Miriam Hopkins Update…
I first began working on my biography of Miriam Hopkins in earnest almost a year ago, once I had turned in my manuscript for Celebrities in the 1930 Census. By then I had met and interviewed Hopkins son Michael, his wife and their son. I had decided that I wasn’t going to do the biography unless I could find her family and get their cooperation. Fortunately they were very receptive and have allowed me into their lives on several occasions.
Once I received their cooperation, I began doing the rounds of the local libraries and archives. As usual, the staff at the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy have been a huge help. I spent a week in New York doing research (I will be returning to New York next month) at the Billy Rose Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library. The archivists at the Warner Brothers Archives have also been very accommodating.
Interviewing people who knew Hopkins has been a treat – that is, if I can get them to talk to me. Of the letters I have sent, I have about a 50% success rate of cooperation. So far just some of the people I have contacted include, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Olivia De Havilland, Doris Eaton, Leatrice Gilbert-Fountain, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., Brook Hayward, Dick (Dickie) Jones, Arthur Laurents, Nicola Lubitsch, A C Lyles, Paul Mayer, Andrew Prine, Nancy Reagan, Franchesca Robinson-Sanchez, Aram Saroyan, Lizabeth Scott, Marian Seldes, Daniel Selznick, Belinda Vidor, Michael Westmore and Joe Yranski.
Of those I am still waiting to hear from are:
Ed Begley, Jr (his father appeared with Hopkins in the Broadway play, Look Homeward Angel); Horton Foote (screenwriter of The Chase); Beverly Garland (appeared with Hopkins in the play, Happy Birthday); Jo Hammett (daughter of Dashiel Hammett); Dale Robertson (costar, The Outcasts of Poker Flat); Barbara Rush (television costar); Budd Schulberg (son of B. P. Schulberg, head of Paramount); Judith Wyler (daughter of William Wyler); Gloria Stuart; Buck Taylor (costar, The Outer Limits); Dick Van Patten (costar in the Broadway play, The Skin of OUr Teeth) ;Joyce Van Patten (costar in the Broadway play, The Perfect Marriage); Gore Vidal (wrote teleplay); Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (costar in the play, The Heiress )
AND, some people I don’t have contact information for:
Jane Bryan (The Old Maid); Jackie Cooper; Maria Cooper (daughter of Gary Cooper); James Cromwell (son of director John Cromwell); Nina Foch; Julie Garfield (daughter of John Garfield); John Kerr; Judy Lewis (daughter of Loretta Young); Jody McCrea (son of Joel McCrea); Arthur Penn (The Chase); Melinda Plowman (The Outer Limits); Maria Riva (daughter of Marlene Dietrich); Leticia Roman (Fanny Hill); Johnny Russell (Lady with Red Hair); Virginia Wing (Savage Intruder); Catherine Wyler.
If you know any of the above people or can help with contact information, it would be appreciated.
