So, I first met Jean in Marbella, Spain in 1972. He was retired from the movie business and lived in the Marbella Club Hotel in a house with his wife Dusty. Off season in Marbella was the time you could get to know your friends and we would have dinner at his house and my apartment .. We talked about women and art and movies.. He knew all the legendary stars the one I was most interested in was Greta Garbo. He told me she bought and sold a dozen houses and he bought the last one in Beverly Hills when she quit the business. One night on a rainy cold for Spain winter night he did a drawing of me. It was a sketch. So, Greta Garbo came to Marbella and stayed at the home of her art dealer Herbert Kende and he gave her a party and I went and she was nice. The next day Jean gave her a lunch party at his house.. He had a argentine gaucho grill and was the chef, with lots of help, and they made a variety of tempting dishes.. I picked her up at Herbert's house in the hills and then drove her to the Marbella Club.. she had a big floppy hat and sunglasses.. With all the rumors, the publicity and the legend about her, I did what Jean said, and kept my mouth shut, and just drove her to his lunch party.. I sat next to her at one of the tables and after two iced Polish vodkas she was in a happy mood and Jean had gathered a delightful circle of friends in his house not far from the beach. I was ready to be confronted with some sort of a bizarre performance. Instead she was simple, direct, comfortable, lovely sense of humor. Great ambience. That gave me the security to ask her some questions. She was completely relaxed. She laughed and listened carefully to the other people, but, when a stranger suddenly came late, unexpectedly, after we had eaten and the party was winding down she hurried me out to my car to take her away, and was shy and insecure. He made a fuss over her and she protected her privacy... to be continued ...
