Elsa Maxwell Tribute Page

Who was Elsa Maxwell?
She was best known as a hostess to the celebrities of her day. In her own words, she was

"... a short, fat, homely piano player from Keokuk, Iowa, with no money or background, [who] decided to become a legend and did just that."
from The Celebrity Circus

[Portrait of Elsa Maxwell, on the Conte de Savoia
from the Carl Van Vechten Photograph Collection ]

I became interested in her when I came across her book How To Do It. Part of my interest stems from the campy quality of her endless name-dropping and not-so-subtle snobbery. But there's also the mystery: she seemed to do nothing but hang with celebrities. How did she get away with it?

Elsa's style is superbly captured in a hilarious essay by Ian Frazier.

Now compare his parody to these actual examples:

"I next met Einstein at Charlie Chaplin's home in Hollywood."

"The week after refusing to meet Mussolini, I inadvertently spent an evening in the company of a fouler megalomaniac -- Adolf Hitler... I tried to make casual conversation ... but he was so rude and surly that I gave it up."

"I was directly responsible for attracting the middle-class summer tourist to the most glamourous spots in Europe -- Venice and Monte Carlo."

"While [Jack Barrymore and I] were standing on the hill watching the raging fires that had sprung up after the earthquake [San Francisco 1906], Jack London, the writer, and George Sterling, the poet came along. They told me I was insane to thing of lunch at the St. Francis [with Enrico Caruso]."

Her Influence

"High above the glittering skyline of 1950's Manhattan, in her rent-free suite at the Waldorf-Astoria, the incomparable Elsa Maxwell - hostest-with-the-mostest, social power broker, and confidante to the stars - dolls up in drag for her next masquerade. Meanwhile, the infamous J. Edgar Hoover - head of the FBI and champion of a better, cleaner America - checks his files, tightens his grip and slips into something more comfortable. ".
-- from the press release.

Elsa also shows up in another play Only A Kingdom.

David Staller plays King Edward the Eighth of Great Britain, a man so in love with American divorcee Wallis Simpson, played by Crista Moore, that he gives up his throne for her. Society mavin Elsa Maxwell and a crew of gossipy followers both comment on the ups and downs of the couple and act as comic relief. Sally Struthers is hilarious in the role of Elsa Maxwell.

Elsa influenced Frank Sinatra's career:

"...Frank worried about his opening at the Wedgewood Room of the Waldorf-Astoria [in 1943]. ...the boy from Hoboken was apprehensive about the reception he might receive from the haughty sophisticates who were accustomed to liveried doormen, chauffered limosines, and debutante balls. He was especially afraid of society chronicler Elsa Maxwell, the columnist, who had already charged him with "musical illiteracy" and derided his fans as "emotionally unstable females who paraded naked and unashamed for the drooling, crooning, goonish syllables of a man who looked like a second-string basketball player." She then recommended the girls be given 'Sinatraceptives.' "
Later that evening at a party given by Waldorf owner George Boomer, Frank, who had been coached...approached Elsa Maxwell. "You disapprove of me," he said, "and my mother agrees with you. She said, 'You tell that Miss Maxwell she is right!'"
"I disapprove of you, Frankie, only because I think it is a pity for anyone with your naturally lovely voice to resort to such cheap tactics."
"My press agent, George Evans, thought up the squealing girls and the way I hold the mike," said Frank. "I do not like any part of it. But it all has made the headlines. And the headlines have made me, I guess."
Miss Maxwell mellowed. The next day she wrote up Frank's opening night, telling her readers, "He has found a setting to show off the sweetness of his voice."

From "His Way: the Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra", pp. 91-91
by Kitty Kelley.
Bantam paperback edition, 1987.

Elsa also (indirectly) inspired a James Bond novel.

"The Schloss Mittersill {in the Austrian Alps} had been founded in 1936 by three expatriate Austrians living in Paris, after some prodding from the society columnist, Elsa Maxwell. It was closed during the war when the Nazis used it as the centre for pseudo-scientific studies into Asiatic races. On their return the owners found thousands of skulls from Tibet, India, and China eerily stored on the newly constructed shelves in all of the rooms. This provided Fleming with the model for Piz Gloria, Ernst's Blofeld's scientific research station in the Alps, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

In her day job, Elsa was a columnist.

Witty Quotes by E.M

[Some of these appear thoughout the internet as .sigs]

• Nothing spoils a good party like a genius.
• Never complain. Never explain. Never apologize.
• No one ever went broke in Hollywood underestimating the intelligence of the public.
• Always laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can.
  [One of the four rules for living her father gave her on his death bed. ( From RSVP) ; The others are:
  1. Never be afraid of what They say.
  2. The more you own, the more you are possessed. Keep free of material things and enjoy life as it comes.
  3. Take serious things highly. Take light things seriously.
• Life is a party; you join after it has started and you leave before it is finished.
  [From a tribute to the untimely death of a friend.]
• was content to choose music and laughter as a substitute for a husband.

TV/radio appearances by E. M.

The Jack Parr show - frequent guest

News reel from Spain, 1959: youtube and with Maria Callas

What's My Line youtube

"The Tonight Show" (1957-1958)

12/14/45 Bill Stern’s Sportsreel
(Sports legends and tall tales by one of America’s most favorite sportscasters. Stern was well-known for his machine gun-fire delivery and hyperbole. The program was on the air from 1937 to 1956. Stern featured a guest, usually some Hollywood star, on his programs.)

MBS Mutual Network, 300th party - 4/27/46

11/4/45 - Charlie McCarthy

Bibliography

Books about E.M.

Music by E.M.

Films with Elsa Maxwell

Home

About this site