Not long before her death, she had said to a friend, “Just think—more than thirty million dollars in the estate! He had a lot to be proud of. I always thought that everything we had was owed to Mr. Giannini’s bank!”
*Lauren has not been altogether consistent in explaining the name change. Not long after telling this writer that his older brother changed it, he told a reporter for the New York Times Magazine (issue of September 18, 1983, page 112) that their father was responsible for the change.
Image Gallery
Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. The eye examination for trachoma was much feared.
“Gibson Girl” shirtwaists, the fashion rage of the early 1900s.
Sam Goldwyn.
The second generation: Edgar Miles Bronfman, to whom his father’s mantle has been passed.
Benny “Bugsy” Siegel.
Acknowledgments
This book has been in various stages of preparation of more years than I care to count, and the list of individuals who have contributed thoughts and impressions to it is long. But there are a few people to whom I would like to extend a special word of thanks.
For their recollections of the great, gone motion picture moguls of Hollywood, I am grateful for the hours I was able to spend with George Cukor, King Vidor, Adolph Zukor, Minna Wallis, Roddy McDowall, Lucille Ball, Sam Marx, Ava Gardner, John Huston, Gail and Howard Strickling, Lillian Hellman, Elizabeth Taylor, and, most particularly, Frances Howard Goldwyn.
In New York, one of the few remaining people to have a tenuous impression of the sad-fated Rose Pastor Stokes was Mrs. Lettice Sands Stokes. I am also grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Roth, Sr., who supplied me with the unpublished memoir of Mr. Roth’s father, Emery Roth, which is herein quoted. Other New Yorkers who deserve thanks are Mrs. Anna Potok, Jack Rosenthal, John Schiff, the late Walter E. Sachs, Robert La Vine, Ralph and Ricky Lauren, Peter Carlsen, John L. Loeb, Jr., Ruth Proskauer Smith, Patrick O’Higgins, Theoni V. Aldredge, Dina Abramovicz of YIVO, and the particularly helpful Rabbi Ronald B. Sobel of Temple Emanu-El.
A special word of thanks to Phillip Applebaum of Detroit. Although I have had personal and business dealings with members of the Bronfman family over the years, I am indebted to longtime Bronfman observer Peter C. Newman of Toronto, who was generous with insights and whose book Bronfman Dynasty (published in the United States as King of the Castle) was an important source. This book also owes much to Allen and Beverley Gasner of Bethesda, Maryland; to Robert and Helen Gould of Cincinnati; to Isaac and Dian Levine, also of Cincinnati, for their recollections of Dr. Levine’s father, Calman Levine; to Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk of Hebrew Union College; to Mrs. Meyer Lansky of Miami Beach; and to Dr. Edward Lahniers, for psychological insights. In the process of its preparation, the book was fortunate to be taken into the hands of two splendid editors at Little, Brown: my late friend Harry Sions, and the superb Genevieve Young. I would also like to thank Kate Bourne of Little, Brown for many hours of diligent and thorough picture research. As always, I am indebted to my friend and agent, Carol Brandt, for her cool guidance and support of the project from the beginning. While all of these people have helped enormously with the book, I alone must be held responsible for any errors or shortcomings.
S.B.
Source Notes
PREFACE
x-xiii
Figures on Christian and Jewish wealth: Jewish Living, vol. 2, no. 3 (Sept./Oct., 1979), pp. 41–47; reprinted in Siegel and Rheins, pp. 98–103.
xii
Mr. Annenberg’s fine: Siegel and Rheins, p. 59.
xiii
Lansky’s worth: Jewish Living, p. 47; reprinted in Siegel and Rheins, p. 103.
xiii
Mayer’s worth: Howard Strickling to author.
1. UPTOWN FIREBRAND
4
Jewish migration figures: Liebmann Hersch, “International Migration of the Jews,” International Migrations, vol. 2 (New York: Macmillan, 1931), pp. 490, 496, 501, 504, 507.
4–5
The Adenoids Riot: New York Tribune, June 28, 1906; reprinted in Schoener, p. 132.
5
“excitable, ignorant Jews … nearest ‘Yiddisher’”: ibid.
7
“Julia, I’m pretty … will know my name”: memorial pamphlet by Addie Richman Altman and Bertha Richman Proskauer; privately printed; no date.
7–8
“Julia, take everything off”: ibid.
8
“But we can’t do anything”: ibid.
10
“It is much easier”: ibid.
10
“Every time she visits”: Jewish Daily Forward, Feb. 12, 1911.
11
“years of”: Altman and Proskauer pamphlet.
14
“the dominion of reason”: Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk to author.
15
Population figures: Howe, p. xix; Universal Jewish Encyclopedia and Reader’s Guide (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1944), vol. 7, p. 547.
16
Population figures: Oscar Handlin, Adventure in Freedom (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1954), p. 84.
18
Population figures: Report of the U.S. Immigration Commission, vol. 15, 1911, pp. 476–477.
20
“Rent money and landlord”: Applebaum, p. 10.
20
Baron de Hirsch fund: Manners, p. 193.
22
Schiff’s contribution: ibid., p. 97.
23–24
“peace, liberty … Occidental Civilization”: Rabbi Ronald B. Sobel to author.
24
“Are we waiting”: ibid.
24
“thoroughly acclimated American Jew”: ibid.
25–26
The 1907 syllabus: Howe, p. 276.
26
Jewish school population: ibid., p. 274.
26
“thirst for knowledge … debatable questions”: ibid., p. 276.
28
Pushcart licenses: Manners, p. 239.
28
“You don’t want to be too hard”: ibid., p. 240.
29
“It is not astonishing”: Theodore A. Bingham, “Foreign Criminals in New York,” North American Review, Sept., 1908, pp. 383–394; quoted in Howe, p. 133.
29
Harper’s Weekly article: issue of Nov., 1907.
30
“sensational methods”: Manners, p. 243.
30–31
“a Jacob Schiff” and other Tageblatt quotes: Manners, pp. 244, 241–242.
31
“Dear Mr. Editor”: Jewish Daily Forward, Feb. 8, 1906; reprinted in Schoener, p. 247.
32
“In the old country”: Dr. Isaac Levine to author.
2. WHY THEY CAME
33–35
Gelbfisz’s boyhood and emigration: Frances Howard Goldwyn (Mrs. Samuel) to author.
37
“The purpose in educating”: Lucy Dawidowicz, The Golden Tradition: Jewish Life and Thought in Eastern Europe (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967), p. 30.
38
Jews arrested or exiled: Howe, pp. 6–7.
39
The cossacks at the station: Lyons, p. 24.
41
Harris Rubin’s story: American Jewish Archives, vol. 33, no. 1 (Apr., 1981), pp. 10–11.
42
“a sweeping plague”: New York Times, Jan. 29, 1905; reprinted in Schoener, p. 28.
43–46
Isaac Don Levine’s impressions: “Letters of an Immigrant,” American Jewish Archives, vol. 33, no. 1 (Apr., 1981), pp. 53–61.
46
immigration figures: Oscar Handlin. Adventure in Freedom (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1954), p. 84; also Encyclopaedia Britannica (1957), vol. 15, p. 466
47
oysesn: Jewish Daily Forward, July 14, 1903.
47
Vacations “have become a trend”: ibid., June 30, 1904.
48
“
God sent us the Victrola”: ibid., May 9, 1904.
48
“There are pianos”: ibid., Oct. 16, 1904.
3. A JEWISH CINDERELLA
54
“Some pray to marry”: John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, 13th ed. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1955), p. 906.
55
Rose’s aphorisms: Tageblatt, Aug. 13, 1903, Oct. 25, 1905.
56
“Mr. Stokes is a deep, strong thinker”: quoted in New York Times, Apr. 6, 1905.
57
“If I thought as much”: ibid.
57
“love at first sight”: ibid.
58
Stokes telegram exchange: Cleveland Amory, The Last Resorts (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1952), p. 16.
58
“a descendant of families”: New York Times, Apr. 6, 1905.
59
“She might have been the model”: Lillian Baynes Griffin, “Mrs. J. G. Phelps Stokes at Home,” Harper’s Bazar, Sept., 1906.
60
“I wish the Times would correct”: New York Times, Apr. 6, 1905.
60
“inspired religion … teacher and guide”: Griffin in Harper’s Bazar, Sept., 1906.
60
“The only difference”: ibid.
61
“As she talks”: New York Times, Apr. 6, 1905.
61
“very interesting”: ibid.
61
“It was a hard struggle”: ibid.
62
“If our life”: Griffin in Harper’s Bazar, Sept., 1906.
63
“we have no definite plans”: New York Times, July 20, 1905.
64
Hebrew Standard editorial: reported in ibid.
64–65
“closer to the Christian sentiment”: Hebrew Standard, July 21, 1905.
65
“Fame!”: Rose Harriet Pastor, Tageblatt, July 26, 1903.
65–66
Description of Stokes apartment and interview with Rose: Griffin in Harper’s Bazar, Sept., 1906.
69
“For the future”: Universal Jewish Encyclopedia and Reader’s Guide (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1944), vol. 10, p. 67.
70
production of shirtwaists: Howe, p. 298.
71
“I am a working girl”: ibid.
71
“If I turn traitor”: Barbara Mayer Wertheimer, We Were There: The Story of Working Women in America (New York: Pantheon Books, 1977), p. 301.
72
“The girls”: McAlister Coleman, “All of Which I Saw,” Progressive, May, 1950, p. 25.
72
“You are on strike”: Howe, p. 299.
73
“A common social and cultural background”: Will Herberg in American Jewish Year Book (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1940), p. 36.
75
“to make room”: memorial pamphlet by Addie Richman Altman and Bertha Richman Proskauer; privately printed; no date.
75
“[The fire] taught”: Julia Richman and Isabel Wallach, Good Citizenship (New York: American Book Company, 1908), p. 76.
75
“The desire to save money”: ibid., p. 93.
75–76
“worse … than slovenly”: ibid., p. 103.
4. AN OCCUPATION FOR GENTLEMEN
81
Meyer Lansky’s memories and quote: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 24–28.
82–83
Lansky stories: ibid., pp. 33–38.
84–85
Goldwyn’s early years in the United States: Frances Howard Goldwyn (Mrs. Samuel) to author.
85–88
Beginning of Goldwyn’s film career, including quotes: ibid.
89–90
Involvement of Zukor with Goldwyn et al.: Adolph Zukor to author.
91
“Adolph didn’t think”: Frances Goldwyn to author.
92
Zukor and Queen Elizabeth: Adolph Zukor to author.
92–93
The Goldwyn-Zukor partnership: ibid.
93
“If I hadn’t suggested”: Frances Goldwyn to author.
93–94
Goldwyn family and business life: ibid.
95
“I didn’t think”: ibid.
95
“A self-made man”: International Celebrity Register (New York: Celebrity Register Ltd., 1959), p. 297.
5. HEROES AND HEROINES
97
“David has all the luck”: Lyons, p. 38.
97–101
Sarnoff’s boyhood: ibid., pp. 29–38, 44.
102
U.S. Navy and radio: ibid., p. 42.
102
“That’s nice”: ibid., p. 56
103
Sarnoff joins Marconi: ibid., p. 39
104–105
Sarnoff and the Titanic: ibid., pp. 57–60.
105
“brought radio to the front”: ibid., p. 60.
107
“Love—”: Rose Harriet Pastor, Tageblatt, July 26, 1903.
108
Rose’s homilies: ibid., Aug. 13, 1903.
108
“The Anglo-Saxon coldness”: Yezierska, Salome, p. 248.
108
“I am a Russian Jewess”: ibid., p. 65.
108
“the oriental”: ibid., p. 209.
109
“I felt the deep world-sorrow”: Rose Harriet Pastor, Tageblatt, Mar. 24, 1903.
109
Yezierska at school: Yezierska, Ribbon, p. 39.
110
“A woman alone”: ibid., p. 217.
110
“Here I am”: ibid., p. 73.
110
Headlines: ibid., p. 40.
111
“laughs and a happy ending”: ibid., p. 82.
111
“screaming and yelling”: ibid.
111–12
Yezierska and Goldwyn: ibid., pp. 72–73.
112
Fox offer, including quotes: ibid., pp. 84–87.
114
Deportations: James Trager. The People’s Chronology (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979), p. 791.
114–15
Race riots and strikes: ibid.
117
“So she’s back”: Kansas City Star, Mar. 18, 1918.
118
“To the Star”: ibid., Mar. 20, 1918.
119
“I felt it was a matter”: quoted in transcript, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, no. 5255: Rose Pastor Stokes vs. U.S.A., in New York Public Library.
119–36
Details of Rose’s indictment, trial, and appeal: ibid.
137
“Life is strange”: quoted in Zosa Szajkowski, Jews, War and Communism (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1972), p. 285.
138
Vladeck’s embarrassment: Vladeck–Louis Marshall letters, American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati.
138n.
Immigration figures: Yaffe, pp. 8–9.
139
“Former Prisoners”: Howe, p. 326.
139–40
Bank closings: ibid., pp. 136–137.
6. THE JEWISH LAKE AND OTHER CREATIONS
146
“witty and interesting”: Carola Warburg Rothschild to author.
146
“They must be Russians”: ibid.
148
Lansky-Luciano friendship: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 52–53; Gosch and Hammer, p. 24.
148–49
George Raft’s gangster friendships: International Celebrity Register (New York: Celebrity Register Ltd., 1959), p. 606.
149
Jewish gangsters: Siegel and Rheins, pp. 60–63.
152
“If you have a lot”: Gosch and Hammer, p. 35.
154
The ambush: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, pp. 108–109.
155–56
Bronfman family background: Newman, pp. 66–73.
157
“The Langham’s bar”: ibid., p. 69.
157
“If they were”: ibid., p. 73.
158
“Bolshevism flourishes”: pamphlet, Anti-Saloon League of New York, 1919, in New York Public Library; quoted in Newman, p. 82.
158
Recipe and labels: Newman, pp. 84–85.
159
“Distilling is a science”: Leadership (pamphlet), Seagram Distilling Company, New York, 1972, unpaged.
159
Production and profits: Newman, p. 86.
159
Lansky-Bronfman relationship: Mrs. Meyer Lansky to author.
160
“Rum running has provided”: Newman, p. 87.
161
The platform: Samuel Bronfman to author.
161–62
Bronfman marriages: Newman, p. 95.
163
“was bootleggin’ enough whiskey”: Gosch and Hammer, p. 41.
163
“the Jewish lake”: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, p. 79.
7. FITTING IN
165
“Take the Fisher Freeway”: Phillip Applebaum to author.
167
“I was ashamed”: Emery Roth, untitled, unpublished, and undated memoir, supplied by Mrs. Richard Roth, Sr. (Mr. Roth’s daughter-in-law) and quoted with her permission, p. 1.
167
“I attended balls”: ibid., p. 10
168
“I was rather surprised”: ibid., p. 32.
170
“By boat”: O’Higgins, p. 78.
171
The uncle in Melbourne: ibid., p. 146.
171
“The sun was strong”: Rubinstein, p. 23.
171
“My new friends”: ibid., pp. 23–24.
172
Crème Valaze: O’Higgins, p. 151.
172
“Mlle. Helena”: ibid., p. 152.
173
“WHAT WOMEN WANT”: ibid.
173
“masterful adapter”: Patrick O’Higgins to author.
174
“The first thing I noticed”: Rubinstein, pp. 57–58.
175n.
“It’s made of a wonderful mixture”: O’Higgins, p. 151.
176
“a beautiful area”: Howe, p. 132.
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