"WELL, that's that. She shot my son, and Truman murdered her and so now I suppose we don't have to worry about that anymore," said high society's beloved Mrs. William Woodward--known as "Elsie"-- back in the 1970s.
- WELL, DON'T you dare miss New York magazine's April 9 issue, "Three Centuries of New York Scandal!"
The social historian Steven Gaines interviewed me about "Bad Behavior in Boldface" and the upshot is, I don't think I managed to say much, but we had fun talking aspects of loyalty, cowardice, access and gossip writing of a kind that doesn't even exist these days.
In the entire issue about New Yorkers behaving badly, I would have to pick the killing of William Woodward in 1955 by his wife Ann as my "favorite" scandal.
It had everything -- ex-showgirl wife says she mistakes hubby for a prowler, shoots him dead. Then, the last of the truly social leaders, the elder Mrs. Woodward, sides with her detested daughter-in-law rather than expose her two grandchildren to further loss and indignity. Elsie Woodward displays preternatural calm; the younger Mrs. Woodward eventually commits suicide in Switzerland because of something Truman Capote wrote in his controversial 1975 Esquire piece titled "La Cote Basque."
Dominick Dunne took this real-life tale and turned it into a delicious novel "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles." The success of that roman a clef began Dominick on his Vanity Fair path. The other result was a fabulous 1987 TV movie, based on Dunne's book, starring Claudette Colbert and Ann-Margret. It would be Claudette's last film and it is a performance for the ages. (The counterpoint between Claudette's icy correctness and A-M's jittery, flamboyant emoting is something to see!)
And does anybody else remember that the incredible actress Sian Phillips has five memorable minutes as the Duchess of Windsor in the "Grenvilles" film?
Also in this issue of New York-- William Norwich's piece, "She Was Ripe for Seduction," which is all about Jackie Kennedy marrying Aristotle Onassis, after the deaths of her husband, JFK, and her brother-in-law, RFK. The media of the time were initially horrified and then reveled in the creation of "Jackie O."
- LAST YEAR I ran an item about the possibility of Paul McCartney's son, James, putting together a band with Dhani Harrison, son of the late George Harrison; Zak Starkey, son of Ringo; and Sean Lennon, the first son of slain Beatle John Lennon.
Reaction everywhere was "It'll never happen...it's just wishful thinking...are you joking?" Well, we weren't joking, and apparently the "boys" aren't joking either.
There is talk that the "Fab Faux"--as they have already been dubbed--will perform together.
- HBO BROUGHT back "Game of Thrones" in bloody style last weekend---slaughtering children ripped from their mothers' arms and various other atrocities. Everybody's meaner and/or crazier than ever, in this fantasyland of woodland vampire beasts and dragons. (Although for the moment, the dragons are babies, quite adorable, actually.)
But Peter Dinklage, who plays the witheringly acerbic Tyrion Lannister, might have already bagged another Emmy or Golden Globe, with his delivery of one line alone--"Death is so boring." Clifton Webb or George Sanders couldn't have done it better.
- Valerie Smith of East Hampton's The Monogram Shop is always thinking up great slogans to put on glasses, cocktail napkins and other things. Now she has outdoneherself and placed the infamous motto "I Ride Inside" on napkins. This refers to the tale of Mitt Romney's family dog, strapped to the roof of a car. The motto originated in 2007 at www.dogsagainstromney.com.
It's $18 for fifty of these beauties and I do hope Valerie sent some to the New York Times columnist Gail Collins, who never lets Mitt forget for one minute the dog on the roof of the car.
Here is Mary Tyler Moore answering Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire query, "What is your
idea of perfect happiness?
MTM: "Getting to the point in life where I can accept that the truth is there is no perfect happiness."