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Just as Bob Oliver had before him, Zeppo took me to meet his family only because he was pressing me to be his wife. Whenever I saw he was getting up steam to propose, though, I quickly changed the subject or began an argument—anything to distract him. I didn’t want to be backed into a corner and have to turn him down, so I stalled him repeatedly. He was kind and generous, but I really didn’t want to marry him.

One of my chief reasons for avoiding his impending proposal, though, was that he wasn’t great with Bobby. Zeppo had no paternal instincts whatsoever, despite having adopted two children in his previous marriage. Although he tried for my sake to connect with my son, he always seemed relieved when Bobby went back to the military academy or to visit his grandparents. I’d already lived with a man who hadn’t taken to my son, and I didn’t want to have to go through all that again. Besides, I was relatively young and missed having my own money and a career. I had too much fire in me to live a dull life of retirement. Modeling in L.A. had never lost its allure and still seemed a realistic possibility, so after five months in the idyllic date palm oasis, I scooped up Bobby, kissed Zeppo good-bye, and headed a hundred miles west.

FOUR

My wedding day to Zeppo Marx, surrounded

by my famous brothers-in-law.

COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR

All or Nothing at All

Hoping to make at least enough to continue to pay for Bobby’s education, I presented myself at the Mary Webb Davis model agency on Sunset Boulevard. Camera-ready in my finest clothes, I sat waiting sometimes all day until they’d send me for a go-see.

Fortunately, I soon had bookings for runway shows at stores like Saks and Robinsons, modeling for some of those who made movie costumes during the Golden Age of Cinema. They liked me so much that they took me with them on the road. Traveling the globe for a fortnight at a time, we’d set up in fancy hotel suites, where I’d do a series of quick changes and show off the latest collections to prospective buyers.

The hours were long, from seven in the morning to midnight. The shoes were always the wrong size, and my feet hurt so much that I’d sit on the edge of the tub and run them under hot and cold water before easing them back in. My employers included Helen Rose and Irene Lentz (who went by their first names) as well as Howard Greer and Richard “Mr.” Blackwell. Howard designed for Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, and Rita Hayworth. After hours, Howard and his significant other, Bruce, dressed me up and used me as their beard. They told one bartender in a drag club that I was really a man and had to pull him off me when he went to check me out.

Helen Rose designed the most elegant clothes and went on to become head costume designer at MGM Studios. She made the clothes for Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis, and Grace Kelly in High Society and The Swan. When Grace married Prince Rainier of Monaco, she had Helen design her wedding dress. Irene Lentz was also a brilliant tailor. One of her biggest clients was Doris Day, and it was my frame Irene used to design the outfits Doris wore in the thriller Midnight Lace with Rex Harrison. I even made a small appearance in the film’s trailer as Doris’s double. My one and only moment on the silver screen had my face in shadow with no lines to stumble over. One night Irene fell asleep with an electric blanket covering her head and woke up with her face paralyzed. A few years later, she slashed her wrists and jumped out of a hotel window.

I never really liked Richard Blackwell, who designed for Jayne Mansfield, Dorothy Lamour, and Jane Russell, even though he used me as the fitting model on which he cut and draped many of his designs. He was mean to everyone around him, especially his boyfriend Spencer. In hotel suites, he’d have me slip in and out of up to thirty different outfits an hour with the help of my stylist Sidney while he gave a running commentary. I had to be available at any hour, so it was not unusual for