Looking south along Fifth Avenue and 84th Street, along the facade of the Met. 11:15 PM. Photo: JH.

February 15, 2010. A grey weekend in New York, snowless although the weatherman says more’s coming in the next day or two. It’s a three days weekend (Presidents Day) for many and the city in my part of town was quiet(er). Fashion week has begun and those who want to know and those In The Know had scads of parties to attend and shows to see. It’s a demanding schedule for those in the business. It’s a blast for those who love the scene or are new on the scene. It’s pure New York go-went-gone and it’s very exciting. For the aforementioned. I feel like a fish out of water at a lot of those parties. Or maybe better, the elephant in the living room since I am so not a part of that scene. So I don’t go and in the main I’m not invited anyway. Nevertheless for the thousands of artists, designers, mavens, fans and hipsters (not to mention the visiting dignitaries in the business), it is exciting. And fun. And exhausting. As in that’s New York. A lot of people who can, got out of town for the long weekend, as they do all through January through March. If they can. The Palm Beach crowd are back and forth weekly. The skiers go off for weeks at a time. I had a front row seat last Thursday night at the Chado Ralph Rucci show which was great. I got a good portion of the collection in the following:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. Hollywood wives, Life in the last lane. Last Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, actor/director/photographer/art collector Dennis Hopper got a restraining order or two or more against his wife Victoria, which basically allows the man who is reportedly dying of cancer, to die in peace. Evidently Mrs. Hopper was one to stir things up. Dynasty as a reality show without the cameras. I’m always amazed at the way people go about destroying their marriages (or relationships). It usually has to do with The Money, no matter the level. The Hopper marriage is notable on several levels. She’s his fifth. She was a woman in her twenties when she married a very famous and financially well-fixed movie star who was thirty years older. Photo: PatrickMcMullan.com If you were looking at this from a purely psycho-sociological point of view, what would you think? Maybe you’d think that neither party indicated particularly good judgment. Ahh, but don’t forget the Key Words: Hollywood Famous, Rich Alter Kocker; Younger, Beautiful, Fresh as Spring, Youth Redux; appetite. They should serve to remind that most often we don’t exercise good judgment when there’s something we want from another. And there you have a lot of modern marriages today. Whatever it was, it got way out of hand. Someone pulled up anchor and cast the boat of life adrift in the Hopper family. Not having been a follower of the personal life of Dennis Hopper, I did not know until this marriage disaster that he is well known to be very right wing in his political opinions. The wife, now under court restraint, is said to be big in the liberal political causes. Oil and water. She’s even been rumored to have been having an affair with some liberal guy associated with the Dems. Fire and Ice. There are other rumors along those lines too, but all of them only indicate a woman who wants to be out in the world while her much older husband is at home ... dying, as it were. Her supporters/his detractors diss him via his political opinions. In other words, he’s getting what he deserves. The Hopper marriage has been in bad shape for quite some time. Her marriage to Hopper brought her into the Great Big World of arts and entertainment (read: politics, money, connections worldwide) and she clearly likes it. She’s found a place for herself. For a long time, Mr. Hopper has expressed his feeling of being outside her sphere of interest. The neglected husband. Not everyone thinks there is such a thing. However there are always two distinct sides to the story. A few months ago, around the time Mrs. Hopper decided to remove certain things from the marital residence (when Mr. was not at home), she also demanded that her husband’s will be read. An unusual request perhaps, but Mr. H allowed, and it was read, revealing that Mrs. H would be receiving what she would have received in her pre-nup, namely: 25% of the estate and control of the 15% for their daughter Galen. Each of the other three Hopper children from previous marriages were to get 20%. After that Mrs. Hopper was removed from the document as Executrix and replaced by her stepdaughter Marin.

The Hopper estate is evidently rich in art and real estate. Although I have not heard an estimate of its total value, it is said to be in the millions. Surprise surprise. Mrs. Hopper’s people are claiming that this is all the result of the greed of Mr. Hopper’s older children, namely Marin, his first born who is older than Mrs. Hopper. Marin who has had a very close relationship with her father since she was in her early twenties, (she’s 47) is looking after him now, as you might expect. Anyway, to the court they went, with Mr. Hopper Petitioning to get the woman off his back. The orders pretty much spell it out. The court decided in his favor: There were several restraining orders against Mrs. Hopper, one of which restrains and enjoins her from “harassing, attacking striking, threatening, disturbing the peace, keeping under surveillance, or blocking the movements of the Petitioner (Mr. Hopper), Petitioner’s son Henry Hopper, Petitioner’s daughter, Marin Hopper, and Petitioner’s assistant Emily Davis, directly or indirectly.” Mrs. Hopper is also thereby “restrained and enjoined from contacting Petitioner, directly or indirectly, in person, by telephone, via text messaging, via mail, e-mail, or otherwise except only as provided herein with regard t communications regarding the minor child, Galen ...” Furthermore “... Any messages which Respondent wishes to be communicated to Petitioner regarding the minor child Galen, shall be provided by Respondent, or her representatives, to Petitioner’s assistant, Emily Davis, with a copy concurrently to Petitioner’s counsel of record in the pending action ....” Otherwise “Respondent (Mrs. Hopper) shall stay at least 120 feet away from Petitioner, Petitioner’s son, Henry Hopper, Petitioner’s daughter, Marin Hopper, and Petitioner’s assistant Emily Davis, and may not enter the main residence on the property at ……. Venice, California, or any other portion of the property other than the residence indentified as …….. where Respondent is currently residing.” Photo: PatrickMcMullan.com Also the Respondent, mother of the minor Galen shall deliver the child to the front door of her father’s house everyday at five pm so that the father can spend (“as much as”) two hours with his daughter. It shall be pre-arranged for either Ms. Davis or one of the Hopper children to also be present to meet her at the door and take her to her father. The restraining order also gives Hopper “exclusive use and possession of all portions of the property” other than the bungalow on the property where Mrs. Hopper is residing with her daughter and, at times, other members of her family. Otherwise she is also restrained from entering any other building on the property (there are several). Also by two weeks from last Friday Mrs. Hopper is to provide Mr. Hopper’s attorney with an inventory and photographs of all the personal property which she took, or got others to take from the property after November 30, 2009 – other than her own clothing. Readers following this case may remember that right after Thanksgiving when Mr. Hopper was staying in the Beverly Hills Hotel on doctor’s orders to stay away from his wife’s harassing him, she and some helpers removed a number of valuable artworks, silver and other family possessions, claiming they were hers. After providing that record, the Respondent is to return to the residence at a date and time to be arranged, all those things she removed. Then there are the cars. Mr. Hopper who is dying of cancer and not very ambulatory, has been awarded exclusive use, possession and control of the 1995 Toyota Landcruiser (for Galen’s nanny), and the 2002 Honda Insight (which son Henry uses). Mrs. Hopper was awarded exclusive use and possession of 2002 Jaguar which she has been in possession of for quite some time. In L.A. the cars are always great. And shiny clean, no matter what else.

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