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Part Three: 1949 – 1959, Hollywood Studios
More a Business than a Marriage

Toward the end of 1953, Aria and I decided that if we were going to live from hand to mouth why not do it in a nicer climate. We gave up the apartment, sold the furniture, and drove to California with the rest of our possessions, arriving just before Christmas. I’d bought a car in Hollywood with most of the proceeds from The Saracen Blade and we’d cashed in our return train tickets and driven back to New York.

We found a furnished two bedroom, single-story duplex in West Hollywood on Hilldale, with full use of, and direct entry to, a huge back yard. Aria had decided she wanted her own bedroom.

It was more a business relationship than a marriage. I had tried once or twice to get out of it, but each time she was able to lure me back, by playing so ill that I thought she was going to have a seizure. On one occasion, I packed an overnight bag and moved to a hotel for several days. A close friend with whom I stayed in contact called me at the hotel one afternoon and told me Aria was gravely ill. I hurried back to our apartment to find her in bed being cared for by a girlfriend who told me Aria hadn’t been able to keep any food down for days and refused to call a doctor. Having been throwing up all that time she looked tired and haggard. She made me feel that if I left it would destroy her. For such a great actress, it’s a shame she never made it. During a several month period, after I moved back in, she was meek as a lamb, but slowly worked her way back into the driver’s seat. It was amazing how, through mutual friends whom she was also able to control, they could convince me I’d be lost without her.


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