EVERYBODY THOUGHT WE WERE CRAZY

A showbiz tale of the tempestuous marriage at the heart of the birth of modern art in Los Angeles and the messy transition from old to new Hollywood.

Brooke Hayward (b. 1937) is the daughter of legendary film and theater agent Leland Hayward and actor Margaret Sullavan, a couple who knew a thing or two about dramatic marriages. As Vanity Fair contributor Rozzo chronicles, Brooke was on her way to becoming an actress, an “ingenue on the upswing,” when she met Dennis Hopper, who grew up in Dodge City, Kansas, far from the glamorous life Brooke knew. Hopper, “a self-sabotaging hard case,” got his first film credit on Rebel Without a Cause, idolizing troublemaker James Dean. In 1960, Leland, who worked with actors and didn’t want his daughter to marry one, was married to the former Pamela Churchill, who at one time was married to Winston Churchill’s son Randolph. In July 1961, Hopper and Brooke, by then a couple, showed up on a Vespa at the ritzy Beverly Hills Hotel for lunch with the high-society Leland and Pamela, who was shocked at their choice of vehicle. That anecdote serves as an apt representation of the culture clash between the Hollywood establishment and a younger generation yearning to craft more authentic movies and lives. Hopper and Brooke’s house, writes Rozzo, “became the era’s unofficial living room. Brooke and Dennis helped introduce Warhol to the West Coast with a spectacular coming-out party, hosted Jasper Johns and Claes Oldenburg, entertained an entire Olympus of movie gods, and gave shelter to Hells Angels and Black Panthers.” Hopper, who comes off as a preening jerk, would go on to revolutionize American film by co-creating Easy Rider­—although he considered his still photography his most important artistic contribution. Rozzo delves deep into his characters’ lives, making a strong case for their enduring cultural influence.

Telling all the right tales, this story of “the coolest kids in Hollywood” proves their artistic significance.