Welcome To Findadeath!
James Whale
Right. So, have you seen the film Gods and Monsters? It was all about the Whale. Interesting flick, starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser. One of the Redgrave creatures was in it too. James was the director of some amazing films, most notably Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man. Oh, and Showboat.
The love fest at the Oscar ceremony between the three was painful to watch. Topped off by Goldie Hawn’s announcement that she used to live in the Pacific Palisades house that Whale lived in. I understand that she did huge renovations on the house, therefore it's not quite like it used to be.
Anyway, back to the British born Whale. He was pretty well forgotten by the film
industry by the time the mid fifties rolled around. He spent a lot of time
painting and reading. He had installed a pool on his property although he did
not swim. Just for parties. He lived just behind this
gate, and no doubt this is a new
mailbox.
In 1956 his health deteriorated after a series of strokes, and he couldn’t do the simplest of things. On May 29, 1957 he wrote out a suicide note that said, "Do not grieve for me - my nerves are all shot...the future is just old age and pain." He downed a few cocktails then sashayed to the shallow end of his pool, and dove in smacking his head on the bottom becoming unconscious, then drowning. Dead, you know. He was 63 years old officially, though he often hacked 7 years off of his age.
He was cremated and is in the den of luxury at Forest Lawn, Glendale.
People find it creepy that the book placed on his night stand was Don't Go Near the Water.
When Brendan was in London doing a play, I wrote him a quick note and asked him to autograph James Whale’s death certificate for me, but all I received (many months later) was this note.
According to one report, Whale was haunting the house he lived in when he died, but the new owners had him exorcized.
Info added by Findadeath.com friend E.J. Fleming: His
career actually ended because Louis B. Mayer was pissed that Whale was living
with David Lewis, who was Irving Thalberg's assistant. While Thalberg was
alive he protected both men, whom he was very close to. Thalberg had many
homosexual friends, which really pissed off Mayer. Anyway, after Thalberg
died, over time all of the people that he 'protected' ended up getting fired.
Lewis was fired right after Thalberg died in 1936. Whale's final MGM movie
was done soon afterward, and he ended up living in the house with Lewis for
another 20+ years. The manner of his death was subject of much speculation
over the years, because Lewis (who survived Whale) kept the suicide note a
secret for another decade. Thanks EJ!