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so well was truly unable to
cope with was her own hyper-
sensitivity, She was “Piscean,” 2°
psychic sponge. And, being —
“7 epileptic (not commonly
known), she would have occa-
+. Slonal seizures — often being
« Very still and quiet forlong.
periods, staring off into the dis-
tance — “going remote” — I
would call it.
_ IT resonated with her feel-
ings about acting. I, too,”
tld become emotionally dis-
combobulated or even ill upon
playing the role of a negative
character (such‘as. Manly
Palmer in Flannery ..:. ‘
O'Connor's; Good: Country
People).1 pointed out to her -
‘what Carl Jung had writte
“Everyone carries a shadow,
and tht less it i Smbodied in:
A t)

- AFTER working on Compulsion in 1959

I waked fer to be more
wholesome, more in touch:

Vaisi, frequently asked me...

to predict wl en she was going

die, to be free of her. com:

‘pulsive desires. 1 insisted that it:
would be unethical to tell her..:

(even if F could ascertain that).
Privately, I didn’t sée her mak-.

|

Photo Robert Alken
Varsi. moved

oe to Bennington, VT and a life away.from Hollywood. |

".-) She.was all made up and

--.,. hopeful — she was offered a:
“with her joy (like the girl Iwas.
‘to eventually marry in °69), ---

{lucrative contract, but the
- proposition involved being sex
ually available to the marned --

ing it to 55. I drove her to the...

dio, one day -— a top execu.
tive at black-towered Universal
Taremational wanted 10 sec.

both the favour of gracefully,
lovingly discouraging such a
move. She didn’t want to hurt
me, She knew she would. After
all, T was clearly out of my cen-
tre. She needed for me to stop
idealizing, mythologizing her.
My fricnd, the Consul of

Brazil, had offered me two

. Varig Airline tickets to Carnival
in Rio. I looked forward to
going with her. She was excit-
ed. One. day, Diane’asked that
I not go with her, that instead,
she be'accompanicd by Fred
Roos (eventual producer on

_ Apocalypse Now) — would I go

for that? .
’ “Sure!” T immediately

_ fesponded with a smile, hiding |

my trie feelings, “Anything:
uv want.” This served her >“:
interest better, she was
“happy/ grateful. I in curn, was
.-“in sacrifice”. (which, of course,
: led to the accumulating resent-

duce her to my friend, the tor-
merly blacklisted writer, Dalton
Trumbo, who eventually, as a
result of my constant prod-
ding, cast her in his Jobuny Gor
His Gun. He “owed me,” hav-
ing given me the rights toa
portion of Johnny and apolo-..
getically rescinded them.
Besides, he was genuinely
impressed by Diane’s qualities,
even moved by how she had -

ripened and deepened through:
/ emotional suffering; having .

“been around the block...”
Onc day, while careening
down the freeway, I finally
extricated myself from ‘my dis-
empowered, spellbound state
With the. help ofan agonizingly
: primal and ultimately therapeu:
. tic “Aaarrrgh!!!" Thad consid- :

_ ered writing ‘a novel about the.”
*, eothraliment: I was ita sto”

Mi

Obituary. ee
noted Oscar
nomination —

IN late 1992, my friend, -
director Curtis Harrington,”
who had introduced me.to
Diane, sent mean 7s:

. obituary.written’by LA.
Tienes weiter, Burt Folkart :
“Diane Varsi; Actress Was

< Oscar Nominee For First
“Role”. 0: :

Ir went on to -

« “Diane Varsi, an actress;

" nominated for an’Academy °
Award after only her firs
‘screen appearance but who
soon abandoned H6llyw

_ Saying: that she found actin