“So what time do you want to meet on Saturday?”
“Same time, Mr. W. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. What made you-“
Click.
I show up, same spot, same time, same tiny man in Wayfarers standing at the entrance.
The walls were lower now. For hours, he told me stories about his childhood, about standing in front of Paramount at three years-old dancing for the executives that walked in and out of the front gate. He told me how his parents would lock him in a closet. He spoke of abuse both at home and on the set. Back then child protection laws did not exist on films. He told me that his mentors were Bogart and Mitchum, how Brando and he despised each other, and how for a long time he was on dope and angry. And I realized that I heard all of this before.
Mr. W had told all these stories before in interviews. I realized then that he was indeed a very good actor which later made me question every single maneuver he made with me.
After breakfast we drove to Beverly Hills while he reminisced about (more…)