“The best time I ever had with Joan Crawford was when I pushed her down the stairs in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.” — Bette Davis
It began innocently enough. Eleven-year old Chester Arnold Jr. had acquired 5 shares of Pepsi common stock in 1957 but, after seeing the financial world spoof The Solid Gold Cadillac, he suddenly grew concerned about his investment. He fired off a letter to Pepsi’s chairman Alfred Steele to ask if his board of directors was, “crooked like those people in the movie.” No, really, he did.
Perhaps at the insistence of his wife, who understood more than anyone the power of publicity, the boy and his parents were flown to New York and put up at the Waldorf Astoria where Alfred Steele and his new bride, one of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, Joan Crawford were staying while their two-story Fifth Avenue penthouse was undergoing a major renovation. The Steele’s planned trip to Greensboro later in the week would provide the perfect Hollywood ending to a real life fairy tale come true — plucky small town boy meets glamorous movie queen with the lights of Manhattan as their backdrop.
It began innocently enough. Eleven-year old Chester Arnold Jr. had acquired 5 shares of Pepsi common stock in 1957 but, after seeing the financial world spoof The Solid Gold Cadillac, he suddenly grew concerned about his investment. He fired off a letter to Pepsi’s chairman Alfred Steele to ask if his board of directors was, “crooked like those people in the movie.” No, really, he did.
Perhaps at the insistence of his wife, who understood more than anyone the power of publicity, the boy and his parents were flown to New York and put up at the Waldorf Astoria where Alfred Steele and his new bride, one of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, Joan Crawford were staying while their two-story Fifth Avenue penthouse was undergoing a major renovation. The Steele’s planned trip to Greensboro later in the week would provide the perfect Hollywood ending to a real life fairy tale come true — plucky small town boy meets glamorous movie queen with the lights of Manhattan as their backdrop.
