Below are highlights of my 2022 interview with Rex Reed. (Listen to the full episode here.)
In life and death in Dakota
I don't want to sell it. Where was I going? I spent a lot of time getting this apartment just the way I wanted it, and I don't want to start over now. You can't find Regency doors. Now you get flat doors in homes, and you don't get all these custom shutters. I had a will, and everything was spelled out, and all the people in the will died, and now I have to do it all over again. And I have to think of new people to leave things to. There is no dog. There are no children. I don't have a family. I have cousins but no nieces, no siblings.
Sex
I have never been out in the open.
Roommates
No never. I am lonely. I love it. Because I don't have to argue with myself.
Friends
I have a large group of friends, but many of them have passed away. The older I get, the bigger they get.
Woody Allen
I love Mia. And I love Woody. And I think it's totally wrong how people turn him. Because I don't think Woody is crazy. I think, yes, he is very dependent on his weight loss. He goes every day, I think. But I don't think he's crazy.
I 2022 Oscars
Worst year in Oscar history. I have no interest in award shows. I hate them. They are all the same.
'Nightmare Alley'
It's flawed, but it's one of the most interesting films of the year. It's a good movie, where, unfortunately, the director, Guillermo del Toro, chose to add things from the novel that weren't in the first movie, and all they did was ruin the movie. But it's still one of the most interesting films of a bad, bad year.
'West Side Story'
That's a great movie. Made by real artists. There are very few real, original artists left. Spielberg is one of them. For me, it's the best movie of the year.
In 'V/H/S/2'
I think you have the right to review anything negative. I don't care if you see everything or not. There is no need to go through all of that, although I must tell you that I have already forgotten it. I don't even remember seeing half of it. It was so bad that you could easily forget it.
Cancel the custom
You don't get fired because you have opinions that people don't agree with. I mean, this is still a free country. I am not apologizing to anyone for anything. I was less tolerant of small things, and none of that has changed. That's my biggest problem today because I'm drowning, as we all are, in a bad situation. That's what they sell today.
Bette Davis
He used to call me… The phone would ring at four o'clock in the morning, and he would say things like, “Who is this?” And I was like, “This is Rex Reed.” “Oh, my God, I called the wrong number.” Of course, he didn't dial the wrong number. He wanted to talk to me, but he was too shy to admit that he was lonely or in his cups. This kind of thing went on for years. The same thing happened with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, who lived in Westport. We became good friends. I used to hold Paul down on the bed when he sat down. I used to help him do his sit-ups. We became friends like that.
What happened to celebrity journalism
It's over because there are no more interesting celebrities. Or if there are, they are very few and far between. It's all up to the interviewer to make them likable. They are not interested.
Jared Leto?
No. He is not attractive.
Lady Gaga?
Not remotely interesting. Go and interview him.
Melissa McCarthy?
I have nothing against Melissa McCarthy. I just think he made a lot of dirty movies that did nothing to raise his image. It bothered me that he didn't do anything to make him better on screen. He just settled down.
'Brides'
Oh, it was bad. I don't think there is a funny person washing in the sink. That's not my sense of humor.
'Will You Ever Forgive Me?'
I really liked him when he finally did a serious film. He was absolutely fantastic as reporter Lee Israel. I loved that movie. I loved him in it.
Frank Sinatra
When Sinatra got mad at me, what did he do? He lost 25 pounds. I didn't call him fat. I just said he looked like the Doughboy from Pillsbury. He was sloppy. He looked like he was sleeping in a dress. And they cost a lot of money. That was Madison Square Garden. I reviewed his appearance there, I said he was sloppy, and he seemed to be wearing the clothes he slept in all night.
'Myra Breckinridge'
I just went along with it. It's a movie, after all. And I was paid very well; enough money to buy a 1780 farm in Connecticut, with 38 acres of land. So when people say, “Why did you do Myra Breckinridge?” the answer is obvious.
My father saw it. And he said, “Son, I don't think I understand this movie.” I said, “Don't worry. Nobody else does.”
David Gest
I have never seen a living person who looked like he was dressed as a mortician. David Gest always looked covered. That's why when he died, they didn't have to do anything.
Hugh Jackman
I think you are amazing. I think he can do anything.
Lauren Bacall
He was a hill. He was cruel like a snake and cruel, and we didn't get along. But then, when he had a stroke, and he was in rehab, and he didn't want to go to rehab, and he was walking on crutches, walking with his dog, I gave up his dog. Then I started making things for him and taking them to him. And we have a party in Dakota every year, an annual party, where everyone in the building contributes something. Roberta Flack used to make spoon bread, and Yoko Ono made sushi, and everyone contributed. And Lauren Bacall asked me if I could take her to a party, so for three years after that, until she died, I took her every year. His attitude changed completely after the stroke. His work was done; he could not find a job. And he became friendly.
John Lennon
I put him in the police car. The phone rang, it was Ruth Ford who got me this apartment, and Ruth called, and she said, “I just heard an explosion, and I think it's our boiler, I think something happened in the furnace.” I said, “Sure, Ruth.” And I went down, and that's what I got.
Well, he's on his way, and Yoko is crazy. The guard was all curled up on the side of the road. Then he stopped; he never returned to the building, the guard.
The whole night was painful, but the ambulance didn't come, neither did the police, so I helped her into the police car. He died in hospital. I thought you would be fine. But I thought they would fix him.
The Beatles
When John Lennon was arrested for drugs, and they threatened to deport him, he asked many people to write letters of recommendation to the government, and I wrote one. He was a neighbor, and I wrote one. And here's the world famous one, I mean, I hate rock music, so I don't care about The Beatles' music, I never did. Except it was done by other people, it was Sarah Vaughan's album where she sang The Beatles, which was great, but I didn't care for them.
Do you know how he thanked me? You sent me the payment to TV guide. I said, “What is this?” Because you know what, they were really square, oh, he wasn't hip. That was the best gift he could think of.
The Manson family kills
I was invited that night. Jacqueline Suzanne (Jackie) was my best friend, we were both at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and she was promoting. Doll ValleyI was promoting a book, one of my books, and we were both at the Beverly Hills Hotel. And Jackie called me and said, “I'm going to have dinner at Sharon Tate's, and she wants you.” I said, “Jackie, I don't want to go out, I've been talked to all day, I don't want to be in the air, and I don't want to be liked, and I almost know him.”
He wanted me to come to dinner, and I said, “I don't want to go. This is lemon meringue night at the Beverly Hills Hotel; it's my favorite thing on the menu here, and I love it. And this is the only night of the week they have that.”
He says, “Well, I won't go if you don't go.” I said, “Well, go ahead and go.” He says, “No, I'll come in my dress, and we'll have dinner on trays in your room.” In my suite.
So none of us left, he called and woke me up at 6:00 in the morning I don't know. He said, “Johnny Carson just called and woke me up, and he told me what was going on, you won't believe it, everybody at that dinner party was killed.”
I joked for years that I was going to write a book about being saved by lemon meringue pie. I tell you, I have a million of these stories.
