Lost Years: A Memoir 1945 - 1951
Yogi and Yogini. Disciples of Swami Prabhavananda. His real name was Walter Brown, and he was in the army briefly during the war. Isherwood met him in April 1943 when Brown visited the Hollywood Vedanta Center where Mrs. Brown, Yogini, was already a probationer nun. Yogi and Yogini both lived at the center for a time, but eventually Yogi left and Yogini remained there alone as a nun.
Yorke, Henry. See Green, Henry.
Zinnemann, Fred (1907–1997). Viennese-born director; son of a physician. He studied at the Technical School of Cinema in Paris in 1927 and 1928, briefly worked as an assistant cameraman in Berlin, and arrived in the autumn of 1929 in Hollywood, where he was employed as an extra in All Quiet on the Western Front and then became Berthold Viertel’s personal assistant. He learned about documentary filmmaking from Robert Flaherty during an otherwise fruitless movie project back in Berlin, then filled in for his friend Henwar Rodakiewicz directing a documentary for the Mexican government, The Wave (1934). Two years later he was hired to direct shorts at MGM and eventually went on to other major studios, still using the semi-realistic style shaped by his documentary experience. By the early 1940s, when Isherwood met him, Zinnemann was living with his English wife, Renée Bartlett, on Mabery Road, near the Viertels, and Isherwood mentions them both in D1. He directed a great many successful films—High Noon (1952), The Member of the Wedding (1953), From Here to Eternity (1953), Oklahoma (1955), A Hatful of Rain (1957), The Sundowners (1960), A Man for All Seasons (1966), The Day of the Jackal (1973), Julia (1977), and others.
Textual Note
This diary describing the years 1945 to 1951 was written by Christopher Isherwood between 1971 and 1977. It fills a gap of about half a decade following World War II when Isherwood had kept his diary very irregularly. He wrote nothing about his day-to-day life from January 1945 until September 1947 when he began a travel diary—published as The Condor and the Cows (1949)—about his trip with his companion of the late 1940s, William Caskey, through South America. After the South American trip, Isherwood began occasionally to write in his diary again, but not until the early 1950s did he reestablish his old routine of writing several times a week. The entries that he did make during the late 1940s and early 1950s are printed in his Diaries Volume One 1939–1960, along with an outline he made, probably in 1955, showing some of the main events of those years.
American style and spelling are used throughout this book. English spellings began to disappear from Isherwood’s diaries by the end of his first decade in California, although there are exceptions which I have altered in order to achieve consistency with the general trend. However, I have retained idiosyncrasies of phrasing and also spellings which have a phonetic impact in order that Isherwood’s characteristic Anglo-American voice might resound in the writing.
I have made some very minor alterations silently, including standardizing passages which Isherwood quotes from elsewhere in his own writings, from other published authors, and from letters. Also, I have spelled out many abbreviations, including names for which Isherwood sometimes used only initials. Otherwise, square brackets usually mark emendations of substance or possible interest. Square brackets also mark information I have added to the text, such as surnames or parts of titles shortened by Isherwood, and editorial footnotes. And square brackets indicate where I have removed or altered material in order to protect the privacy of certain individuals who are still living.
This book includes many footnotes written by Isherwood himself. His practice in making the reconstructed diary was to write on the rectos only of his black ledger books, and to add information on the facing versos. He numbered almost all such additions as footnotes. Had Isherwood himself prepared the diary for publication, he almost certainly would have incorporated all of his footnotes into the text, rewriting as necessary. I have not attempted to do this on his behalf, but have deliberately retained the rough, two-layered effect of the text he left, although I have sometimes moved his footnotes (especially the long ones) to the end of the phrase, sentence or paragraph in which they appear, in order to help readers arrive at a suitable pause, where they might more easily shift their attention. All footnotes in brackets and footnote symbols in brackets are added by me, as mentioned above.
At the back of the book, readers will find a chronology of Isherwood’s life and a glossary of people, places, institutions, and terms which he mentions. In contrast to his other diaries, kept contemporaneously with the events they describe, Isherwood generally introduces friends and acquaintances and explains episodes in detail in this reconstructed diary; therefore my notes and glossary only undertake to fill gaps. Many central figures require little or no mention at all in the glossary, and readers should use the index to find Isherwood’s own descriptions of them in his text. (Sometimes Isherwood offers his own cross-reference when someone appears again after a long absence.) The glossary gives general biographical information and also offers details of particular relevance to Isherwood and to events or concerns he mentions in the text. A few very famous people—for instance, Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin–are not included in the glossary because although Isherwood knew them quite well, he knew them essentially in their capacity as celebrities. Others who were intimate friends—such as Aldous Huxley, Igor Stravinsky—are included even though their main achievements will be familiar to many readers.
Hindu terminology is also explained in the glossary, although unfamiliar non-Hindu words appearing only once are usually glossed or translated in a footnote.
Index
The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
NOTE: Works by Isherwood appear directly under title; works by others appear under authors’ names.
Aarons, Chester, 277
Abiquiu, New Mexico, 249, 252–5
Ackerley, Joe Randolph, 83 & n; Hindoo Holiday, 175–6n
Act of the Heart (film), 195
Adorno, Theodor, 155
Agee, James, 268, 270
Ainsworth, William Harrison: The Tower of London, 223n
AJC Ranch, Coachella Valley (California), 21, 196, 214, 220, 271
Aldeburgh festival (1948), 144–5
Alderson, Nik, 104–5n, 107
Allen, John Edward, 144
Allgood, Sara, 188–9
Almond, Paul, 194–5
“Ambrose” (C.I.; section of Down There on a Visit), 7
Amsterdam, 134–5n
Anderson, Ted and Mrs., 228
Andersson, John, 128[n]
Andrews, Oliver, 229
Angelo, Waldo, 212n
Angermeyer, Ken (Kenneth Anger), 212
Anna Karenina (film), 153
Arensberg, Walter, 29–30
Argo, Leif, 195, 212
Arnold, Kenneth, 263n
Arvin, Newton, 120, 125
Ashton, (Sir) Frederick, 271–2
Asit (Prabhavananda’s nephew) see Ghosh, Asit
Auden, Wystan Hugh: meets Caskey, xvii; homosexual practices, xx, 58; poetic style, xxvii; on sex relationships, 20; C.I. writes article on, 31; sexual relations with C.I., 58; arrival in USA, 72, 82; C.I. stays with in New York, 82; in China with C.I., 82; mocks Lehmann, 84; approves of Jack Hewit as C.I.’s lover, 93n; in Brussels with C.I., 93n, 106; friendship with Hayward, 98; departs for USA, 105n; proposed visit to Spain, 105n; shocked at Sterns’ rental charge to C.I., 117; in New York, 119, 123, 129; in Berlin, 133–4n; in Amsterdam, 134–5n; on Fire Island, 138; in Paris, 142; on Stravinsky’s avariciousness, 202; Agnes Smedley meets, 209
Aufderheide, Charles: friendship with From, xviii–xix, 24n; at Benton Way Group, 197
Avery, Stephen Morehouse, 34n
Avis, Annie (C.I.’s nanny), 87–8
Bachardy, Don: C.I. meets, ix, xxxii, 213n; C.I.’s relations with, x, xxiv, xxvii; moves into garden house with C.I., xxi; C.I. takes notes on private behavior patterns, xxiii; uses
Stravinsky’s first name, 202n
Bachardy, Ted (Don’s brother), 212n
Bacon, Francis (painter), 116
Bacon, Francis (Viscount St. Albans), 29–30 & n
Bailey, Bill, 123, 170
Balanchine, George, 50n
Balchin, Nigel: The Small Back Room, 52n
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, 50n
Barada (Doris Ludwig), 209
Barnett, Jimmie, 7
Barr, James: Quatrefoil, 275n
Barrie, Michael, 208, 230, 238, 247, 263
Barrymore, Ethel, 37, 40, 187
Barrymore, John: house, 11–12
Barton–Brown, Monsignor, 107
Baz, Ben, 123–4, 133, 138
Baz, Emilio, 124, 133, 138
Beat the Devil (film), 126n
Beaton, Cecil, 65n, 95, 113
Beautiful and Damned, The (C.I.; TV script), ix
Beauvoir, Simone de, xvi, 67 & n
Beesley, Alec: dislikes Field and Lamkin’s adaptation of Goodbye to Berlin, xxxi–xxxii, 284–5; and C.I.’s life at Vedanta Center, 7; C.I. visits, 11–12, 15, 18, 23, 244, 277; moves to new house, 18, 23; C.I.’s friendship with, 23, 28, 49–50, 81, 208, 214, 233, 281; Steve Cooley not introduced to, 41; C.I. occupies chauffeur’s apartment, 45; dalmatian dogs, 49–50; moves to Malibu Road, 49; and C.I.’s departure for England, 81; Kathleen Isherwood’s idea of, 89; Gielgud disparages, 135; recommends Ivy Compton–Burnett, 140n; approves C.I.’s wish to be waited on, 181; moves to Cove Way, 191; on Dick Foote, 196n; and C.I.’s break with Caskey, 283; and C.I.’s The World in the Evening, 284; Lamkin admires, 285
Beesley, Dodie Smith: dislikes Field and Lamkin’s adaptation of Goodbye to Berlin, xxxi–xxxii, 277, 284–5; and C.I.’s life at Vedanta Center, 7; C.I. visits, 11–12, 15, 18, 23, 208, 214, 244, 277, 281; home above Tower Road, 12; moves to new house, 18, 23; Steve Cooley not introduced to, 41; likes Caskey and Fouts, 45; dalmatian dogs, 49–50; moves to Malibu Road, 49; and C.I.’s departure for England, 81; Kathleen Isherwood’s idea of, 89; mocks van Druten’s The Mermaids Singing, 123n; Gielgud on, 135; recommends Ivy Compton–Burnett, 140n; approves C.I.’s wish to be waited on, 181; moves to Cove Way, 191; encourages and advises on C.I.’s writing, 217, 244–5; Caskey visits with C.I., 233; and C.I.’s break with Caskey, 283; and C.I.’s The World in the Evening, 284; I Capture the Castle, 175–6n
Below the Horizon (earlier Below the Equator; film), 207n, 229–30, 236 & [n]
Bemelmans, Ludwig: Dirty Eddie, 140n
Bennett, Ronald, 74
Benton Way Group (Los Angeles), xviii–xix, 24n, 197–8
Bergman, Ingrid, 117
Berkman, Sylvia: Katherine Mansfield, 282n
Berlin, 133–4n
Berlin of Sally Bowles, The (C.I.), 284
Berns, Walter, 194
Best Years of Our Lives, The (film), 67
Bhagavad Gita, 8 & [n], 9, 22
Bill see Caskey, William
Bill, George, 24n, 197
Birmingham Hospital, San Fernando Valley, California, 183, 200, 204–5, 219, 230, 236
Blanke, Henry, 31 & n, 34
Bliss, Herbert, 50n
Blunt, Anthony, 93n
Bobo, Wallace (Bo), 17–18, 50, 81, 227
Bogarde, Dirk, 67
Bogart, Humphrey, 126n
Bok, Ben and Coral: marriage, 173
Bonaparte, Miss Dicky, 40
Bors, Dr., 205, 230
Bowen, Elizabeth: The Death of the Heart, 140n; The Heat of the Day, 225n
Bower, Tony, 115n, 119, 123, 139
Bowles, Paul: The Sheltering Sky, 223–4n
Brackett, Charles, 37
Bradbury, Ray: The Martian Chronicles, 247, 274n
Bradshaw, George, 200, 219
Brando, Marlon, 205, 206n, 228, 267
Brecht, Bertolt, 81
Brecht, Stefan, 13–14 & n
Brett, Dorothy, 253, 254n
Brighton (England), 145
Britain: 1945 election, 25n
Britten, Benjamin: hostility to C.I., 69; C.I. meets in England, 92, 95, 145; and Ian Scott–Kilvert, 106; at first Aldeburgh festival (1948), 144–5; in California, 212–15; Albert Herring (opera), 144 & [n]
Brooke, Tim, 81
Brooks, Richard and Mrs., 231–2
Brown, Walter see Yogi
Brown, Mrs. Walter see Yogini
Brush, Albert, 29
Brussels, 93n
Bry, Doris, 250
Buckingham, May, 95n
Buckingham, Robert, 83 & n, 86, 95n, 148
Buechner, Frederick: A Long Day’s Dying, 225n
Buenos Aires, 135n, 141
Bujold, Geneviève, 195
Bunyan, John, xxvii
Burczinsky, Hank, 212n
Burgess, Guy, 93 & n, 99–100 & n
Burns, John Horne: in New York, 135, 137; The Gallery, xv & n, 137, 140n
Burra, Edward, 124–5
Busch, Wilhelm: Max und Moritz, 26n
Bynner, Witter, 253; Journey with Genius, 253
Cadmus, Paul, 119, 123, 127, 128[n], 139
Caffery, Jamie, 125
Caldwell, Evelyn see Hooker, Evelyn
“California Story” (C.I.), 210n
Cambridge: Forster in, 146
Cambridge University: C.I. studies at, xii
Cambus, Bertrand (pseud.), 258–61
Camera Work (magazine), 251
Camille’s, Laguna Beach (gay bar), 277
Campbell, Sandy, 127
Camus, Albert: Caligula, 175–6n; The Plague, 175–6n; The Stranger, 140n, 176n
Capote, Truman: meets Caskey, xvii, 120; C.I. meets and visits, 119; C.I. visits at Nantucket with Caskey, 125–7; in London (1948), 144; Vidal’s rivalry with, 146; Other Voices, Other Rooms, 119, 140n
Carpenter, Edward, xx
Carstairs, Keith (pseud.), 258–9
Carter see Lodge, Carter
Cartier–Bresson, Henri, 65n, 135, 137
Cartwright, Rob (pseud.), 50–1
Cary, Joyce: Herself Surprised, 223n, 225n; The Moonlight, 140n
Caskey, Anne (William’s sister), 129
Caskey, Catherine (William’s mother), 54–5, 135, 139–40, 194–5, 199
Caskey, William (Bill): relationship with and influence on C.I., xv–xvii, xxv, xxvii–xxviii, 20, 34–5, 41–9, 52–6, 59–61, 66, 69, 73–5, 79, 117–18, 163, 166–7, 175, 182, 193–4, 208, 241, 278; sense of guilt, xxviii, 182, 193, 199; Lamkin on, xxx; C.I. travels with, xxxiv; on de Laval’s seducing, 29n; birthday party (1945), 34; affair with Gerald Haxton, 37; appearance, 42; social manner, 42; background, 43; and Hayden Lewis, 43, 48; motor trip with C.I., 47; entertains with C.I., 49–51, 277; genealogy, 52n; relations with parents and sisters, 54–5, 199; sexual activities and inclinations, 54–6, 59; religious beliefs, 55; humor, 59 & n; self-image, 61; and C.I.’s surgical operation, 62–3; drinking with Sudhira, 62; and C.I.’s visits to The Pits, 64; photography, 64–5, 69, 71, 74, 119, 144, 189, 194, 224, 251; and C.I.’s appreciation of songs, 66 & n; and Katherine Anne Porter, 68; gives blood to accident victim, 69; quarrels with Fonts, 69–70; occupies Salka Viertel’s garage apartment, 70–1, 73–4; promiscuity, 74–5; affair with Keohane, 75; trip to Mexico with C.I., 78–9; and C.I.’s departure for England (1947), 81–2; plans to settle in New York with C.I., 82n; C.I. gives Howard’s semi-precious stone to, 96; never meets Mitty Monkhouse, 112; meets C.I. on return from England (1947), 117; in New York with C.I., 117–19, 123–5, 128–35, 138–9; pessimism and low self-esteem, 118; travels in South America with C.I., 119, 123, 133, 139, 141; cooks for Forster in New York, 121; visits Truman Capote with C.I., 125–7; photographed by Jared French, 128; driving, 131; on Fire Island, 138–9; Francophobia, 142; visits France and England with C.I., 142–9; quarrels with Vidal, 143, 146; stays on in New York (1948), 149, 150n, 163; friendship with Tito Renaldo, 153n; drives from New York to California, 166; meets Charlton, 167; moves into East Rustic Road with C.I., 167; falls asleep at Vernon Old’
s wedding, 171[n]; home–building, 171; Menotti makes advances to, 173; C.I.’s difficulties with, 179–83, 197, 210, 250n, 278, 282; uses ouija board, 184; provides photographs for The Condor and the Cows, 188; C.I. considers leaving, 192–3, 199–200; splits with C.I., 195; visits Stravinskys with C.I., 200–1; visits Birmingham Hospital, 204; arrested and tried, 209; leaves for Florida, 210, 220; household management, 211; returns from Florida, 233; visits Chaplins with C.I., 234–5; at Sophia Williams’s séance, 238–9; visits Long Beach Veterans Hospital, 239; and Korean War, 241; offends Bill Kennedy, 241–2; and Lennie Newman, 246, 280; travels to Baja California, 248; leaves mess at home after party, 256–7; jailed for drunk driving, 257–8, 271; released from prison, 272; moves to Laguna Beach with C.I., 273–5; painted by Sorel, 277; and C.I.’s pretending to drown, 278; gardening job, 280; declares no longer in love with C.I., 281; C.I. breaks with, 282–3
Cerf, Bennet, 119
Chaplin, Charlie: friendship with C.I., xvi, 81, 195, 199, 234, 278; hostility to C.I., 69, 199n; C.I.’s supposed incontinence on sofa, 199 & n, 234; Dylan Thomas visits, 233; Emlyn Williams interrogates, 233–4; hears Yma Sumac perform, 242
Chaplin, Oona (née O’Neill), 81, 199n, 234, 242, 278
Charlton, Hilde, 164n
Charlton, Jim: depicted in The World in the Evening, xv, 122n, 159; C.I.’s relations with, 156–66, 173–4, 183, 208, 210–11, 214, 216, 230, 248, 255, 28on; and architecture, 157, 165–6; character and qualities, 158–62, 211; flying, 160–1; influenced by father, 160–1; meets Caskey, 167, 233; visits C.I. and Caskey, 167, 171; at Vernon Old’s wedding, 170; friendship with Caskey, 175; and Glenway Wescott, 187; birthday party (1949), 190; mother’s death from cancer, 196; provokes fight, 213–14; meets Britten and Pears, 214–15; and Korean War, 241; stays with Kittredges, 248, 255; Brad Saurin’s love for, 259; and C.I.’s break with Caskey, 283
Charpentier (chef), 195
Cheltenham (England), 107
Cherry Grove, Fire Island (New York), 129
Chicago, 149
“Chip” (pseud.), 11
Christopher and His Kind (C.I.), xi, xx, xxiv, xxvi, xxx, xxxiii, 7n