Kirk and Anne (Turner Classic Movies)
Page 15
Dear Mr. President:
… During my trip through the Far East for the USIA (India, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan) I talked—for the most part—to university students. During the question and answer session, I found that one of the things that amazed them the most, was the quick and orderly transition from the tragic death of President Kennedy to your taking over the office.
In each country they seemed so astonished to learn how a democracy was able to cope with such an unforeseen tragedy. Everywhere I went I felt a very favorable attitude of respect and admiration towards you. Needless to say, I share this feeling very strongly.
Now, when our country faces the appalling situation that someone like Goldwater might possibly be one of the candidates for the office of the president of the United States, let’s thank God that you will be the other candidate—and the next president.
Sincerely yours,
Kirk Douglas
P.S. My wife and I still have wonderful memories of the delightful reception you and Mrs. Johnson extended to all of us at your home after the second Inaugural Anniversary Salute in 1963. We were honored to be a part of it.
Shortly after the inauguration in 1965, I wrote again:
Dear Mr. President:
Immediately after the election, I did another tour for the USIA, speaking primarily to university students in Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Norway. I was fascinated by the tremendous relief that the people in every country had about your landslide victory. Of course, there are many people who do not understand how your opponent was able to garner over twenty-five million votes. Sometimes it is difficult to make them aware that only in a dictatorship are elections won by a 100% Plurality.
It has been most gratifying to see the increased respect and affection for you during the past few months. The culmination of all this took place as a result of your inspired address to Congress in regard to the civil rights program. The president of the United States is not only the leader of our people, he is looked upon as leader to most of the people around the world. I can only hope that your busy schedule will permit you soon to make a visit to Europe and feel for yourself the warmth and admiration that exists for our president.
My deepest wishes for your continued good health and great leadership.
Sincerely,
Kirk Douglas
ANNE:
Like Anita May in Los Angeles and Mollie Parnis in New York, Washington, too, had a favorite hostess—Joan Braden. Close friends of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, Joan and Tom were with us the night we ended up at the White House with JFK and Jackie.
Invitations to Joan’s gatherings were coveted by the Who’s Who of Washington. Tom had a similar fan club. The Bradens met and married in D.C., but we first met them in California, where Tom owned a newspaper and was a big shot in Democratic politics. They returned to the capital after Bobby’s assassination; Tom had been next to him when he was shot.
The Bradens lived in an unpretentious yellow clapboard house in Chevy Chase, Maryland, large enough to accommodate them and their eight kids. (Tom’s lighthearted book about the family, called Eight Is Enough, was turned into a popular TV sitcom.) In D.C., he became the cohost of Crossfire and wrote a syndicated column, and Joan ran the State Department’s consumer affairs division.
KIRK:
Anne and I were in awe of Joan’s energy and her skills as a hostess. At her gatherings, Democrats and Republicans could relax with each other and mingle with diplomats from all over the globe. Anne and I felt lucky to be included in the mix when we were in town. That’s where we first got to know Nelson Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger.
In 1989, Joan wrote a book called Just Enough Rope: An Intimate Memoir, which raised more than a few eyebrows. This is what our friend Maureen Dowd of the New York Times said about it: “Joan Braden has taken a lot of heat for this book.… This reviewer does not take such a harsh view. How can a book be all bad that features a shower scene with Nelson Rockefeller, a bedroom scene with Bobby Kennedy, a toe-tingling lunch with Kirk Douglas and an account of Frank Sinatra singing ‘High Hopes’ without his toupee?”
ANNE:
The serious Henry Kissinger of the Nixon administration was a far different person when he visited us. In 1971 he told Kirk: “I play on the west coast. I behave myself in Washington.” That’s the year I introduced Henry to Jill St. John. It was just after she starred as Sean Connery’s love interest in Diamonds Are Forever. Jill was gorgeous, and she had an IQ of 163. They had a lovely romance before Henry finally settled down in 1974 with Nancy Maginnes, who had been Nelson Rockefeller’s longtime aide. This letter shows the humorous Kissinger we knew:
Dear Kirk:
Nancy and I are deeply sorry we cannot be with you tonight to join in honoring you as an old and dear friend. Perhaps one of the reasons I have always felt so close to you is that there seems to be an uncanny parallel between your screen roles and my own life.
Two Week in Another Town could have been about one of my shuttle negotiations.
In Spartacus you were crucified. I know the sensation.
Town without Pity captured the Washington atmosphere completely.
In Gunfight at the O.K. Corral you were the cowboy alone on his horse—an obvious parallel.
In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea your submarine ran into all sorts of troubles—and believe me, I know what it means to have uncontrollable leaks.
Top Secret Affair could have been about any number of my private negotiations.
In Lonely are the Brave you played a man whose world had changed so completely that he no longer had a place in it—I was thinking about that all the way to work on the bus last week.
And when they take away my Secret Service detail, I Walk Alone will be directly appropriate.
But Kirk, I want you to know that there are few people I move, admire and respect more. You have always been a star in the fullest sense, and Nancy and I drink to you in spirit tonight. Just be careful what film you decide to do next!
Warm regards,
Henry A. Kissinger
In 1971 I wrote this to Kirk, who was filming abroad:
Darling, my only love,
I came back from Palm Springs by limo courtesy of Danny Schwartz [one of Sinatra’s inner circle]. The weather was terrific—95 degrees during the day and 48 at night!
Sunday we had a very nice lunch around the pool with the Jack Valentis and Lloyd and Ann Hand [another D.C. power couple]. They are staying in the Wasserman house. Talked to Henry Kissinger and gave him my undivided opinion about the president meeting tomorrow with the motion picture industry leaders. Jack Warner, Charles Bluhdorn, Jim Aubrey, Leo Jaffe, Taft Schreiber and Jack Valenti—that’s the cast.
He wants now my list. I said to him that I will help him to solve his problems in Israel and you will help him with the film industry. He said he was willing. Anyhow, he will take his vacation end of April until around May 6 in Palm Springs. He refuses our house out of friendship, but hopes we will be there at the same time.
By the way we have right now still severe aftershocks of the big earthquake with great damage in the same area. I am stiff with fright when the house shakes and we all meet in the hall and run down the steps to look for more damage. So far so good. Everybody says it is the extreme heat that does it.
I loved your letter from Oban. I love your letters. I love you. Good night, sweet Prince. Meet me in dreamland!
Stolz
KIRK:
Henry was able to let his hair down in Hollywood. He loved to decompress with his show business friends. Returning from a trip to China, he called us from LAX. He was headed to San Clemente to give his report to President Nixon. “I thought I’d stop at your house for a quick visit before getting on the road,” he said.
ANNE:
I took the phone from Kirk. “Some friends are due here for dinner,” I told Henry. “It’s too bad you can’t stay.”
I mentioned some of the guests’ names, including
Frank Sinatra, so I wasn’t surprised when he asked if I could set another place at the table. Of course, everyone was thrilled to be hearing firsthand about Henry’s follow-up trip to China after President Nixon’s historic visit to that communist nation.
Time passed quickly, and it was nearly midnight—way beyond Kirk’s tolerance point. I was mortified when he looked at his watch, got up, and started flicking the light switches. That put a quick end to the evening. Frank and Henry left together.
KIRK:
We were fast asleep when the phone rang around 5:00 a.m. It was the Beverly Hills chief of police, calling on behalf of President Nixon. “The president’s looking for Henry Kissinger, who told him he was having dinner with you. Do you know where he is?”
I heard Anne say, “He’s not here. I’ll try to get a message to him.” Frank Sinatra was a nocturnal animal who had probably just gotten to sleep, but Anne called him anyway.
ANNE:
I knew Kirk wouldn’t make the call. Everyone walked on eggshells around Frank, never knowing if he would banish you if he didn’t like what you said or did. He greeted me with, “Who the hell is calling at this hour?”
“It’s Anne Douglas, Frank.”
“Ah, Frenchie, what’s wrong?”
“Do you know where Henry is?”
“Yeah, right here. We’ve been talking all night.”
“Well, tell him the president is looking for him.” I hung up and went back to sleep.
KIRK:
Frank never seemed to get annoyed with Anne. I was amazed. He couldn’t intimidate me, but I always let him set the tone of our meetings. And we rarely had deep personal conversations. I wrote in my book, Climbing the Mountain, “You could be Frank’s closest friend and then suddenly, for some unexplained reason, you were out. Our place in Palm Springs was often a halfway house for the people he discarded in this way. Yul Brynner had been very close to Frank, and suddenly he was out.… He spent a couple of weekends at our house before he was reinstated.… Greg and Veronique Peck spent several weekends at our halfway house before they once again became part of Frank’s in-crowd. Pat DiCicco was pathetic during his expulsion. Leo Durocher, manager of the Dodgers, was devastated when he lost favor.”
Frank never banished the Douglases, and we’ve been equally fortunate in our other friendships, due mainly to Anne’s popularity.
We lost Nelson Rockefeller in 1979, and I sent Henry a mournful letter from London, where I was making a science-fiction thriller called Saturn 3. Here’s Henry’s reply:
Dear Kirk:
Your very thoughtful letter was here on our return from Acapulco. I remember so many happy occasions with the Douglases, the Bradens and Nelson that it is still hard to believe he is gone.
I can’t say I have much sympathy for you, however, all by yourself in London with Farrah Fawcett-Majors. Grandfather or not, it’s not a bad way to earn a living!
I agree that it has been much too long since we’ve seen you. Why not stop in New York or Washington on your way home?
Warm regards,
Henry
ANNE:
We continued to be invited to the White House for state dinners and for special occasions such as the Kennedy Center Honors. I asked Kirk to write the letters after such events. His note to Pat Nixon is undated, but it was obviously before August 9, 1974, when the president resigned, and Gerald Ford selected our friend Nelson as his Veep. (We got to know the Fords very well when they moved to the desert.)
Dear Mrs. Nixon:
I must tell you again how thrilled and delighted my wife and I were to be invited to the White House dinner for Prime Minister Heath. It was a fascinating and charming evening.
I risked not being invited back again, because I’m the one that moved the container of flowers on the table that was obstructing my view of your daughter, Julie—a sight more beautiful than a bouquet of flowers.
Many thanks and a wonderful New Year to you, the president, and your family.
Sincerely,
Kirk
KIRK:
I was getting older, and life was throwing us a few curves. We lost good friends; we were dealing with Eric’s bipolar condition and drug dependence; I was getting used to fans coming up and saying, “Wow, Michael Douglas’s father!”
Anne was working harder than ever. I had asked her to be president of the Bryna Company because we worked so well together. I only wanted to be concerned with artistic matters, and she had a natural talent for business and contracts. She took over when Peter and Eric were too busy with their own activities to care if she was home with them. She had even taken over as producer of Scalawag, my first directing effort, which we shot in Italy and Yugoslavia. Our enterprising seventeen-year-old Peter was the still photographer. He got Lesley-Anne Down, also seventeen, to sign a contract allowing him to do a nude layout, which he promptly sold to Playboy. Peter was the only Douglas to make a profit on that film.
Thank God for our diplomatic and political friends. The times we spent with them, away from the movie business, were wonderful respites from our problems. We became close to Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, a bond that endures to this day. On December 18, 1979, I received this from President Carter on White House stationery:
To Kirk Douglas
The seventh day of Christmas will be particularly memorable for us because of your singing during the State Dinner for Prime Minister Thatcher last night.
The caroling was enjoyable and Rosalynn and I appreciate your generous spirit!
Sincerely,
Jimmy Carter
ANNE:
Although neither Kirk nor I were Reagan supporters during his successful runs for governor of California and president of the United States, we were still friends. As a breast cancer survivor, Nancy was able to lean on me for advice and comfort during her own diagnosis and treatment. We spent happy hours with Nancy and Ron at White House functions, Music Center events, and Sunnylands parties.
Fiftieth wedding anniversary, Kirk marries “a nice Jewish girl”
During the president’s long decline into Alzheimer’s and after his demise, Nancy and I met regularly for lunch. Every few weeks Kirk and I would have laughter-filled, gossipy dinners with Nancy and Merv Griffin. She and Merv were at our second wedding celebration, on the occasion of our fiftieth anniversary, May 29, 2004—a happy occasion eclipsed less than two months later when our son Eric died of an overdose.
Nancy had weathered problems with her rebellious daughter Patti during the White House days, but her most personal trauma was the attempt on her beloved Ronnie’s life. Kirk was filming The Man from Snowy River in Australia when the president was shot. He immediately wrote a heartfelt letter, to which Nancy replied, in her distinctive handwriting.
Dear Kirk—
Thank you for your nice letter and for all the information on your Australian stay and their reaction to the assassination attempt. I must admit I still can’t believe it really happened—it’s like a nightmare—one that’s over, thank God, but still lingers on—I’m beginning to think it always will. But it was a miracle—God was really looking out for us—
I read about Peter and am so glad he seems to be doing so well.
Thanks again for your thoughtfulness in writing—My very best to you and Anne—
Nancy
KIRK:
When William Jefferson Clinton took office, I realized that all presidents from now on would be more of Michael’s generation than mine. I felt passionate about his pledge to lift the ban on gays in the military. It was yet another example of hypocrisy like the blacklist. President Clinton was kind enough to write me a handwritten note in his left-handed slant:
Dear Kirk
Thank you for your letter on gays in the military—I hope you will speak out—we need help to prevail and we should.
Sincerely,
Bill Clinton
I also wrote to Hillary Clinton about her efforts to reform health care. She wrote back with the kind of detailed
consideration we have come to expect of her. As I write this in November 2016, I have just placed my absentee ballot in the mail; I voted for Hillary. It will undoubtedly be the last vote of my life. I shake my head in wonder. I was born in 1916, four years before the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment by an all-male Congress finally allowed women to vote.
Three of Anita May’s protégées, left to right: Harriet Deutsch, Anne, and Nancy Reagan at the Annenbergs for New Year’s Eve
President Clinton and Kirk at the Beverly Hilton Hotel
August 18, 1993
Dear Kirk:
As a longtime fan of your work, I was delighted to receive your letter. The president joins me in offering our thanks to you for your many years of quality movie making and for your obvious deep concern for the future of our country.
I appreciate your suggestions regarding reforming our national health care system. The challenge of changing this huge, bureaucratic system is as formidable as you suggest, but as I traveled the country, I have found that Americans are willing, even eager to support a new plan that is balanced and fair. You are right on target in pointing out that individuals and private groups must assume more responsibility. Your views were helpful as we finalize plans for the Administration’s initiative.
Thank you for writing. I appreciate your invitation to visit the Motion Picture and Television Country Home and Hospital. It sounds as though you are doing tremendous work.