The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton: A True Story of Conjoined Twins by Dean Jensen

Author:Dean Jensen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Performing Arts, Theater, Photography, General, Biography & Autobiography, Rich & Famous, History
ISBN: 9780307814777
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Published: 2012-12-12T08:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

HOW TO MANAGE A BRIDE WHEN HER SISTER IS PRESENT ON ALL OCCASIONS

Daisy and Violet’s understanding of financial matters may have been confused with the study of the atmosphere. They seemed to believe that money was only slightly less plentiful than the air they inhaled. Once they were on their own, in fact, they developed an attitude toward money that almost seemed contemptuous. They appeared to view it as a mere medium of exchange that was to be kept for the shortest interval possible before being turned into fur coats, honoraria for boyfriends, and salaries for chauffeurs, maids, secretaries, and other assorted attendants.

The sisters began maintaining two residences in the fall of 1932 and then almost never stayed at either one of them. One of their mail drops was the San Antonio apartment where they set up housekeeping after breaking free from the Myers. And soon after finishing the shooting for Freaks, they signed a lease for sumptuous quarters in a New York apartment building at 25 Central Park West that became a haven for other stage entertainers, actors, opera stars, and show producers.

It was in Chicago and its environs, however, not San Antonio or New York, where Daisy and Violet were most likely to be found late in 1932. The explanation for their gravitation to the Windy City was elemental enough. After tearfully turning down troubadour Don Galvan’s marriage proposal a year and a half earlier and believing she would never meet another man whom she could adore as much, Daisy was again in love. Her new interest was Jack Lewis. Popularly known as the “Boy Maestro,” Lewis was a Chicagoan, and it was in his hometown that his orchestra had its biggest following.

Lewis and Daisy were introduced to one another in the New York offices of Ferd (Ferdinand) Simon, one of the country’s most powerful talent agents, who had just signed a contract to represent the Hilton sisters in their business affairs. Lewis, who had been represented by Ferd Simon since the time he started touring with his own orchestra at seventeen, was walking out of the talent agency offices at the same time Daisy and Violet were entering. He had seen Daisy for only seconds in their initial encounter, but, as he would recall later, his attraction to her was “immediate and profound.”1

Twenty or thirty minutes later, after Daisy and Violet had finished their business with Simon and exited the building, they saw Lewis leaning against a taxicab with its rear door open. He was short and slight and still looked boyish, but he was splendidly turned out with a fashionable fur-collared camel hair coat and a Stetson hat. Daisy noted a shyness in his expression.

Lewis touched the brim of his brown felt hat. “Hello again, Daisy and Violet. Because we’re now sharing the same agent, I think it’s time we get to know one another. I’d be honored if you’d join me for dinner.”

A moment later, the three were whisked away by cab to a trendy supper club where Lewis was a regular.

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