The Most Interesting People in Movies: 250 Anecdotes

Some samples: 1) Celebrities often move in the same circles. Just before graduating from high school, actress Jennifer Love Hewitt was being driven around in a car that would next be used to drive around actor Johnny Depp, a fact that Ms. Hewitt learned from talking to the driver. She asked the driver to tell Mr. Depp “Hi” for her. Apparently, the driver also told him that Ms. Hewitt was graduating. Quickly, Ms. Hewitt received a message on her answering machine: “My brother wants to send you flowers. Please call with your address.” She did call and asked, “Who is your brother?” The answer? “Johnny Depp.” And yes, Mr. Depp did send flowers to her when she graduated. 2) While Andre Previn was married to Mia Farrow, he belonged to the Garrick Club. One day, the club secretary invited him to bring Mia to dinner there, but added, “By the way, you must forgive me for this, but she can’t use the main staircase. The women have to go round the back.” This shocked Mr. Previn, and when he told his wife about the invitation—and about women not being allowed to use the main staircase—she replied, “You have 10 minutes in which to quit the club.” Fortunately, he had the perfect reply: “I’ve already done it.” Years later, Mr. Previn said, “Unbelievable. Mia was the wrong person to try that on.” 3) When Fay Kanin started writing for the movies, she told her boss, Sam Marx, the story editor at MGM, “Mr. Marx, I know you own "Gone with the Wind." I’ve read it, and I would be a wonderful writer for it.” He smiled at her brashness and said, “I think they have in mind a more expensive writer for it.” Ms. Kanin always appreciated that he used the word “expensive” instead of the word “talented.”