The Times We Had : Life with William Randolph Hearst
by Marion Davies
List Price:
Our Price: $4.16
You Save: $3.83 (48%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Marion DaviesForeword: Orson Welles
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1977-03-12
ISBN: 034532739X
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of The Times We Had : Life with William Randolph Hearst
Book Review: A Champagne Bubble Bath of a Book
Summary: 4 Stars
I once read that Winston Churchill wrote a letter to his wife, Clementine, after having met both, Mrs. William Hearst, Sr. and Hearst's mistress, actress Marion Davies, during an extended visit with publishing czar Hearst. Ever the diplomat, Churchill is alleged to have written, "I have met both Mrs. Hearsts, and they are both charming."
I bought a copy of Marion Davies autobiography from the Hearst Castle gift store, after completing a fourth (or was it fifth?) tour of that absolutely fabulous mountain-top estate. I wanted to know a lot more about this woman who openly lived with still-married Hearst for nearly four decades. So, who better than Davies, to tell her own story?
The book proved to be a very pleasant surprise as Davies' irrepressible "funster" voice transcends time and seduces readers as surely as one tour of Hearst Castle can never be one's last. No wonder "WR" adored this woman! While Davies was in no way Hearst's intellectual peer - and never pretended to be otherwise - she was a disarmingly funny, unpretentious, unstintingly generous, loving, loyal companion, who also happened to be drop-dead gorgeous, in her prime. Honesty may not have been among Davies strong suits - as noted in Orson Welles foreword, she rewrote or embroidered on facts to improve on her stories - but discretion certainly was.
Davies obliquely hinted at the probability she had a daughter, fathered by Hearst - Patricia Van Cleve Lake, who may or may not also have been Patty Hearst's namesake aunt - at several points in this memoir. Hearst descendants have yet to publicly corroborate Lake family claims that Davies' "niece" Patricia was actually Davies child with Hearst, Sr. Nevertheless, the fact Van Cleve Lake was a frequent guest at Hearst Castle, was wed to actor Arthur Lake at Hearst Castle, and was interred (1993) in the same family cemetery plot as her "Aunt Marion" says volumes.
I can only speculate that while Marion Davies didn't mind flouting many of the conventions of her time, she was clearly far more wary when it came to protecting the interests of her only child. Davies lived in an era when the double-standard was tacitly accepted as being an immutable fact of life. So, I'm sure it pained her greatly, in feeling unable to publicly acknowledge her own daughter as other than a niece.
Scandalous circumstances notwithstanding, Davies' unswerving love and life-long devotion to "WR" is, of itself, very touching and inspiring. This grand amour lasted longer than most marriages. And Davies' frank acknowledgement that "Love doesn't always happen in the marriage bed," is both droll and a little sad. The woman took whatever life dealt her as destiny and didn't whine about it, even as she committed a slew of faux pas and dropped big names and malapropisms galore, along the way. You end up loving this woman because she was truly the life of the party.
My copy of "The Times We Had" is dog-eared from multiple re-reads. As escapism into a glamorous bygone era goes, this is perfect. Or where else but at a party hosted by effervescent Davies would you have found reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes consenting to dress up in short Tyrolean lederhosen, or curmudgeonly George Bernard Shaw deigning to have lunch in a Hollywood studio, or Gloria Swanson presiding over a party game of fake marriages? I am so glad Davies tape-recorded her story. Perfect hostess that she was, Davies proved thoughtful to the end in having left only the very best parts of her story to posterity.
Theater Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Theater Books
Looking Out: Perspectives on Dance and Criticism in a Multicultural WorldMacmillan Pub Co; Published: 1995-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $110.84
Directors on Directing: A Source Book of the Modern Theatreby Toby Cole, Helen Krich Chinoy
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 1963-01-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $92.40
Price in other shops:
Voice and the Actorby Cicely Berry
Wiley; Published: 1991-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
A Trip to the Light Fantastic: Travels With a Mexican Circusby Katie Hickman
Harpercollins; Published: 1995-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.00
Who On Earth Is Tom Baker? An Autobiographyby Tom Baker
Harper Collins, 1997; Published: 1997; Hardcover; Book
Who on Earth Is Tom Baker?by Tom Baker
Harpercollins Audio; Published: 1997-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $133.82
Streisand: A Biographyby Anne Edwards
Little Brown & Co (T); Published: 1997-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
The Orton Diariesby Joe Orton
Da Capo Press; Published: 1996-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.48
Price in other shops:
Understanding Movies (12th Edition)by Louis Giannetti
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 2010-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $69.99
Price in other shops:
The Theater Experience Tenth Editionby Edwin Wilson
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; Published: 2005-12-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.00
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Julia Morgan, Architectby Sara Holmes Boutelle
Abbeville Press; Published: 1995-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $23.82
Price in other shops:
Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modernby Joshua Zeitz
Broadway; Published: 2007-02-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Hearst's San Simeon: The Gardens and the Landby Victoria Kastner, Victoria Garagliano
Abrams; Published: 2009-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $26.12
Price in other shops:
Artist Not Provided - America's Castles - Hearst Castle at San SimeonA and E Home Video; Release date: 2006-03-28; DVD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Hearst Castle: The Biography of a Country Houseby Victoria Kastner
Harry N. Abrams; Published: 2000-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $30.00
Price in other shops:
The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearstby David Nasaw
Mariner Books; Published: 2001-09-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.62
Price in other shops:
The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearstby Kenneth Whyte
Counterpoint; Published: 2009-12-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.66
Price in other shops:
Marion Daviesby Fred Lawrence Guiles
McGraw-Hill; Published: 1972; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $45.95
The Cat's MeowLions Gate; Release date: 2002-08-20; DVD
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops:
The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearstby David Nasaw
Mariner Books; Published: 2001-09-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.78
Price in other shops: