Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013 - (Page 152)

H E R I TA G E joan crawford There was nothing casual about Joan Crawford’s arrival at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston, in early 1964. The previous year she had scored one of her biggest hits with “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” and her status as a Golden Era Hollywood legend was intact. The apparatus that maintained the legend was revealed in a lengthy document, sent to the hotel many weeks before (and subsequently published in Life magazine), that through nine closely typed pages left no unanswered questions about the protocols of her accommodation. The suite required was three bedrooms: one for Miss Crawford, one for her assistant and one for her wardrobe, whose generosity provided her with six to 10 costume changes a day. A uniformed security guard would stand outside around the clock, while inside the suite a maid would wait in attendance until dismissed. Pens, pencils and peppermints were required, but not as specifically as the bottles of 100 proof Smirnoff vodka, Old Forester bourbon, Beefeater gin, Chivas Regal and Dom Perignon. Because she was on a promotional tour, for a quickly forgotten thriller called “Strait-Jacket,” rooms were to be made available for radio, television and press interviews, which she conducted with 152 W W W. R I T Z C A R LT O N . C O M such aplomb that in just over three hours she had done 19 of them, in addition to posing for countless photos and signing 76 autographs. But perhaps the most telling part of the instruction sheet was its coda, which much like her own epitaph, written by her daughter in the scandalous memoir “Mommie Dearest,” showed the fierce and somewhat parsimonious side of her character. “Miss Crawford is a star in every sense of the word; and everyone knows she is a star. As a partner in this film, Miss Crawford will not appreciate your throwing away money on empty gestures. You do not have to make empty gestures to prove to Miss Crawford or anyone else that she is a star of the first magnitude.” THECLA HALDANE FOR PEPSICO. PUBLISHED IN LIFE MAGAZINE, FEB. 21, 1964 T H E R I T Z - C A R LT O N , B O S T O N , F E B R U A R Y 1 9 6 4 http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013
Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With ... Barcelona
Design
Shopping
Beauty
Gifts
Jewelry
Watches
Behind the Scenes
Family
Local Knowledge
Outdoors
As It Was
Culinary
Let Us Stay With You
Heritage

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2013