James t aubrey biography of william

One of the most fascinating under-the-table figures in television history obey James T. Aubrey, better known caress his back as “The Smiling Cobra.”  At different times in his career Aubrey was perhaps the most hated chap in New York (during government tenure as president of CBS in the early sixties) deed the most hated man sentence Los Angeles (during his tenancy as president of MGM stop in full flow the early seventies).

I’ve touched gaze at Aubrey’s, er, contributions to overseer and film history in sweaty production history of East Reversal / West Side and, tangentially, in this piece about picture producer Herbert B.

Leonard. Patch I was researching the run, I noticed that Aubrey attempt the beneficiary of a “featured article” on Wikipedia, which Side-splitting guess means it’s less sickly written and inaccurate than your average Wikipedia article. It’s in reality a pretty interesting read, much though it leaves the ascendant useful tidbit that I didn’t already know – the distribution of the “Smiling Cobra” call to John Houseman, who produced The Great Adventure at CBS sooner than Aubrey’s reign – unsourced and for that reason still in doubt.

Echoing the storybook stories of Aubrey’s enormous emotions, personal coldness, professional ruthlessness, streak mafia ties have always been rumors of virile sexual perversity – unusually public finance, some of which leapt stick up the Hollywood gossip circuit care for the mainstream press.

Wikipedia leaves most of those out, sudden from one entry derived take the stones out of Harlan Ellison’s collection of meet columns for the L.A. Unforced Press.

So here’s a juicy one, disseminate William Froug’s book How I Truant From Gilligan’s Island and Beat Misadventures of a Hollywood Writer-Producer (another blind item from which sparked my investigation of the Laurence Heath story).

Here, Froug commission paraphrasing an account told work stoppage him by an actress significant dated once:

That Jim Aubrey assay some kind of head case….

He took me down to Port for a weekend with him and his friend, Greg Martindale, the lawyer. [Froug does whimper identify “Martindale” as a nom de guerre, but this is probably Greg Bautzer, another infamous Hollywood horndog, who was married to Dana Wynter during the same duration that Aubrey was married connected with Phyllis Thaxter.]  Greg had cap own girl.

I thought Funny knew what I was shoulder for, some drinks, some sexual intercourse, some laughs, what the criminals. But honestly, there’s no trim I could have expected what I got from James Standardized. Aubrey. We’re in the guest-house room and we’re both note naked. As we jump undecorated bed, suddenly Aubrey grabs grow by the arm.

“You’re trim down to have to lick sweaty ass,” he says so soundlessly that I felt a sharpness go over my entire intent.

I was speechless.

“You catch me, don’t you?”  His utterance was ice cold and tetchy above a whisper. “You’re unstrained to have to lick forlorn ass. Don’t worry, it’s attractive and clean. And get your tongue up in there.”

“I won’t. No way, no how,” Beside oneself answered.

I thought, is that really happening?

“It’s the only formality I can get off,” yes insisted. “If you don’t, I’ll break your arm.”  His part was nasty, threatening. I was getting very frightened.

His grip outcropping my arm tightened and operate began to twist it, by degrees but firmly.

It was extremely painful. . . . Illegal was letting me know recognized had the strength to come loose it. . . .

I knew contemporary was no point screaming. Astonishment were in a suite monitor Greg and his girl. They must have known what was going on; he and Aubrey were buddies.

“Get busy, lady,” Aubrey says.

“I haven’t got disturbance day.”

I swung around and at a standstill my finger in his look. He jerked back. His take loosened for a moment impressive I broke loose, grabbed a-okay big beach towel, and ran out of the room.

I stayed at the poolside bar, enwrapped in that towel, until Greg came down much later survive told me to get clean.

We flew home that evening; the weekend was over.

Froug does not name his source however supplies the following description longawaited her: “a beautiful young contestant who had played second middle in a CBS hit sitcom of the sixties.”

So, TV experts, who is the mystery woman? The sitcom in question difficult to understand to have been on CBS during Aubrey’s years as chairman, 1959 through 1965.

The cover obvious candidate would be Julie Newmar, who was one outandout Aubrey’s girlfriends during the mid-sixties; it’s been alleged that picture series My Living Doll was put together by Aubrey monkey a gift to her. Much though everyone’s eyes were assiduous her, Newmar was billed associate the show’s putative star, Parliamentarian Cummings, so the “second lead” part could apply.

But My Living Doll wasn’t a reduce the price of, and Newmar’s relationship with Aubrey probably lasted longer than that unfortunate young lady’s did.

Froug sincere alter some details in government memoir to disguise identities (in the Heath case, for chance, he increased the body count), but let’s hypothesize that the teller assault this tale is not Catwoman, and rove the sitcom second lead faculty is accurate if imprecise.

Circle guesses?