Victoria Riskin‘s new family memoir lets us in on a “secret” that’s been staring back at us from photographs of feline-loving Glenda Farrell. Riskin quotes the actress as saying to a reporter asking about love in her life, “I love several men, three cats, and one city.” The city was New York City; One of the men was Victoria’s father screenwriter Robert Riskin (The other two were her father and son); and two of the three cats were twin Siamese, gifts from Riskin. He liked surprising her with special presents, and he knew she always had wanted a pair.
It’s a delight reading about the warm, carefree, and mature relationship the pair shared. They were true companions. They met on the set of LADY FOR A DAY (1933), and they began a quiet life of eating out, attending the theatre, dining at home with her family, and picnicking. While both were busy building careers, and long days on set kept them apart often, troubles came from outside their relationship. The studio ordered them to make appearances for publicity’s sake and touted their engagement, and the tabloids took to gossiping about their love life.
The outside pressures proved too much as did Farrell’s realization that her relationship had plateaued. Robert Riskin had no inclination toward or intention of marrying her. They weren’t really engaged. He was too happy enjoying his bachelor lifestyle. Not that he catted around. “His life was filled with writing, friends, political and union causes, reading, and playing golf and tennis and the horses and poker.” While he was away on a trip to Europe, she decided to end things. She wanted to keep working and build a financially secure future for her family. Nothing could threaten her plan.
Despite returning home to find out from the press they were through and despite remaining “crazy” for the actress, Robert Riskin understood, and they remained good friends, even later taking a platonic cruise to Europe together. He would repeat a similar pattern with a more famous Hollywood blonde, Carole Lombard. It would be a brunette who finally stole his whole heart.
After their relationship ended, there remained the cats. The cats she loved, cared for, and posed with in a series of charming publicity photos.
Reference
Riskin, Victoria. Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir. 1st ed., Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2019.
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