over the world.” However, he wouldn’t want to lose her as a customer, he hastened to add, and he hoped she would reconsider. But offering her a lower rate was out of the question. Instead, he tried to appease her by making an unusual offer: “Let me personally make your next reservation when you get ready to go back to the Waldorf.”
Not one to be cowed, the seventy-seven-year-old Hedda wrote right back to him, on October 9, 1962. She first wished to correct Conrad; the suite in which she usually stayed at the Waldorf carried a $50—not a $60—rate. She was getting it for $40. Therefore, she really wasn’t getting a 25 percent discount, was she? She also noted that the Americana Hotel had offered her a suite for $20. “However,” as she wrote, “you know I shall always be loyal to you and the Waldorf. It seems like home.” That said, she added, “I do hope you can match this rate!”
The next day, October 10, Conrad responded. He was not moved by the fact that his competitor had offered Hedda a better rate. He thought of the Americana as inferior. “After all,” he wrote, “the Waldorf-Astoria is the greatest hotel in the world and you are one of the greatest writers of the world so you certainly wouldn’t want to stay in a hotel of lesser quality.” He repeated his earlier suggestion that she should simply write off from her taxes the cost of any hotel room in which she stayed, “so Uncle Sam pays most of your bill.” Then, in what can only be construed as a little dig at her work ethic, he added, “We had a wonderful time at the Amsterdam junket you missed, but I understand you were too busy writing a book to go. I am also writing another book, but yet I still open hotels, don’t I?”
Though similar correspondence flew back and forth between them for many weeks, in the end, Conrad Hilton never reduced his rates for Hedda Hopper. And she continued to stay at the Waldorf-Astoria anyway.
Barron Climbs the Ladder of Success/Nicky’s Fast-Paced Life
Interviews conducted: Wyatt Montgomery (January 2, 2012; January 4, 2012; January 18, 2012; March 1, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 12, 2012; March 13, 2012; April 5, 2012; May 5, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story by Whitney Bolton; Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture by Annabel Jane Wharton; Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; Past Imperfect by Joan Collins.
Articles referenced: “Nicky Hilton Swings Fists in Cafe Brawl,” Los Angeles Times, February 22, 1951; Peter Lester, “When This Hotel Barron Says He’s Staying at the Hilton, That Means He’ll Be at Home,” People, September 28, 1981.
Legal documents referenced: “Codicil to Last Will and Testament of Conrad N. Hilton” (April 1, 1947); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad N. Hilton” (September 1, 1955); “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979).
Eric: From Out of the Shadows
Interviews conducted: Patricia Skipworth Hilton (February 27, 2012; February 28, 2012; April 5, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012; June 15, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012).
Volumes referenced: House of Hilton by Jerry Oppenheimer; The Man Who Bought the Waldorf by Thomas Ewing Dabney; Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier by Mildred Houghton Comfort.
A Troubling Conversation About Francesca
Interviews conducted: Cindy Adams (September 1, 1998); Eddie Fisher (September 20, 2006); Terry Moore (April 11, 2012); Robert Wentworth (June 11, 2012; June 12, 2012; June 13, 2012);
Volumes referenced: Jolie Gabor by Cindy Adams; One Lifetime Is Not Enough by Zsa Zsa Gabor; Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story by Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gerold Frank; A Dreadful Man: A Personal, Intimate Book About George Sanders by Brian Aherne.
Articles referenced: “Grown-up Movie Kids: Zsa Zsa Gabor Gives Black-Tie Birthday Party for her 11-Year-Old Daughter,” Life, March 31, 1958.
Legal documents referenced: “Codicil to Last Will and Testament of Conrad N. Hilton” (April 1, 1947); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (June 3, 1955); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (October 21, 1960); miscellaneous file notes from Zsa Gabor Plaintiff vs. Fawcett Publications, Inc. (November 1960); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (January 27, 1967); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad N. Hilton” (October 31, 1973); “Contestant Constance Francesca Hilton’s Responses to Defendants William Barron Hilton and James E. Bates Interrogatories�
�� (July 20, 1979); “Deposition of Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara” (June 14, 1979; July 9, 1979; July 10, 1979); “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979).
Note: The conversation between Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gregson Bautzer was reconstructed using the exact quotes provided by Zsa Zsa in her deposition of June 14, 1979. “That’s when I first heard, ever, about this idiotic remark,” she further testified, referring to Bautzer’s telling her that Conrad sometimes questioned his paternity of Francesca. She added that after Bautzer told her of Conrad’s doubts, she decided not to discuss it with Conrad. She testified that she never talked to anyone about it, “because, to me, it seemed so ridiculous.”
Natalie Wood’s Advice/Trish/“The Woman to Give My Children Life”/Nicky and Trish Marry
Interviews conducted: Bob Neal (March 1, 1998); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012; June 15, 2012); Patricia McClintock Hilton (April 2, 2012; April 8, 2012; April 16, 2012; April 20, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012); Robert Wentworth (June 11, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Natasha: Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour by Marti Rylli and Dennis Davern; Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood by Suzanne Finstad; Natalie Wood by Gavin Lambert; Natasha: A Memoir by Her Sister by Lana Wood; Natalie Wood: A Biography in Photographs by Christopher Nickens; Pieces of My Heart: A Life by Robert Wagner; The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson by Robert Hofler; Past Imperfect by Joan Collins.
The Hiltons: The True Story of an American Dynasty Page 57