Little Me Read online

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The author and the photographer would like to thank a great many people for a great many things.

  For the generous loan of old clothes, new clothes, hats, props, jewels and furs, our gratitude goes to Mrs. E. P. Adam, Miss Kaye Ballard, Mr. Kurt Bieber, Mr. A. L. Brandon, Dr. and Mrs. William G. Cahan, Miss Peggy Cass, Mr. and Mrs. Francis Dobo, Mr. Robert Fryer, the Generosity Thrift Shop, Miss Dody Goodman, Carol Irwin Hollister, Mr. Sterling Jensen, the Manhattan Hardware, Miss Alice Pearce, Mr. Walter Pistole, Miss Rosalind Russell, Mr. Martin Scheider, Mrs. Curtis Walsh and Miss Vivian Weaver. And our special thanks go to Mr. Robert Riley and the staff of the Design Laboratory of the Brooklyn Museum, who offered not only their valuable time and advice, but who turned over their priceless collection of authentic period costumes to this frivolous venture.

  For wigs, beards and hair styles we are indebted to Mr. Wally Mohr and to Ryan-Davis Hair Culture.

  We would also like to thank the luckless owners of many splendid houses, apartments and studios—Mr. Alexander Bender, Mr. Hervey Jolin, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Jefferson, Mr. Franklin H. Kissner, the New York City Center, Mr. Shaun O’Brien, the Plaza Hotel, Mr. Carl Reynolds, Mrs. Edward Tanner, Voisin Restaurant, and Mr. H. D. Vursell—who stood by with grim smiles while their furniture was scratched, their carpets soiled and their fuses blown. Typographical pyrotechnics were seen to by the horrified Dorris Huth.

  And most of all we would like to thank our cast of 100, most of them busy actors and dancers who missed meals and sleep, dashed across town in full war paint between matinee and evening performances and even sacrificed that time most sacred to the members of Equity—Sunday morning—just for the fun of appearing in this book. We love you all.

  ALSO BY PATRICK DENNIS

  3-D

  Paradise

  How Firm a Foundation

  Tony

  The Joyous Season

  First Lady

  by Martha Dinwiddie Butterfield,

  as told to Patrick Dennis

  Genius

  Around the World with Auntie Mame

  The Pink Hotel

  by Dorothy Erskine

  and Patrick Dennis

  Guestward Ho!

  by Barbara C. Hooton,

  as indiscreetly confided to Patrick Dennis

  Auntie Mame

  As Virginia Rowans

  House Party

  Oh, What a Wonderful Wedding!

  The Loving Couple

  Love and Mrs. Sargent

  Little Me was originally published in 1961 by E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc.

  LITTLE ME.

  Copyright © 1961 by Lancelot Leopard, Ltd., renewed in 1989 by the Estate of Patrick Dennis.

  Preface © 2002 by Cris Alexander. Foreword © 2002 by Charles Busch. All rights reserved. No part of this

  book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including

  photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission

  from the publisher. For information, address Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1540

  Broadway, New York, NY 10036.

  Broadway Books titles may be purchased for business or promotional use or for special sales. For

  information, please write to: Special Markets Department, Random House, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.

  BROADWAY BOOKS and its logo, a letter B bisected on the diagonal, are trademarks of Broadway Books, a

  division of Random House, Inc.

  Visit our website at www.broadwaybooks.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents

  either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual per-

  sons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First Broadway Books edition published 2002

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress.

  www.randomhouse.com

  eISBN: 978-0-307-41910-1

  v3.0