Elizabeth and Michael
Page 43
With Michael, I was surprised by the sometimes frank recollections of Jermaine Jackson’s You Are Not Alone and La Toya Jackson’s La Toya. Though La Toya Jackson was often criticized for her memoir, it struck me as an honest view of her very famous family, which was crucial to understanding Michael’s childhood and early adulthood. Both Jermaine and La Toya were fairly protective of their brother as have been their other siblings. Digging more into Michael’s life, the public interviews and recollections of Michael’s parents, Katherine and the much criticized Joseph Jackson, also provided insights not only into Michael but also into the parents themselves. Margaret Maldonado Jackson’s Jackson Family Values was a real eye-opener and said much about the family’s tangled relationships. Perhaps nothing could have prepared the family for the extraordinary fame Michael attained—and for the effects his fame (as well as that of his brothers early on) would have on the family unit. The Jacksons are often viewed as a dysfunctional family. Yet in all truthfulness, the Jacksons are indeed a family, and ultimately, their loyalty to Michael proved important. J. Randy Taraborrelli’s Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness also provided significant information on Michael’s early years, notably when he and his brothers were signed by Motown, as well as his later career and also his family life. Then there was Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk. In some respects, it too was frank although there was, of course, much he did not discuss and much that was glossed over. Yet in Moonwalk, he presented himself from his point of view. The same could be said of Michael’s comments in Shmuley Boteach’s collection The Michael Jackson Tapes.
And thus my intense period of research had begun. Exploring the experiences of both stars seemed to take forever. Quite challenging was to establish individual chronologies—not an easy task because both had such unbelievable schedules. Then a joint chronology had to be established of those periods in which their lives intersected. The archives of the Los Angeles Times provided extraordinary information and details. My own personal archives, with material from the New York Times, the New York Post, and a vast array of publications, proved extremely useful. YouTube also was helpful in viewing the interviews that the two stars granted (especially Elizabeth) during their careers.
Also important to this book have been the many public recollections, memories, and insights of innumerable people in the lives of Michael and Elizabeth: Carrie Fisher, Elizabeth’s stepdaughter for a time, who developed an unexpected friendship with the woman most felt had broken up the marriage of her parents Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and who also had a friendship with Michael, provided thoughtful observations, not only in her memoir Shockaholic but also in her public interviews. Debbie Reynolds herself revealed an ever-changing relationship with Elizabeth in her memoir Unsinkable. Eddie Fisher as well authored two books in which he rather honestly wrote about his life with Elizabeth and drew a fascinating portrait of her during the years when her image was changing and when she was about to peak in her worldwide fame. Richard Burton’s Diaries revealed the day-to-day doings of a couple living in the storm of unending media coverage. Frank Cascio’s My Friend Michael brought into perspective Michael’s close relationship with the Cascio family. Biographer A. Scott Berg, in his book Kate Remembered, recalled a fascinating evening when Michael came to Katharine Hepburn’s home. In Remember the Time, Michael’s bodyguards Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard proved to be of great help in discussing Michael’s return to the United States in 2006 when he briefly resided in Las Vegas, as he was solemnly approaching the end of his life, although no one at the time could have imagined just how soon that demise would be. Also of great value were the public interviews of Carole Bayer Sager, who spoke so poignantly of the final period of Elizabeth’s life, and touchingly, the rare but frank public interviews that Lisa Marie Presley granted, especially after Michael’s death. These were just some of the recollections that were so important to me as I wove together the stories of the lives, the careers, and the destinies of Elizabeth and Michael.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the many individuals and the research resources, aside from those already mentioned, that proved important during the lengthy period of writing Elizabeth and Michael. My former teaching assistant at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Mia Kai Moody, gathered information in Los Angeles, notably at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The staff at the library was very helpful. Mia also established a chronology of the touring schedules of the Jackson 5 and of Michael on his solo tours. At the beginning of this project, David Aglow located valuable material on the joint public appearances of Elizabeth and Michael. Toward the end of the project, he helped prepare the notes for the book and offered important suggestions. I have to express my appreciation to my former researcher, now a director, Phil Bertelsen, with whom it was always good to exchange ideas. He would often come up with material he thought might prove useful. It has also always been a terrific experience to talk to my dear friend the producer Debra Martin Chase about the inner workings of the entertainment industry. My friend, the writer Allison Samuels, formerly of Newsweek and The Daily Beast, is another entertainment expert with whom it has been greatly valuable to discuss the music world and the Jackson family. Jerald Silverhardt has come to the rescue on occasions when I have put in a call to the West Coast to check on some detail. Bruce Goldstein of Film Forum has been helpful. The great drama coach and acting teacher Janet Alhanti, who also resides in Los Angeles, has always been insightful. I want to thank such friends at Turner Classic Movies as Darcy Hettrich, Dori Stegman, Genevieve McGillicuddy, and of course, the astute host of TCM, Robert Osborne. Most of all, I have to express my gratitude to my great friend Charlie Tabesh, the Vice President of Programming at TCM, who has helped me track down rare films to screen—and with whom it is always a pleasure and an enlightened experience to discuss film history and popular culture as well as politics and current events.
There have been many remarkable friends and associates who have provided great assistance and have been far more helpful with this book than they may realize. My gratitude goes to Emery Wimbish, Grace Frankowsky, Sarah Orrick, Carol Scott Leonard, Catherine Nelson, Ronald Mason, Kim Mason, Deesha Hill, Martin Radburd (who has always come to the rescue when there have been computer problems), Alan Sukoenig, Hiroko Hatanaka, Billie Johnson, Rae Rossini, Nels Johnson, Cathie Nelson, film historian Ed Mapp, Tony and Vanita Nicholas, Keith Holman, Jean Franz, Clerio Demoraes, Gloria Hopkins Buck, Pat Faison, Jane Rappaport, Mary Sue Price, Joerg Klebe of German Educational Television, Rigmor Newman, Robert Katz of K2 Pictures, Jeanne Moutoussamy Ashe, Susan Peterson, Tink Alexander, Linda Doll Tarrant, Marie Orlanti, Judith Osborne, Fotini Lomke, Arthur and Joanie Rossi, the Lagow family—Barbara, Ellen, and James—Margaret McDowell, Ben Armento, Barbara Reynolds, Herma Ross Shorty, Clifford Laurent, Peg Henehan, Loan Le, Rachel Gold, Franklin Lara, Doug Rossini, Liza Rossini, Meghan Rossini, Brett Haber, Todd Hoellerman, dear Sally Placksin, Heidi Stack, Elsa Aglow (a true die-hard Taylor fan), Hamida Belkadi, and the fantastic entertainment reporter Marian Etoile Watson, who had covered the Jackson 5 during their time in Senegal.
Family and friends who gave great support include some of my favorite people: Jacqueline Bogle Mosley; Robert Bogle Sr., publisher of the Philadelphia Tribune; Roslynne Bogle; Jeanne Bogle Charleston; Janet Bogle Schenck and her husband, Jerry Schenck; the ever-resourceful Roger Bogle; Gerald Grant Bogle; Jay Bogle; Mariska Bogle; Robert Bogle Jr.; Luellen Fletcher; Fred Charleston; Fred Charleston Jr.; Lori Stimpson Guile; Ayana Charleston; Hassan Charleston; Denise Charleston; Mechelle Mosley Palmer; Hermond Palmer; Mark Mosley; Sylvia Gholston Mosley; dear Bettina Batchleor; Karin Leake; Alex Bogle; Aminata Diabate; Clarence Edwards; Kevin Guile; my good friend Enrico Pellegrini; Katrina Pavlos; Sean Batchleor; Shaaron Boykin; and my colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania Gale Garrison and Carol Davis as well as to my colleagues at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Janet Neipris, Richard Wesley, David Rhang
elli, and Patricia Ione Lloyd. My gratitude is extended to my round table of former Penn students with whom I frequently have lunch to catch up on films and television: Gigi Kwon, Raj Gopal, Jake Stock, and Nadine Zylberberg. Special thanks also go to my former students Marcel Salas, Kyle Webster, Wesley Barrow, Robin Williams, and especially to Laurence Coman. My gratitude also goes to Yemaya Bogle.
Finally, my great appreciation and gratitude are extended to the always perceptive Marie Dutton Brown; to my former editor (on another book) Evander Lomke, with whom it was great to discuss Elizabeth and Michael; to another former editor, the fantastic Elisabeth Dyssegaard.
I also have to thank my agent Jennifer Lyons, who steadfastly offered advice and assistance and who provided feedback on the book in its early drafts. I will forever be grateful to my other agent, the late Bob Silverstein, who urged me to do this book. He was also a wonderful friend. The original editor on Elizabeth and Michael was Malaika Adero, who was consistently insightful, encouraging, and enthusiastic. Later Leslie Meredith briefly was my editor and also proved helpful. Rakesh Satyal was my editor as the book took further shape and finally was completed. Always he provided terrific observations, and his editorial comments were extremely important as I restructured the book. Also significant was his remarkable enthusiasm. He has been a huge fan of both Elizabeth and Michael. It always meant much to know that he saw the importance of this book—and wanted the best for it.
About the Author
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DONALD BOGLE, ONE of the foremost authorities on African Americans in film and in entertainment history, is the author of eight books, including the classic Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films as well as two highly acclaimed, groundbreaking biographies: the bestseller Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography and Heat Wave: The Life and Career of Ethel Waters. His social history Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood looks at the early years of African Americans in Los Angeles as they struggled to make a place for themselves in the film industry. He adapted his book Brown Sugar: Over One Hundred Years of America’s Black Female Superstars into a four-part documentary series for PBS. Bogle has also appeared on numerous television and radio programs. He was a special commentator and consultant for Turner Classic Movies’ award-winning Race and Hollywood series. He teaches at both the University of Pennsylvania and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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ALSO BY DONALD BOGLE
Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films
Brown Sugar: Over One Hundred Years of America’s Black Female Superstars
Blacks in American Films and Television: An Illustrated Encyclopedia
Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography
Primetime Blues: African Americans on Network Television
Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood
Heat Wave: The Life and Career of Ethel Waters
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Notes
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Opening
“Michael and Elizabeth’s combined”: Carrie Fisher, Shockaholic (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 70.
“There was at least”: Bob Jones with Stacy Brown, Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask (New York: SelectBooks, 2009), 56.
Chapter 1
“he was the first”: C. David Heymann, Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor (New York: Birch Lane Press, 1995), 13.
“six bedrooms, three baths”: Ibid., 16.
“I remembered seeing”: Hedda Hopper and James Brough, The Whole Truth and Nothing But (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962, 1963), 11.
“The doctor told us”: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Elizabeth (New York: Warner Books, 2006), 15.
“My earliest memory”: Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal Memoir (New York: Harper & Row, 1965), 2.
“For three weeks”: Elizabeth Taylor: An Intimate Portrait, directed by Pat Shields (Jack Haley Jr. Productions, 1975).
“I had the most”: Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, 3.
“She had a pony”: Hopper and Brough, The Whole Truth, 11.
“My happiest moments”: Vernon Scott, “Elizabeth at Sixty,” Good Housekeeping, February 1992, 172.
“My brother and I”: Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, 3.
“You couldn’t have wished”: Hopper and Brough, The Whole Truth, 11.
“I peeked up through”: Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, 4.
“Sara and Francis’s marriage”: Heymann, Liz, 17.
“that despite the jet-set”: Cathy Horyn, “An Alluring Beauty Exempt from Fashion’s Rules,” New York Times, March 24, 2011.
“I’ve been looking”: Mitchell Owens, “Elizabeth Taylor, Close Up,” Architectural Digest, July 2011, 66.
“The happiest days”: Elizabeth Taylor, My Love Affair with Jewelry (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002), 15.
Chapter 2
“Joseph watched his sister’s”: Jermaine Jackson, You Are Not Alone: Michael, Through a Brother’s Eyes (New York: Touchstone Books, 2011), 24.
“I think it takes”: Ibid., 23.
“Nine children, two parents”: Ibid., 18.
“simple and nondescript”: La Toya Jackson with Patricia Romanowski. La Toya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family (New York: Dutton, 1991), 9.
“He banished the outside”: Ibid., 10.
“at local parties”: Jermaine Jackson, You Are Not Alone, 27.
“holding me and singing”: Michael Jackson. Moonwalk (New York: Doubleday, 1988), 11.
“Ever since Michael was”: Denise Worrell, “He Hasn’t Gone Crazy Over Success,” Time, March 19, 1984, 34.
“quick to walk and”: La Toya Jackson with Romanowski, La Toya, 17.
“When the other kids”: Worrell, “He Hasn’t Gone Crazy Over Success,” 62.
“the most punishment”: La Toya Jackson with Romanowski, La Toya, 14.