The File on Bobby Darin, Chapter 24

Chapter 24

On the surface, the atmosphere at the Casino Royal rehearsal was calm and businesslike.  But there were sharks in these waters.  Steve Blauner spent the morning conferring with Lee Zeiger in his office, and they came to an agreement that tonight Bobby would do two shows, and that would finish out his engagement in DC.  Another singer would be brought in to finish out the week.  Dick and Ronnie had not even had time to unpack, really, before they were told they would be heading back home first thing the next morning. 

Winchell, when he heard the news, was predictably furious.  “Why, Bobby, who does Lee Zeiger think he is?  He can’t do that to you!”  Winchell had found his way back to Bobby’s dressing room where he was having lunch with Dick and Ronnie. 

Bobby was too tired to argue about the matter, too tired to notice Dick turning his shoulder in Winchell’s direction as he continued with his repast.  “It’s perfectly okay,” he told Winchell.  “Carol Channing will finish out the week for me.  I subbed for her in Chicago a while back, so she’s just returning the favor.  That’s all there is to it.”

Winchell had not been present to hear the dispute about the Ray Charles number, but he did know about the three shows a night, so he decided not to get himself wound up defending Bobby in an instance where it would not be welcomed.

Dick looked at his two friends and said, “We’ve got time for a ninety-minute tour of Washington!  What do you say?”

Darin was slumped on the couch of the dressing room, pushing the remains of a sandwich around on a plate.  “No thanks, boys, I think I’ll pass.  You go ahead, and we’ll meet back here before the show.”  Dick and Ronnie, looking like two schoolchildren who had been given their freedom, lost no time in leaving the dressing room.  Dick had had time to grow embarrassed about his last encounter with Winchell at the St. Moritz bar and was glad to make himself scarce now. 

Winchell watched Bobby with concern when the others had left.  He had not seen Bobby look so tired since the day they had been chased in front of the Copa.  Life on the road was tough, even for a healthy young man.  He simply did not know how Darin could manage it.  After a time he said, “It’s too bad about this show ending so quickly here, people hardly knew that you were in town.”

Bobby put the plate on the coffee table and stretched out his legs on top of it.  “It’s really better this way,” he said.  “I’ve got some things to wind up in New York, and then we go to Italy.  I think I was just overbooked.  Steve arranged it so I won’t be breaking my contract.  It will be all right.” 

“Well, I’m glad it’s settled,” Winchell told him, “because I’ve got something that might interest you.”

Darin had looked as though he were falling asleep, but now he popped his brown eyes open to look at Winchell.  “Oh?”

“Yeah, I thought we could run over to the FBI headquarters.  I know them all pretty well, and we can get a special tour of the crime labs, one that is off limits to the general public.”

Bobby groaned in response and seemed to be ready to go to sleep.  Winchell moved over to sit next to him on the couch.  “Come on, Bobby, you will NOT believe what those guys have there!  We can do some shooting on the firing range, visit the serology lab where they have blood samples from famous murders, the whole bit!” 

Bobby seemed to be waking up now.  Winchell gave him a nudge.  “Come with me, Bobby,” he said, “I’ll show you John Dillinger’s death mask!”  Now Bobby was fully awake and sitting up, smiling and looking rather like a small boy who had been offered a day at Coney Island.  The two of them got a cab and went over to the Department of Justice and entered the crime lab through a special side entrance known only to the initiated.  Darin did not know at the time that this specially arranged visit would be recorded as an item in both Bobby’s FBI file and Winchell’s.  If he had known, he would not have cared.  The helpful agent who updated the file even clipped a newspaper ad from Bobby’s Casino Royal run and placed it in the file for future reference.  J. Edgar Hoover was interested in all sorts of people, but celebrities were a special weakness with him.

Dorothy Kilgallen jumped out of Walter’s chair and went into the anteroom where Rose Bigman was waiting.  The two women came back in together.  They each took Walter by an arm and guided him into his own seat.  Rose Bigman bent over him with concern.  “Are you all right, Mr. Winchell?”  Winchell’s vision was restored to its normal field.  Suddenly he felt like one very large infant with two nursemaids bending over him.  He reached up to his collar to open the top button and loosen his tie.  “Of course I’m all right,” he snapped.  Then he added, “I’m fine, Rose.  Please just get me a glass of water, thanks.” 

Rose Bigman had looked over her boss and decided there was nothing medically wrong, and so she dutifully left the room for the glass of water.  As soon as she was out of sight, Dorothy swung Walter’s chair to face her and said, “Listen to me, we don’t have much time.  You aren’t going to tell anyone about Bobby’s father.  Not Bobby himself, not anyone.  I know that you were still legally married to Rita at the time you married June.  I also know that after you obtained your divorce from Rita, you and June never had a subsequent ceremony.  I know all that, Walter, and I will never tell a soul.  Just as you will never tell anyone about Nina.  Bobby had a good mother in Polly, and we’re just going to leave things as they are.  We may be gossip columnists, but we aren’t totally lacking in every human feeling, are we?”

Walter Winchell lowered his head in defeat.  No, he had to admit that even he, of all people, had feelings of sympathy for others from time to time.  Perhaps he had some farfetched notion of arranging a meeting between Darin and his long-lost parent, but now, having seen the name, he had to admit that this was not practical, and probably not wise.  He had been so taken with this idea, he had never stopped to think who else might be affected by his actions.  Someone, somewhere, already had an idea that Winchell had stumbled upon the truth, and it might not be safe for him to know what Dorothy had now told him.  And of Rita, he could not bring himself to think just now.  He would think of her later.

At last, Winchell pulled himself together and sat up straight in his chair.  “But how?” he felt compelled to ask. “How did you find out about Rita?”

“How?  You said it yourself, Walter.  Somebody always talks!”  Dorothy allowed that truth to sink in before she added, “But it wasn’t Rita who told me.  For some occult reason, she has been quite faithful to her bargain with you.  I wouldn’t have mentioned it at all if you hadn’t been so completely pigheaded about this.”

“Pigheaded?  My boss?  Not possible!” Rose Bigman proclaimed as swept back into the office with a glass of water for her beleaguered employer.  She handed the glass to him with an expression that plainly said, “Drink this now!”

Walter Winchell obediently took the glass.  At the thought of losing his wonderful scoop, Winchell thought he might really become ill.  He downed the water, passed the glass back to Rose and said, “It’s nothing!  Dorothy and I are simply having a professional dispute.”  He glared at Kilgallen.  She smiled sweetly at him in return.  She knew that she had won. 

“Professional dispute?  Oh good, for a moment there, Miss Kilgallen, I thought it might be something serious!” Rose Bigman threw a small wink in Dorothy’s direction that Winchell could not see.  She took Dorothy’s arm to lead her out of the office.  “Don’t mind his temper, Miss Kilgallen,” Rose said in a confidential whisper.  “It’s that bad tooth of his, it’s been giving him trouble for weeks!”

Rose accompanied Dorothy down the hallway and partway up the stairs.  She put her plump hand on Dorothy’s arm and said, “Don’t worry, Miss Kilgallen, I’ll make sure he never tells anyone!”

Dorothy smiled warmly at the secretary.  “Walter is lucky to have you, Rose.”

Rose smiled and nodded.  “Don’t we both know it!”  Rose inclined her head in the direction of Winchell’s office and said, “He knows it too, only I don’t think I will press the point today.”  And she retreated back down the stairs to the office.

Continued in the next chapter

ID: 1474316   (Rated: ASR) The File on Bobby Darin, Chapter 25  Bobby goes up a lazy river by Gisele