I Hated to Do It: Stories of a Life by Donald C. Farber

for Mary Martin, who had just finished a successful tour, and when he arrived late, the empty chair was next to Jason Robards, who was there with his wife, Lauren (all in the biz called her Betty) Bacall. Jason told Jose that his wife had him on the wagon but under his chair was a bottle of scotch and that when Jason shrugged his shoulders, Jose should fill both their glasses. Jose swears he filled them once, but I suspect it happened more than that.
    In any event, the evening went on and all the famous people present were called upon to make their speeches. The speeches went on and on, and finally at about two thirty Jose was called to the stage to make his speech.
    Now you have to remember that Jose is famous for his directing the Eugene O’Neill plays. Quintero’s interest contributed to the rediscovery of O’Neill. Quintero’s production of the New York premiere of
Long Day’s Journey into Night
established his reputation as the quintessential director of O’Neill’s dramas and won Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor (Fredric March). In 1963 he directed
Strange Interlude
with a cast which included Geraldine Page, Jane Fonda, Franchot Tone, Ben Gazzara, Pat Hingle, and Betty Field. In 1967, he directed Ingrid Bergman in
More Stately Mansions
in Los Angeles and New York in 1968. And you also have to remember that Jose and I were discussing the repetition that goes with drinking a bit of alcohol.
    So Jose starts talking and he goes on and on and on and on and finally, after twenty-five minutes, he starts heading toward the floor, sliding down the microphone stand. He goes down, down, down, and passes out at the base of the mike. Jose tells me that the balance of the story was told to him since he was out.
    The next speaker was Red Buttons, who took the stand and said, “Now that Jose has given us long day’s journey into night.” Riotous laughter ensued. Timing is everything in our business.
    Adaptations of Kurt’s Work
    I have always had a number of requests to adapt Kurt’s works for the stage and for film. As Kurt’s representative and now as the trustee of Kurt’s copyright trust, it is all so tricky. Most of the requests come from students or not-for-profit theatre groups that have little money. I want to see Kurt’s works adapted as much as possible, and I have always tried to grant these rights. There has to be a difference in granting rights to do a stage adaptation and to do an adaptation for a film or TV production.
    It was my common practice, with Kurt’s approval, to make his books available for adapting for the stage on most reasonable terms.
    Our Old Stone House Built in 1650
    Carole Shelley starred in
Wicked
and a lot of other Broadway plays, but we first met her when she came over from England and played in Neil Simon’s
The Odd Couple
as one of the Pigeon sisters. We became quite friendly with her and with the other Pigeon sister, Monica Evans. Monica went back to England and, we have been told, got married and had children and pursued a normal life. Carole continued her acting career here in the States.
    A few years later, we attended an opening night of the play
The Astrakhan Coat
which starred Carole and Brian Bedford. It was less than a success, and opening night at Sardi’s there was not a huge crowd cheering the stars of the show. My wife, Annie, came down the staircase at Sardi’s, and Brian, who had been drinking, grabbed her, kissed her, and said, “Darling, I have missed you, how are you? What have you been doing?” We had never met Brian and he was obviously being friendly with the help of a few drinks.
    So nine years go by without us ever seeing Brian Bedford, and we make our annual trip to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. We attend a play at the Avon Theatre and go backstage to see John Mountain, whose father, Bob Mountain, was a past mayor of Stratford and a good friend of ours. Since Bob and Lois Mountain were away, we met John and decided to have