The Hiltons: The True Story of an American Dynasty (79 page)

Details of conversations between James E. Bates and Zsa Zsa Gabor regarding the possibility of Zsa Zsa asking for child support from Conrad Hilton are found in the deposition of James E. Bates (pp. 25–36, September 20, 1979). Unfortunately, Bates’s deposition is incomplete; pages have somehow gone missing over the course of years. I used, for my purposes here, the pages that were available to me.

PART FOUR. SONS OF THE FATHER

Interviews conducted: Stanley Tucker (October 2, 2011; October 11, 2011); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012; June 15, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 3, 2012); Mark Young, (July 20, 2012); Patricia Skipworth Hilton (February 27, 2012; February 28, 2012; April 5, 2012) Mark Young (July 20, 2012); Dale Olsen (July 9, 2012); Mike Dipp (March 16, 2012); Myron Harpole (August 15, 2012); Everett Long (December 14, 2011; January 15, 2012; March 3, 2012).

Volumes referenced:
Be My Guest
by Conrad Hilton;
The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story
by Whitney Bolton;
Jolie Gabor
by Cindy Adams;
Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story
by Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gerold Frank;
One Lifetime Is Not Enough
by Zsa Zsa Gabor;
Gaborabilia
by Anthony Turtu and Donald F. Reute;
Eva Gabor an Amazing Woman: “Unscrupulous”
by Camyl Sosa Belanger;
Miller’s High Life
by Ann Miller.

Articles referenced: “Mines Coach Rescues Family from Fire,”
El Paso Herald Post
, August 13, 1940; Peter Lester, “When This Hotel Barron Says He’s Staying at the Hilton, That Means He’ll Be at Home,”
People
, September 28, 1981.

Speeches referenced: “Address to the Boy Scouts,” Arrowhead Springs Hotel, San Bernardino, California, March 16, 1952; “Address to the American Hotel Association,” St. Louis, Missouri, October 10, 1952; “Address,” Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C., February 5, 1953.

Legal documents referenced: “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (June 3, 1955);
Constance Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton
[original filing] (March 13, 1979); “Constance Francesca Hilton’s Responses to Defendants William Barron Hilton and James E. Bates Interrogatories” (May 29, 1979); “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979).

Television programs referenced:
Phil Donahue
, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, August 10, 1971;
Larry King Live
, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 26, 1991;
Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World
, Arts & Entertainment, 2005;
Biography: Conrad Hilton
, CNBC, 2010.

NOTES

We had access to Margaret Phillips-Brown’s extensive collection about the acquisition of the Mayflower Hotel by Conrad Hilton, which included color and black-and-white photographs of the hotel taken in December 1946.

We also utilized documents and notes from the Ann Miller file, found in the Hedda Hopper Papers of the Margaret Herrick Collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Details of the fire at the El Paso Hilton were culled from the front-page report in the
El Paso Herald
, August 13, 1940.

The conversations between Conrad, Barron, and Nicky regarding “the missing ingredient” were recreated based on Conrad Hilton’s accounts in
Be My Guest
.

I referenced the transcript of Conrad N. Hilton’s speech at the Michigan State College, East Lansing, May 19, 1950.

The conversation between Conrad and Barron regarding a position for Barron within the company was reconstructed based on details found in
The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story
by Whitney Bolton.

The conversations between Barron Hilton and the private detective, and then between Barron Hilton and his wife, Marilyn, were both reconstructed using direct quotes from Barron Hilton found in “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979).

PART FIVE. ELIZABETH

Beautiful Dreamer/Enter: Elizabeth Taylor

Interviews conducted: Bob Neal (May 4, 1996; June 1, 1996; August 4, 1998); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012); Myron Harpole (August 17, 2012);

Volumes referenced:
Elizabeth Takes Off
by Elizabeth Taylor;
The Most Beautiful Woman in the World: The Obsessions, Passions and Courage of Elizabeth Taylor
by Ellis Amburn;
Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor
by C. David Heymann;
Elizabeth Taylor: A Life in Pictures
by Pierre-Heniu Verlhac and Yann-Brice Dherbier;
Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Taylor
by Alexander Walker;
Elizabeth: The Last Star
by Kitty Kelley;
How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood
by William J. Mann;
Elizabeth
by J. Randy Taraborrelli;
Sinatra: The Complete Story
by J. Randy Taraborrelli;
Be My Guest
by Conrad Hilton;
The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story
by Whitney Bolton.

Articles referenced:
The Best of “Vanity Fair” Elizabeth Taylor: Eight Remarkable Stories About Hollywood’s Most Beautiful, Most Controversial Star
by Dominic Dunne, George Hamilton, Sam Kasher, and Nancy Collins;
People Tribute: Elizabeth Taylor, 1932–2011
, April 2011.

NOTES

The conversations between Nicky Hilton and Conrad Hilton were reconstructed here based on Hilton’s account of them in
Be My Guest
, and also based on the accounts in
The Silver Spoon
by Whitney Bolton.

All quotes from Bob Neal in this section of the book as well as in all of the other parts of this work were culled from my interviews with Neal (along with Cathy Griffin’s), some of which were conducted in 1998 during the course of research for my book
Jackie, Ethel, Joan
about the Kennedys (Neal was a good friend of the Kennedys’ and best man at the wedding ceremony of Peter Lawford and Pat Kennedy Lawford), and others in 2005 during the course of researching Nicky Hilton’s life for my book on Elizabeth Taylor,
Elizabeth
. I also consulted files found in the J. Robert Neal Collection of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.

The Man Who Bought the Waldorf

Interviews conducted: Jason Lederer (October 1, 2011); Stanley Tucker (October 2, 2011, October 11, 2011); Timothy Long (October 4, 2011); Jarrod Barron (November 20, 2011); Doris Roberts (January 4, 2012); Dale Olsen (July 9, 2012); Steven D’Orio (September 4, 2012); Everett Long (December 14, 2011; January 15, 2012; March 3, 2012); Mike Dipp (March 16, 2012).

Volumes referenced:
Be My Guest
by Conrad Hilton;
The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story
by Whitney Bolton;
Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture
by Annabel Jane Wharton;
The Man Who Bought the Waldorf
by Thomas Ewing Dabney;
Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier
by Mildred Houghton Comfort.

Articles referenced: “Hilton: The Stuff of a Hotel Man,”
Newsweek
cover story on Conrad Hilton, September 27, 1954; “Hotels: By Golly!,”
Time
cover story on Conrad Hilton, July 19, 1963.

Legal documents referenced: “Reporter’s Transcript—Sari Gabor Hilton, sometimes known as ZsaZsa Sari Hilton vs. Conrad Hilton,” by John F. Brill, official court reporter (September 17, 1946); “Deposition of Frances Kelly Hilton” (October 19, 1979).

Television programs referenced:
Larry King Live: The Hiltons
, Arts & Entertainment, 2005;
Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World
, Arts & Entertainment, 2005;
Biography: Conrad Hilton
, CNBC, 2010.

NOTES

We had access to Margaret Phillips-Brown’s extensive collection about the acquisition of the Waldorf-Astoria by Conrad Hilton, which included color and black-and-white photographs of the hotel taken in October 1949, December 1949, and December 1950.

The quote from Olive Wakeman and the conversation between Conrad Hilton and Arthur Foristall are culled from the Conrad Hilton file of the Hedda Hopper Papers found in the Margaret Herrick Collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Fast Worker/Nicky Takes Elizabeth to Texas/A Party to Celebrate the Caribe Hilton/Nicky and Elizabeth Marry/Elizabeth Suffers a Miscarriage/Divorce—Hollywood Style

Interviews conducted: Bob Neal (March 1, 1998; May 4, 2005; June 1, 2005; August 4, 2005); Nora Johnson (June 1, 2006); Connie Espinoza de Amaté (October 1, 2011); June Harrington (October 4, 2011); Stewart Armstrong (November 13, 2011; November 14, 2011; November 15, 2012); Patricia McClintock Hilton (April 2, 2012; April 20, 2012); Patricia Skipworth Hilton (February 27, 2012; February 28, 2012; April 5, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 10, 2012); Margaret O’Brien (May 1, 2012); Connie Myron Harpole (August 15, 2012; August 17, 2012); Stella Kelly (July 30, 2012); Mark Young (July 20, 2012); Debbie Reynolds (August 2, 2012).

Volumes referenced:
Elizabeth Takes Off
by Elizabeth Taylor;
Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor
by C. David Heymann;
Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Taylor
by Alexander Walker;
Elizabeth: The Last Star
by Kitty Kelley;
Elizabeth
by J. Randy Taraborrelli;
Sinatra: The Complete Story
by J. Randy Taraborrelli;
Be My Guest
by Conrad Hilton;
The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story
by Whitney Bolton.

Articles referenced: “1950 Hotel Accommodations at the Crossroads of the Nation: How a Great New Hotel, the Caribe Hilton, Was Created,”
Hotel Monthly
, vol. 58, no. 63 (February 1950); “Nicky Hilton Hints at Reconciliation Hope,”
Los Angeles Times
, March 16, 1951; T. A Wise, “Global Hosts,”
Wall Street Journal
, January 19, 1954; Paul Theroux, “Liz Taylor Looks Back,”
Talk
, October 1999.

Television programs referenced:
The Hiltons
, Arts & Entertainment, 2005;
Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World
, Arts & Entertainment, 2005;
Biography: Conrad Hilton
, CNBC, 2010.

NOTES

I drew from my extensive research for my biography of Elizabeth Taylor,
Elizabeth,
for this and other sections of this book having to do with Miss Taylor.

I referenced photographs and transcripts of Conrad Hilton’s party at Casa Encantada to celebrate the opening of his Caribe Hilton hotel. I also interviewed guests Bob Neal and Stewart Armstrong.

The conversation between Conrad and Mary Hilton that took place after the wedding of Nicky and Elizabeth is as per Conrad’s account, found in
Be My Guest
. Also, details of Nicky’s poor adjustment to marriage and to Elizabeth’s celebrity can be found both in
Be My Guest
and in my book
Elizabeth
.

Marilyn Hilton’s and Marjorie Dillon’s comments about Nicky Hilton and Elizabeth Taylor can be found in Kitty Kelley’s book
Elizabeth: The Last Star
.

The hotels opened overseas by Conrad Hilton often contributed to great social change in those regions. For instance, in 1956 when the Hilton Hotel opened in Cairo, the notion of women working as waitresses was considered out of the question. The Hilton contingent had to appeal to the country’s royal family to convince them that there was nothing wrong with females working in such positions at the Nile Hilton. They did such a good job of it that one of the royal family’s own daughters took a job as a waitress there—and showed up for work on the first day with her maid in tow, carrying her waitress outfit in a suitcase! Another problem was that because of local customs, it was considered improper for women to look directly at men while in elevators. However, the women working as elevator operators at the Cairo Hilton decided to defy that tradition, much to the consternation of some of the male guests. The problem was that with their backs to the male guests the females risked being pinched. They had grown so tired of such treatment that they rebelled en masse against the tradition, thus the revolutionary decision that they would now have their backs to the walls while operating elevators.