INTERVIEW — TAPE #28, SIDE #2
Q: Mark Russell Bell (interviewer in Los Angeles)
H: Hanna King, art consultant at Martin Lawrence Galleries
D: Denise Roberts, senior art consultant at Martin Lawrence Galleries
Q: Today, I only had a few loads of laundry so I went to the laundry room here at my condo complex. It was a real mess so I started throwing things away and I found a penny. I noticed the year was 1995. Anyway, I'm making a few more Christmas cards for people that I forgot and who sent me cards. So I want to send them cards. I only have about nine blank ones left so I hope I don't get any other cards because I won't know what to do. ("UM") I was just thinking ("UH-HUH") about Alhambra. ("UH-HUH") Once in a while, I think about that time when Michael manifested Himself to me through other people, which was the most ("UH-HUH") touching experience. It made me feel so humble. That experience. But I remember ("UH-AH") Barbara. I'll never forget her because sometimes she would be so warm and loving. And other times I just felt there was a malevolence there but it might have been the Entity doing that. ("UH-HUH") And, besides, ("SHE SSS") she's a professional in the mental health industry so there's a lot of the duality going on there, if you know what I mean. ("UH-HUH") But she was asking me about some of my projects and how they might have touched upon the dark side. And I told her, "Well, I didn't really see there was a dark side." And I'm still am not sure if I was just saying that ("THAT") to get off easy ("YEAH-UH") or that's really what I feel. It's what I felt at the time when I was sort of on trial. ("UH-HUH") And she said something like, "Well, ("YOU DON'T" "FFF") you haven't really had your share of success, have you?" Or something to that effect. I don't remember the exact words. And I said — again, considering the circumstances — ("YOU") you try to find some answer, I guess, that will suffice without going into too much detail. I just said, "Well, I think the simple act of creating and writing these scripts itself was reward enough." ("FUN") I wrote them and rewrote them because I wanted to create the very best screenplays I could. And one of them still isn't finished. ("UMM") And, um, it doesn't really matter if they ever get made or not because they enriched my life in writing them — collaborating with God on them as we all do with each work of art that we do. So now, of course, I'm glad I said what I did to Barbara. It seems like a very convincing answer. Of course, I would like to sell a script sometime but I've never written screenplays just for the sake of making money or selling a 'commercial' script or one that imitates other scripts. I always strive to do something highly original, very dramatic, very true and very well-researched. And, um, even my screenplay "Brides" about ("UM") a serial killer and his mother was well-researched. I read many books on serial killers. ("NO")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: I READ SEVERAL CAREFULLY SELECTED BOOKS. THEY WERE SERIAL KILLERS: THE GROWING MENACE AND WALKING TIME BOMBS BY JOEL NORRIS; AND THE SHOEMAKER: ANATOMY OF A PSYCHOTIC BY FLORA RHETA SCHREIBER.)
("AND")
Q: Regarding casting for the film — I used to think Elizabeth Taylor but, let's face it, I think she's too old. I think Ann-Margret would be perfect for the mother. And for the role of the serial killer it would need to be somebody very good-looking to meet the demands of the character but someone with a good sense of humor. The first person that always comes to mind ("TTT") is ("NO") Hugh Grant. ("NO") He's sort of like today's Cary Grant and, of course, Cary Grant was in "Suspicion." ("NO" "AND") But if not for him, other actors who could do it would be: Robert Downey, Jr. I thought about but they ("IT NEED") would need a really good costume designer because he'd have to look ("MAN") really debonair. ("UH-HUH" "OR") It could be done as a black film. Eddie Murphy could do it. Even though I don't think it's something that Eddie Murphy would ever consider. Well, he did "Vampire in Brooklyn." ("NO" "WHICH") That film reminds me a lot of my relationship with Michael, believe it or not. Except for that unfortunate accident on the set, which sort of, ("SSS") you know, ("SCARES ME") scares me. And, of course, there was another accident on the set of "The Crow," ("WH") which was supposed to be ("A PAR") a Paramount movie. And I thought it was a good script. I had read the script. But ("SH") I guess Sherry Lansing decided it was not ethical for the studio to release the film even though it was a moneymaker. And, of course, she's had a lot of bombs recently so she probably regrets that because that's all that's important in Hollywood — making money. ("UH-HUH") Even though Sherry did have an Academy Award-winning film. Remember? "Forrest Gump." And this year she has "Braveheart," which may or may not be nominated but was one of the few movies I saw this year. And liked. And what else did I see this year? I saw "The Postman," which I thought was wonderful. I saw that Australian film ("UH-HUH") and ("THE THE") the title is not coming to me — oh, "Murial's Wedding." I loved that. ("UH-HUH") And I'm dying to see ("YEAH") "Persuasion." The rest — all the ones that have won the awards: "Sense and Sensibility" and "Leaving Las Vegas" for some reason don't appeal to me. Maybe I've seen too many Emma Thompson movies. I don't know. ("UM") I like fresh faces sometimes. ("UH-HUH") I shouldn't really judge it because I haven't even seen it but for some reason "Persuasion" appeals to me and "Sense and Sensibility" doesn't yet it's the one that's winning all the awards. I don't get it. ("UH-HUH") Anyway, ("WELL I GUESS") I guess they do remember the ones that are released at the end of the year but that isn't always true because there have been films that have won awards like "The Silence of the Lambs" ("THAT") were released early in the year. ("I MET AND") Why was the movie "Seven" such a big commercial success? I mean it's like in "Annie Hall." It really is weird that people don't all go to the same restaurant at the same time. I still haven't had time to go over my files to remember ("YEAH") all the interviews I've done over the years. I'll just say a few that come to mind: Roland Joffé for "Fat Man And Little Boy." At the last moment he turned in a press kit and was totally dissatisfied with it so I had to really 'work my ass off' as ("YEAH") Diana's sister, Charlotte, would say ("UM") to get the press kit done. And then, later, I had the ideal script for him — "Wonder of the World" aka "Wild Woman"/the Julia Pastrana story so I wrote him a letter and, of course, he wasn't interested in seeing it. And then just recently I read after ("HIS") another bomb, "The Scarlet Letter," ("YEAH") he was saying he was looking for the perfect female movie. Well, this would have been the perfect female movie for him. But now ("HE'S NOT") he's not at the top of my list, obviously, after all those bombs. Steven Spielberg's still at the top of my list. ("UH-HUH") But I guess Roland is in the second spot. ("UH-HUH") As if anyone would ever care. ("UH-HUH") So ("UH-HUH") who else over the years — oh, Herbert Ross was so nice. ("UM") I did a special article for the "True Colors" press kit and even though the film wasn't a big success he was so nice to actually thank me for my contribution. Diana brought me into her office to meet him. Some people in her position would have taken credit for my work. I haven't heard from her recently and I hope she's alright. She has multiple sclerosis. ("UH-HUH") The producer of the film was Larry Mark, who I guess ("I") read four of my early scripts so he's probably rejected more of my screenplays than anyone in Hollywood even though I've met him a couple times. I remember in London I met him once when he was with ("GARY") his roommate ("UH-HUH") — whose name escapes me at the moment and who just recently died. He was my brother's boss at Disney. Oh — Gary Kalkin. How could I forget him? So I guess the later part of the book ("IS") — I'm seeming a lot more disjointed and unable to remember things than in the early part of my book. ("BUT") I have so many things on my mind. ("UH-HUH") I'm getting ready to go pick up my Transcription Sound Set. ("I HA" "UM") And then this afternoon I have my therapy appointment. I've got to make photocopies. I've got to go the gym. I've got to finish my Christmas cards. And ("I HAVE") all the book work to do. I'm trying to communicate things in my book ("THAT") you can't communicate. ("UH-HUH") I mean it's all ("YOU HAVE") based on faith. So, ("UH-HUH") anyway, we'll see. ("UH-HUH")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW IS WITH ART CONSULTANT HANNA KING.)
Q: I'm at Martin Lawrence Galleries picking up my cover art for the book. I'm very excited and Hanna has been a trouper ("THROUGH ALL") through all this. I just asked her if she's had any strange experiences and she said yes, she has. ("UM") Tell me a little bit about your experiences. ("DON'T YOU LOVE ME")
H: Well, could I tell you ("BAYONET") a very definite experience ("YEAH") about my mother —
Q: Yeah.
H: — and when I was a baby? I was born on the ("WELL NOT") — yes — eve of World War II in Warsaw, Poland. ("YEAH" "KEEP UP" "WELL" "HERE WE GO" "YEAH" "TRANSFER TO LATER ON NOW") Okay. My mother had given birth and about two minutes later the building in which we were housed was on fire. So we had to go downstairs to the basement. She was very frightened and there weren't any doctors around — just a whole bunch of people who lived in that particular apartment building. She was in a great deal of pain and all of a sudden a man came over to her dressed in clothing from the 18th or 17th century. And he said, "Are you such-and-such-a-man's grandchild?" And my mother said, "Yes." And he said, "Don't worry, you will survive and your daughter will survive and everything will be okay." And then the man disappeared and I was born. And then my mother asked everybody around there, "Did you see this man wearing this black coat and this black hat and who had this very, very long beard?" And no one saw him. No one knew what my mother was talking about but he definitely was there and he was able to ask her certain names of her great grandparents and she, of course, admitted, "Yes, those were my great grandparents." Two minutes after she gave birth to me, she ran carrying me through the streets. There were a lot of fire and bombs and all sorts of things. My mother hid inside a building that had just been bombed. ("YEAH") And there were many, many doorways that she could go into but she hid behind one door. And ("OWL") the SS Troupers put a machete through every single door except the one where she was holding me. And I was only two minutes old and I would have been crying a lot but I wasn't. As she realized that she was safe because they had done all their checking and they couldn't find anybody. And they didn't touch that door. She looked around and she saw this man fleeing. The same man that she saw in the basement about five minutes prior to this incident. Then, she left and ran away to her in-laws ("INNA") who started saving her and giving her shelter, etc. — ("THAT'S JUST") A little bit of it. ("THERE") There's a lot more but —
Q: Was there an angel that you saw? ("YES") Just tell me a little bit about that.
H: I was on a trip to Israel and I was very frightened. I was on a plane. I was eighteen years old and I was going to Israel. I knew no one there. I was in college and I remember I just had to go. For some reason, I just had to go to Israel. I told my professors in college that I was going to go and the midterms could wait and I'll take them when I'm ready. I was kind of gutsy and maybe also stupid on my part but I decided I had to go to Israel. I had never been there before. And I was on the plane — I was really scared and all of a sudden I looked up and there were two angels ("YEAH") telling me in Hebrew that everything will be okay and that I shouldn't worry. And all of a sudden this incredible calm came over me. ("YEAH") Prior to that, being only eighteen, I wasn't involved intellectually or emotionally as much as I am now. I really knew nothing of such things. And all of a sudden I felt really great and the flight was wonderful. And on my return flight I actually summoned them. I said, "I need some help because I'm very scared and this is a very long flight." This was before jets — ("THIS IS") 1960. ("AND THEY WOULD") There weren't any jets. There was just a jet stream. ("UH-HUH") And it was an eighteen-hour trip. ("I WAS") I lived in New York but it was still an eighteen-hour trip. And it helped me tremendously knowing that I could summon them. And they would be with me.
Q: Did you ever summon them again? After that?
H: Periodically I do that.
Q: And they come?
H: And they come.
Q: I wish Michael would come when I wanted — I mean I never see Him. He never — ("HIM") I never see Him physically. Did you see these angels physically?
H: Absolutely. ("NO")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: THE FOLLOWING SPIRIT MESSAGE MAY NOT BE ENTIRELY AUDIBLE BECAUSE OF A COUGH.)
("WASN'T ANDY . . .")
Q: So, anyway, I guess Mark Kostabi and I — when we spoke ("WERE") — we spoke too soon when we said ("THAT UM") you didn't believe that it was Michael the Entity who made pictures come off the wall.
H: Right. ("UGLY")
Q: You do believe —
H: Yes. ("THAT IS")
Q: Interesting.
H: Yes.
Q: Okay.
H: I also had a visitation from the Virgin Mary. ("DUKE")
Q: Tell me a little bit about that. ("I WAS")
H: I was about five and a half. And I was washing dishes. ("THIS") I had just gotten out of the convent ("SO I") — you know, my parents probably thought — ("DON'T SAY") actually I never even told them this because I was five and a half years old and I was finally rescued from the convent. We were living in Warsaw in this very, very dilapidated building because not everything was destroyed so everybody made do with whatever they could find. And I was so happy to be with my parents. And I remember standing on a little bench near the sink washing dishes because that was kind of a rare thing for me to do since I had never done that. I was, you know, going to mass every day. I didn't wash dishes. ("I DIDN'T HE[LP]") I didn't help around the house. And as I'm washing the dishes I looked up and there was this ("BRIGHT") beautiful woman ("SAW") who ("BROUGHT") to me at that time represented the Virgin Mary. ("WHAT TIME") And I have seen her ("ROBIN") seven times since. Whenever I was in really emotional distress, she would come and ("JSS") I could almost feel her touching my shoulder, calming me down and making me feel good.
Q: You probably could feel her touching your shoulder.
H: Yeah. ("NOT ALMOST")
Q: You probably did —
H: Yes, I did. I did. And, you know, a lot of people ("I") — I told this to just a few people ("WARREN") and they always think that — well, either they ("UN") understand what I'm saying and they agree with me or they think I'm crazy because I'm Jewish so 'how would I have contact with the Virgin Mary?' But it's perfectly natural.
Q: The Virgin Mary is Jewish.
H: Right. To me it's perfectly normal. It's perfectly natural. Why wouldn't she? ("YEAH") So I've had a lot of these close encounters, shall I say? ([DIFFERENT] "YES") And I believe in them. ("AND I" "ANY ALIEN") And I will come —
Q: Anything alien? ("NOT" "YET" "MT. SINAI")
H: I can't really say that because I don't want people to misunderstand me here. ("NO") But I have been abducted.
Q: Join the club.
H: And returned. ("MM HM HM HUA") And here I am. ("RIGHT" "OKAY")
Q: So thank you very much, Hanna.
H: You're welcome.
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW IS WITH SENIOR ART CONSULTANT DENISE ROBERTS, WHO I INTERVIEWED OUTSIDE THE GALLERY.)
Q: So, um, after interviewing Hanna, I'm going to ("UM") quickly interview Denise, who also works here at Martin Lawrence Galleries, because she's had some strange events in her life too.
D: Well, first of all, when I was about sixteen years old, my mother told me if I ever felt a force that ("HIT HER") hit me and there was nothing there, ("OUR FATHER") I was to memorize the "our Father"s, the "hail Mary"s and all that type of thing because she was an orthodox Catholic really into it. And I didn't believe my mother. I thought there was something wrong with my mother. Until I hit about twenty-four. ("WHO DIED") And out of nowhere came forces that would hit me. I can hear them. I can see them. I can smell them. They would come in the room and they would literally pin me to the ground and I couldn't move. Almost like if I had epilepsy and I've never been epileptic. And I never believed in things like that. One interesting incident occurred when I was passing an Indonesian burial sculpture as I was doing the inventory for the Los Angeles County Museum up on the third floor. And I ("DENVER") went by this very old sculpture ("OF A MAN") and out of nowhere it felt like if somebody had taken a hammer and started hitting me ("NO") in the back of my head, my neck, my shoulders and my back very, very hard.
Q: Ouch.
D: It hurt. And I spun around but there was nobody else in the room other than a guard who was all the way down and she proceeded to tell me that I was on drugs and I was tripping and all of this but I've never done drugs a day in my life. So that couldn't have been the problem. ("BUT") I must tell you these experiences continued to happen over and over until one day I met an old African American evangelist and I went to her house and the spirit that was coming against me hit me in her house. And she asked my husband to run upstairs and get a dictionary because the spirit of the Lord had given her a revelation concerning what was happening to me. And she started to tell my husband to look up the meaning of the word vampire and tell her what it meant. And then she started to prophesy to me and told me that my ("NO") mother's mother's father was a warlock and had sent this generation curse down onto me and this was supposed to be — ("MY") my lineage was supposed to be one of using my gifts for evil; for witchcraft and things like that. And the woman started to pray right there and then. I remember her pleading the blood of Jesus over and over. And the thing lifted off of me immediately and went back. And I knew it. ("TONY") I felt it and I saw it. It just sort of lifted off of me. It was a really very strange experience. And then I could get up and I could breathe. When she started praying for me, she started saying a very strange thing. She started binding up this vampire spirit off of me. And as she was praying for me, I started throwing up over and over and over.
Q: Do you believe in vampires? ("AAH")
D: Well, yes I do. They exist. And, finally, I must tell you that after that lady prayed, she said, "In the name of Jesus I bind the spirit never to come back on to you, never to curse your life for generations to come." And to this day it never came back. ("WHAT IS")
Q: What is your background in terms of your ancestors?
D: Well, I'm told Port of Spain, Trinidad and I have a very interesting mix of cultures in me. I am not just African but I'm French, part Spanish, Portuguese — I'm very mixed.
Q: Vampire? ("HUH")
D: Indian. And, certainly, a history of ("NO") very spiritual people — ("VERY") very gifted people and some witches in my background.
Q: A lot of people would be sort of scared by your story. ("YEAH BUT") But it's basically —
D: Nothing to be scared about —
Q: — good is stronger than evil.
D: — because I understand the forces of good and evil and I understand how God works. And I thank Him for my life and for saving my life. And I really give God all the honor and all the praise. ("THANK") And I thank him. ("GO NOW") I thank Him for his son because if it wasn't ("RIGHT") for the name of Jesus ("NO") and the blood ("WILLIAM") of Jesus, I think that vampire would still be attacking me because it attacked one of my uncles and my uncle went completely crazy. Foaming at the mouth —
Q: So how do you ("DUA" "SURVIVE IT") rationalize this? Do you see a duality within the synchronicity? I mean Good and evil? ("YEAH") Some people don't believe in God because ("EVIL") evil exists at all. ("MMM" "WHAT")
D: But it does.
Q: It does.
D: It absolutely does.
Q: And what do you think is the source of that evil?
D: Well, I think that we are given a choice every day of our lives. We can choose to do people well or we can choose to do them harm. And I think everything is ordained, basically, by God because God created us to have the freedom of choice. If not, we wouldn't know what it means to have the free will to choose God and to worship God and to love God ("HELP ME") if all we knew was just God. So we are faced with many challenges on a daily basis and some of us that have reached certain heights in our karma know that these choices ("FROM MY GOD") exist and that we have to choose the right choice. And I think we serve a very big God because He gives us that choice. ("PROBLEM" "VAROOOM")
Q: Well, thank you very much.
D: Thank you, Mark. ("PROP")
( . . . )
D: . . . because it's going to be a success. ("NO")
Q: It will be —
D: It is.
Q: — even if it isn't a bestseller. ("ABOUT YOUR")
D: It is. ("YOU" "WILL") It is. ("RECUPER")
Q: It will be. ("IT WILL BE A SUC") If just a few people read it ("WE'LL FIND OUT") and appreciate it, ("NO") it will be a success.
D: Yes, it will be and the fact that God chose you to do it —
Q: Right.
D: — I think it's already a success.
Q: Well, and plus I mean —
D: And I feel moved — ("MOVED" "I USED TO")
Q: I used —
D: — by this project.
Q: He told me that it probably wasn't going to be a bestseller but that isn't ("MODEL") the point. ("IMPORTANT")
D: Look at how many lives that you've touched already by just them meeting you.
Q: A lot of people buy bestsellers and they never even read them.
D: Never read them.
Q: They sit on their bookshelves. ("THAT'S BAD") At least the people who buy my book ("SHOULD") will read it.
D: But look at how many lives you've already touched.
Q: Exactly.
D: Me. ("NO") I'm a total stranger to you and I thank God that I've met you. ("YEAH")
Q: Yeah.
D: When you come in you brighten up the place.
Q: I know.
D: Hanna doesn't know you and we've just met you and you brighten ("RIGHT") up the place. And so there is a destiny for you. And I thank God. I'm grateful to God for that. ("AND")
Q: Well, I really appreciate all your hard work too. ("ARMAGEDDON") It's always a major proposition getting a major piece of art ("THANK ME") for a book. ("YEAH") It's always ("YEAH") very ("OUCH") complicated ("YOU'LL MEET" "YEAH") so thank you.
D: Alright.
Q: Okay.
D: Okay. ("FOR MY")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: THE DIRECTOR OF THIS MARTIN LAWRENCE GALLERIES OUTLET IS MICHAEL GUDELAUSKI.)
( . . . )
Q: (speaking into tape recorder) By the way — I'm driving home — recently I found the contact information for David Gahan at his record company. And I thought, "Boy, some time has gone by. He's probably out of rehab. I could leave a message for him now and he'd probably call me back and wouldn't that be a great way to end the book?" On second thought, I really don't know what I'd tell him now because I no longer think I am the reincarnation of Jesus — at least, there's no basis for that. My therapist was telling me today that a delusion is an incorrect fixed perception. So I guess it was delusional when I thought I was Jesus even though it was just a conclusion I was drawing based on events that I had experienced. So I guess I was delusional but not anymore because these are things that nobody can know for certain. But, anyway, so I don't know what I would tell him now. So maybe it's not such a good idea I would call him. But I had found the number and I was going to call him because I did think that would be a good way to end the book. But the number disappeared. I put it someplace where I knew I can easily get it. And it was not there. So I think Michael did something with the number, giving me a message that I shouldn't go ahead with this. So ("UH-HUH") in terms of ("SYM SYM") symbols, ("UM") it's hard to understand really what the symbolic meaning of this whole episode is. ("NO") Maybe a parallel can be seen between Jesus and John the Baptist because some people don't believe the baptism ever happened. So if John the Baptist never baptized Christ, then there's really no need for me to fulfill a prophecy with a telephone call to a pop singer. Also, after ("IN") interviewing Hanna and Denise, I asked Denise to give me their business cards to make sure I spelled the names right. And it turns out that Hanna's last name is King. When I got up this morning, I was going to quickly go over the people I've interviewed in various Paramount films but I realize it's a much bigger job than I had imagined because there are so many interviews over the years and I would retape over earlier interviews. For example, on the microcassette identified with "Townsend" I taped over it for interviews with Frank Marshall, Steven Metcalfe and other people. Some calls even concerned Monday reports of the weekend film grosses. Sometimes people would talk too fast when they would call me so I would ("EH") record the information and I can hear Michael on the tapes. ("UM NOT") I don't have time to go through them all but I heard him with his usual laughs and his usual breathing.
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: HERE IS ONE OF THE NUMEROUS PLACES ON THIS TAPE SIDE WHERE SPIRIT BREATHING CAN BE HEARD.)
("AND")
Q: At the very end of this one tape I just was listening to, I had apparently dialed Allison Jackson's intercom number and ("I'M") an assistant ("UH-HUH") somewhere else picked up and she said, "Oh, ("YOU") you reached the wrong extension. You should have dialed thirty-eight for Allison." And I said, "Well, that's what I dialed." "Oh, that's weird," she said. So Michael was having all kinds of fun, I guess. I'm sure He was. But ("IT'S JUST YEAH") I wish He'd let me know that He was there before. I mean ("I DON'T KNOW WHAT") what took Him so long? At least, He was having fun. I don't know if I always was. But ("YOU KNOW IT'S") I wonder if He was also having fun with any of the people I was interviewing. ("I") Doing things and what have you. ("UM") Like this one interview on the tape ("I WAS YOU KNOW") at Amblin with Frank Marshall you could hear Him laughing. So ("OOH I") with all the beautiful Norman Rockwell artwork on the wall, it just boggles the mind in terms of, you know, what He might take. So ("UH-HUH") it's interesting. ("AND OH") I have to go do my two hours on the Hotline so when I come back maybe I'll work on this a little bit. So far, the other tapes I listened to include special effects people and UFO experts for "Fire in the Sky." That's sort of a very interesting connection. ("NO" "UM") There was a tape of Mickey Rooney and Henry Gibson brainstorming about "Sonny Skies." I was there taping it and making notes for them way back when I was a talent agent. ("UM") One tape has my friend Tom translating German information about Julia Pastrana ("UM IN TUR") concerning various other sources that I had ("NOT") not been able to find yet. Apparently, there was a play written about Julia which I've never been able to find. And Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote about her and I don't know what book that was. Maybe in a book ("KAA" "WITH") where there's a character named Ella. But I don't think it's Uncle Tom's Cabin. ("OR THE PER") I don't think the time is right. ("NO" "UM") I also interviewed people on two of those "Friday the 13th" movies: ". . . The New Blood" and " . . . Jason Takes Manhattan."
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: WHAT FOLLOWS IS A PORTION OF A CONVERSATION I HAD WITH A FRIEND IDENTIFIED AS 'F' WHO ASKED ME ABOUT MY BROTHER'S NEW ADDRESS. THIS WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE I MET WHILE WORKING AT THE RUTH WEBB AGENCY. I REMEMBER OTHER OF THESE TEMPORARY WORKERS HAD SUCH LAST NAMES AS DOBSON AND RADARMAN. THIS INDIVIDUAL WORKS OCCASIONALLY AS A STAND-IN AND ACTRESS AND WAS CONCERNED SHE WOULD NEVER AGAIN BE ABLE TO WORK IN THE INDUSTRY SHE LOVES IF HER IDENTITY WERE TO BECOME KNOWN. SHE EXPLAINED SHE WOULD COMMIT SUICIDE IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN. AS NONE OF MY FRIENDS HAVE READ MY BOOK, THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT HONESTY IS ONE OF THE WAYS TO PROVE YOUR LOVE TO GOD. THIS LACK OF TRUTH IS ONE OF THE MANY SIGNS THAT EVERY FACET OF CULTURE REVOLVES AROUND GREED. WHEN PEOPLE ARE DISHONEST TO PROTECT THEIR SOCIAL STATUS, A SOCIETY IS FORMED WHERE THERE IS NO TRUE MORALITY. THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY PROVIDES A FAMILIAR EXAMPLE FOR PEOPLE TO SEE WHAT LIFE HAS BECOME IN THE 20TH CENTURY. MANKIND STILL HAS PAGAN IDOLS IN CELEBRITIES; AND INSTEAD OF USING ART FOR INSPIRED SELF-EXPRESSION IT IS EXPLOITED FOR WEALTH. THERE IS A MINDLESS, HEARTLESS QUEST FOR PERSONAL ACCUMULATION DESPITE THE WISDOM TRADITIONS OF ALL NATIONS EXPRESSING THAT THE ONLY RICHES TRANSCENDING DEATH ARE THOSE THAT COME FROM SHARING WITH OTHERS AND EACH EFFORT GIVEN TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.)
F: All I had was his old Micheltorena address. ("BUT")
Q: Did you hear what you just said? He used to live on Micheltorena? All my friends ("HAVE THESE") live on these streets that have Bel or Michael in their name. Like Bel Air. I mean do you know how many people live in Bel Air?
F: Well, yeah, you used to send me there to deliver things to Martha Raye. ("WHO")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: MARTHA WAS A RUTH WEBB AGENCY CLIENT.)
Q: That's something else that sort of bothers me. I mean I really love ("HER") Bette Midler. I think she's talented. I loved "The Rose." But she really screwed Martha royally. Because ("YOU KNOW SHE SHHH") you know she had this meeting with Martha.
F: That's disgraceful. ("THEY")
Q: Martha's manager, Nick, wanted a million dollars for her detailed life story. And, boy, could they have used it for that movie ("UH-HUH") "For The Boys" because if ever a film needed fleshing out it was that one.
F: Oh absolutely.
Q: So I really think they would have gotten their money's worth.
F: Um-huh. ("YOU KNOW")
Q: It's like why not pay a woman who lived this fabulous life what she's due in order to tell her story and get all the juicy details because, boy, do I know some juicy details. ("LIKE")
F: Right. But not only that. Well, see, I believe that Bette Midler has a severe problem in the fact that she never scratches beneath her own surface. ("COULDN'T IT") Playing Martha Raye and everything that was behind Martha Raye and her character would have made that person be an interesting character. Bette didn't think she was going to do anything other than be a loudmouth and walk through every scene being anyone other than Bette Midler. Like she did on stage in the '70s and that just doesn't work.
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: I READ SEVERAL CAREFULLY SELECTED BOOKS. THEY WERE SERIAL KILLERS: THE GROWING MENACE AND WALKING TIME BOMBS BY JOEL NORRIS; AND THE SHOEMAKER: ANATOMY OF A PSYCHOTIC BY FLORA RHETA SCHREIBER.)
("AND")
Q: Regarding casting for the film — I used to think Elizabeth Taylor but, let's face it, I think she's too old. I think Ann-Margret would be perfect for the mother. And for the role of the serial killer it would need to be somebody very good-looking to meet the demands of the character but someone with a good sense of humor. The first person that always comes to mind ("TTT") is ("NO") Hugh Grant. ("NO") He's sort of like today's Cary Grant and, of course, Cary Grant was in "Suspicion." ("NO" "AND") But if not for him, other actors who could do it would be: Robert Downey, Jr. I thought about but they ("IT NEED") would need a really good costume designer because he'd have to look ("MAN") really debonair. ("UH-HUH" "OR") It could be done as a black film. Eddie Murphy could do it. Even though I don't think it's something that Eddie Murphy would ever consider. Well, he did "Vampire in Brooklyn." ("NO" "WHICH") That film reminds me a lot of my relationship with Michael, believe it or not. Except for that unfortunate accident on the set, which sort of, ("SSS") you know, ("SCARES ME") scares me. And, of course, there was another accident on the set of "The Crow," ("WH") which was supposed to be ("A PAR") a Paramount movie. And I thought it was a good script. I had read the script. But ("SH") I guess Sherry Lansing decided it was not ethical for the studio to release the film even though it was a moneymaker. And, of course, she's had a lot of bombs recently so she probably regrets that because that's all that's important in Hollywood — making money. ("UH-HUH") Even though Sherry did have an Academy Award-winning film. Remember? "Forrest Gump." And this year she has "Braveheart," which may or may not be nominated but was one of the few movies I saw this year. And liked. And what else did I see this year? I saw "The Postman," which I thought was wonderful. I saw that Australian film ("UH-HUH") and ("THE THE") the title is not coming to me — oh, "Murial's Wedding." I loved that. ("UH-HUH") And I'm dying to see ("YEAH") "Persuasion." The rest — all the ones that have won the awards: "Sense and Sensibility" and "Leaving Las Vegas" for some reason don't appeal to me. Maybe I've seen too many Emma Thompson movies. I don't know. ("UM") I like fresh faces sometimes. ("UH-HUH") I shouldn't really judge it because I haven't even seen it but for some reason "Persuasion" appeals to me and "Sense and Sensibility" doesn't yet it's the one that's winning all the awards. I don't get it. ("UH-HUH") Anyway, ("WELL I GUESS") I guess they do remember the ones that are released at the end of the year but that isn't always true because there have been films that have won awards like "The Silence of the Lambs" ("THAT") were released early in the year. ("I MET AND") Why was the movie "Seven" such a big commercial success? I mean it's like in "Annie Hall." It really is weird that people don't all go to the same restaurant at the same time. I still haven't had time to go over my files to remember ("YEAH") all the interviews I've done over the years. I'll just say a few that come to mind: Roland Joffé for "Fat Man And Little Boy." At the last moment he turned in a press kit and was totally dissatisfied with it so I had to really 'work my ass off' as ("YEAH") Diana's sister, Charlotte, would say ("UM") to get the press kit done. And then, later, I had the ideal script for him — "Wonder of the World" aka "Wild Woman"/the Julia Pastrana story so I wrote him a letter and, of course, he wasn't interested in seeing it. And then just recently I read after ("HIS") another bomb, "The Scarlet Letter," ("YEAH") he was saying he was looking for the perfect female movie. Well, this would have been the perfect female movie for him. But now ("HE'S NOT") he's not at the top of my list, obviously, after all those bombs. Steven Spielberg's still at the top of my list. ("UH-HUH") But I guess Roland is in the second spot. ("UH-HUH") As if anyone would ever care. ("UH-HUH") So ("UH-HUH") who else over the years — oh, Herbert Ross was so nice. ("UM") I did a special article for the "True Colors" press kit and even though the film wasn't a big success he was so nice to actually thank me for my contribution. Diana brought me into her office to meet him. Some people in her position would have taken credit for my work. I haven't heard from her recently and I hope she's alright. She has multiple sclerosis. ("UH-HUH") The producer of the film was Larry Mark, who I guess ("I") read four of my early scripts so he's probably rejected more of my screenplays than anyone in Hollywood even though I've met him a couple times. I remember in London I met him once when he was with ("GARY") his roommate ("UH-HUH") — whose name escapes me at the moment and who just recently died. He was my brother's boss at Disney. Oh — Gary Kalkin. How could I forget him? So I guess the later part of the book ("IS") — I'm seeming a lot more disjointed and unable to remember things than in the early part of my book. ("BUT") I have so many things on my mind. ("UH-HUH") I'm getting ready to go pick up my Transcription Sound Set. ("I HA" "UM") And then this afternoon I have my therapy appointment. I've got to make photocopies. I've got to go the gym. I've got to finish my Christmas cards. And ("I HAVE") all the book work to do. I'm trying to communicate things in my book ("THAT") you can't communicate. ("UH-HUH") I mean it's all ("YOU HAVE") based on faith. So, ("UH-HUH") anyway, we'll see. ("UH-HUH")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW IS WITH ART CONSULTANT HANNA KING.)
Q: I'm at Martin Lawrence Galleries picking up my cover art for the book. I'm very excited and Hanna has been a trouper ("THROUGH ALL") through all this. I just asked her if she's had any strange experiences and she said yes, she has. ("UM") Tell me a little bit about your experiences. ("DON'T YOU LOVE ME")
H: Well, could I tell you ("BAYONET") a very definite experience ("YEAH") about my mother —
Q: Yeah.
H: — and when I was a baby? I was born on the ("WELL NOT") — yes — eve of World War II in Warsaw, Poland. ("YEAH" "KEEP UP" "WELL" "HERE WE GO" "YEAH" "TRANSFER TO LATER ON NOW") Okay. My mother had given birth and about two minutes later the building in which we were housed was on fire. So we had to go downstairs to the basement. She was very frightened and there weren't any doctors around — just a whole bunch of people who lived in that particular apartment building. She was in a great deal of pain and all of a sudden a man came over to her dressed in clothing from the 18th or 17th century. And he said, "Are you such-and-such-a-man's grandchild?" And my mother said, "Yes." And he said, "Don't worry, you will survive and your daughter will survive and everything will be okay." And then the man disappeared and I was born. And then my mother asked everybody around there, "Did you see this man wearing this black coat and this black hat and who had this very, very long beard?" And no one saw him. No one knew what my mother was talking about but he definitely was there and he was able to ask her certain names of her great grandparents and she, of course, admitted, "Yes, those were my great grandparents." Two minutes after she gave birth to me, she ran carrying me through the streets. There were a lot of fire and bombs and all sorts of things. My mother hid inside a building that had just been bombed. ("YEAH") And there were many, many doorways that she could go into but she hid behind one door. And ("OWL") the SS Troupers put a machete through every single door except the one where she was holding me. And I was only two minutes old and I would have been crying a lot but I wasn't. As she realized that she was safe because they had done all their checking and they couldn't find anybody. And they didn't touch that door. She looked around and she saw this man fleeing. The same man that she saw in the basement about five minutes prior to this incident. Then, she left and ran away to her in-laws ("INNA") who started saving her and giving her shelter, etc. — ("THAT'S JUST") A little bit of it. ("THERE") There's a lot more but —
Q: Was there an angel that you saw? ("YES") Just tell me a little bit about that.
H: I was on a trip to Israel and I was very frightened. I was on a plane. I was eighteen years old and I was going to Israel. I knew no one there. I was in college and I remember I just had to go. For some reason, I just had to go to Israel. I told my professors in college that I was going to go and the midterms could wait and I'll take them when I'm ready. I was kind of gutsy and maybe also stupid on my part but I decided I had to go to Israel. I had never been there before. And I was on the plane — I was really scared and all of a sudden I looked up and there were two angels ("YEAH") telling me in Hebrew that everything will be okay and that I shouldn't worry. And all of a sudden this incredible calm came over me. ("YEAH") Prior to that, being only eighteen, I wasn't involved intellectually or emotionally as much as I am now. I really knew nothing of such things. And all of a sudden I felt really great and the flight was wonderful. And on my return flight I actually summoned them. I said, "I need some help because I'm very scared and this is a very long flight." This was before jets — ("THIS IS") 1960. ("AND THEY WOULD") There weren't any jets. There was just a jet stream. ("UH-HUH") And it was an eighteen-hour trip. ("I WAS") I lived in New York but it was still an eighteen-hour trip. And it helped me tremendously knowing that I could summon them. And they would be with me.
Q: Did you ever summon them again? After that?
H: Periodically I do that.
Q: And they come?
H: And they come.
Q: I wish Michael would come when I wanted — I mean I never see Him. He never — ("HIM") I never see Him physically. Did you see these angels physically?
H: Absolutely. ("NO")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: THE FOLLOWING SPIRIT MESSAGE MAY NOT BE ENTIRELY AUDIBLE BECAUSE OF A COUGH.)
("WASN'T ANDY . . .")
Q: So, anyway, I guess Mark Kostabi and I — when we spoke ("WERE") — we spoke too soon when we said ("THAT UM") you didn't believe that it was Michael the Entity who made pictures come off the wall.
H: Right. ("UGLY")
Q: You do believe —
H: Yes. ("THAT IS")
Q: Interesting.
H: Yes.
Q: Okay.
H: I also had a visitation from the Virgin Mary. ("DUKE")
Q: Tell me a little bit about that. ("I WAS")
H: I was about five and a half. And I was washing dishes. ("THIS") I had just gotten out of the convent ("SO I") — you know, my parents probably thought — ("DON'T SAY") actually I never even told them this because I was five and a half years old and I was finally rescued from the convent. We were living in Warsaw in this very, very dilapidated building because not everything was destroyed so everybody made do with whatever they could find. And I was so happy to be with my parents. And I remember standing on a little bench near the sink washing dishes because that was kind of a rare thing for me to do since I had never done that. I was, you know, going to mass every day. I didn't wash dishes. ("I DIDN'T HE[LP]") I didn't help around the house. And as I'm washing the dishes I looked up and there was this ("BRIGHT") beautiful woman ("SAW") who ("BROUGHT") to me at that time represented the Virgin Mary. ("WHAT TIME") And I have seen her ("ROBIN") seven times since. Whenever I was in really emotional distress, she would come and ("JSS") I could almost feel her touching my shoulder, calming me down and making me feel good.
Q: You probably could feel her touching your shoulder.
H: Yeah. ("NOT ALMOST")
Q: You probably did —
H: Yes, I did. I did. And, you know, a lot of people ("I") — I told this to just a few people ("WARREN") and they always think that — well, either they ("UN") understand what I'm saying and they agree with me or they think I'm crazy because I'm Jewish so 'how would I have contact with the Virgin Mary?' But it's perfectly natural.
Q: The Virgin Mary is Jewish.
H: Right. To me it's perfectly normal. It's perfectly natural. Why wouldn't she? ("YEAH") So I've had a lot of these close encounters, shall I say? ([DIFFERENT] "YES") And I believe in them. ("AND I" "ANY ALIEN") And I will come —
Q: Anything alien? ("NOT" "YET" "MT. SINAI")
H: I can't really say that because I don't want people to misunderstand me here. ("NO") But I have been abducted.
Q: Join the club.
H: And returned. ("MM HM HM HUA") And here I am. ("RIGHT" "OKAY")
Q: So thank you very much, Hanna.
H: You're welcome.
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW IS WITH SENIOR ART CONSULTANT DENISE ROBERTS, WHO I INTERVIEWED OUTSIDE THE GALLERY.)
Q: So, um, after interviewing Hanna, I'm going to ("UM") quickly interview Denise, who also works here at Martin Lawrence Galleries, because she's had some strange events in her life too.
D: Well, first of all, when I was about sixteen years old, my mother told me if I ever felt a force that ("HIT HER") hit me and there was nothing there, ("OUR FATHER") I was to memorize the "our Father"s, the "hail Mary"s and all that type of thing because she was an orthodox Catholic really into it. And I didn't believe my mother. I thought there was something wrong with my mother. Until I hit about twenty-four. ("WHO DIED") And out of nowhere came forces that would hit me. I can hear them. I can see them. I can smell them. They would come in the room and they would literally pin me to the ground and I couldn't move. Almost like if I had epilepsy and I've never been epileptic. And I never believed in things like that. One interesting incident occurred when I was passing an Indonesian burial sculpture as I was doing the inventory for the Los Angeles County Museum up on the third floor. And I ("DENVER") went by this very old sculpture ("OF A MAN") and out of nowhere it felt like if somebody had taken a hammer and started hitting me ("NO") in the back of my head, my neck, my shoulders and my back very, very hard.
Q: Ouch.
D: It hurt. And I spun around but there was nobody else in the room other than a guard who was all the way down and she proceeded to tell me that I was on drugs and I was tripping and all of this but I've never done drugs a day in my life. So that couldn't have been the problem. ("BUT") I must tell you these experiences continued to happen over and over until one day I met an old African American evangelist and I went to her house and the spirit that was coming against me hit me in her house. And she asked my husband to run upstairs and get a dictionary because the spirit of the Lord had given her a revelation concerning what was happening to me. And she started to tell my husband to look up the meaning of the word vampire and tell her what it meant. And then she started to prophesy to me and told me that my ("NO") mother's mother's father was a warlock and had sent this generation curse down onto me and this was supposed to be — ("MY") my lineage was supposed to be one of using my gifts for evil; for witchcraft and things like that. And the woman started to pray right there and then. I remember her pleading the blood of Jesus over and over. And the thing lifted off of me immediately and went back. And I knew it. ("TONY") I felt it and I saw it. It just sort of lifted off of me. It was a really very strange experience. And then I could get up and I could breathe. When she started praying for me, she started saying a very strange thing. She started binding up this vampire spirit off of me. And as she was praying for me, I started throwing up over and over and over.
Q: Do you believe in vampires? ("AAH")
D: Well, yes I do. They exist. And, finally, I must tell you that after that lady prayed, she said, "In the name of Jesus I bind the spirit never to come back on to you, never to curse your life for generations to come." And to this day it never came back. ("WHAT IS")
Q: What is your background in terms of your ancestors?
D: Well, I'm told Port of Spain, Trinidad and I have a very interesting mix of cultures in me. I am not just African but I'm French, part Spanish, Portuguese — I'm very mixed.
Q: Vampire? ("HUH")
D: Indian. And, certainly, a history of ("NO") very spiritual people — ("VERY") very gifted people and some witches in my background.
Q: A lot of people would be sort of scared by your story. ("YEAH BUT") But it's basically —
D: Nothing to be scared about —
Q: — good is stronger than evil.
D: — because I understand the forces of good and evil and I understand how God works. And I thank Him for my life and for saving my life. And I really give God all the honor and all the praise. ("THANK") And I thank him. ("GO NOW") I thank Him for his son because if it wasn't ("RIGHT") for the name of Jesus ("NO") and the blood ("WILLIAM") of Jesus, I think that vampire would still be attacking me because it attacked one of my uncles and my uncle went completely crazy. Foaming at the mouth —
Q: So how do you ("DUA" "SURVIVE IT") rationalize this? Do you see a duality within the synchronicity? I mean Good and evil? ("YEAH") Some people don't believe in God because ("EVIL") evil exists at all. ("MMM" "WHAT")
D: But it does.
Q: It does.
D: It absolutely does.
Q: And what do you think is the source of that evil?
D: Well, I think that we are given a choice every day of our lives. We can choose to do people well or we can choose to do them harm. And I think everything is ordained, basically, by God because God created us to have the freedom of choice. If not, we wouldn't know what it means to have the free will to choose God and to worship God and to love God ("HELP ME") if all we knew was just God. So we are faced with many challenges on a daily basis and some of us that have reached certain heights in our karma know that these choices ("FROM MY GOD") exist and that we have to choose the right choice. And I think we serve a very big God because He gives us that choice. ("PROBLEM" "VAROOOM")
Q: Well, thank you very much.
D: Thank you, Mark. ("PROP")
( . . . )
D: . . . because it's going to be a success. ("NO")
Q: It will be —
D: It is.
Q: — even if it isn't a bestseller. ("ABOUT YOUR")
D: It is. ("YOU" "WILL") It is. ("RECUPER")
Q: It will be. ("IT WILL BE A SUC") If just a few people read it ("WE'LL FIND OUT") and appreciate it, ("NO") it will be a success.
D: Yes, it will be and the fact that God chose you to do it —
Q: Right.
D: — I think it's already a success.
Q: Well, and plus I mean —
D: And I feel moved — ("MOVED" "I USED TO")
Q: I used —
D: — by this project.
Q: He told me that it probably wasn't going to be a bestseller but that isn't ("MODEL") the point. ("IMPORTANT")
D: Look at how many lives that you've touched already by just them meeting you.
Q: A lot of people buy bestsellers and they never even read them.
D: Never read them.
Q: They sit on their bookshelves. ("THAT'S BAD") At least the people who buy my book ("SHOULD") will read it.
D: But look at how many lives you've already touched.
Q: Exactly.
D: Me. ("NO") I'm a total stranger to you and I thank God that I've met you. ("YEAH")
Q: Yeah.
D: When you come in you brighten up the place.
Q: I know.
D: Hanna doesn't know you and we've just met you and you brighten ("RIGHT") up the place. And so there is a destiny for you. And I thank God. I'm grateful to God for that. ("AND")
Q: Well, I really appreciate all your hard work too. ("ARMAGEDDON") It's always a major proposition getting a major piece of art ("THANK ME") for a book. ("YEAH") It's always ("YEAH") very ("OUCH") complicated ("YOU'LL MEET" "YEAH") so thank you.
D: Alright.
Q: Okay.
D: Okay. ("FOR MY")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: THE DIRECTOR OF THIS MARTIN LAWRENCE GALLERIES OUTLET IS MICHAEL GUDELAUSKI.)
( . . . )
Q: (speaking into tape recorder) By the way — I'm driving home — recently I found the contact information for David Gahan at his record company. And I thought, "Boy, some time has gone by. He's probably out of rehab. I could leave a message for him now and he'd probably call me back and wouldn't that be a great way to end the book?" On second thought, I really don't know what I'd tell him now because I no longer think I am the reincarnation of Jesus — at least, there's no basis for that. My therapist was telling me today that a delusion is an incorrect fixed perception. So I guess it was delusional when I thought I was Jesus even though it was just a conclusion I was drawing based on events that I had experienced. So I guess I was delusional but not anymore because these are things that nobody can know for certain. But, anyway, so I don't know what I would tell him now. So maybe it's not such a good idea I would call him. But I had found the number and I was going to call him because I did think that would be a good way to end the book. But the number disappeared. I put it someplace where I knew I can easily get it. And it was not there. So I think Michael did something with the number, giving me a message that I shouldn't go ahead with this. So ("UH-HUH") in terms of ("SYM SYM") symbols, ("UM") it's hard to understand really what the symbolic meaning of this whole episode is. ("NO") Maybe a parallel can be seen between Jesus and John the Baptist because some people don't believe the baptism ever happened. So if John the Baptist never baptized Christ, then there's really no need for me to fulfill a prophecy with a telephone call to a pop singer. Also, after ("IN") interviewing Hanna and Denise, I asked Denise to give me their business cards to make sure I spelled the names right. And it turns out that Hanna's last name is King. When I got up this morning, I was going to quickly go over the people I've interviewed in various Paramount films but I realize it's a much bigger job than I had imagined because there are so many interviews over the years and I would retape over earlier interviews. For example, on the microcassette identified with "Townsend" I taped over it for interviews with Frank Marshall, Steven Metcalfe and other people. Some calls even concerned Monday reports of the weekend film grosses. Sometimes people would talk too fast when they would call me so I would ("EH") record the information and I can hear Michael on the tapes. ("UM NOT") I don't have time to go through them all but I heard him with his usual laughs and his usual breathing.
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: HERE IS ONE OF THE NUMEROUS PLACES ON THIS TAPE SIDE WHERE SPIRIT BREATHING CAN BE HEARD.)
("AND")
Q: At the very end of this one tape I just was listening to, I had apparently dialed Allison Jackson's intercom number and ("I'M") an assistant ("UH-HUH") somewhere else picked up and she said, "Oh, ("YOU") you reached the wrong extension. You should have dialed thirty-eight for Allison." And I said, "Well, that's what I dialed." "Oh, that's weird," she said. So Michael was having all kinds of fun, I guess. I'm sure He was. But ("IT'S JUST YEAH") I wish He'd let me know that He was there before. I mean ("I DON'T KNOW WHAT") what took Him so long? At least, He was having fun. I don't know if I always was. But ("YOU KNOW IT'S") I wonder if He was also having fun with any of the people I was interviewing. ("I") Doing things and what have you. ("UM") Like this one interview on the tape ("I WAS YOU KNOW") at Amblin with Frank Marshall you could hear Him laughing. So ("OOH I") with all the beautiful Norman Rockwell artwork on the wall, it just boggles the mind in terms of, you know, what He might take. So ("UH-HUH") it's interesting. ("AND OH") I have to go do my two hours on the Hotline so when I come back maybe I'll work on this a little bit. So far, the other tapes I listened to include special effects people and UFO experts for "Fire in the Sky." That's sort of a very interesting connection. ("NO" "UM") There was a tape of Mickey Rooney and Henry Gibson brainstorming about "Sonny Skies." I was there taping it and making notes for them way back when I was a talent agent. ("UM") One tape has my friend Tom translating German information about Julia Pastrana ("UM IN TUR") concerning various other sources that I had ("NOT") not been able to find yet. Apparently, there was a play written about Julia which I've never been able to find. And Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote about her and I don't know what book that was. Maybe in a book ("KAA" "WITH") where there's a character named Ella. But I don't think it's Uncle Tom's Cabin. ("OR THE PER") I don't think the time is right. ("NO" "UM") I also interviewed people on two of those "Friday the 13th" movies: ". . . The New Blood" and " . . . Jason Takes Manhattan."
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: WHAT FOLLOWS IS A PORTION OF A CONVERSATION I HAD WITH A FRIEND IDENTIFIED AS 'F' WHO ASKED ME ABOUT MY BROTHER'S NEW ADDRESS. THIS WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE I MET WHILE WORKING AT THE RUTH WEBB AGENCY. I REMEMBER OTHER OF THESE TEMPORARY WORKERS HAD SUCH LAST NAMES AS DOBSON AND RADARMAN. THIS INDIVIDUAL WORKS OCCASIONALLY AS A STAND-IN AND ACTRESS AND WAS CONCERNED SHE WOULD NEVER AGAIN BE ABLE TO WORK IN THE INDUSTRY SHE LOVES IF HER IDENTITY WERE TO BECOME KNOWN. SHE EXPLAINED SHE WOULD COMMIT SUICIDE IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN. AS NONE OF MY FRIENDS HAVE READ MY BOOK, THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT HONESTY IS ONE OF THE WAYS TO PROVE YOUR LOVE TO GOD. THIS LACK OF TRUTH IS ONE OF THE MANY SIGNS THAT EVERY FACET OF CULTURE REVOLVES AROUND GREED. WHEN PEOPLE ARE DISHONEST TO PROTECT THEIR SOCIAL STATUS, A SOCIETY IS FORMED WHERE THERE IS NO TRUE MORALITY. THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY PROVIDES A FAMILIAR EXAMPLE FOR PEOPLE TO SEE WHAT LIFE HAS BECOME IN THE 20TH CENTURY. MANKIND STILL HAS PAGAN IDOLS IN CELEBRITIES; AND INSTEAD OF USING ART FOR INSPIRED SELF-EXPRESSION IT IS EXPLOITED FOR WEALTH. THERE IS A MINDLESS, HEARTLESS QUEST FOR PERSONAL ACCUMULATION DESPITE THE WISDOM TRADITIONS OF ALL NATIONS EXPRESSING THAT THE ONLY RICHES TRANSCENDING DEATH ARE THOSE THAT COME FROM SHARING WITH OTHERS AND EACH EFFORT GIVEN TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.)
F: All I had was his old Micheltorena address. ("BUT")
Q: Did you hear what you just said? He used to live on Micheltorena? All my friends ("HAVE THESE") live on these streets that have Bel or Michael in their name. Like Bel Air. I mean do you know how many people live in Bel Air?
F: Well, yeah, you used to send me there to deliver things to Martha Raye. ("WHO")
(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: MARTHA WAS A RUTH WEBB AGENCY CLIENT.)
Q: That's something else that sort of bothers me. I mean I really love ("HER") Bette Midler. I think she's talented. I loved "The Rose." But she really screwed Martha royally. Because ("YOU KNOW SHE SHHH") you know she had this meeting with Martha.
F: That's disgraceful. ("THEY")
Q: Martha's manager, Nick, wanted a million dollars for her detailed life story. And, boy, could they have used it for that movie ("UH-HUH") "For The Boys" because if ever a film needed fleshing out it was that one.
F: Oh absolutely.
Q: So I really think they would have gotten their money's worth.
F: Um-huh. ("YOU KNOW")
Q: It's like why not pay a woman who lived this fabulous life what she's due in order to tell her story and get all the juicy details because, boy, do I know some juicy details. ("LIKE")
F: Right. But not only that. Well, see, I believe that Bette Midler has a severe problem in the fact that she never scratches beneath her own surface. ("COULDN'T IT") Playing Martha Raye and everything that was behind Martha Raye and her character would have made that person be an interesting character. Bette didn't think she was going to do anything other than be a loudmouth and walk through every scene being anyone other than Bette Midler. Like she did on stage in the '70s and that just doesn't work.
