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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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Louis Wollheim, a very wonderful actor who later became famous in “What Price Glory?" was the hairy ape, and Carlotta Monterey was the society girl. Gene met her and fell for her. Oh, she was a beautiful girl. But by the time I got down to Sea Island, when they were now married a couple of years, Carlotta, whose private life I won't go into, had become a saint-like creature who raised an angry eyebrow when you used the word “damn” in front of her. There were crucifixes all over the house and incense. She was now the great lady, but Gene absolutely adored her, and as life went on, theirs came to be more and more of a love-hate relationship. Toward the end--maybe I'll give you the whole story, though it's out of order historically--Gene got Parkinson's Disease and his hands started shaking. He became more and more of a recluse, because he was ashamed of the fact that when he'd eat, his food would fly all over the place. This is a dreadful disease. Carlotta by this time had become more of a jailer than a wife. I don't know if she realized it or not, but she alienated his lawyer and a lot of his best friends, including the Langners of the Theater Guild. She just threw them out of Gene's life and took possession of him herself. They sold the house on Sea Island. He got tired of it, she says. I don't know what the facts are. I thought he loved it down there. But he was a restless soul. They bought a house out in California about 25 miles from San Francisco, across the Bay, in Mill Valley. Most of his old friends by this time had been shunted off by Carlotta, the jailer, but I was still in favor for some reason





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