Author Tom King reveals personal life of queer showbiz mogul David Geffen
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| KING REFUSED: Geffen yanked further cooperating with the author. |
By DANIEL KUSNER | April 28, 2000
Reading “The Operator” maybe the closest one would ever want to get to David Geffen.
Digesting the book’s foreword is enough to fear crossing paths with the entertainment magnate.
In the preface, author Tom King explains that the bio is unauthorized.
After participating in eight interviews, Geffen pulled the plug when he learned that King intended to interview Mitchell Geffen — David’s only sibling with whom David rarely spoke.
Mitchell once asked King, “Why do you want to write a book about him? Why don’t you write a book about somebody who’s done some good for the world?”
Although Geffen’s friends and business colleagues were candid during interviews, many were terrified.
Some regretted that what was revealed might upset Geffen — including Marlo Thomas (whom Geffen attempted a romantic relationship) and Carrie Fisher (one of Geffen’s brightest and most articulate friends).
King, 36, grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and studied journalism at the University of Iowa.
In 1986, he landed a job at The Wall Street Journal, where King covered the business of advertising.
In 1991, the Journal transferred him to Los Angeles to write about entertainment.
Shortly thereafter, King met Geffen at a predominately gay party held at the home of Randal Kleiser, the director of “Grease” and “The Blue Lagoon.”
Since King’s beat was covering entertainment — and Geffen was a newsmaker — it was imminent that he would meet someone of Geffen’s stature. Upon that first meeting, King says Geffen was easygoing and not at all intimidating.
While reading “The Operator,” however, it’s difficult to imagine Geffen having any friends.
Anyone who’s ever in Geffen’s good graces ultimately got screwed over or lied to — if it was convenient for Geffen.
“But David can be wonderfully charming. He has a brilliant wit. And there is a magnetism,” King explains during a phone interview from his Wall Street Journal desk. “People like Joni Mitchell, Don Henley and Cher found his charm seductive and irresistible. He really had this extraordinary ability to make artists feel comfortable.”
Geffen’s mother, Batya, was the real freak whom David inherited the ingredients for his ambition and rage.
Batya (David’s colleagues nicknamed her “The Explanation”) was a Ukrainian who, at 13 years old, was cut off from her family when the Bolsheviks solidified power in Russia.
Batya married Abe (an American citizen), struggled with the English language and opened her own undergarment business.
But Batya was prone to wandering the streets at night, saw things that weren’t there and recounts her suspicions of a simple roll of fabric being spellbound. David was the light of Batya’s life.
King says David’s mania “was genetically in his mother’s side — in her code. It was all part of Batya’s makeup and were things that she passed along to David.”
Geffen started honing his trademark business skills when he was 10 years old, acting as a crafty and successful ticket-shark for opening nights of Broadway shows.
Meanwhile, he also joined the CBS Record Club approximately 50 times — at no cost to Geffen, of course — and built an extensive love of showtune albums.
While researching high school records, King unearthed an English teacher’s assessment about Geffen’s character: “Rather talkative, self-centered, ignores teacher’s orders and instructions. Is fresh at times, and conceited, as well. Is not as good as he thinks he is.”
With the exception of the last part, King says that the teacher nailed it right on the head in describing exactly what Geffen would later become.
But an element that always seems present is Geffen’s loneliness.
Digesting the book’s foreword is enough to fear crossing paths with the entertainment magnate.
In the preface, author Tom King explains that the bio is unauthorized.
 |
| KING’S BEAT: Tom King bares the man behind the legend known as David Geffen. |
After participating in eight interviews, Geffen pulled the plug when he learned that King intended to interview Mitchell Geffen — David’s only sibling with whom David rarely spoke.
Mitchell once asked King, “Why do you want to write a book about him? Why don’t you write a book about somebody who’s done some good for the world?”
Although Geffen’s friends and business colleagues were candid during interviews, many were terrified.
Some regretted that what was revealed might upset Geffen — including Marlo Thomas (whom Geffen attempted a romantic relationship) and Carrie Fisher (one of Geffen’s brightest and most articulate friends).
King, 36, grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and studied journalism at the University of Iowa.
In 1986, he landed a job at The Wall Street Journal, where King covered the business of advertising.
Shortly thereafter, King met Geffen at a predominately gay party held at the home of Randal Kleiser, the director of “Grease” and “The Blue Lagoon.”
Since King’s beat was covering entertainment — and Geffen was a newsmaker — it was imminent that he would meet someone of Geffen’s stature. Upon that first meeting, King says Geffen was easygoing and not at all intimidating.
While reading “The Operator,” however, it’s difficult to imagine Geffen having any friends.
Anyone who’s ever in Geffen’s good graces ultimately got screwed over or lied to — if it was convenient for Geffen.
“But David can be wonderfully charming. He has a brilliant wit. And there is a magnetism,” King explains during a phone interview from his Wall Street Journal desk. “People like Joni Mitchell, Don Henley and Cher found his charm seductive and irresistible. He really had this extraordinary ability to make artists feel comfortable.”
Although King admires Geffen’s savvy business skills, it’s safe to say that he doesn’t have much affection for his subject.
“I wouldn’t say I like or dislike him. I’m not trying to be cagey, in terms of my personal feelings towards him. All I want to say is... I have tremendous admiration for the show-business empire that he’s built,” King says.
Last October, King sent Geffen a copy of “The Operator,” and Geffen responded with a note saying how unhappy he was with it. That’s the last of any communication the two have had.
“I wouldn’t say I like or dislike him. I’m not trying to be cagey, in terms of my personal feelings towards him. All I want to say is... I have tremendous admiration for the show-business empire that he’s built,” King says.
Last October, King sent Geffen a copy of “The Operator,” and Geffen responded with a note saying how unhappy he was with it. That’s the last of any communication the two have had.
It’s obvious that Geffen is shrewd and manipulative (“The Operator” isn’t the most flattering title) but Geffen’s also fascinating.
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| PHOTO: BBC |
Geffen grew up a humble Jewish kid from Brooklyn, who’s father, Abe, was a Christian Science follower who died when David was a teen.
Geffen’s mother, Batya, was the real freak whom David inherited the ingredients for his ambition and rage.
 |
| David’s mom, Batya, left, ran a clothing store called Chic Corsets by Geffen. |
Batya (David’s colleagues nicknamed her “The Explanation”) was a Ukrainian who, at 13 years old, was cut off from her family when the Bolsheviks solidified power in Russia.
Batya married Abe (an American citizen), struggled with the English language and opened her own undergarment business.
But Batya was prone to wandering the streets at night, saw things that weren’t there and recounts her suspicions of a simple roll of fabric being spellbound. David was the light of Batya’s life.
King says David’s mania “was genetically in his mother’s side — in her code. It was all part of Batya’s makeup and were things that she passed along to David.”
Geffen started honing his trademark business skills when he was 10 years old, acting as a crafty and successful ticket-shark for opening nights of Broadway shows.
Meanwhile, he also joined the CBS Record Club approximately 50 times — at no cost to Geffen, of course — and built an extensive love of showtune albums.
While researching high school records, King unearthed an English teacher’s assessment about Geffen’s character: “Rather talkative, self-centered, ignores teacher’s orders and instructions. Is fresh at times, and conceited, as well. Is not as good as he thinks he is.”
With the exception of the last part, King says that the teacher nailed it right on the head in describing exactly what Geffen would later become.
After high school, Geffen moved to LA and told people he was enrolled at UCLA because it “had a nice ring to it” — a lie he would peddle for years to come.
He did give college a try and was accepted to the University of Texas at Austin, but quickly dropped out and moved back to L.A. where he crossed paths with Phil Specter and an exotic teenager named Cherilyn LaPiere (who later shortened her name to Cher.)
While drifting in meaningless jobs in the entertainment industry, Geffen got his foot in the door at the mailroom of the William Morris Agency.
Geffen’s entrée was paved by claiming he was Phil Spector’s cousin and graduated with a UCLA theater arts degree.
Geffen eagerly threw himself into the mailroom position and his career sailed quickly and impressively from this point on — gathering many enemies along the way.
Throughout his career, Geffen is ruthless and imaginative. His knack for discovering and nurturing truly inspired artists like Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell (Mitchell’s song “Free Man in Paris” is about Geffen) is overwhelming because Geffen’s also the one responsible for schlocky entertainment fare like “Cats.”
While drifting in meaningless jobs in the entertainment industry, Geffen got his foot in the door at the mailroom of the William Morris Agency.
Geffen’s entrée was paved by claiming he was Phil Spector’s cousin and graduated with a UCLA theater arts degree.
Geffen eagerly threw himself into the mailroom position and his career sailed quickly and impressively from this point on — gathering many enemies along the way.
Throughout his career, Geffen is ruthless and imaginative. His knack for discovering and nurturing truly inspired artists like Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell (Mitchell’s song “Free Man in Paris” is about Geffen) is overwhelming because Geffen’s also the one responsible for schlocky entertainment fare like “Cats.”
But an element that always seems present is Geffen’s loneliness.
As a short (he’s 5’7”), Jewish, suffering closet-case, Geffen often relied on male prostitutes for companionship.
In “The Operator,” King recounts an incident in 1971 — when Geffen palled around with another gay agent David Forest (in 1993, Forest later spent 19 months in jail for pandering, is often referred to the “gay Heidi Fleiss” and is arguably the most successful gay-porn agent).
King doesn’t mention Forest’s later career, even though it’s often been speculated that Geffen was one of Forest’s biggest clients.
“That’s not the kind of book that I set out to write. I’m a reporter at The Wall Street Journal. And I didn’t set out to write a salacious tell-all. I wanted to write a serious book,” King insists. “There’s a moment in the book, when David gets the word that John Lennon has been shot that I say, ‘Lying next to David in bed — as had been the case on so many previous nights — was a male prostitute.’ I wanted the readers that know this is going on. But that doesn’t mean I have spell it out in grave detail.”
Geffen does evolve into a more sympathetic person when he starts losing friends to AIDS. He generously starts shelling out millions of dollars to various AIDS charities and to victims who simply ask for help.
Geffen does evolve into a more sympathetic person when he starts losing friends to AIDS. He generously starts shelling out millions of dollars to various AIDS charities and to victims who simply ask for help.
But was most of this charity done for publicity?
“This is something I talk about in the book very frankly. There are a lot of wealthy people who give money anonymously. And David Geffen is not one of them,” King says.
“The Operator” deftly chronicles Geffen’s countless business transactions and celebrity friendships. King describes three significant gay romantic relationships that Geffen was involved in (Geffen also had sexual relationships with women, Cher included).
The book also includes an incredible picture taken in the Oval Office of President Clinton asking Geffen for tips on how to spin the press while Todd Mulzet — a competitive-diver whom Geffen was dating — observes the discussion.
“This is something I talk about in the book very frankly. There are a lot of wealthy people who give money anonymously. And David Geffen is not one of them,” King says.
“The Operator” deftly chronicles Geffen’s countless business transactions and celebrity friendships. King describes three significant gay romantic relationships that Geffen was involved in (Geffen also had sexual relationships with women, Cher included).
The book also includes an incredible picture taken in the Oval Office of President Clinton asking Geffen for tips on how to spin the press while Todd Mulzet — a competitive-diver whom Geffen was dating — observes the discussion.
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| SPIN OUT: Mulzet, Clinton and Geffen. [Photo: Graham Nash] |
As King brings the book to a close, Geffen seems less frightening and more like a wealthy, lonely, gay Citizen Kane.
“It’s kind of an empty story. I would imagine that most readers, when they reach the final page, would discover that there’s a sadness to David Geffen’s life — an emptiness, a loneliness. Here is the man, now 57-years-old, who from the beginning of his life wanted to be rich and he got it,” King explains.
So was that what Geffen wanted all along — money?
King pauses for a second before answering, “Yes. It was money.”
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