Activity

Months later, when I came back from Bavaria, I’d undergone an essential change. I was no longer defensive but was determined to reclaim my self-esteem and fear no cabal of old friends turned to enemies. I landed in New York, and the first person I sought was Budd. Despite the fact that Molly had se…

He and I would have a schnapps together, the dwarf at my side, and Freddie would tell me his latest dirty jokes—an endless supply. When we got back to Munich for the interior shots, he turned into a boy; he played. Living with me in the magnificent Vier Jahreszeiten Hotel, Freddie got into trouble …

I had become the target of opportunity for people seeking to promote themselves at my expense and an easy mark for every self-righteous prick in New York and Hollywood. I was especially scornful of the wealthy “liberals” in southern California who’d never lived without servants, never been involved…

I thought it would let up, but it became a dogfight and I was the bone of contention. There were many phone calls, “unsigned” and hateful. I changed my phone number. When I began to move among people again, I found I was notorious, an “informer,” a “squealer,” a “rat.” I’d become the star villain f…

THE HOUSE COMMITTEE on Un-American Activities was not publicity shy. They rushed my statement to The New York Times the day after I’d given it and, suddenly, there it was on the front page of the world’s greatest newspaper. I started to read it but couldn’t. I felt embarrassed and ashamed. The stat…