Category Archives: Los Angeles

An “oh, snap” with éclat from Olivia de Havilland

April 19, 2017 by Vickie Lester

When asked by the Hollywood Reporter about the relationship portrayed in Feud, Olivia de Havilland replied: “I have received your email with its two questions, I would like to reply first to the second of these, which inquires of me the accuracy of a current television series entitled Feud, which concerns Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and their supposed animosity toward each other. Having not seen the show, I cannot make a valid comment about it. However, in principle, I […]

Categories: Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Olivia de Havilland, Olivia de Havilland Bette Davis friends, Olivia de Havilland lives in Paris, Olivia de Havilland quote

Once upon an Easter in London and Paris…

April 15, 2017 by Vickie Lester

This is what Spring looks like at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. I love-love-love this time of year here, but… When I was little girl my father had business in London for a time, so I lived there with my parents and went to a girl’s school that was a tube and a bus ride away from Hampstead to Mill Hill. Now, London is an exciting place to live and I loved my school, but in March […]

Categories: Architecture, Books, Culture, Design, Easter, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, London, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Parenting, Paris, Photography, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, #MickJagger, #Parisinthespring, #springbreak, #ToulouseLautrec, Baron Haussmann, Church Row, dignitaries, Du Maurier, Easter, greetings from the swamp, Hampstead, London, our caboose, Paris, President Pompidou

Friends

April 8, 2017 by Vickie Lester

I have a friend I met when we were nine. This picture of Mary Pickford reminds me of her, the solid gaze, the bold spirit, and the curls. She’s the only person I’ve ever known whose hair fell into perfect ringlets. Recently, she called out of the blue and we were chattering instantly as if almost thirty years hadn’t passed since we last talked, but merely a couple of hours. I was worried about some health issue, she instantly set […]

Categories: Architecture, Blogging, Books, Children, Choreography, Culture, Design, Dogs, Entertainment, Film, Friendship, Gastronomy, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Music, Parenting, Pets, Photography, Relationships, Short Stories, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: actress, altruism, behind the scenes, bonds of affection, childhood development, constancy, dogs, education, family, friendship, history, Hollywood, home, Mary Pickford, medicine, Memoir, Old Hollywood, parenting, photography, school, security, spirit, surgery

formative years…

April 2, 2017 by Vickie Lester

In the living room, sitting side-by-side with the Mister, I noticed he was enraptured by his smart phone. I remarked that studies had shown infants (whose parents were always checking in digitally) weren’t developing language skills, emotional recognition, or social bonds as quickly as previous generations; because their parents weren’t looking them in the face. If you are thinking that was an extremely subtle (cough) nudge or shove for some realtime attention you’d be right. And this is why he’s […]

Categories: Art, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Relationships, Romance, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: Charles Dickens, Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that., formative, future, lost art of conversation, marriage, Martin Luther King Jr., the Mister, There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart.

“My God, I think there have been more books on Marilyn Monroe than on World War 2, and there’s a great similarity. It was not easy. It was hell. But it was well worth it once you got it on the screen.” Billy Wilder

March 29, 2017 by Vickie Lester

“She was an absolute genius as a comedic actress, with an extraordinary sense for comedic dialogue. It was a God-given gift. Believe me, in the last fifteen years there were ten projects that came to me, and I’d start working on them and I’d think, ‘It’s not going to work, it needs Marilyn Monroe.’ Nobody else is in that orbit; everyone else is earthbound by comparison.” Billy Wilder

Categories: Architecture, Art, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, behind the scenes, Billy Wilder, Billy WIlder quote, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Orry-Kelly, some like it hot premiere march 29 1959, the making of Some Like it Hot, Tony Curtis

Jack Lemmon talks about Marilyn Monroe — Some Like it Hot

March 29, 2017 by Vickie Lester

On Marilyn Monroe: Jack Lemmon — I liked her very much and I got along great with her. She had a lot of problems, she was basically an unhappy girl. She drove Billy and Tony crazy, she drove me a little crazy too but I didn’t let on and it didn’t bother me as much as it bothered them, and it was almost always the same thing: the lateness. She had a problem, God knows what it was. (She just […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Music, Photography, Relationships, Story, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Writing • Tags: actor, actress, alcohol, Barbara Diamond, behind the scenes, Billy Wilder, celebrities, Classic Movies, dancing, director, dressing room, drugs, edited by Alison Castle, fashion, film, history, Hollywood, humor, I.A.L. Diamond, interviews by Dan Auiler, Jack Lemmon, Los Angeles, make-up, Marilyn Monroe, Movie Star, Old Hollywood, on set, Orry-Kelly, photography, SOME LIKE IT HOT, Taschen, Tony Curtis, Walter Mirisch, wardrobe

I am a woman of a certain age…

March 25, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Hello, poppets! If you’re wondering what that “certain age” is specifically in my case, it’s 57. An interesting age, to be sure. For instance, the other day I was out walking with the Mister down a leafy street lined with elegant old homes and he said something about a situation being “generally under control.” I halted abruptly and turned around, anxiously looking up and down an emerald green lawn. He said, “What are you doing?” I replied, “You said there […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, Gardening, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #amwriting, #hollywoodnovel, #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, #losangeles, a woman of a certain age, Hollywood facts turned into fiction, how the internet is saving culture, menopause, the Mister, would I lie to you

The Lucky Son…conjuring both the brutality and magic of Vegas with blistering verve…a novel by Paul Hughen

March 23, 2017 by Vickie Lester

ooo ooo ooo Lucky Son, in which sleight of hand meets soul… This is the story of an innocent, with an innate gift of picking the numbers, caught up in a maelstrom of violence and manipulation. Paul Hughen’s debut novel is gritty and cinematic — conjuring both the brutality and magic of Vegas with blistering verve — a sure bet for a superb read. Howdy. Long time no blog. Sorry about that. Here’s the dealio, some things make me […]

Categories: Advertising, Architecture, Art, Blogging, Books, Crime, Culture, Design, Entertainment, Fiction, Film, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Movies, Publishing, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #goodread, #theluckysonbypaulhughen, August Strindberg, conjure, David Lynch, gambling, indie author, Las Vegas, Paul Hughen

Move over, Louella Parsons (oops, you’re dead, never mind) Vickie Lester finally has something salacious to say about Hollywood

March 15, 2017 by Vickie Lester

It’s been suggested I go splashier in my revelations about Hollywood. But this is where I live, so I need to be careful. Also, I started this blog with the intention of not spreading malicious gossip — but babies, let’s dish. (Mama’s got a book to sell…) I can tell you how not to pick me up at a party… Saunter over like you still retained your matinee idol looks from the 1980s (when your belly has started to expand […]

Categories: Advertising, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Mystery, New York, Palm Springs, Photography, Publishing, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #dishinginHollywood, #itsinhiskiss, #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, #vickielesterhassomethingtosay, Adonis, barista, BradleyCooper, cold sore, DickCavett, director, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, gossip, haggis, Hemingway, Hollywood, Hollywood revelations, Keanu Reeves, KeanuReeves, lothario, LouellaParsons, mama's got a book to sell, matinee idol, Mila Kunis, MilaKunis, ouevre, PattiLupone, pompous actor, producer, RayStark, salacious, seriously?, zip it grandpa

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