# So, I was having brunch with Olivia de Havilland in Paris last week . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353 "2012-05-28T16:33:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/41 "2012-05-29T14:54:26Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > This beats the hell out of me chatting with Truman Capote, in the men’s room line at Studio 54 . . . and I didn’t even recognize him. That \*is \*pretty goddam cool–what did he say? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/42 "2012-05-29T15:22:39Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > –what did he say? No, I do \*not \*want to hear about Amway…!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/43 "2012-05-29T15:50:28Z")
Very cool. > [@Eve](#): > > . . . and if you don’t think I am going to casually work \*that \*into _every conversation_, including at the dry cleaner’s and the deli Heh. During my honeymoon, I was permitted to take the wheel of our windjammer cruise ship for about two minutes. My idyll ended abruptly when a stray schooner failed to acknowledge right-of-way and the captain, with strained politeness, asked me to yield the helm. But for weeks afterward I labored to work the story into mundane conversations. “Oh, your Excel table didn’t align correctly? That sort of thing _never_ happened back when I was steering the S/V _Flying Cloud_ through the Caribbean.” ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/44 "2012-05-29T20:54:34Z")
I’m impressed. I would have started a thread about just having heard that O dH was in the same town as me…but this! ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/45 "2012-05-30T00:51:31Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > No, I did not mention _Gone with the Wind_ or Errol Flynn, and my \*goodness \*not her sister! Did not ask for an autograph or take a photo, that would be _de trop_–I did tell her if she does write her memoirs, I will be happy to edit them for her, but I think she has pretty much given up on them. She could dictate them. Get her a Gooch! Then you edit (but no bleak childhoods, please). ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/46 "2012-05-30T01:00:17Z")
paris is indeed a magical city. i’m so glad you were able to chat up ms de havilland. so very wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/47 "2012-05-30T01:55:12Z")
> [@kombatminipig](#): > > I feel like I’m the only one completely clueless here…but how the heck and why? =) Is your general profession just being awesome? [Judge for yourself](http://evegolden.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/48 "2012-05-30T03:18:45Z")
I’ll squeal and jump up and down with you and I’m some stranger on the internet. She’d be pretty high on my list of golden age film stars still living to have tea with. Course, there aren’t many left. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/49 "2012-05-30T03:31:49Z")
So-had you met her before or did she hear through the grapevine that you were in Paris and just call you up out of the blue? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/50 "2012-05-30T04:00:00Z")
Well, as awesome as _THIS_ story is, I’m still waiting for your tale of your tryst with a charming French rake names Yves… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/51 "2012-05-30T13:30:48Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > So-had you met her before or did she hear through the grapevine that you were in Paris and just call you up out of the blue? OK, Lillian Gish gave me Olivia de Havilland’s address when I was writing my Jean Harlow book, and she was sweet enough to ask Irene Mayer Selznick to call me for an interview. Irene was a \*terrifying \*woman (and I am not easily terrified), but I kept in close touch with Lillian Gish till she died, and Livvie and I exchange cards and letters from time to time, so I mentioned I would be in Paris, and she e-mailed me (_Olivia de Havilland uses e-mail!!_) that she would love to have me drop by. (She \*has \*a Gooch, by the way, a lovely young lady named Megan) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/52 "2012-05-30T13:54:32Z")
I still think once you are done with your current book you should see if she would work with you on her biography. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/53 "2012-05-30T15:24:01Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I still think once you are done with your current book you should see if she would work with you on her biography. Nah, I don’t want to bug her. She knows I’m a writer, and I’m sure she knows \*lots \*of much better writers, and if she is interested, she’ll ask me. By the way, I found out it’s true, 50 million Frenchmen _can’t_ be wrong–but I was disappointed to learn that all the girls in France do \*not \*do the hoochie-coochie dance. Maybe, oh, 27 or 28 of them. And if there is a place in France where the ladies wear no pants, it was not on my itinerary. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/54 "2012-05-30T22:12:05Z")
Eve, I would have done almost anything to meet Lillian Gish, more, actually, than Olivia de Havilland. I’ve got some serious envy going here. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/55 "2012-05-30T22:43:13Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Eve, I would have done almost anything to meet Lillian Gish, more, actually, than Olivia de Havilland. I’ve got some serious envy going here. One thing not mentioned enough, I think, is that both Lillian Gish and Olivia de Havilland are (well, Lillian not so much anymore) really funny, witty women. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/56 "2012-05-31T11:29:08Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > OK, Lillian Gish gave me Olivia de Havilland’s address when I was writing my Jean Harlow book, and she was sweet enough to ask Irene Mayer Selznick to call me for an interview. Irene was a \*terrifying \*woman (and I am not easily terrified), but I kept in close touch with Lillian Gish till she died, and Livvie and I exchange cards and letters from time to time, so I mentioned I would be in Paris, and she e-mailed me (_Olivia de Havilland uses e-mail!!_) that she would love to have me drop by. > > (She \*has \*a Gooch, by the way, a lovely young lady named Megan) I would totally post something light-hearted and witty here, but I am _swooning_ from the awesome coolness of all this. I’ll just sit here in the corner until the palpitations settle down. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/57 "2012-05-31T12:08:13Z")
Eve, you have made my day. What was your book about Jean Harlow? I have been reading that book “1000 Movies You Must See Before You Die” and looking at Lillian Gish for the first few pages. You sound like you knew her quite well- did you do a book on her as well? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/58 "2012-05-31T13:14:51Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Eve, I would have done almost anything to meet Lillian Gish, more, actually, than Olivia de Havilland. I’ve got some serious envy going here. Yes, me too. I had family from Massillon, where she and Dorothy are still much revered. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/59 "2012-05-31T14:58:47Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Eve, you have made my day. What was your book about Jean Harlow? > > I have been reading that book “1000 Movies You Must See Before You Die” and looking at Lillian Gish for the first few pages. You sound like you knew her quite well- did you do a book on her as well? My Harlow book (pub. 1991) is called _Platinum Girl_ (I \*hate \*that title, but it was my first book, and not my place to argue). Miss Lillian wrote her own memoirs, and there have been other books about her as well, so no need for me to chime in. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353/60 "2012-05-31T16:22:00Z")
Whatever. I was once within 15 feet of Jimmie Freakin’ Walker (you know, Dy-No-MIte!), and you don’t see me running to the laptop and starting a gosh-dang thread about it. 😉 mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-was-having-brunch-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-paris-last-week/623353.md?page=4)