Read Online Living With Miss G by Mearene Jordan - Free Book Online Page A

almost, his
fiancée, and he had his rights.
Between pictures, Miss G had been taking a short holiday with Bappie and
her boyfriend, Charlie Guest, an employee of Howard Hughes, in a rented house
in Palm Springs. Hughes relayed a message to Charlie from his high-level
meeting with Air Force brass in Washington, saying he was arriving in Palm
Springs by aircraft that night and he would like Miss G to meet him at the
airport.
Miss G was never keen on that sort of arrangement. She said no and went
to bed early. She was awakened as Hughes strode into her bedroom. She said,
“As soon as I woke and saw him there with that cross look on his face, I knew,
and he knew, that he had made a fool of himself. He had expected to find his
flawless babe in bed with her ex-husband! I couldn’t help smiling, and that made
him even more furious. I hate being spied on like that, so I said ever so sweetly.
'Why, Howard, fancy seeing you. If you just wait downstairs, I’ll slip into a robe
and come down.”
Miss G could be a real nasty female when she wanted to. She thought she
had seen the last of him after the San Francisco fiasco, and now he was playing
this sort of game with her. Of course, one of the things you don’t do is make a
laughing stock out of Howard Hughes. He was waiting for her in the bar, angry
because she hadn’t been considerate enough to come out to the airfield. It was
only a field in Palm Springs in those days, and at night cars would line up in the
grass and turn on their headlights to light it up for him to land. Miss G shrugged,
and the quarrel started. He hit her hard across the face, giving her a black eye.
Bappie made her opinion quite clear to me and anybody else who cared to
listen. Why didn’t that “stupid kid sister of mine,” a favorite line of hers, grab
Howard Hughes with both hands and start spending his money? Bappie was
always a realist. If only that stupid kid sister realized what Hughes could do for
her film career to start with. Didn’t she know that he owned RKO, that as a
powerful producer, he had already made two smash hits, Hell’s Angels , the
movie about the fighter pilots of the First World War? What about the western,
The Outlaw , starring Jane Russell? She’s heard he’d even designed the bra that
contained Jane’s beautiful frontage. Why couldn’t that silly young sister of hers
wake up?
Anyone wishing to know more about Howard Hughes’ specific
peculiarities should read Katharine Hepburn’s entrancing autobiography, Me ,
which to me was an eye-opener. Both Miss G and I were aware that Howard
Hughes had known Hepburn long before our time, in the thirties, but we had no
idea of the extent of her involvement with Hughes. In particular, we certainly
had not known about one aspect of his personality—his morphine addiction—
although we were very close when that aspect became part of his life.
Katharine Hepburn arrived in Hollywood in 1932. Miss G was ten years
old at the time, so their respective romances with Hughes were far apart.
Katharine first met Hughes on a golf course. He landed his plane not much more
than a short nine iron shot from where she was playing. She was not impressed.
She was playing with Cary Grant at the time, and Grant was a close friend of
Hughes. An exception was made, and he was invited to dinner. Katharine
disliked this tall, handsome and gangly Texan. She refused to meet his gaze.
Hughes was stricken. He couldn’t take his eyes off Hepburn, and pursuit was
immediate.
At that time, Hepburn was a new young star rising to fame in American
theater. She went on tours across the nation. She played in Boston. Surprise.
Hughes happened to be in Boston, and why didn’t they have dinner together?
Hepburn continued her tours – Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago—and in every city
Hughes was ensconced in a suite on the same floor as hers.
Hepburn was at first only amused, then intrigued, and finally fascinated by
this extremely original and talented male. She began