date, but, like so many who ended up
in Hollywood, paths often crossed early in theircareers in the summer stock playhouses around New York. That early encounter would be recalled later when Sekulovich, having
changed his name to Karl Malden, also became famous and was instrumental in giving Michael Douglas a much-needed hand. It
was also at Tamarack during one of several debates about what he would call himself – Issy Demsky did not sound suitable for
star billing – that Issur chose the name Kirk Douglas.
There were other fateful meetings as he began his student days at the academy. Betty (later Lauren) Bacall was barely sixteen
and in her junior year at the academy when they first met in 1940. Today, she has fond memories of the days when they were
struggling to make ends meet, Kirk more so than herself. He was, she recalls, very poor, ‘absolutely no money at all’, and
out of school he became the best busboy and then the best waiter at Schrafft’s on Broadway, close to Bacall’s little apartment.
She was infatuated by his presence – ‘he was my hero when I saw him on stage at the academy’ – and loved to watch him work.
She took him home that winter and persuaded her uncle Charlie to give him one of his overcoats. In her own words, Lauren was
a nice Jewish girl and ‘nice Jewish girls stayed virgins until they were married’.
Even so, she apparently had hopes of a relationship. They dated and did some intensive necking in his tiny little flat, which
he rented for $2 a week. She admits ruefully, however, that he did not pursue her, and she would write poetry about her unrequited
love.
He was more interested in one of the seniors at the academy, a girl named Diana Dill. She was, coincidentally, a good friendof Lauren’s and had warned Lauren off ‘getting involved with actors’ one day when Kirk’s name cropped up in conversation.
Lauren did not mention that secretly she daydreamed of a future with Kirk, both romantically and acting together on Broadway.
Not long afterwards, Lauren discovered that Kirk and Diana were dating and her hopes of a romance were dashed. But Bacall
had yet an important role in Kirk’s life – helping him get his first big break in Hollywood.
At the time, Diana Dill was no more than a casual date. They were both more interested in finishing their studies. There remained,
in him at least, a certain longer-lasting attraction which would not materialise until later, long after they had left the
academy. Kirk described it as an attraction of opposites. Diana came from a socially élite, though not especially wealthy,
family of British origin in Bermuda. Her father was Thomas Neville Dill, Crown solicitor in the British colonial administration
on the island.
When they both graduated from AADA in 1941, neither had a particular hankering to see each other again. He hung around New
York, trying for work on Broadway, while Diana had ambitions of making it to Hollywood. She went west, and the next time Kirk
saw her was on the cover of
Life
magazine for some movieland feature. By this time he had been drafted for military service, in the navy, as a communication
officer in antisubmarine warfare, having spent 120 days furthering his education at the Notre Dame Midshipman’s School.
Legend has it that when he saw Diana on the front of the magazine, he boasted to his shipmates: ‘I know her … and furthermore
I’m going to marry her.’
No one took him very seriously, but Kirk wrote to Diana care of
Life
magazine, who eventually forwarded the ‘Remember me?’ missive to her agent. By then, she was back in New York; the Hollywood
vision of discovery had faded and she had resorted to modelling. Eventually, during a two-week leave, they met up in New York
and spent a good deal of time together. They met as often as they were able and wrote to each other daily. The romance blossomed
during the uncertainties of war, with snatched
in Hollywood, paths often crossed early in theircareers in the summer stock playhouses around New York. That early encounter would be recalled later when Sekulovich, having
changed his name to Karl Malden, also became famous and was instrumental in giving Michael Douglas a much-needed hand. It
was also at Tamarack during one of several debates about what he would call himself – Issy Demsky did not sound suitable for
star billing – that Issur chose the name Kirk Douglas.
There were other fateful meetings as he began his student days at the academy. Betty (later Lauren) Bacall was barely sixteen
and in her junior year at the academy when they first met in 1940. Today, she has fond memories of the days when they were
struggling to make ends meet, Kirk more so than herself. He was, she recalls, very poor, ‘absolutely no money at all’, and
out of school he became the best busboy and then the best waiter at Schrafft’s on Broadway, close to Bacall’s little apartment.
She was infatuated by his presence – ‘he was my hero when I saw him on stage at the academy’ – and loved to watch him work.
She took him home that winter and persuaded her uncle Charlie to give him one of his overcoats. In her own words, Lauren was
a nice Jewish girl and ‘nice Jewish girls stayed virgins until they were married’.
Even so, she apparently had hopes of a relationship. They dated and did some intensive necking in his tiny little flat, which
he rented for $2 a week. She admits ruefully, however, that he did not pursue her, and she would write poetry about her unrequited
love.
He was more interested in one of the seniors at the academy, a girl named Diana Dill. She was, coincidentally, a good friendof Lauren’s and had warned Lauren off ‘getting involved with actors’ one day when Kirk’s name cropped up in conversation.
Lauren did not mention that secretly she daydreamed of a future with Kirk, both romantically and acting together on Broadway.
Not long afterwards, Lauren discovered that Kirk and Diana were dating and her hopes of a romance were dashed. But Bacall
had yet an important role in Kirk’s life – helping him get his first big break in Hollywood.
At the time, Diana Dill was no more than a casual date. They were both more interested in finishing their studies. There remained,
in him at least, a certain longer-lasting attraction which would not materialise until later, long after they had left the
academy. Kirk described it as an attraction of opposites. Diana came from a socially élite, though not especially wealthy,
family of British origin in Bermuda. Her father was Thomas Neville Dill, Crown solicitor in the British colonial administration
on the island.
When they both graduated from AADA in 1941, neither had a particular hankering to see each other again. He hung around New
York, trying for work on Broadway, while Diana had ambitions of making it to Hollywood. She went west, and the next time Kirk
saw her was on the cover of
Life
magazine for some movieland feature. By this time he had been drafted for military service, in the navy, as a communication
officer in antisubmarine warfare, having spent 120 days furthering his education at the Notre Dame Midshipman’s School.
Legend has it that when he saw Diana on the front of the magazine, he boasted to his shipmates: ‘I know her … and furthermore
I’m going to marry her.’
No one took him very seriously, but Kirk wrote to Diana care of
Life
magazine, who eventually forwarded the ‘Remember me?’ missive to her agent. By then, she was back in New York; the Hollywood
vision of discovery had faded and she had resorted to modelling. Eventually, during a two-week leave, they met up in New York
and spent a good deal of time together. They met as often as they were able and wrote to each other daily. The romance blossomed
during the uncertainties of war, with snatched
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