Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (47 page)

One morning he woke up and ordered one-hundred surgical masks in various colors. From the moment he first appeared in public wearing this mask,
he was photographed. Pictures of him in disguise appeared on the front pages
of newspapers around the world. "Isn't this fabulous!" he told Frank DiLeo,
"The whole world is talking about me and my mask." Although most often
appearing in white, he sometimes chose a colored surgical mask to match his
outfit of the moment.

"He looked really fetching in magenta," DiLeo was heard to say. His manager went along with Michael's affectations, although the gruff, macho pro fessional secretly must not have approved. He did admit, however, that
Michael knew how to attract the attention of photographers and reporters. "If
he hadn't made it as a singer, he could have hired out as a publicist."

Michael actually needed the surgical mask to cover up his chin while
recovering from another plastic surgery operation performed by Dr. Steven
Hoefflin. Somewhere along the way, Michael had seen Kirk Douglas performing in the 1960 film, Spartacus. He'd been intrigued with the cleft in the
actor's chin and wanted the facial feature for himself. Dr. Hoefflin agreed to
perform the operation.

To come up with the famous Douglas cleft, the surgeon had to drill two
tiny holes in Michael's jaw. Once this delicate procedure was carried out, a
plastic prosthesis was inserted. After the wound healed, Michael hardly
looked like the macho actor but at least he had his photogenic cleft.

Weeks later, Michael returned to Dr. Hoefflin's office to have a permanent
eyeliner applied. This less-difficult operation involved the insertion of black
dye injected directly into the eyelids. When that operation also succeeded,
Michael surveyed the results and seemed pleased. "Now I'll have no more
need of eyeliner. I'll mail all my mascara to Prince."

At this point in his life, Michael chose as a role model an unlikely candidate: Howard Hughes, "The Aviator." He had never heard of this former
American hero until someone in a newspaper story suggested that Michael's
wearing of the surgical mask evoked Hughes's phobia about germs. From that
day on, Michael read everything he could about America's first billionaire, not
only his accomplishments in aviation, but his private life too.

Michael read that he was not only a womanizer, according to press
reports, but also learned that he was a closeted homosexual, carrying on a
long-term affair with Cary Grant and other male stars who included Errol
Flynn. Michael became intrigued with Hughes on many levels, especially in
his success at leading a private life that wasn't exposed to public view until
after his death. Michael wanted to learn how this hero managed to cover up
his bedtime activities with men while "enjoying" a press that linked him to
some of the most famous women of the 20th century, including Ava Gardner,
Katharine Hepburn, and Ginger Rogers.

Michael also learned that in addition to breaking aviation records, Hughes
had become a successful movie producer. He ordered a copy of Hughes's film,
The Outlaw, that had starred Jane Russell and Jack Buetel. Michael learned
that the world believed that Hughes had been hotly in pursuit of the busty and
buxom Russell but that secretly he had the hots for Buetel, who played Billy
the Kid.

Michael, too, wanted to be linked in the press with famous women dangling at his side like "arm candy," while indulging his private passions away from the prying eyes of the world.

Unless it was by the hand of a "special
friend," most often a cute little boy, Michael,
like Hughes, ordered that he never be touched.
Like Hughes, he wanted doors opened for him,
as he did not want to touch a knob that might
be contaminated by germs.

Howard Hughes

Michael made such frequent appearances
at toy stores that staff members wondered
where he was stashing this vast array of items.
He wasn't. Once Michael and one of his special friends had played with the toys for one day, Michael's staff was ordered
to destroy the toys as a means of protecting him from germs and contamination.

Throwing precautions aside, Michael would sometimes expose himself to
germs, just like the eccentric billionaire. In spite of his obsession with germs,
Hughes preferred oral sex, often servicing women who had several different
partners a week. Michael too seemed to forget about hygiene when he "French
kissed" Bubbles or seemed to delight in changing soiled diapers and wiping
the chimp's ass.

He continued to visit Disneyland but made a new demand on park attendants, whose supervisors were willing to do his bidding because of all the publicity he generated for the amusement park. Michael was one of the world's
most agile dancers on the stage, yet he demanded that he be transported
around Disneyland in a wheelchair. Fans who recognized him thought that
he'd injured himself during a dance rehearsal. He hadn't. When he arrived at
an attraction of his choice, he'd jump out of the wheelchair and be as agile as
he was when performing the Moonwalk.

Toys weren't the only items Michael was purchasing for his amusement.
For display alongside a human brain in a jar of formaldehyde and his own
nose cartilage also preserved in a jar, he purchased the mummy of a young
Egyptian boy for $3 million. He also acquired the boy's mummified pets-a
lion cub, a lizard, and a rat which were buried with this son of a noble family. The pets were entombed with the boy to keep him company in the afterlife.
Michael became intrigued with that idea and asked his lawyers to draw up a
codicil to his will. Upon his death, his pets at the time were to be killed and
mummified to join him in his grave.

At this time in his life, he also commissioned a portrait for placement
above the headboard of his bed. His own portrait appeared in the center, and
he was surrounded by five figures he viewed as his "equals." Sharing the oil
painting with him were Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Mona Lisa, and E.T. Each of the figures,
including Michael himself, was painted in Napoleonic
poses in full military regalia. Each followed Michael's
example of wearing a white sequined glove and aviator sunglasses.

Cary Grant

Wanting to generate even more publicity before the
opening of Captain EO, Michael conceived one of the
most ingenious publicity stunts yet, the equal of the
Elephant Man story. Behind the scenes, he enlisted the
support of The National Enquirer, which would break
the story. A photographer arrived to take a picture of
him sleeping inside a tube-like hyperbaric chamber
made of see-through plastic. The Enquirer ran the
story-MICHAEL JACKSON'S SECRET PLAN TO LIVE TO 150. The
story claimed that by sleeping in this $175,000 contraption, Michael could
stave off the aging process and not die at the ripe old age of ninety but live for
an additional six decades at least.

After its first exposure in the national tabloid, the picture of Michael in the
chamber ran worldwide.

Michael had encountered the machine when he was at the Burn Center
being treated for burns after his hair caught fire during the Pepsi commercial.
The machine was none too safe, and because of its 100% oxygen content, hospital employees approached the chamber wearing fire-retardant clothes to
assist burn victims who were temporarily placed in the chamber to flood their
body tissues with life-giving oxygen. Trained personnel knew of the dangers
associated with the chamber, including the possibility of an oxygen-fed fire
breaking out or else oxygen toxicity to the patient.

The tabloids weren't the only publications writing about Michael. After
the worldwide success of Thriller, even Time magazine wanted him for a
cover story. Surprisingly for an entertainer who deliberately courted bizarre
publicity, Michael rejected Time's request for an interview. A reporter for
Time, Denise Worrell, had to settle for interviews with Papa Joe and Katherine
instead.

On a tour of the Jackson's Encino compound, Papa Joe, escorting Worrell,
knocked on Michael's bedroom door. When there was no answer, he opened
the unlocked door to show her Michael's mannequin-studded room.

To the surprise of both Worrell and Joe himself, they discovered Michael
sitting in the dark room lit only by the glow of a TV set turned on low. Michael
did not introduce his friend, who looked like a boy in his late teens. Michael
seemed embarrassed at this invasion of his privacy and extended a weak handshake to Worrell, which she would later claim felt "like a fluffy cloud."

Michael had nothing to
say to the correspondent,
but averted his eyes and
turned back to watching the
television screen. Papa Joe
seemed embarrassed.
Worrell, although she really
wanted to interview the
reclusive star, turned and
left the room quickly, followed by Joe. "I'll have a word with you later," Joe
was heard warning Michael. Joe turned apologetically to Worrell. "Michael
has only just discovered who Greta Garbo was, and he's trying to imitate her."

MJ in hyperbaric chamber

As Worrell was leaving the Encino mansion, a perplexed Katherine came
up to her. "Don't get the wrong idea!" she said. "Michael isn't gay!" As
Worrell drove away, she remembered Papa Joe's final words to her. "Get it
right in your article on Michael. He's definitely not gay! Joan Rivers is broadcasting lies about my son. He's gonna sue!"

Katherine might have put up a bold front to a journalist from Time magazine, but in private she often expressed her despair to her children. "Michael
hangs out so much with all those white boys." She went on to assert that if he
wanted to play with children, there were lots of nieces and nephews for him
to pick from.

Bob Michaelson, who once worked as a business partner with Michael,
said, "There is a popular misconception that Michael was always in the company of young boys. Actually he was often seen with many handsome guys in
their late teens. They were always white, always good looking, and always
discreet. He was not seen with any girls or young women. Not that!"

Except for those special friends, Michael continued to pursue friendships
with his equals, an array of personalities that now firmly included Marlon
Brando. He continued to see Liza Minnelli, although admitting privately, "I
would have preferred Judy Garland but she's dead."

"Jackie Onassis is definitely my equal," he claimed, although he was
beginning to wonder about the status of Diana Ross.

He did not include Brooke Shields on that list as an equal. "I love people
like Brooke who are talented but who work so hard," he said. "Brooke is a
nice gal but she's not Elizabeth Taylor. That's the kind of woman I want to be
seen with."

The Oscar-winning actress, darling of divorce lawyers and diamond dealers, was about to enter Michael's life.

Elizabeth had certainly heard of Michael Jackson, but was not familiar
with his music. Her son, Christopher Wilding, was a devotee, however. Like many stars of her era, Elizabeth's taste in music ranged from Judy Garland to
Frank Sinatra, although she'd enjoyed Elvis Presley as well. The rock 'n' roll
star had once sent her a note, "Would you like to shake, rattle, and roll with
me?" But she'd never answered it.