Free Pink Triangle: The Feuds and Private Lives of Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, and Famous Members of Their Entourages (Blood Moon's Babylon Series) by Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince Page A
Authors: Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince
screen, by Ava Gardner. The Maxine character first appeared in Tennessee’s writing in a short story “The Mattress by the Tomato Patch.”
The other apartments were filled with women of a rather dubious character,” Tennessee said. “Jezebel offered me a reduction in rent if I’d inspect the halls right before dawn and remove all the used condoms,” Tennessee said. “Because of the wartime blackout, the halls were very active at night with enough sailors to man a warship. The bedrooms were often occupied, so much of the work went on in the hallways.”
Sometimes, when there were a lot of ships in port, Jezebel or the working girls in the apartments could not service all the young men.
Opportunistic Tennessee invested his first paycheck and bought plenty of liquor. The “overflow” in the hallways were invited inside his apartment for plenty of liquor and sex.
“As one sailor told me, ‘I’m so horny, I could fuck a snake.’ That was the attitude of most of these soldiers and sailors. They didn’t care what legs opened for them at night. It was a heady time during the blackout in Los Angeles. I dreaded when the lights would be turned on again.”
On some nights, Tennessee trolled the plateau of the Pacific Palisades of Santa Monica, that high promontory that overlooked the ocean. He pedaled a bike along “a route of little arbors and bosky retreats in a park planted with royal palms. The sounds of sex in various combinations filled the night air.”
“Everything was blacked out in fear of an air raid on Los Angeles from Japan,” said Tennessee. “The Palisades were infested with young sailors, soldiers, and marines, each of them looking for a good time, and not caring too much where they got it.”
Tennessee Williams , writing at his desk in 1942.
He couldn’t always see clearly the man of his desire, so he developed a technique. He’d approach a young man who looked promising and would offer him a cigarette. As he lit a match, he would check out the man’s looks. He recalled many memorable encounters, particularly one with a gay marine. In his journal, he made the claim that “I screwed him seven times in one night.” But on most occasions, Tennessee was “the fuckee, not the fucker.”
Snubbed by Kate Hepburn, Tennessee Collaborates With a Pregnant Lana
The first Monday after his arrival in Los Angeles, when he reported for the first time to the MGM factory, he learned that one of its chief honchos, Pandro S. Berman, had reassigned him. His new job was to adapt a novel by Judith Kelly, Marriage Is a Private Affair , into a vehicle for Lana Turner’s comeback after an eighteen-month absence from the screen.
At the time, he had no respect for her talent—in fact, he claimed “she couldn’t act her way out of her form-fitting cashmeres.” He wrote to friends that he had been assigned “to embroider a celluloid brassiere for Lana Turner.”
He was told that it had not been decided by Louis B. Mayer, but if the lead male role was strong enough, it might be a star vehicle for Clark Gable, if he could be temporarily relieved of his duties to the U.S. military. To Tennessee, that seemed like a remote possibility.
He was to fashion a story about an impulsive wartime marriage between a handsome pilot and a glamorous society girl, and the adjustments they had to make. A dazzling wardrobe of 20 gowns, including a fantasy satin wedding dress, was being created by the designer, Irene. When Tennessee heard that, he said, “MGM doesn’t want a movie script. They’re putting on a fashion show starring Lana as the model.”
For the third lead, Tennessee was instructed to write a non-dancing role for Gene Kelly, who wanted to try his luck performing in a drama instead of a musical.
There was pressure on MGM to get Marriage Is a Private Affair before the cameras. Surpassed only by Betty Grable, Lana was the second most popular pinup girl for G.I.’s. Letters were pouring in to MGM asking when
The other apartments were filled with women of a rather dubious character,” Tennessee said. “Jezebel offered me a reduction in rent if I’d inspect the halls right before dawn and remove all the used condoms,” Tennessee said. “Because of the wartime blackout, the halls were very active at night with enough sailors to man a warship. The bedrooms were often occupied, so much of the work went on in the hallways.”
Sometimes, when there were a lot of ships in port, Jezebel or the working girls in the apartments could not service all the young men.
Opportunistic Tennessee invested his first paycheck and bought plenty of liquor. The “overflow” in the hallways were invited inside his apartment for plenty of liquor and sex.
“As one sailor told me, ‘I’m so horny, I could fuck a snake.’ That was the attitude of most of these soldiers and sailors. They didn’t care what legs opened for them at night. It was a heady time during the blackout in Los Angeles. I dreaded when the lights would be turned on again.”
On some nights, Tennessee trolled the plateau of the Pacific Palisades of Santa Monica, that high promontory that overlooked the ocean. He pedaled a bike along “a route of little arbors and bosky retreats in a park planted with royal palms. The sounds of sex in various combinations filled the night air.”
“Everything was blacked out in fear of an air raid on Los Angeles from Japan,” said Tennessee. “The Palisades were infested with young sailors, soldiers, and marines, each of them looking for a good time, and not caring too much where they got it.”
Tennessee Williams , writing at his desk in 1942.
He couldn’t always see clearly the man of his desire, so he developed a technique. He’d approach a young man who looked promising and would offer him a cigarette. As he lit a match, he would check out the man’s looks. He recalled many memorable encounters, particularly one with a gay marine. In his journal, he made the claim that “I screwed him seven times in one night.” But on most occasions, Tennessee was “the fuckee, not the fucker.”
Snubbed by Kate Hepburn, Tennessee Collaborates With a Pregnant Lana
The first Monday after his arrival in Los Angeles, when he reported for the first time to the MGM factory, he learned that one of its chief honchos, Pandro S. Berman, had reassigned him. His new job was to adapt a novel by Judith Kelly, Marriage Is a Private Affair , into a vehicle for Lana Turner’s comeback after an eighteen-month absence from the screen.
At the time, he had no respect for her talent—in fact, he claimed “she couldn’t act her way out of her form-fitting cashmeres.” He wrote to friends that he had been assigned “to embroider a celluloid brassiere for Lana Turner.”
He was told that it had not been decided by Louis B. Mayer, but if the lead male role was strong enough, it might be a star vehicle for Clark Gable, if he could be temporarily relieved of his duties to the U.S. military. To Tennessee, that seemed like a remote possibility.
He was to fashion a story about an impulsive wartime marriage between a handsome pilot and a glamorous society girl, and the adjustments they had to make. A dazzling wardrobe of 20 gowns, including a fantasy satin wedding dress, was being created by the designer, Irene. When Tennessee heard that, he said, “MGM doesn’t want a movie script. They’re putting on a fashion show starring Lana as the model.”
For the third lead, Tennessee was instructed to write a non-dancing role for Gene Kelly, who wanted to try his luck performing in a drama instead of a musical.
There was pressure on MGM to get Marriage Is a Private Affair before the cameras. Surpassed only by Betty Grable, Lana was the second most popular pinup girl for G.I.’s. Letters were pouring in to MGM asking when
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