Mary Martin, Hedda Hopper, Dick Powell

In her memoir, Mary Martin would cite only two books that she'd read as a youth, specifically when she was eleven years old—The Well of Loneliness, and The Life of Isadora Duncan (a noted bisexual). Written by British author Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness would come to be considered a classic lesbian novel of the twentieth century. Shortly after its arrival in 1928, the controversial work was “attacked in several courtrooms” for its suggestion that “inverts” should be tolerated. So Martin’s taking the trouble to name The Well of Loneliness—without even bothering to bury it in a much longer list of books—might be viewed as an intended message that she grew up with a definite and unequivocal lesbian influence. “I wanted to be Peter Pan the first time I saw him—before I ever thought of being an actress,” Martin would tell a reporter in 1954, when her musical version of Peter Pan was about to open on Broadway. Thanks to the live TV version that followed and became a perennial favorite, Peter Pan would become the role most identified with Martin, both during her lifetime and beyond.

Martin admitted sex was secundary for her: “When I decided to try and be an actress, there was a lot of pushing from mother—she really wanted me to be an actress. She gave me a lecture about how important it was for me to sublimate my sexual drive and put it into my work. She said if you want to be in the theater, you have to give all of your energy to the audience. You have to save that for the public.” At some point in 1931, given her severe depression, Mary Martin followed the doctor’s orders and spent two weeks at the Yeagers’ home in Mineral Springs, away from her husband, her parents, and her son. But it was Mary’s sister, Geraldine, who provided the real cure when she suggested that Mary become a dance instructor. There was at least one Hollywood insider, however, who recognized Martin’s potential: Hedda Hopper. Beginning life with the birthname of Elda Furry, Hopper had been a chorus girl and silent movie actress before becoming an NBC radio personality in 1936, around the time she met and instantly seemed like a “second mother” to Martin, who was twenty-two years Hopper’s junior. Forever vying with Louella Parsons for recognition as the top Hollywood gossip columnist, Hopper had influence that would benefit Martin’s career in both obvious and hidden ways. 

Hedda Hopper, who had by then become a close friend, would see South Pacific five times. Hopper wrote: "Like Peter Pan, Mary Martin flies untouched over the negative things in life." A week into rehearsals, Martin’s biggest fan, Hedda Hopper, gave an all-star dinner for her favorite performer. As reported in Hopper’s column on June 23, 1953, the other “billion dollars’ worth of talent,” or guests, included Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, Liz Taylor, Jennifer Jones, Jean Simmons, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor, Ethel Merman and Cole Porter. “At evening’s end, Mary said, ‘This is the first party I’ve been to in years when nobodoy asked me to sing a single number.’” Martin was planning a large New York wedding for her daughter Heller’s upcoming marriage to Anthony Weir, an advertising man, on January 20, 1962. Martin gave a lengthy account of the whole affair to Hedda Hopper, who devoted her entire column to the story on February 13.

In Rhythm on the River (1940), Martin’s relatively puny salary continued to demonstrate her lower-rung status at the studio: Martin was paid a paltry $20,416 in comparison with Bing Crosby’s $150,000. Helpfully, though, in addition to guaranteeing Martin $2,500 a week, her contract with Paramount stipulated that she could leave the studio every Thursday at twelve thirty to attend rehearsals and broadcasts of Dick Powell’s Good News radio program, for which she was earning nearly half as much as her film studio guarantee—that is, $1,000 per show. Powell and Martin seemed to share certain animosity towards Crosby, who had co-starred with Powell's wife Joan Blondell in East Side of Heaven in 1939. There had been rumors of Blondell having had an affair with Crosby (a well known lothario) on the set. 

Probably Hopper was protecting Dick Powell indirectly (and Martin directly) while she ignored all the obvious signs of their dalliance. Also it's possible that from Martin putting in a good word for Powell sprang Hopper's efforts in trying to hide a tryst between Dean Martin and Powell's wife June Allyson. When Louella and Hedda made a temporary truce, they probably compared notes. Hedda had been friends with Marion Davies, who had toyed with the idea of maintaining a clandestine relationship with Powell. Hedda had agreed with Marion that Blondell wasn't suited to Powell's more serious character, but the journalist seemed somehow indifferent to Blondell. Some insiders, like Jane Wilkie, speculated that Hopper never ingratiated to Allyson because Allyson (not Davies or Martin) was Powell's true love. And the proof is how hard he fought to keep his marriage to Allyson afloat. Probably Powell didn't follow Hopper's advice and didn't break Dean Martin's nose. Yet it's intriguing to imagine what transpired between the scenes. —Sources: "Some Enchanted Evenings: The Glittering Life and Times of Mary Martin" (2016) by David Kaufman  and "Glamour, Glitz, & Gossip at Historic Magnolia House: From the Silver Screens of Hollywood to the Lights of Broadway" (2019) by Danforth Prince