Monday, October 1, 2018
Sunday, September 30, 2018
More Early Years
Mr Williams invited her to stay in his pool house,she did and a decade later she was still there.
They had an intense relationship which I will go into in a later post. Viola would remain in Key West until 1994 when I moved her to St Petersburg FL.So except for those few years in Miami Viola was in Key West from the late 40,s until 1994.Just as a side note Viola got her nickname from one of my employees at Tamarinds Bistro the first time I took her into the restaurant one of my employees looked up (Viola had a very heavy hand that day with the make up) Her looked up and said "MY God its a Lipstick Goddess" the name stuck.
The Early Years
Im not going to waste a lot of space on this subject. Its well documented in Conrad Veidts biography "From Calagari to Casablanca" by Jerry Allen. But to understand our Goddess you will need a little background information.
Viola was the daughter of international film star Conrad Veidt and his wealthy socialite wife Felicitates Radke, Her Grandmother was a Countess and her Grandfather a diplomat for the Kaiser.
Viola was an only child and grew up with great privilege . She crossed the Atlantic seven time in first class on those great ships of the early 20th century,At age four she had her first mink coat.
The Veidts had homes in Berlin,St Moritz ,London,and Beverly Hills,They had a suite in one of Vienna s most fashionable hotels and one at the Waldorf in New York.
As she got older Viola was sent to an elite boarding school where Maria Riva Dietrich's daughter was her room mate. On weekends Marlene would take the girls home and cook wonderful German food.
When she was younger her favorite babysitter was Greta Garbo. Hollywood was a tight community in those day and the expatriates tended to hang together.
During the war (WW2) Viola and her mother fled to Switzerland where they stayed in The Winter Palace Hotel with the Prince and Princess of Spain.It was there on the radio Viola learned of her fathers death at age 49. She would never get over it.
After the war she moved to New York where she modeled and shared an apartment with Diana Barrymore and Sarah Churchill. Her mother was always one of the best dressed woman in the world and knew Pauline Pfeiffer the Paris editor of Vogue magazine ,she later became Mrs. Ernest Hemingway. Tired of the hustle and bustle of Manhattan Viola decided to visit Key West.She feel in love with the laid back tropical atmosphere and moved,getting a job singing cabaret style at the tradewinds nightclub on Caroline St.She became friends with the Truman's and used to play cards with Harry and shop Duval St with Margaret.Then came her disaster stay in Miami where she would meet both men she would marry and divorce.The first an airline pilot the second a broke New York socialite who embezzled all of her money.Broke she went and stayed with friend Lilly Pulitzer in Palm Beach and managed the designer boutique at Saks. It was there where she meet playwright Tennessee Williams.The rest is history
Viola was the daughter of international film star Conrad Veidt and his wealthy socialite wife Felicitates Radke, Her Grandmother was a Countess and her Grandfather a diplomat for the Kaiser.
Viola was an only child and grew up with great privilege . She crossed the Atlantic seven time in first class on those great ships of the early 20th century,At age four she had her first mink coat.
The Veidts had homes in Berlin,St Moritz ,London,and Beverly Hills,They had a suite in one of Vienna s most fashionable hotels and one at the Waldorf in New York.
As she got older Viola was sent to an elite boarding school where Maria Riva Dietrich's daughter was her room mate. On weekends Marlene would take the girls home and cook wonderful German food.
When she was younger her favorite babysitter was Greta Garbo. Hollywood was a tight community in those day and the expatriates tended to hang together.
During the war (WW2) Viola and her mother fled to Switzerland where they stayed in The Winter Palace Hotel with the Prince and Princess of Spain.It was there on the radio Viola learned of her fathers death at age 49. She would never get over it.
After the war she moved to New York where she modeled and shared an apartment with Diana Barrymore and Sarah Churchill. Her mother was always one of the best dressed woman in the world and knew Pauline Pfeiffer the Paris editor of Vogue magazine ,she later became Mrs. Ernest Hemingway. Tired of the hustle and bustle of Manhattan Viola decided to visit Key West.She feel in love with the laid back tropical atmosphere and moved,getting a job singing cabaret style at the tradewinds nightclub on Caroline St.She became friends with the Truman's and used to play cards with Harry and shop Duval St with Margaret.Then came her disaster stay in Miami where she would meet both men she would marry and divorce.The first an airline pilot the second a broke New York socialite who embezzled all of her money.Broke she went and stayed with friend Lilly Pulitzer in Palm Beach and managed the designer boutique at Saks. It was there where she meet playwright Tennessee Williams.The rest is history
Saturday, September 29, 2018
The start
This Blog is going going to be about my life in Key West Fl.I will try to keep it in chronological order as best as possible.A great deal (but not all) will center around Viola Veidt,the eccentric daughter of movie star Conrad Veidt,one of the stars of Casablanca. He was an international film star in his day and made over 100 films.Viola was also a constant companion of Tennessee Williams for many years.Along this journey you will meet her many other friends,including, Tallulah Bankhead,Barbra Hutton,Vincent Price,Great Garbo,Marlene Dietrich,Diana Barrymore and countless others. Viola was cafe society after the war so between her Hollywood connections and New York connections there is an interesting life to share to say the least..Some of my Key West memories are very interesting as well.I also have many photos to scan and share with you.
Let me get to work on this.Sit back enjoy the ride and prepare to laugh and cry.
James Henry
New Orleans La
Let me get to work on this.Sit back enjoy the ride and prepare to laugh and cry.
James Henry
New Orleans La
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