The Hemingway Curse?: Mariel and Margaux (Make Me Over, Episode 7)

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts. 

A close look at the parallel lives of Margaux and Mariel Hemingway, sisters born with a world-famous last name that stood for both genius and self-destruction. Both rose to fame in the 1970s, Margaux as a supermodel and Mariel as an actress, and then struggled with various demons. But while Margaux followed her grandfather's fate, Mariel confronted the family's dark legacy and reinvented herself as a mental health and wellness advocate.

This episode was written and performed by Michael Schulman, a writer at The New Yorker and the author of "Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep," a New York Times bestseller. His work has also appeared in Vanity Fair, the New York Times, and other publications. Special thanks to our guest star Tavi Gevinson, who played the Hemingway sisters in this episode. 

Margaux Hemingway Photographed by Francesco Scavullo, Vogue, April 1975

SHOW NOTES: 

Sources specific to this episode:

Finding My Balance: A Memoir by Mariel Hemingway

Out Came the Sun: Overcoming the Legacy of Mental Illness, Addiction, and Suicide in My Family by Mariel Hemingway

Hemingway: Winner Take Nothing directed by Michael Collins

Running from Crazy directed by Barbara Kopple

“Two Films That Subvert Feminism” by Frank Rich, New York Post, June 12, 1976

“Rape: Does It Wow ’Em in Peoria?” by Marjorie Rosen, Ms., July, 1976

“The Screen: ‘Lipstick’” by Vincent Canby, New York Times, April 3, 1976

“Not the Vintage Margaux” by Kristin McMurran, People, Feb. 8, 1988

“A Life Eclipsed” by Karen S. Schneider, People, July 15, 1996

Woody Allen and Mariel Hemingway in Manhattan, 1979

Music:

The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.  

Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode: 

Motion Picture - Colin Currie
Objective - Robert Edwards, Mark Anderson
Devil Heart - Daniel Horacio Diaz, Andre Paul Marie Charlier
Space Cocaine - Sammy Burdson, Lewis Parker
Ambient Registers - Colin Currie
Roguish Stroll - Toby Marsden, Harvey David Wade
Mists of Antiquity - Sidney John Kay
Black Virgin - Piotr Moss
A Picture of You - Roman Raithel
Pendulum - Didier Francois Dani Goret

Margaux and Mariel Hemingway at Studio 54, 1979

Credits:

Make Me Over is a special presentation of You Must Remember This. It was created and directed by Karina Longworth, who also edited the scripts.

This episode was written and performed by Michael Schulman. 

Guest star Tavi Gevinson played the Hemingway sisters. 

Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.

Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.

Producer: Tomeka Weatherspoon. 

Editor: Jared O'Connell.

Audio engineers: Jared O'Connell, Andrea Kristins and Brendan Burns. 

Supervising Producer: Josephine Martorana. 

Executive Producer: Chris Bannon. 

Logo design: Teddy Blanks and Aaron Nestor.

Hemingway Sisters Muffet, Margaux and Mariel with their father Jack

The Last of Jean/Jane Works Out (Jean and Jane Episode 9)

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Jean Seberg, now plagued with mental illness and alcoholism, comes to a tragic end in Paris. Jane Fonda reinvents herself, once again, for the 80s.

Jean Seberg with her third husband Dennis Berry, c. 1970's

Jean Seberg Les Hautes Solitudes, 1974 | Image via NYTimes & Film Desk

Jon Voight and Jane Fonda at the Academy Awards, 1979

Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda 9 to 5, 1980

Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda On Golden Pond, 1981

SHOW NOTES:  

Sources:

Played Out: The Jean Seberg Story by David Richards

Breathless by Garry McGee

My Life So Far by Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman by Patricia Bosworth

“The Vietnam Oscars” by Peter Biskind, Vanity Fair, March, 2008

“A Conversation with Philippe Garrel” by Vadim Rizov, January 13, 2016, filmmakermagazine.com

“A Showbiz Saint Grows Up or Whatever Happened to Jean Seberg” by Bart  Mills, June 16, 1974

“Review: ‘Les Hautes Solitudes,’ the Silent Sides of Jean Seberg (Mostly)” by Manohla Dargis, February 23, 2017

Music:

All of the music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro and outro, is from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca. Outro song: “Message of Love” by The Pretenders. Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode: “Meet Me In Queens 2” by Orjan Karlsson, “Dust 1” by Emil Axelsson, “My Island 3” by Jonatan Järpehag, “Quantum Jazz” by Chris MacLeod, “Devil’s Canyon 1” by Håkan Eriksson, “Groovy Development” by Christian Andersen, “The Diary” by Johannes Bornlof, “Into the Earth 4” by Gunnar Johnsen, “Drop World 6” by Niklas Ahlström, “Salty Breeze 1” by Martin Gauffin, “Readers Do You Read” by Chris Zabriskie, “Out of the Skies Under the Earth” by Chris Zabriskie, “My Island 2” by Jonatan Järpehag.

Sponsors:

This episode is sponsored by American Express and Naturebox and Great Courses Plus.

Credits:

This episode was edited by Sam Dingman, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Thelma Todd (Dead Blondes Episode 2)

Thelma Todd, c. 1930s

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Thelma Todd -- a curvaceous white-blonde who predated Jean Harlow -- was a sparkling comedienne who began in the silent era and flourished in the talkies, both holding her own opposite the Marx Brothers and playing straight woman in one of cinema’s first all-girl comedy teams. She was also an early celebrity entrepreneur, opening a hopping restaurant/bar with her name above the door. But today, Thelma is best remembered for her shocking 1935 death, which was deemed an accident but still sparks conspiracy theories that it was really murder.

Thelma Todd and Buster Keaton in Speak Easily (1932)

Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café, c. 1930's, Security Pacific National Bank Collection, Los Angeles Public Library Images

Show notes:

Sources specific to this episode:

With so much misinformation and speculation surrounding Todd’s death, it seemed ultra-important to approach my research for this episode with a critical eye. I ended up using as my main source William Donati’s The Life and Death of Thelma Todd. I was previously a fan of Donati’s biography of Ida Lupino, and his book on Todd seems to me to be the most objective analysis of the facts, with the least amount of speculation and hysteria. As noted in the episode, his informed ability to knock down the Lucky Luciano theory is particularly useful.

Garage where Thelma Todd Died, 1935, Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library Images

Other sources include:

A Blog For Thelma Todd includes many photos, scanned articles, links and information about Todd and theories about her death.

“Murder Of `30s Starlet Thelma Todd No Longer Mystery” by Frank Sanello, Chicago Tribune, May 05, 1991

“A Mystery Revisited, A building that figured in the unsolved death of actress Thelma Todd is for sale” by Robert W. Welkos, Los Angeles Times, May 29, 2002

“A Blonde in Babylon: The Death of Thelma Todd” by Benjamin Welton, Crime Magazine, Feb 10, 2014

Gloria Vanderbilt’s books The Rainbow Comes and the Rainbow Goes and It Seemed Important at the Time contain the most substantial observations of Pat DeCicco and his reputation that I’ve found. My understanding of DeCicco relationship to and work for Howard Hughes stems from my research for my book, particularly depositions and testimony given by DeCicco himself and his cousin, Albert Cubby Broccoli, in 1978 and 1983 as part of the long-running legal battles to determine control of Hughes’ estate. These documents were observed by me in the Texas State Archives in Austin.

Outro song: “She’s Not Dead” by The London Suede

Credits: 

This episode was edited by Sam Dingman, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.