May 21, 2012
Probably the least pretentious person I know is Harvey Keitel, he of Taxi Driver pimp fame. The time we were introduced I asked him what a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn like him was doing in the Marine Corps. He laughed and said to no one in particular, “Who is this guy, I like him.” I rarely see him but when we run into each other we have lotsa laughs togther.
Just as charming is Frank Langella, a sophisticated man and wonderful actor. His book Dropped Names is beautifully written. But my closest actor buddy is Sir Roger Moore, a man I”ve known for forty years and with whom I”ve spent a lot of time due to our William Buckley and Gstaad connections. As his son Jeffrey once said to me, “Roger is not a great actor, he’s a great movie star.” He’s also as gentle and witty as they come, and we meet a couple of times a year and get rather pissed together. Roger devotes his time now to UNICEF and spends his own money while traveling the world helping poor children.
And as luck would have it, the first James Bond, Sir Sean Connery himself, moved near me in Gstaad a few years ago. During a dinner party he revealed that he’s been reading me for thirty or so years in the Spectator. Sean and I have shared many dirty jokes and many good bottles of wine. His wife is even more of a fan because she shares my prejudices. So I”m friends with the two best James Bonds, the great Louis Jourdan, and now at 75 I am about to join the Hollywood pantheon by throwing Alec Baldwin off my boat like Achilles slaying Hector. Look for the movie starring Taki and tell your children and your children’s children about it. Hooray for Hollywood.
