by Andy Warhol
The David Begelmans arrived. We had to leave because the dinner was about to start. There were white orchids on the girls’ plates. Allan took us in and showed us the table and the food before he kicked us out. That was funny.
Thursday, February 17, 1977—Los Angeles
I went to tour the Gemini Gallery with Sidney Felsen and his partner. At Gemini I got an idea. They can now print 10’ X 10’ and I’m going to think about it. Done an hour earlier than supposed to, decided to walk around, the shops just so exciting.
A person ran after me and it turned out to be Jackson Browne. He invited me to come to the recording studio across the street to hear his new record. He was adorable.
The cab strike was on so Catherine and I found a limo outside, had to meet Tyrone Power’s daughter Taryn at 5:00 at the Imperial Gardens restaurant on Sunset (limo $10). Back for Fred, had to give him money ($5). He went off to Paul Jasmin’s cocktail party for Divine where he met Tab Hunter.
At the Imperial Gardens with Taryn taped for about two hours. Had some sake and food ($20 with tip). She took us next door to her boyfriend Norman Sieff’s house. He was so ugly and she was so beautiful—I was disappointed. He said he’d met me in Max’s years ago. He has Taryn under his influence. We wanted to get her away from him so we asked her to go to the dinner that Doug Christmas, the art dealer, was giving for me at Mr. Chow’s. She had wheels and drove us back to the hotel.
Got dressed and driven over to Mr. Chow’s. Lots of people there. Bianca Jagger, Russell Means, Polanski, Tony Bill, Allan Carr, Pat Ast. Russell Means had an Indian girlfriend. George Hamilton, Marcia Weisman, Nelson Lyon, who was telling me about some producer who drank the piss someone gave him and he didn’t know.
Jed had invited Tab. Jed felt guilty because we didn’t cast Tab as Carroll Baker’s husband in Bad—he’d really wanted the role. Peter Lester from Interview arrived with Maria Smith and he kept apologizing for being late but nobody cared. Géraldine Smith [see Introduction] was with Johnny Wyoming. Perry King, Susan Tyrrell, Allan Carr sitting talking with George Hamilton. Sat next to Tony Bill and Bianca. Polanski across the way from me. We’d run into him in the lobby of the hotel and he was going to see Rocky then and so he was just back from seeing it, said he loved it.
The big people, Sue Mengers and Ryan O’Neal, didn’t arrive, they told Bianca that they couldn’t “be seen at tacky places like Mr. Chow’s.” Bianca took us to On the Rox, owned by Lou Adler. When we got there it was Ringo Starr and Alice Cooper. I’m not saying they were the only celebrities there—they were the only people there, and they were in the john. Whoever is there is in the john taking coke. Bianca introduced me to Ringo. Alice came over to say hello.
Bianca left because she was staying out in Malibu and Mick was coming in and then leaving town the next day so she wanted to get home early to see him.
Friday, February 18, 1977—Los Angeles
Rode out to the Ace Gallery in Venice to do a press conference. Called the office in New York in the morning and Ronnie told me it was Andy Warhol Day on The Gong Show. Back at the hotel I had lots of messages. Dinner at Marcia Weisman’s (cab there $4). Ryan O’Neal was there and Sue Mengers. Ryan was leaning against the Morris Louis and put a big dent in it. He was sour. I had all the Guinness kids with me—Catherine, Erskine, and Miranda—and it turned out Miranda’s twin sister Sabrina had been Tatum’s nanny and Ryan’s secretary when Ryan was filming Barry Lyndon in England, and Ryan hated her, so he was taking it out on Miranda, and she went to the bathroom to cry. Sabrina is actually a groupie, even though she’s a Guinness.
Sue looked terrible and so did Ryan. They left early because, I think, they thought “nobody” was there. Hollywood people are rotten. They all play these games with their A, B, and C groups and it’s just too stupid. That’s why when they come down, they really come down. One thing about Bianca, she really has class because she’ll go anywhere.
Saturday, February 19, 1977— Los Angeles
Suzie Frankfurt arrived with Marcia Weisman. They had a Rolls Royce so we Rollsed over to the hospital, Cedars-Sinai. Lots of people waiting, I sold $1,500 worth of stuff for a benefit. Marcia was very pushy. If anyone took a picture they had to pay $10. If I signed a can they paid $5. She told them that my prices would go up in the afternoon to $100 a poster, when actually they were going to go down to $6.
Dropped back at the hotel. Picked up by Doug at 1:30 and a camera crew filmed us in the limo on the way out to Venice for my opening. Before the opening we went to see Tony Bill’s apartment, he bought a building across from the Ace Gallery with the money he’s making from either Taxi Driver, The Sting, or Shampoo.
The Ace Gallery was very crowded, people around the block waiting to get in. Russell and I signed the Russell Means posters. Viva and Paul Morrissey were there. There were a couple of other people from the old days—Cockettes.
I got so tired of signing posters all afternoon that I skipped out at 5:00 to the limo. Suzie invited us along to have a drink in Bel Air at her model friend Cheryl Tiegs’s and her husband Stan Dragoti, who works for Wells Rich Greene. Fred was bitten by a big dog when he opened the wrong door when he was looking for the bathroom, but he didn’t say anything about it until there was lots of blood coming down his leg. He just put some alcohol on and then we left at 7:30.
In the lobby ran into Annie Leibovitz and Jann Wenner. Susan Blond left a message saying she was with Michael Jackson at Top of the Rox. Jann and Annie had just gotten back from there, the Grammys had just finished up, so everyone was drunk. A couple of boys in the lobby tried to pick me up.
Sunday, February 20, 1977—Los Angeles
Doug Christmas’s P.R. woman, Esther, arrived from church with an autograph from Jane Wyman, she’d asked for it while Jane Wyman was kneeling.
First supposed to have lunch with Bianca Jagger, but Wendy Stark said we could all have lunch at Coco Brown’s and I didn’t want to but Fred thought it was a good idea. The first car left, we were in the second, and we had a house number 36912 in Malibu. When we got there we couldn’t find it, but then the first car came along with Richard Weisman in it and he went to knock at 36910 because there was no 12, and the person who opened the door was “Mary Hartman,” with her funny braids on.
She said she’d have a party for us if we couldn’t find the party we were going to. But just then Coco Brown came by in another car with Wendy Stark and they said it was just down the block, that Wendy’d got the number wrong.
We got to the house and Bianca was there. She’d had a fight with Mick and he’d left that morning for New York—she’d accused him of an affair with Linda Ronstadt.
Walked down the beach with Bianca past the house of Larry Hagman, and he was standing on the beach in a funny uniform like a foreign-legion outfit, doing funny hand things, and I guess he’s gone off his rocker. While we were going by the sea came up and wet my shoes.
Spent three hours trying to make dinner plans. Bob Ellis, Diana Ross’s ex, and Alana Hamilton seemed too drunk, Bianca didn’t want to be with Miranda because she was the sister of Sabrina, Jed said he was hungry and he’d eat anywhere, and Wendy wanted us to go to Max Palevsky’s because she thought it would be good for us—he was going to have us over to see his art collection.
And so finally when we got together we went to a restaurant called Orsini’s, Italian food. Fred screamed at Catherine and told her how rude she was to him in front of everybody.
Monday, February 21, 1977—Los Angeles—San Francisco
Got up, packed (cab to airport $20, tip to baggage guy $4, magazines $8).
United flight 433 arrived 1:05. Met at the airport with champagne and limo by Mark from the gallery where my show was, had royal treatment. He dropped us off at the Mark Hopkins, had lunch at the Top of the Mark.
Then we walked to the gallery three blocks away down a steep, steep hill. The space was very large, and it was just around where we used to stay with the Velvets [see Introduction]. The hanging was just
wild. Rotten, badly hung. Unbelievable. Bad taste. Mark’s mother just horrible.
Press conference, TV show with a guy who was a beauty but he didn’t know anything and didn’t really like me and so I was being awful, too. I took him over to a piece of sculpture and told him that I’d done it, which I didn’t—didn’t get found out until afterwards. Mark took us to the back where there were magic mushrooms. He took us for a ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. Under the bridge there were surfers. Very strange. All the boys wearing black suits, wetsuits, scary and nutty. Touring in Sausalito really fun. When we arrived back at the hotel Jed and his family were there, he has a new fat stepfather. And Mrs. Johnson thanked me for being so nice to her son and made me blush.
I had to stay around the gallery until 9:30. Mark’s mother really made me work. Trader Vic’s was just up the block. Walked there.
Oh, and Carol Doda, the stripper, came to the opening, and I was so bored that I talked about her a lot and so Mark said we’d go to the strip joint. Brought the limo back, went to the strip joint, Carol is now just as wide as high, saw three naked girls rubbing their asses and cunts against the floor, and Carol Doda came down on the piano and went up to the ceiling on it. She was so old that they only had blinking lights for her. Catherine and I were falling asleep (drinks $35). Fred had disappeared, he was out cruising.
Tuesday, February 22, 1977—San Francisco—Miami
Took five hours to get to Miami. Paid for Catherine’s ticket ($72.53). It was night in a minute, a long flight. Charlie Cowles met us in a great car, warm and wonderful, but it was 11:00. Time changes. Past the Fontainebleau, things like that. Took us to his mother’s place on Indian Creek Island on the grounds of a private club, had a lot of waterfront property. Met the mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Cowles. Had sandwiches. Fred and I were in the guest house, Catherine was in the main house. Read Artforum which Charlie Cowles owns and went to bed.
Wednesday, February 23, 1977—Miami
Overslept and got up around 10:30 and breakfast wasn’t served by then, but there was coffee. Started taking pictures of Gardner—they call him “Mike”—he adopted Charlie, owns TV stations, sold some of his magazines to The New York Times, used to own Look.
At lunch Mrs. Cowles said she was losing her two Argentinian housekeepers—rich people usually talk about servants at dinners and lunches. Then Charlie took us on the tour.
Fred told Catherine why he had yelled at her—because when he went to wake her up she had screamed, “Don’t touch me, don’t touch me!” and she said she was sorry she did it.
Charlie wanted to know if we wanted to go to Fort Lauderdale where the boys are. Went to the gay places there and Charlie took us down the boardwalk. The first place, forget the name, the bartenders were in dresses with mustaches and beards. The first one said, “I’m a friend of Brigid Berlin’s.”
I really had to pee. Fred came back from the bathroom and I asked him if there was anybody in there and he said no, that it was empty. I went in and was peeing and suddenly there was someone next to me saying, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m standing next to you, let me shake your hand,” and then he realized and said, “No, I’ll wash my hands and then we can shake.” I lost my concentration and had to stop peeing. And then more and more people started coming in and saying, “Is it really you?” I got out.
The waiters said that there were only waitresses some nights, the place alternated. It sounded like Paul Morrissey’s idea for the Western he was going to do, where the town is half men and half men-in-drag because there were no women ($5).
Went to a place down a ways with pinball machines and played them for a while ($10).
Saturday, February 26, 1977—New York
Jamie Wyeth had invited me to lunch for Ted Kennedy’s birthday party, but in the morning he called and said that Rose Kennedy was only having a small one and he didn’t realize that, so I couldn’t go after all, but I think it was just maybe Jamie changing his mind. Went home at 8:30. Saw on Metromedia that they took the idea from our proposal that they turned down and then went and did it themselves—they had Dinner with Bella Abzug on TV. But they did it boring and corny and it made me so mad.
Monday, March 7, 1977
Woke up very cranky, left the house early, around 9:30, cabbed to Chembank ($3.30). Got a letter at the office from the White House from Jimmy Carter. I wish I’d talked more last month when I met him, but I was so nervous. He’s really nice, though, a really nice man.
Jamie Wyeth still was painting Arnold Schwarzenegger who was still posing. Lunch for Jamie and Arnold ($16). Alex Heinrici came by to touch up something. Worked all afternoon.
Picked up Bob Colacello and cabbed to 45 Sutton Place South. A book party for Anita Loos given by Arnold Weissberger. I had forgotten my tape and camera and there were lots of celebs. Arnold Weissberger and Milton Goldman have the longest-running gay marriage in New York. Arnold is seventy-something, the biggest old-time show-biz lawyer and amateur photographer. He takes pictures of everyone who comes to his house. He had a book out last year called Famous Faces. He had the book on the dining table at the party and he was making the famous faces sign it next to their pictures. Milton Goldman is sixty-something and a big agent at IFA. Bob noticed that he was the only person under thirty there—barely—and I said that Arnold must be afraid to have young kids because he might lose Milton. All the butlers and bartenders were over sixty. They brought one drink at a time and the tray shaked.
Paulette Goddard was there, she told me that she didn’t sell one rug at Parke Bernet because the dealers, she felt, had ganged up on her. And they probably did, because those rugs are great. Talked to Rosemary Harris, Martha Graham, Cyril Ritchard, Rex Harrison, Sylvia Porter. Milton introduced everyone three times.
Cabbed to Elaine’s ($3.25) to meet Jamie and Arnold and Rudolf Nureyev. Jamie was having a meeting of their minds. On the way in the friend of Lester Persky’s who always feels me up grabbed me and introduced me to Neile McQueen, and she was actually pretty. He whispered, “Ex-wife, Steve McQueen” in my ear.
Arnold walked in with three little girls, one of them was a sportswriter on The New York Times, and she’s in love with him.
Then the most fascinating thing happened. A guy who Elaine introduced me to did his card tricks, and it was where he flashed the deck and then said think of a card and then he guessed the card eight times! I couldn’t get it out of my mind, I thought about it all night. I’ve just got to know how he did it, because if you can do that, you can do anything. Dropped off Catherine and Uncle Erskine and Miranda ($3).
Tuesday, March 8, 1977
It was a pretty day, walked around uptown, then went to the office. Jamie and Arnold were there. I thanked them for a good time the night before (art supplies $5.85). Jamie said that Nureyev had fallen in love with Erskine, and that Erskine had almost given in, but didn’t, and that Nureyev’s last words (laughs) were, “We can just watch TV.” He gave autographs to Erskine and Catherine.
Was picked up by Bob at 8 P.M., cabbed to the Iranian embassy. Bob made me go in black tie, but we were the only formal ones and then his excuse was that we were invited to so many parties he didn’t remember. We’re starting to feel used by the Iranians. It started in Washington a couple of weeks ago when we realized that Ambassador Zahedi isn’t “in” now with Carter—he was so Nixon- and Ford-affiliated, but now he wants to be in with the Democrats and needs help and that’s us. It was a heavy dinner for the Swedish ambassador.
Our excuse for leaving early was that we had to go to François de Menil’s party for Princess Marina of Greece who had an opening at the Iolas Gallery (cab to Francois’s on 69th Street $2.25). It was jumping—Arman and Corice, Larry Rivers—great party.
Gigi was there and she just broke up with Ronnie and went off with Spyro Niarchos, and so Ronnie was depressed. Earlier she’d been telling me that it was on the rocks for her and Ronnie —she said they haven’t talked to each other for three months now. He’s ge
tting jealous of her making more money and traveling around, but he’s not ambitious and she is, but she says she loves him but that they have to break up because it can’t go on. That’s the gist of it. Gigi had told me she was going to. Barbara Allen was there with Philip Niarchos, they’re back in town.
Dennis Hopper was supposed to be there, but I missed him. He’s living with/staying with Caterine Milinaire—they’re (laughs) “together.” Ronnie’s friend Tony Shafrazi was there, just back from Iran. He’s the one who defaced Picasso’s painting at the Modern. The “Guernica.”
Hoveyda told us that Sidney Lumet is coming to Paulette’s dinner at the embassy next week and we said, “That’s nice.” I hear that Sidney Lumet goes around town calling me a racist just because Mandingo was my favorite movie of the year.
Wednesday, March 9, 1977
Read an item in the newspaper that Liz Taylor was selling her diamonds on Madison Avenue secretly to help her husband’s campaign with money, so I kept an eye out. Walked over to office. Ronnie wasn’t at work for two reasons—first because Gigi had run off with Spyro Niarchos the night before at the party, and second because Wim Wenders was shooting a movie down at his loft—Dennis Hopper is the star of it.
Lee Radziwill and her son Antony came down for lunch. Antony has gotten even bigger. Thicker. She said that since she didn’t go down to the Washington dinner Zahedi gave me the other week he reacted by sending her champagne and caviar, and when she sent a thank-you note, he sent more champagne and caviar, and when she sent another, etc. etc. So he’s really going after her.