The Hiltons: The True Story of an American Dynasty (83 page)

Legal documents referenced: “Deposition of Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara” (July 9, 1979; July 10, 1979); “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979).

NOTES

The conversation between Conrad Hilton and Nicky Hilton found in “ ‘Tired of Being Misunderstood’ ” was witnessed by Bob Neal, and is reconstructed here using his first-person account.

The quote from Frank Wangeman is drawn from “Personal Account: A Hotel Man Remembers,”
New York Times
, December 2, 1990.

The conversation between Nicky Hilton, Barron Hilton, and Conrad Hilton in “Showdown” was witnessed by Bob Neal and reconstructed using his first-person account.

I referenced “The Oral History and Interview of Frank Wangeman” by Cathleen D. Baird.

I also referenced the “Hilton Hotels Corporation Annual Report” (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969).

Trish Enters Conrad’s Den/Nicky Considers Suing His Family/From Kings to Paupers/Trish Tries Again with Conrad

Interviews conducted: Arthur Crowley (January 4, 2005); Stewart Armstrong (November 13, 2011; November 14, 2011; November 15, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; June 15, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012); Patricia McClintock Hilton (April 2, 2012; April 8, 2012; April 16, 2012; April 20, 12); Myron Harpole (August 15, 2012; August 17, 2012; August 20, 2012).

Volumes referenced:
Be My Guest
by Conrad Hilton;
The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story
by Whitney Bolton;
Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture
by Annabel Jane Wharton.

Articles referenced: “Nicky Hilton’s Wife Filed for Divorce?,” Associated Press, February 11, 1964; Hedda Hopper, “Nicky Hilton and Wife in Marital Trouble,”
Los Angeles Times
, March 11, 1964; Louella Parsons, “Nicky Hilton’s Abroad,”
Herald-Examiner
, May 15, 1965; “Nicky Hilton Threatens Expose,”
Los Angeles Times
, June 11, 1968; Hedda Hopper, “Nicky Hilton v. Family,”
Los Angeles Times
, December 11, 1968; Louella Parsons, “Nicky Hilton Ousted?,”
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
, January 4, 1969; Christopher P. Anderson, “The Barron of Las Vegas Is a Buttoned-Down Hilton,”
People
, September 8, 1975; Daniel R. Lee, “How They Started: The Growth of Four Hotel Giants,”
Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly
, May 1985; “Honeymoon Hotelier: Hilton’s Stock Quickly Doubled,”
Financial World
, January 21, 1997; Melanie F. Gibbs, “Hilton Hotels Corp: The Sleeping Giant Awakes,”
National Real Estate Investor
, February 1997; Christina Binkley, “Hilton Shareholders Approve the Spinoff of Gambling Unit,”
Wall Street Journal
, November 25, 1998; Christina Binkley, “Hilton Agrees to Pay $4 Billion for Promus,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 8, 1999); Bill Dwyre, “Barron Hilton’s Chargers Turned Short Stay into Long-Term Success,”
Los Angeles Times
, November 30, 2009.

NOTES

The conversations between Patricia McClintock Hilton and Conrad Hilton in “Trish Enters Conrad’s Den” and in “Trish Tries Again with Conrad” were reconstructed using her first-person accounts.

The meeting between Arthur Crowley and Nicky Hilton was reconstructed using Crowley’s first-person accounts. Mr. Crowley was interviewed regarding Nicky Hilton on January 3, 2005, for my biography of Elizabeth Taylor,
Elizabeth.

The conversation between Nicky Hilton and Stewart Armstrong in “From Kings to Paupers” was reconstructed based on Armstrong’s first-person account.

“Connie talked about Nicky a lot,” his niece Frances Peterson confirmed in her interview for this book. “He said he was sorry the way Nicky had ruined his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor, and that he felt badly that Elizabeth had gotten such a raw deal out of it. He said he had empathy for Elizabeth. He also told me that, as he got older, he had come to a new understanding of Nicky’s pain and suffering, and that he now viewed Nicky’s alcoholism as a disease and not a human weakness. He talked about the TWA takeover and said he regretted the way it happened, but that it was purely business. Still, it hurt him because of what it did to Nicky. So, yes, Nicky was on his mind a lot.”

Marilyn Hilton’s Plea to Elizabeth Taylor/Elizabeth Makes a Decision/A Grasp at Happiness/The Death of Nicky Hilton/The Wake at Casa Encantada

Interviews conducted: Patricia Skipworth Hilton (February 27, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012; June 15, 2012); Patricia McClintock Hilton (April 2, 2012; April 8, 2012; April 16, 2012; April 20, 2012); Robert Wentworth (June 11, 2012; June 12, 2012; June 13, 2012).

Volumes referenced:
Be My Guest
by Conrad Hilton;
The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story
by Whitney Bolton;
Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture
by Annabel Jane Wharton;
House of Hilton
by Jess Oppenheimer.

Articles referenced: “Hilton: The Stuff of a Hotel Man,”
Newsweek
cover story on Conrad Hilton, September 27, 1954; Christopher P. Anderson, “The Barron of Las Vegas Is a Buttoned-Down Hilton,”
People
, September 8, 1975; Jeff Higley, “Hilton’s Portfolio Set for Long Haul,”
Hotel and Motel Management
, February 19, 2001; Daniel R. Lee, “How They Started: The Growth of Four Hotel Giants,”
Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly
, May 1985.

NOTES

The meetings that took place between Marilyn Hilton and Elizabeth Taylor were recounted by a close friend of Marilyn Hilton’s who requested anonymity.

The conversations between Trish Hilton and Nicky Hilton in “A Grasp at Happiness” and “The Death of Nicky Hilton” were reconstructed using Mrs. Hilton’s first-person accounts.

The conversation between Patricia Skipworth Hilton and Barron Hilton in “The Death of Nicky Hilton” was reconstructed using Mrs. Hilton’s first-person account.

PART TEN. SECRETS

Interviews conducted: Carole Wells Doheny, (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012; June 15, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012).

Volumes referenced:
Be My Guest
by Conrad Hilton;
The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story
by Whitney Bolton;
Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture
by Annabel Jane Wharton.

Articles referenced: Christopher P. Anderson, “The Barron of Las Vegas Is a Buttoned-Down Hilton,”
People
, September 8, 1975; Christina Binkley, “Hilton Agrees to Pay $4 Billion for Promus,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 8, 1999; Christina Binkley, “Hilton Shareholders Approve the Spinoff of Gambling Unit,”
Wall Street Journal
, November 25, 1998; Bill Dwyre, “Barron Hilton’s Chargers Turned Short Stay into Long-Term Success,”
Los Angeles Times
, November 30, 2009.

Legal documents referenced: “Codicil to Last Will and Testament of Conrad N. Hilton” (April 1, 1947); “Hilton Hotels Corporation Press Release” (April 23, 1947); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad N. Hilton” (June 3, 1955); miscellaneous file notes from
Zsa Gabor Plaintiff vs. Fawcett Publications, Inc.
(November 1960); “Letter from Conrad N. Hilton to Francesca Hilton” (September 20, 1971); “Letter from Conrad N. Hilton to Mr. G. Bentley Ryan and Mrs. Olive M. Wakeman” (September 20, 1971); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad N. Hilton” (October 31, 1973); “Contestant Constance Francesca Hilton’s Responses to Defendants William Barron Hilton and James E. Bates Interrogatories” (July 20, 1979); “Deposition of Olive Wakeman” (September 12, 1979); “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979); “Deposition of Constance Francesca Hilton” (September 12, 1979; September 13, 1979; September 14, 1979); “Deposition of Frances Kelly Hilton” (October 19, 1979); “Declaration of Constance Francesca Hilton” (March 24, 1980).

Television programs referenced:
The Joey Bishop Show
, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, July 14, 1969;
The David Frost Show
, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, August 20, 1970;
The David Frost Show
, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 12, 1970;
Phil Donahue
, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, August 10, 1971;
One on One with John Tesh
, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, September 10, 1991;
Larry King Live
, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 26, 1991;
Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World
, Arts & Entertainment, 2005;
The Hiltons
, Arts & Entertainment, 2005;
Biography: Conrad Hilton
, CNBC, 2010.

NOTES

Zsa Zsa Gabor’s telegram (October 29, 1968), and Conrad Hilton’s response to it (October 29, 1968), were both produced in the discovery process of the case
Constance Francesca Hilton v. Frances Hilton
.

All of the dialogue between Francesca Hilton and Conrad Hilton on August 13, 1971 (“A Shocking Revelation”), was reconstructed here using quotes from Francesca Hilton’s deposition (September 12, 1979) and Olive Wakeman’s deposition (September 12, 1979). In attorney Ralph Nutter’s summation of Francesca Hilton’s deposition, he attempted to provide an answer as to why Hilton would not want Francesca to live with him at Casa Encantada: “The likely explanation for this ‘polite’ response is that it would be both awkward and disruptive to an 84-year-old man, used to his privacy, to have a 24-year-old woman, who had never lived with him before, suddenly living under the same roof.”

The conversation between Olive Wakeman and Francesca Hilton that took place on August 14, 1971 (“A Shocking Revelation”), was reconstructed using Olive Wakeman’s deposition (September 12, 1979). Also, I relied on Conrad Hilton’s letter to Francesca Hilton (September 18, 1971).

The conversations between Olive Wakeman, Conrad Hilton, and G. Bentley Ryan on September 18, 1971, were reconstructed using Olive Wakeman’s deposition (September 12, 1979).

The letters to Francesca Hilton and to Olive Wakeman and G. Bentley Ryan—both dictated by Conrad Hilton (September 18, 1971)—were produced in the discovery process of the case
Constance Francesca Hilton v. Frances Hilton
.

The conversation between Carole Wells Doheny and Conrad Hilton that took place on February 21, 1973, in “The Challenge” was reconstructed using Carol Wells Doheny’s first-person account.

I also referenced “Declaration of Constance Francesca Hilton” (March 24, 1980). There were a few more interesting statements made by Francesca in that declaration:

Over the years, my father and I were photographed together on a number of occasions such as Christmas, parties, graduations and similar events. For example, on some of the Christmases we spent together, my father had his butler or a professional photographer take pictures of us opening presents. I can recall both in my father’s presence and in connection with the pictures taken of us, people stating how much we looked alike.

My father and I attended mass together from time to time and in this, a well as my other contacts with him, I observed that he was devoted to his religion. Although I cannot now recall his words, he expressed to me that he was still disturbed by the period of time he was deprived of participation in the sacraments of the church due to his marriage to my mother. Without displaying any bad feelings toward me, he indicated that he associated me with that time in his life. My father showed me prayers which he had written, some of which had been published. He spoke of the importance of religion and the power of prayer. He expressed his belief that his religion was the single most important aspect of his life.

While I am aware of certain arguments which occurred between my mother and father—such as a disagreement over who should pay a bill at the London Hilton in 1968—I personally observed the relationship between my parents to be warm and friendly throughout the years. From what I observed each was genuinely fond of each other.

PART ELEVEN. FRANCES

At Long Last Love/Frannie/A Gentle Nudge/Best Friend’s Advice/Family Concerns

Interviews conducted: Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 10, 2012); Anna Fragatos (July 5, 2012; August 3, 2012; September 2, 2012; October 11, 2012); William P. Kelly (July 19, 2012, July 20, 2012); Frances Kelly Fawcett Peterson (July 20, 2012; July 30, 2012; August 5, 2012); Helen Lamm (July 25, 2012); Debbie Reynolds (August 2, 2012).