Did I ever imagine seventy-five years ago, I would be writing a blog. Of course not! Blogs at that time were nada; they were journals, letters, memoirs, etc. And along came the good and the bad of social media. I want to thank you for reading my blog, my blog that is taking a chance on social media. A special thank you to Betty Barnecut, Matt Karl, Sue Berman and Caroline Meade.
One niche of my long life was the trepidations, challenges and joys of lecturing at various ASID Conferences, Universities and Cruise Ships It allowed me to research a wide range of design subjects and their unsuppressed and unsurpassed achievements. I loved that research time! Please meet a few quixotic stars acting on their own stage!
TALES & TIDBITS OF….. They loved center stage convinced that it was solely their domain. Join me for a few of their enticing stories and their magnetic star power as we revisit tidbits of their yesterdays.
Amazingly, they are not all movie stars. Nope! The “they” include designers, architects—the who’s, who created legends in their time—the trailblazers!
I’d like you to imagine the lobby of the Dorchester Hotel in London after a World War II air raid. A beautiful woman in her late fifties with a magnolia complexion, black eyes and a neat, well-proportioned figure meets her ex-husband. She was about to sail to America. In an effort to enlist his attention and sympathy she said, “Oh Willie, I”m so afraid my ship will be torpedoed.”
Willie, who was afflicted with a severe stammer, but true to his form, said, “I have only one piece of advice to offer you. Keep your mouth open and sw-sw-swallow and you will drown the s-s-sooner.” The former Mrs. William Somerset Maugham began to cry. Her name was Syrie Bernardo Maugham!
In 1926, it was time for Syrie to move to center stage with the visually stimulating all-white rooms she created by exquisitely mixing different combinations of white and adding a multitude of shade and texture variations. The rooms were said to be impressive, gutsy and intelligent. Decorative arts historian, Stephen Calloway said, “Syrie’s all-white room is beyond doubt one of the two or three most famous and influential schemes of decoration of the century…it has been imitated for over fifty years.” It was not the first of its kind, (the totally white decor), but the publicity it received was cause for celebration; particularly for Syrie. The mirrored screen with its reflecting images was described by one visitor as being somewhat “hazardous”. It seems the glue holding the thin strips of mirror in place melted when the room became too warm. Pieces of glass would fall off without warning! This was still at the height of the all-white craze where the Parisienne collections showed white beachwear, white daytime and evening wear. Humorists had a field day with comments such as one regarding a fashion photo, “the movie star Jean Harlow appears to be constructed of equal parts of snow, marble and marshmallow, no human there; or regarding a trip to Calcutta with (Elsie de Wolfe-Lady Mendle.) “Syrie has gone to paint the Black Hole of Calcutta white!”
One admiring guest at her lavish parties was William Sommerset Maugham who was not interested in the decor but definitely interested in Syrie. At that time, he was one of London’s best-known playwrights who had four plays running simultaneously in the West End. Maugham had recently been rejected by an actress and he was said to be deeply hurt and humiliated. Syrie, who was pretty, popular and socially acceptable restored an inordinate amount of confidence in him.
They began an affair that was compatible until….
Humility was not in his DNA. His career spanned the years from l893 to l959, architecture that can be seen throughout the world, much of it restored to its former glory. It is characterized with soaring roof lines and unexpected light sources using natural materials, wood, stone and reflecting pools.
Frank Lloyd Wright was convinced he always knew a client’s mind better than the client did. Edgar Tofel, a former apprentice of Wright and a New York city architect, said, “he was so far ahead in terms of design that it took years before we got the building materials to catch up with him. No doubt why many of his roofs leaked.”
One client hosting a dinner party was angry because the roof was leaking over his dining room chair during a dinner party. He picked up the telephone and complained directly to Mr. Wright.
Mr. Wright with his imperious dignity told the client “move your chair.”
The world was his personal landscape. It never occurred to him to be affronted by critics or critiques. “He,” alone was a creator who always looked to the future!
Happily for us…we can still enter many of his wondrous doors.
When they left the sunlit streets and slipped into darkened theaters, celluloid wizards showed them the promise and excitement of glamour, memorable moments and splendid images. The early visionary movies, the set directors, the stars, the producers offered the public spellbinding theater fantasy. The future incandescent Gloria Swanson was a fifteen year old film extra who soon saw her name across marquee electric lights.
Her salary from Paramount in 1925 was $7,000 a week, or $98,000 in 2022 dollars. By the time she starred in Sunset Boulevard she had made more than 40 feature films, with costars ranging from Rudolph Valentino to Laurence Olivier. “I was the first Hollywood actress to produce and star in a picture in Europe, and I married a titled Frenchman” along with five other men.” She continued, “The public wanted us to live like kings and queens. So we did——and why not? We were making more money that we ever dreamed existed and there was no reason to believe it would ever stop.” (There was no income tax!)
At one of her parties there were three hundred guests who each received a favor of either a solid gold compact or a solid gold cigarette case. A liveried footman stood behind each guest’s chair.
Gloria was also an amateur sculptor, slowing in a London gallery. She and her team developed a carbide-steel-alloy cutting tool and developed the first plastic buttons for clothing.
She was a fifteen year old film extra whose dreams came true!
Sy’s Salient Points:
Syrie, Frank and Gloria had a heightened awareness and a sense of discipline that allowed them to continue transforming their originality, verve and substance.
- Lectures and articles from SYRIE, AN ARTICULATED ARCHITECT & HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD—-Sheila Yates
- Wayne Lawson quotes, ghostwriter for “Swanson on Swanson” published 1980
- Pictures: Gloria—https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-gloria-swanson/
- Frank—Pinterest
- Syrie—Richard B. Fisher Biography/Duckworth Publishing
Happy May Day Darling Blaire