More Hollywood Adventures, Drugs, Bad Boys

I have nothing new to say except the same old complaints, so - with the encouragement of more than a few beers - I'm ready to delve into the adventures of my long-ago Hollywood days.

 I'll do my best to present a sanitized version, although it won't be easy. My objective is not to shock, but rather to enlighten. I've had an interesting past and I occasionally get the unwholesome urge to confess.

I was never seriously into drugs. As a hypochondriac and a coward, I usually avoided them. I witnessed the destruction of numerous friends because of drugs and learned very bitter lessons from my observations. Admittedly, I occasionally indulged in some of the popular substances of the day - butyl nitrate, amyl nitrate, quaaludes, hashish, marijuana - but I never liked them. Alcohol was always my biggest vice - - and without it, the intensity of my Hollywood adventures would have been drastically diminished.

For the faint of heart, I can assure you that I haven't touched a drug in well over thirty years......

Drugs? I knew an alarming number of people who were into them. Bad boys? I knew many more than I care to admit.

Darren is the first who comes to mind. I met him when I was nineteen, still green,and still new to the Hollywood scene. He was actually a friend of a friend - and much older than myself. Darren was then in his forties (at least). He was the editor of a famous magazine and lived in an incredibly lavish house in the Hollywood Hills, with a staggering view of the city.

The only thing that Darren and I had in common was an intense love for Russian classical music. He had an extremely expensive Bechstein grand piano. He also had very rare old recordings of Russian piano music - Scriabin, Mussorgsky, Cui, Arensky, Medtner, Liadov. We listened to Russian music for hours. I also played the piano for hours, mostly Russian music, and especially Anton Rubinstein's Fourth Piano Concerto - which I was studying with a private teacher.

Darren smoked opium. His music salon was like a Chinese den of iniquity. I was unnerved to discover that Darren was also a male prostitute. He would turn "tricks" in his boudoir. We'd be listening to music. The phone would ring. A man would arrive at the door. Darren would escort him into a bedroom and have sex. At that time it shocked me. Later, I became unshockable - - in fact, it was I who often shocked others (don't attempt to read between lines).

Our friendship eventually cooled for two reasons:
I consistently spurned Darren's sexual advances. And he was jealous of me because - at the time - I was young and desirable. I didn't exactly know it, but I was.

You're wondering why the hell I'm writing all this crap down. Well, it's all completely true and - being drunk - I'm eager to purge myself of tidbits from my past.

John was an actor I lived with for awhile. He was an extremely flamboyant Hollywood character, who appeared in countless TV shows and movies. At that time I was merely an extra in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. We had lunch with Peter Frampton, which was interesting - to say the least.

It was through John that I met an endless array of Hollywood characters. Much of it is now merely a memory of colorful blurs......

I distinctly remember the two vampire Lesbians. They lived on the very top floor of an old Art Deco apartment building and only emerged at night. They were both beautiful, had raven hair, black fingernails, black clothing. They were sensual and exotic.
Were they genuine vampires? Heck, I like to think so. Did they bite? I'll never tell......

John had a major drug problem, of which I was initially not fully aware. A "supplier" would come to his house every other day. I'd never seen a drug dealer before. It was both horrifying and fascinating. It was kind of like Avon calling, but with a sinister twist. The drugs often invoked John's dark side. He had an explosive temper and we often fought. That was my main inspiration for severing our "friendship".

Ironically, John (yup, that's his real name) is still living in Hollywood and is still a flamboyant personality. I don't know how he survived all these years.

These were minor scenes from my relatively "innocent" and green Hollywood years. I'd be hesitant to reveal the hardcore years - the times when I was wild and street-wise and decadent. I look back on those years with awe and wonder - - because they contrast so radically from my present tame & dull West Texas lifestyle.

I'd like to write more, because I haven't even scratched the surface, but perhaps this is enough for one sitting........

Stay tuned. As long as I have beer,I also have more upcoming confessions.