Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? (74 page)

39 SHE LIKED HIM : Parker, “Big Blonde,” The Portable Dorothy Parker, p. 188.

41 OH LORD: Cooper, p. 113.

41 IF SHE HAD FELT: Parker, “The Dark Girl’s Rhyme,” The Portable
Dorothy
Parker, p. 78.

42 ONE CAN IMAGINE : Cooper, p. 113.

42 CHASE NEVER FORGOT: Chase and Chase, p. 135.

43 WHEN HE HAD UNEARTHED: Edmund Wilson,
Letters on Literature and Politics
,
1912-1972,
Edited by Elena Wilson, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1977, p. 405.

44 HORN-RIMMED GLASSES: Crowninshield, p. 197.

45 IN HER FIRST COLUMN: Dorothy Parker, “A Succession of Musical Comedies,” Vanity Fair, April 1918, p. 69.

48 DOROTHY LATER SAID: Cooper, p. 113.

48 AFTER ONLY A FEW MONTHS: Parker, “The Dramas That Gloom in the Spring,” Vanity Fair, June 1918, p. 37.

48 BY SUMMER: Parker, “Mortality in the Drama,” Vanity Fair, July 1918, p. 29.

48 IT MAY BE: Parker, “The Fall Deluge of War Plays,” Vanity Fair, October 1918, p. 56.

49 IT ISN’T ONLY: “Henriette Rousseau” (Dorothy Parker pseudonym), “The People Who Sit in Back of Me,”
Vanity Fair
, July 1918, p. 46.

49 SINCE SHE DISLIKED:
Writers
at Work, p. 73.

49 “DEAR,” HE WROTE: Edwin Parker card to Dorothy Parker, January 1919.

Four:
Cub
Lions

52 ALTHOUGH SHE WAS FAIRLY PRETTY: Wilson, The Twenties, p. 33.

53 TOLD OF HER SON’S DEATH: Nathaniel Benchley, Robert Benchley, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1955, p. 28.

54 ON THE BASIS OF HIS WRITING: Parker,
New York Herald Tribune
, October 13, 1963, p. 20; Wolcott Gibbs, “Robert Benchley: In Memoriam,”
New York Times Book Review
, December 16, 1945, p. 3.

54 A SORT OF MAID: Robert Sherwood letter to Nathaniel Benchley, January 4, 1955, Robert Benchley Collection, Mugar Memorial Library, Boston University.

55 SHE PUT FORTH THE THEORY: Parker, “Are You a Stopper?”
Vanity Fair
, September 1918, p. 23.

55 IN THOSE DAYS: Crowninshield, p. 200.

55 BACK AT THE OFFICE: J. Bryan III, “Funny Man” (Part 2),
Saturday Evening Post
, October 7, 1939, p. 32

55 MARK MY WORDS: J. Bryan III, “Funny Man” (Part 1),
Saturday Evening Post
, September 23, 1939, p. 10.

56 AT FIRST CROWNINSHIELD: Crowninshield, p. 199.

56 I CUT OUT A PICTURE:
Writers at Work
, p. 73.

56 I DARED SUGGEST: Crowninshield, p. 163.

56 A LOVELY MAN:
Writers at Work
, p. 73.

56 AMAZING WHELPS: Crowninshield, p. 162.

56 LATER ON: Ibid., p. 199.

57 WALK DOWN THE STREET:
Writers
at
Work
, p. 73.

58 THEY WOULD VIE: Robert E. Drennan,
The Algonquin Wits
, The Citadel Press, 1968, pp. 81, 129; Wolcott Gibbs, “Big Nemo,” Part 1,
The New Yorker
, March 18, 1939, p. 24.

59 THEREAFTER HE PLAYED: Woollcott, may have suffered from a testosterone deficiency.

59 ROSS HAD DEVELOPED: Drennan, p. 158.

59 WHERE’D YOU WORK: Jane Grant,
Ross, the New Yorker and Me
, Reynal & Co., 1968, p. 51.

60 F.P.A.’S BEAK NOSE: Drennan, p. 162.

60 NEVER MIND THE FLOSS: Bennett Cerf, Columbia University Oral History Research Office.

60 THE CLINGINC OAK: Heywood Hale Broun,
Whose Little Boy Are You? A Memoir of the Broun Family
, St. Martin’s Press, 1983, p. 6.

61 PERSHING, NOTICING HIM: Richard O’Connor,
Heywood Broun
, G.P. Putnam’s, 1975, p. 58.

61 A FEW MONTHS EARLIER: “Helen Wells” (Dorothy Parker pseudonym), “They Won the War,”
Vanity Fair
, January 1919, p. 39.

61 ALL HIS STORIES BEGAN: James R. Gaines,
Wit’s End: Days and Nights of the Algonquin Round Table
, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977, p. 28.

63 IT MEANT, SHE RECALLED: Cooper, p. 113.

64 THEY RESENTED: “Policy Memorandum Concerning the Forbidding of Discussion Among Employees,” to Francis L. Wurzburg from Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, and Robert Sherwood, October 14, 1919, in Robert Benchley Collection, Mugar Library, Boston University.

65 TO HIM THEY WERE: Frank Case,
Tales of a Wayward Inn
, Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1938, p. 61.

65 BENCHLEY’S HORROR OF LIBERTINES: Robert Sherwood letter to Nathaniel Benchley, January 4, 1955, Robert Benchley Collection, Mugar Library, Boston University.

66 ALL WE HAVE TO DO: Robert Benchley diary, Mugar Library, Boston University.

66
VANITY FAIR
WAS A MAGAZINE:
Writ
.
ers at Work
, p. 74.

Five: The Algonquin Round Table

68 HE THEN SUGGESTED: Benchley, p. 143.

68 HE LABELED THE MAGAZINE’S ACTION: Robert Benchley letter to Frank Crowninshield, Robert Benchley Collection, Mugar Library, Boston University.

68 DOROTHY WAS DEEPLY MOVED:
Writers at Work
, p. 74.

69 BENCHLEY THOUGHT: John Mason Brown,
The Worlds of Robert Sherwood
, Harper & Row, 1965, p. 138.

69 R. BENCHLEY TELLS ME: Franklin P. Adams,
The Diary of Our Own Samuel Pepys
, vol. 1, Simon and Schuster, 1935, p. 241.

69 DOROTHY WAS PROUD:
Writers at Work
, p. 74.

69 BENCHLEY, AN ARDENT: Robert Benchley diary, Robert Benchley Collection, Mugar Library, Boston University.

70 DOROTHY AND BENCHLEY: Wilson,
The Twenties
, pp. 33—4.

70 FOR A SCENE: Lillian Gish and Ann Pinchot,
Lillian Gish: The Movies
,
Mr
.
Griffith and Me
, Prentice-Hall, 1969, p. 224.

70 AN INCH SMALLER:
Writers at Work
, p. 74.

71 THERE WAS ALWAYS A LAUGH: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

71 MRS. PARKER, HE REMEMBERED: Author’s interview with Charles Baskerville.

72
HIGH SOCIETY
WAS TO BE: Dorothy Parker, George S. Chappell, and Frank Crowninshield, drawings by Fish,
High Society
, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1920.

72 “AND DOROTHY,” HE SAID: Wilson,
The Twenties,
p. 48.

73 THE PREVIOUS FALL: Scott Meredith,
George S
.
Kaufman and His Friends
, Doubleday & Co., 1974, p. 159.

74 AT THAT TIME : Case, pp. 61—5.

74 HE SAID TO PEMBERTON: Margaret Case Harriman,
The Vicious Circle: The Story of the Algonquin Round Table
, Rinehart & Co., 1951, p. 20.

74 IN HER BOOK: Ibid., p. 21.

75 FERBER WAS SMALL: Julie Gold-smith Gilbert,
Ferber
, Doubleday & Co., 1978, p. 160.

75 SHE HAD KNOWN WOOLLCOTT: Gaines, p. 60.

76 YOU ALMOST LOOK: Harriman, p. 145.

76 THEY ALSO ENVIED HIM : Drennan, p. 16.

76 EDMUND WILSON SUSPECTED: Wilson, The
Twenties,
p. 49.

76 WELL, FRANK: Harriman, p. 145.

76 CONVERSATION WAS LIKE OXYGEN: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

77 ONE NIGHT, MARC CONNELLY: Harriman, p. 239.

77 WHEN RAOUL FLEISCHMANN CLAIMED: Drennan, p. 82.

77 WHEN A PLAYER: Ibid., p. 88.

77 HE WOULD BE SAFELY: Parker, “Big Blonde,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 190.

78 A CHAIR FOR EVERYBODY: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

79 SOME CHILDREN HERE: Dorothy Parker letter to Robert Benchley, September 1920, Robert Benchley Collection, Mugar Library, Boston University.

80 ANITA LOOS, NEWLY ARRIVED: Anita Loos,
A Girl Like I
, The Viking Press, 1966, p. 147.

80
IN BUT GENTLEMEN MARRY BRUNETTES
: Anita Loos,
But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
, Brentano’s Ltd., 1928, p. 36.

81 HAVE SOME POWDER: Babette Rosmond,
Robert Benchley
:
His Life and Good Times
, Doubleday & Co., 1970, p. 11.

82 YOU MAY LEAD: Drennan, p. 121.

82 DID YOU EVER: Lillian Hellman, An
Unfinished Woman
, Little, Brown, 1969, p. 187 (Bantam edition).

82 SUCH DENUNCIATIONS : Wilson,
The Twenties
, p. 47.

82 DOROTHY ACKNOWLEDGED: Parker, “Not Enough,”
New Masses
, March 14, 1939, pp. 3—4.

82 NOT IF IT WAS BUTTONED UP: James Gaines taped interview with Dr. Alvan Barach.

83 PARKIE WAS: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

83 I’M ALMOST CERTAIN: Author’s interview with Rebecca Bernstien.

84 IN FACT, FRANK ADAMS: Adams, pp. 305, 314, 316, 330, 440.

85 “WELL,” ADAMS ANSWERED: Harriman, p. 19.

85 THAT’S ALL RIGHT, Drennan, p. 47.

85 A WAG PASSING: Gaines, p. 30.

85 SHUT UP: Harriman, p. 169.

85 PEGGY WOOD NOTICED: James Gaines taped interview with Peggy Wood.

85 I’M ENGAGED: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

86 BUT DON’T THEY EVER SEE: Harriman, p. 85.

86 WE JUST HATED: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

87 HE WAS, SHE NOTICED: Parker, “Not Enough,”
New Masses
, March 14, 1939, pp. 3—1.

87 ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING : Donald Ogden Stewart,
By a Stroke of Luck!
Paddington Press Ltd., 1975, p. 100.

88 MONEY CANNOT FILL OUR NEEDS: Parker, “Song for the First of the Month,” Fales Library, New York University.

89
I
AM ASHAMED: Dorothy Parker letter to Thomas Masson, ca. 1922, George H. Lorimer Papers, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

89 YOU SIT AROUND: Thomas Masson,
Our American Humorists
, Moffat, Yard and Co., 1922, p. 277.

90 SHE HAD EYES: Author’s interview with Margalo Gillmore.

90 PENNILESS, TALKING: Nancy Milford,
Zelda,
Harper & Row, 1970 (Avon edition), p. 93.

90 THIS LOOKS LIKE A ROAD COMPANY: Wilson,
The Twenties
, p. 48.

90 SHE WAS VERY BLONDE: Milford, p. 94.

92 IT WAS FINE: Parker, “Big Blonde,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 193.

92 A GREAT PARTY: Adams, p. 299.

Six:
Painkillers

93 I HOPE THIS PLACE: Bryan, “Funny Man,” October 7, 1939, p. 32.

93 YALE CLUB: Benchley, p. 163.

94 IT’S STOPPED: Helen Thurber and Edward Weeks,
Selected Letters of James Thurber
, Little, Brown, 1981, p. 121.

95 MY WHOLE LIFE: Bryan, “Funny Man,” October 7, 1939, p. 32.

95 HARRIS WAS SILENT: Benchley, p. 159.

96 EDMUND WILSON BELIEVED: Wilson,
The Twenties
, pp. 46—7.

96 HE WHISPERED : Alexander Woollcott, “Our Mrs. Parker,” in
The Portable Woollcott,
The Viking Press, 1946, p. 180.

96 IF HE HAD BEEN A WOMAN: Sheilah Graham,
The Garden of Allah
, Crown Publishers, 1970, p. 109.

96 EACH TIME HE LEFT: Parker, “Big Blonde,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, pp. 192—3.

97 WE’D BUILD: Parker, “Day-dreams,”
Life
, June 29, 1922.

98 IN A SEIZURE: Dorothy Parker letter to George H. Lorimer, May 1922, George H. Lorimer Papers, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

99 SOME SUMMER EVENING: Parker, “Such a Pretty Little Picture,”
The Smart Set
, December 1922, p. 76.

100 A DOZEN YEARS LATER: Dorothy, Parker letter to Burton Rascoe, ca. July 1934, University of Pennsylvania Library.

100 NOTHING PLEASED HER:
Writers at
Work, p. 79.

101 MARC CONNELLY SAID: Allthor’s interview with Marc Connelly.

101 EVERYONE WHO KNEW HIM:
New York Times
, April 22, 1956.

101 HAVING CONVINCED HIMSELF: Ben Hecht,
Charlie: The Improbable Life and Times of Charles MacArthur
, Harper & Brothers, 1957, p. 26.

102 ADORING HIS WILD SENSE OF HUMOR: Alexander Woollcott, “The Young Monk of Siberia,” in
The Portable Woollcott,
p. 222.

102 SINCE PLAYING MATCHMAKER: Woollcott, “Our Mrs. Parker,” p. 187.

103 GOD DAMN NEW YORKER!: Hecht, p. 77.

103 MY GOOD MAN: Jhan Robbins,
Front Page Marriage,
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1982, p. 30.

103 THE ATRACTION: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

103 IT SEEEMED CLEAR: Loos,
A Girl Like I
, p. 130.

103 DOROTHY, MEANWHILE: Parker, “A Well-Worn Story,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 77.

104 NEYSA MCMEIN PRESENTED: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

104 SHE WAS DISTRAUGHT: Charles MacArthur’s next publicized affair was with the English comedienne Beatrice Lillie. He and Carol Frink were divorced in 1926, after a long dispute and after Frink and MacArthur had come to a satisfactory financial arrangement. In 1928 he married actress Helen Hayes. In 1935, Frink sued Hayes for one hundred thousand dollars on the ground that the actress had alienated MacArthur’s affections while he was still married to her. At the three-day hearing in Chicago, Frink declared MacArthur was getting fat and bald. She wouldn’t take him now, she remarked, if he came in a box of Cracker Jack. Upon withdrawing her suit, she was ordered to pay court fees amounting to one hundred dollars.

104 LIPS THAT TASTE: Parker, “Threnody,”
The Portable Dorothy Parker
, p. 74.

104 IT’S NOT THE TRAGEDIES:
Writers at Work
, p. 82.

104 FRANK CROWNINSHIELD SAID: Marc Connelly,
Voices Offstage: A Book of Memoirs
, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc., 1968, p. 92.

105 EVEN WOOLLCOTT: New
York Times
, November 7, 1922.

105 HER APARTMENT: Parker,
Ainslee’s
, March 1923.

106 WHISKEY: Parker, “Big Blonde,” The
Portable Dorothy Parker,
p. 201.

107 A LITTLE BIT OF THEATER: Author’s interview with Marc Connelly.

107 SOME PEOPLE BELIEVED: Author’s interview with Margalo Gillmore.