Who Am I? October 2020

I was born into a wealthy Jewish family in the waning days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. My dad, born Farkas Miklos Grun but better known as Vilmos, was a soldier. My mom, sometimes known as Janka, Jancsi or Jolie, was an affluent jewelry heiress. My 2 sisters and I were afforded private schools abroad, music, dancing, acting and fencing lessons.

As a young woman I won a beauty queen title in my land-locked country in Central Europe. Our family, sans dad, was very fortunate to leave our homeland and emigrate before the arrival of the Nazis who were allied with our country’s leader during WWII.

We were lucky to enjoy the blessing of life in the U.S. One of my sisters was a socialite and a jewelry designer. Together with my mom she set up a chain of jewelry boutiques. My other sister successfully pursued an acting career.

My U.S. film career was described thus, “I had small roles in big movies and big roles in smallmovies.” Depending on you count them, I have appeared in 60-70 TV episodes, movies and feature films; however, just like Andy Warhol, I am best known as being famous for being famous. Does that sound like the present day Kardashians? I was a frequent and chatty guest on numerous TV shows to include the Tonight Show, What’s My Line?, General Electric Theater, Bob Hope specials, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Garry Shandling, Milton Berle and Regis Philbin. In truth, my best role was just being me. People of a certain age immediately recognized me by my lavish furs, jewels, ash-blonde coiffed ‘doo, quick wit and my Central European aristocratic charm, glamour and accent.

I want to mention a word about my accent. You’re probably all familiar with Billy Crystal imitating the Argentinean actor and third husband of Esther Williams who once spoke these words as a guest on TV – “Dahling, I have to tell you something. And I don't say this to everybody. You look mahvelous!”I believe that is really a take-off on my “dahlink,” a name I called just about everybody! 

I was a shameless publicity hound and never felt above self-parody or promotion as long as myname was kept before the public. I had my own longtime publicist and I cultivated both gossipcolumnists and tabloid writers. Of course, I provided the media with lots of grist having had numerous affairs with Dominican playboys, the son of a dictator, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Frank Sinatra and many others. Allegedly I was even bedded by Mustafa Ataturk, the modern founder of  Turkey! In addition to my affairs I had 9 marriages and 7 divorces. I always had lots of things to say on talk shows about the institution of marriage but I’ll list just a few of them – (a)”I want a man who is kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?” (b)A girl must marry for love, and keep marrying until she finds it.” (c)”Husbands are like fi res: they go out if left unattended.” (d)It’s never easy to keep your own spouse happy as it is to make someone else’s spouse happy.” (e)”I am a marvelous housekeeper: Every time I leave a man I keep his house.”

I was fluent in Hungarian, German, Italian and English. Not many knew I was an excellent equestrian who kept 40 horses at a 42 acre ranch in the Simi Valley. You might be surprised to learn that I demonstrated my entrepreneurial skills when I started an eponymous mail order cosmetic company. Notwithstanding evidence to the contrary, I was also not as self-absorbed as you might think - I was a charitable person known forgiving generous sums to both the homeless and to animal friendly organizations. 

In 1993, together with Dave Letterman, I went door to door in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. and asked if anyone had a question for me. Some let me in to look at their shoes and some even invited me to dinner. My health began to decline in my later years. To add insult to injury Bernie Madoff took me for a bundle with his Ponzi scheme. That’s me in better days in the photo below.

(1a)Who Am I? (1b)I had my own couturier. Who was she? (1c)Who was my long-time publicist? (2a) What were the names of my sisters?(2b)Together with ghostwriters, I penned 4 books, some of them autobiographical. Name one of them.(2c)Who is my famous step-great-granddaughter?(2d)Rock ‘n Roll legend Dion DiMucci gave me a shout-out in one of his 1963 hit songs. What was the name of that song? (3a)One of my ex-husbands later married one of my sisters. Which ex and which sister? (3b)I did have a fling with Rafael Trujillo, Jr. the son of the Dominican Republic dictator. Also, I was romanced by a notorious Dominican playboy. What was his name? (3c) Who was swimming champion/actress Esther Williams’ third husband? (4)I had an unfortunate encounter on a Beverly Hills Street with a policeman who pulled me over in my Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible. That incident landed me in the calaboose for 3 days. What was that cop’s name?(5)Finally, I do have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Where exactly is my star?