Bob dropped me home. When I was in bed, already asleep, around 2:00, Victor called and told me to come over to Studio 54, that it was fun, that they had snow all over the floors. But I didn"t.
Sat.u.r.day, December 23, 1978 Talked to Tinkerbelle and she was saying how she makes out with everybody she interviews, that she was making out with Christopher Walken and that his wife was getting upset. She said she cut her arm falling on the gla.s.s from a skylight-she"d broken into a friend"s apartment-she thought they had some drugs in there. I guess Tinkerbelle"s really wild.
Sunday, December 24, 1978 Up early. New York was so unbusy, there were lots of cabs. Everybody must have gone away because it was great, everything was open and nothing was crowded. Then cabbed to Union Square ($3). I got Rupert to come up and help me work, I decided to do prints of the Ali paintings.
Oh, and in the morning I called David Whitney to wish him a Merry Christmas and Philip Johnson answered the phone and said he was cleaning up because the big winds had blown in a sheet of gla.s.s-he was at the Gla.s.s House in Connecticut-and it could have cut him in two. Isn"t that scary? David wasn"t there, he was down at the greenhouse. Truman called and said he was alone because Bob MacBride had to spend Christmas with his kids. I worked all afternoon, left at 5:00, dropped Vincent and Rupert ($4.50).
Tom Cashin came over to the house for a fast turkey dinner before we went to Diane Von Furstenberg"s. And Diane didn"t invite Bob Colacello to her party. Now everybody"s saying that they only like me when Bob and Fred aren"t around with me, that"s the new thing. Everybody"s being mean to Bob. But they"ll be turning on me soon, too, probably.
But when we got to Diane Von Furstenberg"s she had a guilty pang and started saying, "How could I be so evil? How could I be so rotten to Bob?" and then she called him, but he was already going to Adriana Jackson"s, but he said he"d come after dinner.
It was really raining when we were going over, really hard. It was a horrible Christmas party with horrible people-about fifty of them-so I didn"t see why she couldn"t have invited Bob in the first place.
Barry Diller was there and I guess the reason he and Diane are a couple is because she gives him straightness and he gives her powerfulness. He"s very very powerful. And that producer Howard Rosenman was there, and someone screamed, "Rosenwoman!" and that was funny. Truman was having fun talking to Cappy Badrutt. She was the only fun person there. powerful. And that producer Howard Rosenman was there, and someone screamed, "Rosenwoman!" and that was funny. Truman was having fun talking to Cappy Badrutt. She was the only fun person there.
Then we left for Halston"s. Catherine was there and I gave her a painting with some of my come on it, but then Victor said it was his his come, and then we had a fight about that, but now that I think about it, it come, and then we had a fight about that, but now that I think about it, it could could have been Victor"s. have been Victor"s.
Halston had a big fish. I had red wine and was getting so tired that when Tom Sullivan put a crystal of c.o.ke on my tongue for the first time it really worked on me. Just one little piece and it really woke me up. We were going to Studio 54 and I knew that we"d be up until 5:00.
Monday, December 25, 1978 Went to church. Tom Cashin called to say Merry Christmas.
The turkey at Halston"s was ready at 9 P.M P.M. It was really good. We reviewed the night before. Halston revealed that Steve had spent the whole day with Roy Cohn and that he was only coming over for a while, he had to go back to see him some more.
At Studio 54 the IRS found a room full of cash. And now, when I think about it, hearing how much money Steve actually had, he could have been treating us so wonderfully. He could have been so generous and spending so much, and he just wasn"t. He did take us to La Grenouille once, but it could have been so much more.
And they were talking about Bianca"s divorce, Steve saying she should hire Roy Cohn and sue Mick for everything, but the thing"s so complicated-Bianca wants to get the divorce in London and Mick wants it in France because France is where she signed the paper saying she wouldn"t get anything in a divorce settlement.
Wednesday, December 27, 1978 Halston called inviting me to dinner for Diana Ross at his house. She was in the tightest black pants, like she was poured into them, and she"s so skinny-they were so tight she could hardly sit down. She was sitting next to me and she talked the whole night, touching me, I guess she was on something. She said that she told Cher she wouldn"t do her TV special, that Cher flew up to Vegas to see her last week about it, but she turned it down. She said, "That"s not my scene right now." Diana uses the hip lines, she said, "I don"t mind the girl, but ..." Weren"t they best friends once?
Sunday, December 31, 1978 Fred"s in the Amazon-no, wait. The Andes. I talked to David Bourdon, he was going to go to Rosenquist"s New Year"s Eve party. Rosenquist was hiring a live band again. It was so successful the year before that he"s doing it again.
I worked all afternoon at the office. It was nice working on New Year"s Eve, I painted backgrounds. Walter Steding came over to help me. Ronnie was having an Alcoholics Anonymous New Year"s, and Brigid stopped by to pick up some tapes.
I didn"t know the evening at Halston"s was going to be so chic, my dear. I"d asked if I could bring Jed and Halston said fine so we went over. Catherine brought Tom and Winnie-Halston"d said fine to that, too. Tom told me that he was giving Catherine and me points in the movie, and that they had to reshoot a little more, that somebody had just given $150,000 so they could. Bianca was in a Dior.
Oh, and Vincent called earlier and said that Mrs. Winters had called and said that Mr. Winters had what they think was a heart attack.
Diana Ross looked beautiful. And she had asked Halston over the phone if he was going to serve black-eyed peas at midnight because it was good luck. So Steve went around town getting soul food. And when she got there Halston was cooking ham hocks and ribs. A few people said to her, "Don"t you want to check on the black-eyed peas?" They knew the peas were her idea, and they were just trying to be nice. I guess she took it as an insult, though, because she said, "No, thank you, darling, I think I"ve checked them enough."
And Mohammed the houseboy had a girlfriend there and she was Jake LaMotta"s daughter. He"s that boxer Bobby De Niro"s playing in the new Scorsese movie. She"s pretty.
While we were sitting at Halston"s we had the radio on and it was "live from Studio 54," and we heard the announcer saying, "Oh yes! Here they come! Halston, Bianca, and Andy Warhol! They"re walking in the door right now!"
Then we all did go to Studio 54. They had decorated it great, put silver glitter on the floor, and they had someone on a trapeze, and white balloons. And they were saying that Bobby De Niro had been there since 10:00. They"d been having a press party.
The whole night was spent losing and finding and looking and finding and looking. John Fairchild, Jr. has a crush on Bianca so we were looking for her, and then losing her, and then losing him and finding her, and then losing me, and looking for me, and losing him....
I was sober. I had lots of Perrier. The place was still jumping at 7:00. Went outside, it was warm out, and people were still waiting to get in, as if it were only 1:00. Only the light was different.
Monday, January 1, 1979 Maxime said she was giving me a dinner party, which I didn"t want. So I told her to invite Bianca and the Herreras and I picked up Catherine. And I also invited Allen Brooks, the p.o.r.n star. Cabbed to 19th and Fifth ($5). Gloria Swanson was there with her new young husband. Gloria used to be married to Maxime"s ex-brother-in-law, the Count de la Falaise. And she started saying, "I smell terrible fumes. I have to go to the window to get away from them. Where are they coming from? Check your stove. I have a very good nose and I know there are fumes escaping." And I just knew it was the perfume I had on that she was smelling. It was jasmine from Sh.e.l.ly Marks. PH and I are doing research for a new perfume line and I was trying it out. And so I didn"t want to go near Gloria. I went into the bathroom and tried to wash it off, and then for the rest of the night I stayed about four feet away from her even when she was trying to talk to me. I ran over and talked to Sylvia Miles. Gloria looked good, though, with short grey hair. Maxime served spaghetti.
Mario Amaya, that person who stopped by the Factory in "68 and wound up getting shot in the arm by Valerie Solanis when she was shooting me-he was there and he just quit his job at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk.
Tuesday, January 2, 1979 Went to meet Truman at Dr. Orentreich"s office on 72nd and Fifth to tape the two of them for Truman"s first "Conversations with Capote" series in Interview Interview. We went in the back door, and Dr. Orentreich gave us free samples, and he thought it was an interview so he began babbling, saying everything he"s doing. Then he removed the veins from my nose. I"ve had it done before, by Dr. Domonkos. It doesn"t last, but for a while it looks great. For about three months, then you have it done again. He said that the doctor who sandpapered my nose twenty years ago had done a bad job, gone too deep.
Truman"s getting a facelift, but Dr. Orentreich isn"t doing it himself-somebody in his office is-it"s just going to be "supervised by" Dr. Orentreich.
Friday, January 5, 1979 Bianca had invited so many people down to the office to see the pictures I"m doing of her that it turned into a big lunch. And I"d invited all the kids who come after me in Studio 54, I figured that when you see somebody in the light all the glamour"s gone so it"d be a good way to end it all, let them get a hard, cold look at me in the daylight. I invited Curley, and Justin, and p.e.c.k.e.r who got fired as a waiter at Studio 54 for serving drinks in the ladies" room. But since the ladies" room there is always full of men, anyway, I don"t know why they cared.
Bianca had tickets for the John Curry ice ballet show at the Minskoff Theater. After the show we went backstage to see John Curry. The dressing rooms at the Minskoff are new and beautiful, air-conditioned and everything. Jade was with us. There"s something so good-looking about John Curry, he"s so adorable, and when I was leaving he kissed me on the mouth. They"re thinking of closing the show because he really hurt himself, but they"re going to run it for another week.
Sat.u.r.day, January 6, 1979 Walter Steding called and wanted to freelance, so I had him deliver a Shadow painting up to John Curry (cab $10).
Vincent was calling Montauk because Mr. Winters was failing, and Mrs. Winters was upset. I just couldn"t believe that anybody who looked as good as Mr. Winters did was in bad health. But he has has been really cranky, I think last summer with Tom Sullivan out there really made him cranky. been really cranky, I think last summer with Tom Sullivan out there really made him cranky.
Then Bob called and said that Rod Stewart and Alana Hamilton wanted to see us for dinner, and that sounded like a fun thing. I worked at home until 10:00, and then Bob picked me up and we went to Elaine"s (cab $2.50). It turned out to be actually Swifty Lazar"s dinner party, and the Erteguns were there, and Rod"s manager, I think, or a.s.sistant, he was funny, talking gay with Bob. Well, the party was so stuffy, poor Rod looked miserable, you could see he really wanted a good time, and they all wanted blows and n.o.body had any. And then Francoise and Oscar de la Renta left and suddenly-it was incredible-everything picked up. Who would think that just two people leaving could do so much-the whole mood of the dinner changed.
Rod and Alana had the most beautiful coats. He had black mink and she had a matching white mink. He looked so great-he looked better than she did.
Then we went to Studio 54. Truman was there. He goes up into the crow"s nest where the DJ plays the records and it"s like his private office. People come up to see him, and he stays until 8:00. Truman said that Ivan Karp had seen Bob MacBride"s art and said he"d put him in a group show in December of next year.
Rod and Alana were in the back, I introduced them to the manager. It"s hard to get c.o.ke there now, they"re not really selling it. And some guy was sort of bothering me and John Fairchild, Jr. came over and asked if I wanted the guy beaten up, and I really should get to know him better because he must have a bad temper which is always interesting.
Sunday, January 7, 1979 It was raining hard. As I was leaving the house John Curry called to thank me for the Shadow painting I sent him. Went to Elaine"s to have dinner with Phyllis Diller (cab $2.50). Barry Landau arranged it so he was there.
Phyllis was cute, she"s a happy divorcee. Right as I was talking to Phyllis she finally realized that I was the person who"d asked if I could draw her foot in around 1958. She was just starting out then-it may have been at the Bon Soir or someplace, and all these years she never put it together that that was me and this is me, and so she said, "Oh, you"re you"re the foot fetishist!" the foot fetishist!"
Phyllis didn"t eat much. Tommy Smothers was with us and so was Tommy Tune. He said that Elaine"s had the best food he"d had in so long, and everybody looked at him like he was nuts. He must be.
Then Adolph Green started coming toward the table with his arms out so (laughs) (laughs) Barry Landau whispered to Phyllis quickly that she had just sent a bottle of champagne over to him. Because Barry had sent a bottle and signed it from her. And Tommy Smothers was tongue-kissing Phyllis and so I said, "If you can tongue-kiss her, you can tongue-kiss me." So he gave me a quarter of a tongue-kiss and said he"d give the rest when he knew me better. Barry Landau whispered to Phyllis quickly that she had just sent a bottle of champagne over to him. Because Barry had sent a bottle and signed it from her. And Tommy Smothers was tongue-kissing Phyllis and so I said, "If you can tongue-kiss her, you can tongue-kiss me." So he gave me a quarter of a tongue-kiss and said he"d give the rest when he knew me better.
Then we went to Studio 54 and it was very empty. John Fairchild, Jr. was there and he asked to borrow money, so I ripped a hundred-dollar bill in half and that upset him, but it was a memorable moment. And I didn"t realize it at the time, that he probably had his coat on only because he didn"t have enough money to check it.
And Halston is is funny-no matter how many times we run into each other on the floor he grabs me and hugs me and kisses me and says, "It"s so nice to meet you, Mr. Warhol." Paid John Fairchild, Jr. for bodyguarding me ($20). funny-no matter how many times we run into each other on the floor he grabs me and hugs me and kisses me and says, "It"s so nice to meet you, Mr. Warhol." Paid John Fairchild, Jr. for bodyguarding me ($20).
Monday, January 8, 1979 Vincent called and told me that Mr. Winters had died.
Did I say that Fred called the office the other day? He wasn"t even in Bogota yet, they were in some small town. He said that he and Rachel Ward fell out of the boat and she wasn"t coming up, but then she did come up. He said it was really dangerous. He"s with three or four Kennedys and Rebecca Fraser.
Tuesday, January 9, 1979 I wanted to see The Wiz The Wiz, so Jed and I cabbed to the Plaza (cab $2, tickets $10). The movie looked so cheap, and they made Diana Ross so ugly and they made Michael Jackson ugly. Sidney Lumet must hate women-he photographed them "up," you could see right up Lena Horne"s nostrils. She"s his ex-mother-in-law. The play was a lot better, with the Geoffrey Holder dancers.
Wednesday, January 10, 1979 Talked to Vincent, he went out to Montauk to see Mrs. Winters. He told her she could stay on if she wanted-she has a son and Mr. Winters had a son, so maybe they can help her and maybe she can stay on there alone.
Thursday, January 11, 1979 Fred was back from his trip, very very happy because he lost twenty pounds, he"s back to 120, and sporting a mustache and he looks great, very young.
He brought me back an emerald, it"s the smallest one I"ve ever seen-blink and you miss it. It"s a tenth of a carat and comes with a certificate and the certificate is really cute.
Went to dinner at La Grenouille with Phyllis Diller and Barry Landau (cab $4). A lot of people were asking Phyllis for her autograph and not me, and afterwards she (laughs) (laughs) said to me, "Oh I"m sorry, dear, I felt so said to me, "Oh I"m sorry, dear, I felt so bad bad for you." for you."
Friday, January 12, 1979 Tinkerbelle brought Christopher Walken down to lunch so that she could have a date with him. He"s such a big star now that he really threw me when he said, "A couple of years ago I was Monique Van Vooren"s dancing partner." (laughs) (laughs) Isn"t that something? I guess when Monique was doing her act at that room that doesn"t exist anymore. Not the Maisonette, maybe the Rainbow Room. He has a mustache now. He said Monique gave him the name "Christopher." Isn"t that something? I guess when Monique was doing her act at that room that doesn"t exist anymore. Not the Maisonette, maybe the Rainbow Room. He has a mustache now. He said Monique gave him the name "Christopher."
Sunday, January 14, 1979 Went to the Eberstadts" for dinner (cab $2). Earl and Camilla McGrath were there, and Sam and Judy Peabody. Somehow Isabel sat in the wrong place, and so everybody"s place card was wrong, and so then Isabel said that everyone should pretend to be the person their place card said. So I pretended to be Isabel-I had her card-and (laughs) (laughs) I kept excusing myself to go to the bathroom. I guess maybe that was mean. I kept excusing myself to go to the bathroom. I guess maybe that was mean.
Monday, January 15, 1979 Fred went out to Connecticut to see Peter Brant about possibly buying the Muhammad Ali portfolios. Peter kept him waiting an hour, and then gave him a hard time because he and Joe Allen haven"t made any money yet from their investment in Bad Bad.
Tuesday, January 16, 1979 The Shah left Iran. He stopped in Egypt and he"s going to Texas where his son is training for the air force, and then the television said he"s going to stay with the Walter Annenbergs in California. I don"t know what they think they"re doing-they practically showed a road map on television, aerial views of the place.
Tinkerbelle said how could I tell people that she"d given Chris Walken a b.l.o.w. .j.o.b and I told her I didn"t tell anybody, that I didn"t even know.
Thursday, January 18, 1979 It was the first time I ever saw people actually flying around the streets, it was so windy. Cabbed to Union Square ($3) and that"s where I really saw people in the air. If you were on the sunny side of the street it was nice, beautiful, but then when you"d hit a corner you"d get blown away. People were holding on to things. Went to the office. Stephen Mueller and Ronnie were finishing stretching Shadow paintings for my show next week.
Sat.u.r.day, January 20, 1979 Bob had Brigid helping him all day, writing the text for the photo book, and I mean, they"re crazy-they called me up and read me some of the stuff and they have me talking about Lee Radziwill and Jackie O. in the book as if they"re my best friends. I wanted to throw up. Worked and watched television.
Sunday, January 21, 1979 I watched the Superbowl and it was exciting, really good. Jo Jo Starbuck"s husband is Terry Bradshaw of the Steelers and he got two touchdowns in fourteen seconds. She"s the female star in the John Curry show. Then the Cowboys got two more. But the Steelers won. Then Tom Cashin and Jay Johnson came over and they were going to a movie, but I didn"t want to go.
Tuesday, January 23, 1979 Cabbed down to Heiner Friedrich"s gallery on West Broadway ($5). Fred wasn"t there yet. Ronnie and Stephen Mueller were there hanging pictures. The show looked good, the gallery"s so big.
Got to the office about 4:30. Bob was upset because The New York Times The New York Times had called and said they were interested in reprinting Truman"s column and Truman has the copyright, so Bob is worried that now Truman will start doing it for the had called and said they were interested in reprinting Truman"s column and Truman has the copyright, so Bob is worried that now Truman will start doing it for the Times Times instead of instead of Interview Interview. But I don"t think Truman would. He probably wants to turn them into a book eventually.
And Tom Sullivan came by and he was acting crazy. He kept saying that he wanted to give me 25 percent of his business, just for nothing. But what is is his business? And he kept saying that everybody thinks he made his money in heroin or cocaine but that it wasn"t those two, that it was something else. But I mean, what else could it be? Marijuana? Catherine"s getting her green card this week. It took three years. his business? And he kept saying that everybody thinks he made his money in heroin or cocaine but that it wasn"t those two, that it was something else. But I mean, what else could it be? Marijuana? Catherine"s getting her green card this week. It took three years.
When I got home Mrs. de Menil had called and left a message that she was very very touched by seeing my show at Heiner"s gallery.
Thursday, January 25, 1979 Brigid was down to 120 but I caught her eating in Bob"s office, everything that"s bad for her-fried potatoes, fried scallops, mayonnaise. She was getting ready for the Shadows opening all day, she went home and put on all her jewelry.
People kept wandering in and out all day. They were sending a limo for me and it came at 5:00. I glued, and took some of the kids down there with me. It was snowing a little.
It wasn"t too many people at first. Actually, it was a big business gathering. Barbara Colacello had gotten free champagne and Seagram"s and Evian and some other free liquor and drinks, telling them that the society people would be coming down.
But it turned out that out of the 400 people Bob invited, only 6 came. Six out of 400: Truman Capote, the Eberstadts, Fereydoun Hoveyda, who just resigned as amba.s.sador, and the Gilmans. So 394 of our best friends were no-shows.
No Halston-he was in Mustique.
No Steve-he was, too.
No Catherine.
It turned out to be more of a punk opening, all the wonderful usual fantasy kids that go to openings like that. And Rene Ricard was there. Mrs. de Menil came, and she was sweet, and Francois, he was sweet. But Addie and Christophe de Menil didn"t come. David Bourdon and Gregory Battc.o.c.k, it was fun to see them, but we didn"t get a chance to talk.
A lot of kids had their own cameras, they were looking in vain for celebrities to take pictures of. Victor was the only well-dressed person-an umbrella and black pearls.
The bathroom was crowded, I guess people were c.o.king up. We got a group together to go to dinner-Jed, John Reinhold, John Fairchild, Jr. and his girlfriend Belle McIntyre, William Pitt, and Henry Post. Bob was mad at me for inviting Henry Post, he says he does those expose-type articles, and maybe he"s right, maybe I will will get myself into trouble. get myself into trouble.
We were limoing to 65 Irving Place to "65 Irving." And on the way, near Washington Square, we saw a dog get hit by a cab and a woman was screaming, and we offered her the limo to take the dog to the hospital, but she said her husband was getting the car, and it ruined the whole night. It made me feel funny.
Philippa invited Rene Ricard-her Dia Foundation just signed him up for benefits as the first poet-so he arrived at 65 Irving and was saying that my work was just "decorative." That got me really mad, and I"m so embarra.s.sed, everybody saw the real me. I got so red and was telling him off, and then he was screaming things like that John Fairchild, Jr. was my boyfriend-you know how horrible Rene is-and it was like one of those old Ondine fights, and everybody was stunned to see me so angry and out of control and screaming back at him. And do you know that Rene has an agent agent now? And do you know who that agent is? Gerard Malanga. And I mean, Rene acts as if he"s such a wonderful writer, but he just has one idea and he keeps repeating it over and over-about how he"s wined and dined by the rich and how you should get things for free, that same old stuff. Luckily Henry Post missed this fight, he was at another table. now? And do you know who that agent is? Gerard Malanga. And I mean, Rene acts as if he"s such a wonderful writer, but he just has one idea and he keeps repeating it over and over-about how he"s wined and dined by the rich and how you should get things for free, that same old stuff. Luckily Henry Post missed this fight, he was at another table.
I have another opening on Sat.u.r.day, this one was just a preview. The show only looks good because it"s so big.
Friday, January 26, 1979 Jenette Kahn-she"s the president of D.C. Comics, a friend of Sharon Hammond"s-called and invited me to see the Knicks on Monday because she wants me to paint the floor of the Knicks" basketball court.
Paul Morrissey called from California and said that Carlo Ponti called him and offered him a script and Paul said-Paul said said he said-that he wouldn"t do a movie for him until he straightened out the money he owes me over he said-that he wouldn"t do a movie for him until he straightened out the money he owes me over Frankenstein Frankenstein and and Dracula Dracula. Ponti probably thought he could buy Paul off by offering him a movie. Which I"m sure he can. Paul was calling about Bobby De Niro wanting to maybe rent Montauk, and Paul was saying to give him a cheap price so he"d be sure to take it because it"d be great to have him there, but I think we should raise raise the price-we"re not making enough renting Montauk to run it. the price-we"re not making enough renting Montauk to run it.
Sat.u.r.day, January 27, 1979 This was the day I had to go back to Heiner"s gallery for the real opening.
And it"s so great, such a great feeling, when people ask me how many of the paintings have been sold, to just be able to say, "They"re all sold."
Governor Rockefeller died.
Sunday, January 28, 1979 Got up early and my bones ached from standing so long the day before, greeting 3,000 people. Fred called and invited me to mix with the Kennedys at his place at 10:00 before the Studio 54 party for Pilar Crespi. And Tom Cashin came by to take me to a models party, but I was too worn out.
I saw a little of Taxi Driver Taxi Driver on TV and the guy at the end reading the letter from Pittsburgh really sounded like he was on TV and the guy at the end reading the letter from Pittsburgh really sounded like he was (laughs) (laughs) reading from Pittsburgh. reading from Pittsburgh.
Oh, and on the news the lady who hijacked the plane said she had nitroglycerin and wanted Charlton Heston and Wonder Woman to read her letter on TV? She looked like a normal schoolteacher ... she was from California. There were some famous people on that flight-the Jackson 5"s father and the guy who was with Mary Martin in Sound of Music Sound of Music on Broadway. on Broadway.
Monday, January 29, 1979 Rupert came to the office and I gave him a talk about going around telling people that he does my paintings. But he"s drinking too much so he still thinks he does them. Went to Madison Square Garden (cab $3). Jenette Kahn wanted me to meet Sonny Werblin who is the president of Madison Square Garden to talk to him about painting the floor for the Knicks. Just like Bob Indiana did for his home team out in Indiana. We talked to Sonny and he said it sounded like a good idea. He asked to see the floor that Bob Indiana had done and Jenette has already sent away for pictures of it. The game was boring. The Knicks are slow, they"re a good team but they"re too slow, they miss so many baskets-the other team got every basket they tried for.
Then I had to take Jenette to dinner and she said she"d like to go to Trader Vic"s. Had to do small talk for a couple of hours. I think she has a crush on me. She"s intelligent and glamorous with big t.i.ts, a good head. And she"s very organized. She can spell things out. I"m convinced that if you can spell things out very simply and say everything clearly right away, you"ll be a success in business. Like Bob Denison can do that. And Jenette does it with charm, she comes right out direct and says things-like what we wanted from Sonny Werblin.
And on that plane that was hijacked was also Joe Armstrong, Sue Mengers, Max Palevsky, Theodore Bikel, and Dino Martin, Jr. How did they avoid the camera? Sue had the best line: "If anything happens to me, take care of my coat."
Tuesday, January 30, 1979 I gave Rupert another talk about saying he does my paintings for me and he decided that he shouldn"t drink again for a while.
David Whitney was telling me that the house on 54th Street where Nelson Rockefeller died was the house he used for having fun. Diana Vreeland was funny the other night, she said, "Of course course Nelson was with a girl-he was Nelson was with a girl-he was always always with a girl. Nelson wanted everyone to be with a girl. Nelson wanted everyone to be happy happy. And why not? He was a Rockefeller-he could make everybody everybody happy." Then somebody said, "But what about Happy?" happy." Then somebody said, "But what about Happy?"
Wednesday, January 31, 1979 I worked all afternoon. Then cabbed all the way down to Delia Doherty"s fashion show at Lafayette and Ca.n.a.l Street ($5). She had paper clothes made out of tubing. The girls had to be rolled in, they couldn"t walk or talk. It was absolutely great. Jane Forth was there, she was just back from South America doing the makeup on a movie with Carol Lynley. Jane said that she"s going back to makeup school because you can make more doing scars and burns than straight makeup. She"s got a fat ex-lady cop who takes care of Emerson, the baby she had with Eric Emerson. He"s eight or nine now. He"s taking ballet lessons, he"s following in his father"s footsteps.
Friday, February 2, 1979 John Reinhold called in the morning and said he"d like to take me to his wife"s gallery on 78th Street (cab $2). She just went off to Europe to look for some more posters and things. The gallery had a wonderful exhibition of old movie posters, like Garbos from the twenties, the huge beautiful posters that were printed in German, they"re about 8" x 10"-things like the original King Kong King Kong and Charlie Chaplin. I always bought the smaller American movie posters and they"re just not worth anything. The original Ca.s.sandre posters are selling for $35,000. Can you believe it? And when I think of how I let them slip through my fingers. A print of one is about $5,000 or $10,000. and Charlie Chaplin. I always bought the smaller American movie posters and they"re just not worth anything. The original Ca.s.sandre posters are selling for $35,000. Can you believe it? And when I think of how I let them slip through my fingers. A print of one is about $5,000 or $10,000. Posters Posters. Can you believe it?
Had lunch at that place called Three Guys on Madison and 75th and it"s a really good sandwich shop, a lot of kids came in, there must be a school right around there. And there was a girl behind us using "s.h.i.t" and "f.u.c.k" to her mother, and whatever the mother would say to her, the kid said, "You are insulting me, mother," and you just wanted to slap her and kick her a few times -a little snot-nose. She was about fourteen and the mother was about thirty-five, and her mother was crying. You know when you get your mother and you really put the screws in? Well, this kid was doing it, she was disgusting. Then I dropped John at his office and went down to Union Square (cab $4.50).
Sunday, February 4, 1979 I was mentioned in a Victorian Art article in The New York Times The New York Times magazine section by Hilton Kramer, who put me down. magazine section by Hilton Kramer, who put me down.
Monday, February 5, 1979 Halston called and invited us to dinner with Liza and Liz and Dolly Parton and Lorna and so went home to change. Walked over to Halston"s, but then Liza wanted to take me and Jed over to her place at 40 Central Park South to look at her boyfriend Mark Gero"s sculpture. She said she"d only keep us five minutes.
He wasn"t there-he was playing poker with his buddies at some Mexican restaurant on 86th Street and she was going there to meet him-but she made me write a note saying how good the stuff was and that I would get him a show. It was t.i.ts out of marble and alabaster and wood, and she was rubbing the t.i.ts while we talked. Liza hasn"t moved into her house in Murray Hill yet. It"s so sad to see her apartment, because she really has no taste, and Halston"s trying to give her taste, trying to get Jed to do her apartment, but I think all she really cares about is working, she doesn"t care about decorating.
We dropped her off at the poker game and I dropped Jed off, this was around 2:00, and then I went back to Halston"s. Dolly didn"t show up, neither did Liz. Halston and Dr. Giller said they were "unwinding." I don"t know from what.
Thursday, February 8, 1979 Worked at the studio then had to leave early. Dropped Bob (cab $4). Went to Neil Sedaka"s place, 510 Park Avenue, for c.o.c.ktails before the Police Athletic League dinner. I met Leba a few weeks ago and she said they wanted a portrait. The Sedakas are subletting this place until their apartment is finished. All the talk was about how hard it was getting into a building because they"re Jewish and entertainers, and an older couple was there who got them in. A lot of the people were in black tie. I looked the worst, in my old jeans and a sweater, but Neil was casual, in a sweater, California-style, although he"s from Brooklyn. He seems like a fairy but he"s not. I don"t know how his portrait will come out, though, because he"s chubby. The decorator who"s doing their apartment was there with his boyfriend and we had c.o.c.ktails, it was fun.
Friday, February 9, 1979 Fred was going off to Berlin and Diana Ross called and said she wanted me to do a portrait of her and her kids and that her manager would call about it, so now with Fred out of town I guess I"ll have to deal with that myself.
At Studio 54 I met young John Samuels, who"s really handsome, like a young Robert Wagner.
Sat.u.r.day, February 10, 1979 I hadn"t gotten to bed until about 6:00 and then Victor called and started talking about ideas, did I have any "sophisticated ideas." He was working, he said, and also in the middle of hosting a party for twelve kids he"d picked up at the Anvil.
Went over to Truman"s for his facelifting party. He had to check into the hospital the next morning, Sunday, and have the lift on Monday, but he wasn"t telling anybody which hospital. I had Janet Villella and a "Du Pont" twin with me-these two twin brothers who say their name is Du Pont but I think they just made it up. When we got to Truman"s Truman wasn"t happy about seeing the twin because once at Studio 54 Jacques Bellini who this twin is in love with had him go over to Truman and say awful things, and Truman remembered. The other twin is Rupert"s boyfriend. Bob Colacello was there, and Bob MacBride and Halston were there, and Dr. Giller who said he"d tried to call me and gotten very jealous when another man answered the phone. Jed picked up my line. Truman was trying to get me to eat lots of chocolate, he thinks I like it so much, which I don"t, really. Commissioner Geldzahler was there with his new boyfriend who"s cute. Henry said he told Mayor Koch he wanted a badge for being commissioner so the mayor gave him one. He flashed it. Christopher Isherwood"s boyfriend, Don Bachardy, was there.