Saturday, April 10, 2004

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Tuesday, December 7, 1976

Met Bob Colacello and Fran Lebowitz, and we went down in the rain to the Biltmore Hotel to the Overseas Press Corps lunch. Bob had told them weeks ago when they invited me that I would come and just be present but that he would give the talk on Interview and they said fine. After Bob's speech, though, they asked questions all directed at me--and I wasn't prepared so I just said yes or no. But afterwards I regretted doing my same old shy act, when I should have used the situation for practice--I'd love to be able to talk more and give little speeches. I want to work on that.

They asked Fran only one question, why her column in Interview was called "I Cover the Waterfront," and she said that it was because Tennessee Williams was on a talk show once and they asked him if he was a homo and he said, "Well, let's put it this way: I cover the waterfront." And Fran's answer was a lead balloon, nobody laughed. In the cab downtown she said she'd rather have her appendix out than go to something like that again.

Bianca called and invited me to a screening of Silver Streak. Didn't get home until 7:00 which was exactly when I was supposed to be at the Pierre to pick her up--she and Mick just rented a house on 72nd Street but it's not ready to move into yet. Went over to the Loews Tower East. The movie was kind of funny. Bianca looked beautiful. Afterwards outside the theater when we couldn't find the limo a black guy with a black scarf was pressing himself up against Bianca and he was crazy, he was saying, "You think you're the only one with beautiful clothes in the world?"

Finally we found the car and went to La Grenouille. Isabel and Freddy Eberstadt and Mica Ertegun arrived and with them was Isabel and Freddy's beautiful daughter, Nenna. I kept staring at her and saying how beautiful she was, and Isabel sort of kept us apart. I couldn't figure out why they had asked me to this dinner because if I hadn't asked to bring Bianca, there would have been just me. Mica was very sweet. She kept saying that Joe Allen was so attractive, that how could Barbara Allen leave him.

The Eberstadt daughter didn't say anything during dinner but then she finally blurted out that she used to go to Union Square and stare up at the Factory, so that was thrilling to hear from this beautiful girl. I told her she should come down and do some interviews for Interview and she said, "Good! I need the money." Isn't that a great line? I mean, here Freddy's father died and left him a whole stock brokerage company.

We said our good nights and thank-yous and I hope I remember to send flowers.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Monday, December 6, 1976

Freddy Eberstadt called and invited me to something at La Grenouille tomorrow night and I said that I had a date with Bianca Jagger and could I bring her and he said sure.

Left the office early to go home and dress for a formal evening. Dropped off Catherine ($4). Walked over to Halston's. Victor had said there was room for me at Halston's table at the Metropolitan opening we were all going to, of Diana Vreeland's Russi show. When we got to Halston's Mrs. Henry J. Kaiser--Aly--was there, she was in a blue-green Halston with emeralds, and she seemed very interested in me, and when Halston saw us getting along he suggested I take her upstairs to show her the portraits I did of him. After the trip upstairs, through, she dropped me, I guess she saw me in the light.

We were all waiting for Marisa and her new husband and Bianca and her date, Joe Eula. The acupuncture doctor they all use was there, Dr. Giller, so he's on their party list now. Barbara Allen was there, the only one of the ladies not wearing a Halston. She had a beautiful off-the-shoulder Christian Dior. It was from her shopping spree in Paris last month when Philip Niarchos was buying.

Marisa came and she had her hair piled all on one side of her head like a beautiful old-time star. Bianca had her purple fox with her, the one she's had around the past month. When Joe walked in he and Halston "shook hands" and when Halston felt what Joe put in his palm he said, "Oh, You've saved my life."

Victor took me into the garage to show me his latest artwork--he's (laughs) making Mona Lisas wearing Halstons, and that's really funny, so I encouraged him. Then we went to the Met in four limos. This was the biggest one of these things the museum has ever had. When Diana walked through we all kissed her. I talked to Mrs. Kaiser and got to know her. She's about sixty but she looks forty, and she says she's looking for a fuck. I told her it's the wrong town, everyone's gay, and she said she didn't care--"They tumble well. I've had some good luck here." She lives at U.N. Plaza. It turns out she's a very good friend of Brigid's mother, Honey Berlin. She said that when she was at their house old Dick Berlin was so senile he walked in and rushed over to the mirror and tried to shake hands with himself but she saw what he was doing and went over and was the hand for him to shake. I left right after dinner, Mrs. Kaiser dropped me.

Oh, and also at the dinner table Bianca took off her panties and passed them over to me and I faked smelling them and then tucked them in my handkerchief pocket. I still have them.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Sunday, December 5, 1976

Went down to the Players Club on Gramercy Park for a dinner for Kitty Carlisle Hart. It looked like a stag party except for Arlene Francis and Peggy Cass and Dena Kay who came instead of her husband Danny, who had concorde-lag, and Irene Selznick, who was the chairwoman of the evening, or whatever they call it. Peggy and Arlene are Kitty's sidekicks from "To Tell the Truth." The dinner was to honor Kitty for being named the new head of the New York State Council on the Arts by Governor Carey.

My doctor, Doc Cox, was there and he took me upstairs for a tour of Edwin Booth's bedroom and it was musty and dusty, same as in the old days.

Dinner was served and it was everything creamy I'm not supposed to eat because of my gallbladder, so the Doc was embarrassed that he was seeing me eat it because it was putting a damper on a social occassion, so he told me, "I won't look." Met Alfred Drake who was on Broadway, that big handsome star of Carousel.

Everyone made speeches and then Kitty got up and she was the best. She was wearing black and pearls, looked very chic. She says she still wants to work a lot and I remember that Diana Vreeland once told me that Kitty had to "work like a nigger" because she doesn't have that much money. The Doc dropped me off.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Thursday, December 2, 1976

They're screening Bad in California this week to try to get a distributor for it. Sue Mengers is helping us out. None of the distributors want to put up advance money.

Sent Ronnie to buy brooms ($20). Dropped off Catherine Guinness (cab $4) and went home to change, then picked her up and cabbed down to 18 west 38th street ($3.60) to the opening of a new club that Helen Bransford had invited us to, it's sort of trying to be a new Reno Sweeney's. Helen goes around with John Radziwill now. Fred thinks she's great and that we should be nice to her. Tim Harding was singing there.

Maxime de la Falaise was there with her new maybe-boyfriend, Craig Braun. I worked with him on the Rolling Stones album cover.

Barbara Allen was there and she's moving into Fred's house on 89th and Lexington for a while, because she rented her apartment on East 63rd Street to Catherine and then Catherine let her stay there but she and Catherine living in the same apartment got to be too much.

Went home and watched the news, it's all the Gary Gilmore thing, every night they have him on saying he wants to die, he wants to die.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Wednesday, December 1, 1976

Got into the Christmas spirit and started buying business gifts (cab $8). Ran into Jean Kennedy Smith in Bloomingdale's in the men's shirt department. We had the same salesgirl. Cabbed to Union Square ($4). Amos was down at the office and Ricky Clifton took pictures of him in costume as the pope.

Left to go down to the Ileana Sonnabend Gallery to the David Hockney opening. He wasn't showing new stuff, just portfolios. Took Amos (cab $2.50). Ran into Gerard Malanga. Gerard wrote to Fred asking why he wouldn't let him do photography for Interview, I guess he just wants a press pass. Fred won't have anything to do with Gerard because we're still getting repercussions from all the fake Electric Chairs we think he did, they're being resold and resold and each time the money involved gets bigger, so Fred isn't about to give Gerard anything. The opening was jammed. Didn't see David Hockney, he must've been in another room.

Changed and went over to dinner at the Iranian embassy. Not really the "embassy," but you know what I mean--it's where Mr. Hoveyda, their ambassador to the U.N., lives (cab $3). China Machado was there and she said she's known Ambassador Hoveyda for ten years or more from when he and her husband were in France hanging around the French filmmakers in the sixties. We talked about how horrible Avedon is, she said he gets what he wants out of a person and then drops them. I agreed and then everybody screamed at me that I do the same thing.

Pat Kennedy Lawford was there and a du Pont lady who lives next door to the embassy who said it was so nice not to have to go far for a meal and so she was late. She was wearing a black and gold dress with a jewel collar that she said always gets impounded at customs. The food was good, but the caviar only came around once.