the RKO Jefferson Theater, solving crimes with William Powell and Myrna Loy in After the Thin Man, riding with John Wayne in the covered wagon to California in The Oregon Trail, watching helplessly as Robert Montgomery terrorized Rosalind Russell in Night Must Fall, swinging through the trees with Tarzan in Tarzan Escapes, and having dinner with Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Judy Garland. I took a deep breath and said, ‘I’d like to drive you there.’
They all looked at me in surprise.
‘That’s very kind of you, Sidney,’ Vera Fine said, ‘but I don’t want to imp—’
‘It would be my pleasure,’ I said enthusiastically.
I turned to Natalie and Otto. ‘I’d like to take Vera to California.’
There was an uncomfortable silence.
We picked up the conversation after the Fines had left. ‘You can’t go away again,’ Otto said. ‘You just got back.’
‘But if I could get a job in Hollywood—’
‘No. We’ll find something for you to do here.’
I knew what there was for me to do in Chicago. Checkrooms and drugstores and parking cars. I had had enough of that.
After a brief silence, Natalie said, ‘Otto, if that’s what Sidney wants, we should give him a chance. I’ll tell you what. Let’s compromise.’ She turned to me. ‘If you don’t find a job in three weeks, you’ll come back home.’
‘It’s a deal,’ I said happily.
I was sure I could easily get a job in Hollywood. The more I thought about it, the more wildly optimistic I became.
This was finally going to be my big break.
Five days later I was packing, getting ready to drive Vera and her young daughter, Carmel, to Sacramento.
Richard was upset. ‘Why are you leaving again? You just got back.’
How could I explain to him all the wonderful things that were about to happen?
‘I know,’ I said, ‘but this is important. Don’t worry. I’m going to send for you.’
He was near tears. ‘Is that a promise?’
I put my arms around him. ‘That’s a promise. I’m going to miss you, buddy.’
It took five days to get to Sacramento, and when we arrived I said goodbye to Vera and Carmel, and spent the night in a cheap hotel. Early the following morning I took a bus to San Francisco, where I changed to another bus, to Los Angeles.
I arrived in Los Angeles with one suitcase and fifty dollars in my pocket. I bought a copy of the Los Angeles Times at the bus station and turned to the want ads to look for rooms to rent.
The one that instantly appealed to me was an ad for a boarding house that had rooms for four-fifty a week, breakfast included. It was in the Hollywood area, a few blocks from the famed Sunset Boulevard.
It turned out to be a charming, old-fashioned house in a lovely residential area on a quiet street, at 1928 Carmen Street.
When I rang the doorbell, the door was opened by a small, pleasant-faced woman who appeared to be in her forties.
‘Hello. Can I help you?’
‘Yes. My name is Sidney Sheldon. I’m looking for a place to stay for a few days.’
‘I’m Grace Seidel. Come in.’
I picked up my suitcase and walked into the hall. The house had obviously been converted from a sprawling family residence to a boarding house. There was a large living room, a dining room, a breakfast room, and a kitchen. There were twelve bedrooms, most of them occupied, and four communal bathrooms.
I said, ‘I understand that the rent is four-fifty a week, and that includes breakfast.’
Grace Seidel contemplated my rumpled suit and my worn shirt, and said, ‘If you press me, I could make it four dollars a week.’
I looked at her and desperately wanted to say, ‘I’ll pay the four-fifty.’ But the little money I had left was not going to last very long. I swallowed my pride and said, ‘I’m pressing.’
She gave me a warm smile. ‘That’s fine. I’ll show you to your room.’
The room was small but neat and attractively furnished, and I was very pleased with it.
I turned to Grace. ‘This is great,’ I said.
‘Good. I’ll give you a key to the front door. One of our rules is that you’re not allowed to bring any women in here.’
‘No problem,’ I said.
‘Let me introduce you to some of the other boarders.’
She took me into the living room where several of the boarders were gathered. I met four writers, a prop man, three actors, a director, and a singer. As time went on, I learned that they were all wannabes, unemployed, pursuing wonderful dreams that would never come true.
Gracie had a well-mannered twelve-year-old son, Billy. His dream was to become a fireman. It was probably the only dream in the boarding house that would come true.
I phoned Natalie and Otto to tell them that I had arrived safely.
‘Remember,’ Otto said, ‘if you don’t find a job in three weeks, we want you back here.’
No problem.
That night, Gracie’s boarders sat around the large living room, telling their war stories.
‘This is a tough business, Sheldon. Every studio has a gate and inside the gate the producers are screaming for talent. They’re yelling that they desperately need actors and directors and writers. But if you’re standing outside the gate, they won’t even let you in. The gates are closed to outsiders.’
Maybe, I thought. But every day someone manages to get through.
I learned that there was no Hollywood, as I had imagined it. Columbia Pictures, Paramount, and RKO were located in Hollywood, but Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Selznick International Studios were in Culver City. Universal Studios was in Universal City, Disney Studios was in Silverlake, Twentieth Century-Fox was in Century City, and Republic Studios was in Studio City.
Grace had thoughtfully subscribed to Variety, the show business trade paper, and it was left in the living room like a bible for all of us to look at, to see what jobs were available and which pictures were being produced. I picked it up and looked at the date. I had twenty-one days to find a job, and the clock was running. I knew that somehow I had to find a way to get through those studio gates.
The following morning, while we were having breakfast, the telephone rang. Answering the telephone was almost an Olympic event. Everyone raced to be the first to pick it up because—since none of us could afford any kind of social life—the phone call had to be about a job.
The actor who picked up the phone listened a moment, turned to Grace and said, ‘It’s for you.’
There were sighs of disappointment. Each boarder had hoped that it was a job for him. That phone was the lifeline to their futures.
I bought a tourist’s guide to Los Angeles, and since Columbia Pictures was the closest to Gracie’s boarding house I decided to start there. The studio was on Gower Street, just off Sunset. There was no gate in front of Columbia.
I walked in the front door. An elderly guard was seated behind a desk, working on a report. He looked up as I came in.
‘Can I help you?’
‘Yes,’ I said confidently. ‘My name is Sidney Sheldon. I want to be a writer. Who do I see?’
He studied me a moment. ‘Do you have an appointment?’
‘No,