to the point where the actor had to come back to Broadway to make his living. Albert’s departure did nothing to stop Mrs. Warner, however, for the affair she was having was with her best friend, beyond suspicion and wife of another Hollywood power person. Although the matter seemed to elude her husband, Mrs. Warner was famous in the community for hitting on other women frequently, and at times indiscriminately. Why didn’t someone say something to her husband? Ever hear of shoot the messenger? March 1997. Adieu to Pamela Harriman. The news of
Ambassador Pamela Harriman’s death from a stroke in February left a lot of people on both continents in shock. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Harriman once, in 1990, at the home of Kitty Carlisle Hart who was a great friend of hers. Mrs. Harriman was a smallish woman with brown hair, dressed in a cardigan sweater, skirt to the knee and black stockings. She had good legs and a slender ankle. I was in conversation with Kitty when Harriman came into the room. She had come up from Washington to go to the opera the night before and had stayed overnight
as a guest of Kitty. I didn’t recognize her when she first entered the room because I had only seen her in photographs which gave a physical impression of a taller person. When introduced she extended her hand with a smile and a curiosity in her eye which said: “Hmm, you look like you might be interesting.” And I was very flattered by the gesture and the eye. Then she went to the phone to make a call, and again looked my way with that curious glance. Finishing her phone call, she then came back to again thank her hostess, and again to say how nice it was to meet me. She then turned to
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leave the room, and as she passed through the doorway, she threw a quick backward glance me. Her offhand yet sparkling gaze was completely flattering, and I understood immediately the fascinating effect she’d had on men throughout her lifetime. As she departed, I thought to myself “I’d follow her; it could only be interesting.” And when she was gone, Kitty said to me, sotto voce: “Now there’s a woman all the wives worry about being near their husbands.” I smiled to myself on hearing that; Kitty never noticed that “backward glance.” The sudden exit occurred, unnoticed in all her glory. ◆
COURTESY OF SAVE VENICE; BFA
D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A
