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CNN Larry King Live
Mariel Hemingway Discusses Her Family's History of Tragedy
Aired July 11, 2001 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, her brilliant grandfather Ernest Hemingway committed suicide. Authorities say her beautiful sister Margaux killed herself, too, but in her first interview about that painful loss, our guest challenges the official view.
Mariel Hemingway, an Oscar nominee in her teens, joins us for a very candid one-on-one: how she survived a famous family's legacy of tragedy, next on LARRY KING LIVE.
It's a great pleasure to welcome Mariel Hemingway back to LARRY KING LIVE. She's one of my favorite people, actress nominee for -- Academy Award nominee for the brilliant "Manhattan," where she was directed by Woody Allen.
She's the granddaughter of the late Ernest Hemingway. Actually, when your grandfather committed suicide, was right before you were born, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY, ACTRESS: Three months before I born in Sun Valley, Idaho.
KING: Your father was his son.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. Yes. Who is actually, a "Movable Face," which is what my grandfather wrote when he was 58 years old, prior to his suicide, very close before his suicide. It is about the whole time of being in Paris when my father was born, in Paris in the '20s.
KING: So what was it like, growing up -- the family was you, and how many sisters?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I have two sisters.
KING: Two sisters, one gone.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: One gone.
KING: And brothers?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No brothers.
KING: Just the three of you.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Just the three of us. KING: What was it like growing up a Hemingway?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You know, it was -- it is like asking anybody, I was never anything but a Hemingway, I wasn't Mariel Jones, so I wasn't...
KING: You have nothing to compare it to, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It was nothing to compare it to, and it was, I knew that it was important, because even before I was a celebrity, people were very impressed because I lived in Sun Valley, Idaho, where my grandfather had lived and written, and -- what have you. So, but, I went to Ernest Hemingway Grade School, so that part of my life was very...
KING: Grade school with your own name.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It was horrible, they used to call me rich -- I don't know if I can say that.
KING: Yes, you can.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Rich bitch. Which was devastating to me because I was like, hey, I didn't have anything to do with the school.
KING: Early on, then, you knew a lot about your grandfather.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Actually, not.
KING: No?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It is very interesting: my father -- my father and my uncles had such a tremendous weight on them growing up to be the son of one of the greatest writers of all time.
KING: I knew one of your uncles, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), who lived in Miami.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Gregory yes, exactly. Well, they had a tremendous burden, I think, on them.
KING: Sure.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: And I think that because of that, my father -- it is not that he was extremely proud to be Ernest Hemingway's son, but we didn't talk about in our family anyway, we didn't talk about him.
KING: Really?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, we didn't get stories about him. It was very, very interesting. It was -- like, because I don't think my grandfather was a warm and loving father. He was a great man, he was a great artist, which is all fabulous, but it didn't translate to a wonderful loving father.
KING: What did your father do?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: My father was a fish and game commissioner early on. He was a stockbroker. He was a writer later on in his life. He was a tremendous outdoorsman. He loved the wilderness, he loved fishing. He was one of the greatest fly fishermen ever!
KING: Did he die of natural causes?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No. He had a -- double bypass surgery this year in December. And -- or last year, rather -- December, yes. And he had complicate -- I had actually went to see him. It was a, you know, he came out of it fine. I was in the room with him. And he had like a seizure or something, something -- not a seizure. He had a -- one of the sutures broke inside the heart, the valve. And I was in the room with him, and I knew at that moment that he was gone. Which was...
KING: Wow. You saw your father die.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Basically, he lived for several weeks later, he was alive, but he was clinically dead.
KING: Basically, you knew.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, I knew that that moment he was gone. I rushed out and got doctors, but I could see him going.
KING: Do you ever think, Mariel, your mother died when?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: My mother died about 11 years ago.
KING: That was a tough blow for you, wasn't it?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, it was a very tough blow, because my -- my mother had been sick almost nearly all my childhood, so when she died it was more expected. When my father died, it wasn't, and that was very difficult, when my father died, too, it really made me look at my family in a different kind of way. And I think that I really mourned my sister, my father, my mother. It is almost like the accumulation of that was pretty powerful.
KING: In a sense, Mariel, the Hemingway name was both a curse and a benefit. Certainly was an entree for you, wasn't it?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Absolutely.
KING: You started as a model. right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Actually, I didn't, I started as an actress. I was in a movie with my sister Margaux, "Lipstick" -- I was 12 years old, I turned 13 on the set. She was one of the biggest models the country at that time.
KING: I knew -- she was.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She was the first model to make a million dollars, she was one of the first supermodels to be on "Time" Magazine, I mean, she was huge. And she was 19, 20 years old.
And I made this movie with her, and I got acclaim after the movie and she got slammed, and it was very, very difficult. And it was the last thing I wanted to happen. I was going to do a movie, so I could go to Los Angeles and get school clothes, that is how naive I was.
KING: Did it cause a cleavage between the two of you?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, we actually had a good relationship.
KING: She was how much older?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She was seven years older. My sisters are that much older than me that I wasn't really like -- it wasn't -- it was almost like being an only child.
KING: Was the other sister older than her?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: When you were got "Manhattan," you were 17, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I was 17.
KING: Had you modeled then, or was that...?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I did model a bit, I moved to New York when I was 16 years old.
KING: On your own.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I did. My parents were a little bit -- I think they were out of their mind. Having two daughters of my own now, I know that that is never going to happen, so don't get any funny ideas -- to my daughters out there.
But I moved to New York after making "Manhattan" because I had this idea that I wanted to be an actress, I had the opportunity to go to Princeton, and I decided I wanted to act. So I moved to New York.
But because I made these movies when I was so young, I couldn't get any of the money I had made. So I ended up modeling a bit, but I also walked a friend of mine's dogs and cleaned his apartment, so it was kind of odd to be somewhat of a celebrity, but also have to do...
KING: Walking dogs.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I was walking dogs.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: And Woody spotted you?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Woody actually -- that was after doing "Manhattan." KING: Let me get a break and get more of the incredible life of Mariel Hemingway. We've only just begun. That would make nice song title.
As we go to break, here is Mariel in her Academy Award-nominated role in a brilliant Woody Allen movie, "Manhattan."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MANHATTAN")
WOODY ALLEN, ACTOR: Do you still love me or what?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Do you love me?
ALLEN: Well, you -- of course, that is what this is all about. You know.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Guess what? I turned 18 the other day.
ALLEN: Did you?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I'm legal, but I'm still a kid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LIPSTICK")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kathy! Kathy!
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: What? I'm taking a shower.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kathy. I thought you were -- I thought...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That scene from "Lipstick," when you were how old? 11?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I was 12.
KING: Very pretty.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Thank you. You know what was so ironic about that movie is that I had no idea what the movie was about until the movie came out. My father took me to movie and I was -- I wouldn't talk him when we came out of the film. I go, I can't believe you let me be in a movie was I was raped. I had no idea my sister was raped...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Tell me about Margaux. Found dead in her studio apartment July 1, 1996. She was 41 years old. She had battled addiction, eating disorders, had financial problems, had epilepsy. Now, here's what the coroner read, then we want to discuss it with you. Here's the coroner's verdict on the death of Margaux Hemingway. Basically, the cause of death is listed as an acute phenobarbital intoxication, and it's -- the death is going to be ruled a suicide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: You do not think so.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I'll just tell you what the coroner told me two or three weeks prior to that announcement. They had -- I was with the woman coroner that had found her. She said to me she found her lying on her back with a pillow underneath her legs, with a book on her lap. And she said, "That doesn't sound like to me, it looked to me like somebody who committed suicide,"
I said absolutely not. So as far as we were concerned, it was not. She said point blank it was not. The fact that they released it as suicide three weeks later, never called us to warn the family or tell us that that's what was going to happen, I thought was a bit appalling. I don't think it was suicide. Bar none, I do not think it was suicide. I think that she was doing better than she'd ever done in her life. I mean, she had come through so much, some drug and alcohol abuse. And she, you know, she was into yoga, she was trying to do all the right things. I don't -- I think had she started earlier in her life, it might have been more beneficial.
KING: So what do you think she died of?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She had epilepsy, caused, I think -- don't get me wrong, I'm not an expert on this -- but I think triggered a lot by her alcohol and drug abuse, early on. So when -- I think she just -- the combination of all the herbal supplements that she was taking to try to be healthy and her epilepsy drugs caused her death. That's what I think. I think that she had a seizure, she was -- you know, she had candles lit. She was not...
KING: So it bothers you that it's labeled suicide, right? Personally bothers, as well as that the record show that your sister...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, it bothers me -- it bothers me because I know my sister. She was -- she was not suicidal. You know, she had a lot of problems, like many people have a lot of problems, but she was not suicidal. And we loved her and she was doing well. And I had spoken to her quite...
KING: There was no note?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No. Another thing about my sister, she was a great girl, but she was a big bang girl. She would have written a hell of a note. I just know her. She would have...
KING: She was dramatic.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She was dramatic. She liked to make a big scene. KING: Of course, the other side said, well, you know the Hemingways, they may have this depression problem. It could be in the genes, the grandfather did it, etcetera. Right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I think that is the media saying: We want a story. This sounds better. This will work for -- whatever.
And that's -- you know, that's a choice that, you know, the press makes often, I think, that they'll wield something to make a better story.
KING: Was Margaux married at the time of her...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, she was not.
KING: Had she had children?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, she had not.
KING: She had been married, though.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She had been married twice, yes.
KING: Do you know what set her off? Why she even -- I mean, she was successful, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She was successful...
KING: Or wasn't she?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I think that when you're...
KING: She was on this program. She did a "Playboy" layout, as I remember, didn't she?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. She was successful. I think she didn't realize her success. I think that when you become a star, the kind of star that she became at 19 years old is tremendously...
KING: There she is on the front cover of "Playboy."
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: She was gorgeous.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She was a beautiful, beautiful woman. And I think that it takes its toll to become that huge when you're that young. I mean, she was big. And when you're that big, also, another thing that the press loves to do is bring you down. You're that big, and they, like, OK, we've had enough of you, I really -- and I think she didn't know how to handle that.
I know personally that it is a difficult thing to handle, having watched my sister go through her life and stuff, I think it made it easier for me to know that the wave goes up and down. And my life is not like that. I have a good, you know -- and I think that if she had known what she knew later on in life, but, you know drugs and alcohol do cause all kinds of problems. And when she got in that, she was a part of the jet set of the '80s.
KING: Your older sister has had her problems, too, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She's had her problems in the past. She's doing very well now.
KING: That's good.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She's living in Idaho.
KING: Were you close to Margaux at her death? When she was...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: The day you -- where were you when you heard?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Well, no, I mean, I -- we had not seen each other in a few weeks, but I had spoken to her.
KING: But did you talk all the time?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: You were sisters.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: We were definitely sisters.
KING: How did you learn of her death?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: To be honest, I was called.
KING: By?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I -- I don't -- I think my father called me, having heard from somebody that called him. Of that course was...
KING: First reaction?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I -- it just didn't make sense. It just didn't make sense. It was the last thing that you expected, you know.
KING: Because she was doing better. I mean, you knew there was always that chance.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She was doing better, she was looking beautiful, she was thin again. You know, it was all -- no, I didn't think there was a chance. No, I didn't feel that there was.
KING: How did your father handle it?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It was very difficult for my father. Very, very difficult for my father, having, you know, been the son of somebody who had committed suicide, and, you know, and the way that they brought it out in the press, it was devastating to him, because he wanted to say that's not how it happened. You know, this is my daughter.
And, you know, he just quite recently lost my mother, so...
KING: Do you know what the basis for saying it was suicide was? In other words, they told you initially it wasn't. Then they announced it was. What was the rationale? They obviously had an autopsy.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It's like I said before. I think that they just wanted the story. I don't -- to be honest, I don't know why the coroner would say that, I don't know. I have no answer to that.
KING: Your sister, at 21, had a budding movie career, had a million dollar perfume contract, right? She had an open invitation to Studio 54. Not many people had that.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: And decade later, had lost it all.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Well, yes. You know, I think that the pressure of her life was too much. I think that...
KING: Did anything have to do with being a Hemingway, do you think?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No.
KING: No.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No. I mean, I...
KING: You're a Hemingway and you didn't have it...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I'm a Hemingway and I didn't do that. I mean, I'm very reticent. I'm very careful with the way I live my life. I'm, you know, everything about my life is taking care of me.
KING: Did your sister confide in you? Did you know of her problems?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. I knew...
KING: You knew she was into drugs, you knew she was...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I didn't know -- early on, I was young. So I didn't know a lot about it. I didn't know a lot about it.
KING: Was she epileptic all her life?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No.
KING: That came on?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It came on. I think it was triggered by the drug and the alcohol abuse. KING: We'll be right back with Mariel Hemingway on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGAUX HEMINGWAY, MODEL: I think it's a celebration of my rebirth, basically. It's something -- I think it's one of the most positive things that I have ever done. Hopefully we learn from all of our, you know, experiences, and I certainly learned some great lessons. But not until I quit drinking and I've -- I learned so much about myself and about life in just the last two years. In this business, as you very well know, it's a very competitive business. And Hemingway -- having the last name Hemingway isn't enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CREATOR")
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Maybe when you stop playing antelope in the bushes then I will cover myself and beat you, and walk around nursing babies on my neck and big graphic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) . You can forget all about marriage. Its probably too hot for it anyway.
PETER O'TOOLE, ACTOR: My wife is Lucy...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Lucy is dead!
Why someone with the brains to win a noble prize can't figure that out is beyond me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Very talented Mariel Hemingway is our guest. We are talking about life -- do you ever think that there is some sort of curse on your life? I mean, for you it's been very...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: There is no curse on my life. You know, I think everybody has stuff in their family that is difficult to deal with. They really do. I just happened to have a name that is much more out there. And people want to know, so they think they want to know.
My life is wonderful. I have been very careful in my life to live a healthy life. You know, and to teach my children how to live a healthy life, because I think that there are genetic things that every family has, that you have to watch for. So for me, that means my kids eat well. They don't eat so much sugar. I really believe these kinds of things are important to keeping your life healthy and sane.
KING: Do they know about their aunt?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Um-hmm.
KING: They know about Margaux and what happened to her everything, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, yes. I use it as an example, as not something she wanted to happen. She didn't take care of herself early enough in her life. And they know that you have got to, I talk to my kids, they are young, 11 and 13. I tell them about drugs, I tell them about sex. I tell them about things that they think are just gross and they roll their eyes but I tell them because it is important to know. It is important to have knowledge.
KING: When your sister was in Betty Ford, did that help her?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Sure it did. I'm sure it helps a lot of people.
KING: She also had -- she had bankruptcy. She had financial problems. How did that happen? Was that through marriage?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I think it's through -- you know, I don't know what her finances were. I think it was through hard living, you know.
KING: Were you rich kids?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No. Absolutely not.
KING: You didn't inherit a fortune from all of his -- with the grandfather's...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No. No. Not at all. My dad and my uncles did not have a lot of money growing up, when we were growing up at all. My father did well sort of later on. He made a Hemingway trust, and put things together, but growing up we were not wealthy, wealthy kids.
We were not spoiled brat kids, but everybody thought we were.
KING: When you got very famous.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: And you did -- Academy Award nominations, modeling, that whole scene. Margaux wasn't jealous of that?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I don't know. I don't think so. It's not something we talked about. She was happy for me.
KING: She was.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: She was happy for me, she really was. She was a good person. She knew, you know. She would have liked to it work for her. Of course she would have. You know, who wouldn't? It's what she wanted to be was an actress.
KING: You are the rock of the Hemingways.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. KING: We'll be right back with Mariel, we will be including your phone calls in a little while as well with Mariel Hemingway, on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE.
Tomorrow night Steve Cron will be with us. He's the attorney for Paula Poundstone who has her problems these days and Pat Boone is going to be here because of great concern over his grandson. And on Friday night, Catherine Zeta-Jones.
We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SUICIDE CLUB")
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: So did he tell you about my brother?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Did he tell you that I killed him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. What do you mean?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Oh, come on. He told you something. What did he say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well he said that you had a party last year, and your brother shot himself. And he warned me that you are crazy.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, did you believe him?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "STAR 80")
ERIC ROBERTS, ACTOR: I don't think I want to go on living without you. I bought a gun.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Oh, Paul. Things will change for you...
ROBERTS: You mean maybe I will grow up to be a big movie director? Or own a big magazine, is that what you mean? Maybe then I could get you back, is that what you are saying? Sit down!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Boy, "Star 80" that was some film with Eric Roberts and you playing a real live person who had died at his hand.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes it was a powerful movie, with Bob Fosse, who is one of the great, great directors. It was an amazing movie, just a tremendously hard movie to make, though. Bob was very much, I suppose you would call it method, I didn't realize it at the time, but he would play a funeral march during the whole end of that movie. And you know, a movie with somebody like him takes a long time. So it was very intense.
KING: Eric is kind of, a great actor, but off the wall, too, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: He was great. He was great in the movie. He was intense but he was playing a really, really difficult role.
KING: Yes, very difficult. A man who was obsessed.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Obsessed, and you knew it from the beginning of the film, so throughout he was just a very complicated character and I think he did amazing job.
KING: Did you get to know Hugh Hefner through any of the making of that film?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, I actually met Hugh Hefner before, but we did go up to the "Playboy" mansion prior to filming so that we could see and them they simulated one out in Pasadena, but it was an odd place.
KING: A couple things on Margaux and then we will break and we will take some phone calls and talk about your life now. But tell me if you ever filed a protest against the finding, if you ever asked for them to look again? Exhume the body, maybe.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No.
KING: Why not?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You know what, I have been -- we have been in the limelight, as family, for long enough, it was best to just not say anything and let it just die. Because I think when you make big stink about things it just keeps going and just keeps living and I don't -- it was unnecessary.
KING: So you feel important now about setting the record straight in a sense? Of how you feel?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Well, you know, I say what I believe. I'm saying what I felt happened. And that is all that needs to be said. You know, I don't care if anybody believes me. I know what I know. You know, and that is what's important. I'm not out trying to impress anybody anywhere. You know, we are a family. Sometimes that is forgotten.
We are a family who loves each other, who supported -- we lost a member of our family. It is very hard. But you move on.
KING: You are a rock. We'll be right back with Mariel Hemingway. We will include your phone calls on this edition of LARRY KING LIVE. To test your knowledge on the Hemingways, log on to our Web site at CNN.com/larryking. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "PERSONAL BEST")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Fifty-nine seconds. That's incredible. I don't think they can hold to the end. It's just a question now of how much they've got, how much they slow down. Charlene Benveniste still trying to hang on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: We're back from Mariel Hemingway. That scene from "Personal Best." You got a lesson on that movie, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I had a what?
KING: A lesson out of that movie, the director told you that you were behaving badly and?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Oh, yes. Yes, he did. I was -- well, I'd come from making -- well, I had "Manhattan." And...
KING: You were a star.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I thought I was a star. And I guess I was acting like one. And he came into my trailer one day. And he said, "You're acting like a brat. And you're being snotty." And I stayed in my trailer and cried for four hours. I was so embarrassed. I think improved after that.
KING: But it changed, you right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It did. I really was like, it shocked me because one of the things when I got into this business, I never wanted to be, was stuck up. And when I was I kid, I thought I never want to be stuck up. I never want to be -- like I never want my friends to think I'm different, never wanted to change. So when he said that to me, it was like the very thing that I worried about. So it really -- it did change me. I thought -- then I wanted to be everybody's best friend on the movie.
KING: You've done some interesting things. One of the more interesting occurred in 1994. You were on Roseanne. This was the lesbian scene. I think the first lesbian scene ever on television, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: First lesbian kiss, I think.
KING: Kiss, OK. All right, watch this and then we'll ask her about it. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ROSEANNE")
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You know, Roseanne, we ought to hang out more often.
ROSEANNE, ACTRESS: I was thinking that, too, but next time, let's leave the wives at home.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You read my mind.
ROSEANNE: Huh?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That was history, folks. When you saw the -- what you, the part, did you say OK right away?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, I'm always game for a little controversy. I think that's always good.
KING: You knew it would cause a stir?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You know what? I didn't realize it was going to cause such a big stir. I'd made "Personal Best," which was already, you know, kind of a lesbian relationship in that movie.
KING: But no kissing, was there?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: So I didn't think that much -- there was some kissing in that movie.
KING: But not a...never been on television?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: But not -- no, never been on television. I just didn't -- to me, it was like, "Oh, that'll be fun. You know, it's Roseanne. Yes, sure, that'll be great." I didn't realize it would have the impact that it. It was fun. It was really fun. It was so -- and she was great. She was hilarious about doing it. She kept kissing and do it.
KING: There's a criticism about her, too, wasn't there?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Oh, I think so. Yes, there was a big...
KING: Let's get in some calls for Mariel Hemingway. LLJ, Georgia, hello?
CALLER: Yes, Mrs. Hemingway, are you happy and do you ever have any thoughts of depression or suicide? And do you know any American writers that are comparable to your famous grandfather?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, I am very happy. I have a very good life. I don't have -- I'm very, very lucky, but the way that I live my life, that I don't suffer from depression. And I really do believe it's because of the choices that I've made about how I live my life that I don't. So I'm fortunate in that way.
In regard to my grandfather and a comparable American writer, it's hard to say. I mean, he's my grandfather. I think he's great.
KING: He changed American writing.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: He did, he did indeed. He really came along and changed the way people wrote.
KING: That's right.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: In the 20th century.
KING: Comparative sentences.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Absolutely.
KING: Ottawa, Canada, hello.
CALLER: Hello. Yes, there's a particular drug -- this is concerning Margaux -- that was used to treat epilepsy that's also widely used to treat bipolar depression. And I'm wondering if she could've been on this at the time for her epilepsy? And could this have contributed to the confusion and speculation concerning her death?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: To be honest, I don't...
KING: What's the name -- do you know the name of the drug, sir? I'm sorry, he's gone.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: He's gone. To be honest, I don't know what she was taking. I know she was taking Klonopin, which was for epilepsy and other drugs. I absolutely don't know. I know that combining different kinds of drugs can be very detrimental to people that have epilepsy. You can't -- I mean, you can -- herbal supplements are very dangerous to take if you're on medication.
KING: Yes. And even now warnings today if you're having surgery, watch your herbal supplements to take.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, absolutely.
KING: Dorothy Stratten, the character you played in "Star 80," a real live -- a real person, a Playboy playmate?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Mm-hmm.
KING: Who was killed by her husband. Directed by Bob Fosse. You had to do nude scenes in that.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Mm-hmm.
KING: Was there any problem with that?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You know, for me on that -- in that movie, here was a director that was amazing, Bob Fosse. If it had been, you know, a B-movie...
KING: Joe Schmoe?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, I would not have done it. But it sure was a great director. Made "All that Jazz," made, you know, these incredible "Cabaret." And it was -- I didn't worry about it. It was also the character play. It wasn't used for explicit purposes. It wasn't to be naked in a movie. I mean, oftentimes, you see a movie and you know the girls in the shower just because. There's no reason for it.
She was a playmate. That's what she did.
KING: Was it hard for you to disrobe in front of people?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: Simply asked. We'll be right back with more of Mariel -- well answered. We'll be back with Mariel Hemingway right after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SEX MONSTER")
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Diva, I'm so sorry. I really am so sorry. I don't what's gotten into me. I feel like a pig. I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is going on?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Well, Monty told me the thing about you in college and seeing girls. And ever since he told me, I just can't get it or you out of my mind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do know I'm getting married in two months, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, I do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I do and like I said before, I'm sorry. I am. I'm just so attracted to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CIVIL WARS")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you take off your bathrobe?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Right, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be great, Sydney. Give me the camera of the 150. What (INAUDIBLE)
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Have faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Back nudity in television, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Exactly.
KING: In -- that was in "Civil Wars."
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: "Civil Wars."
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Why didn't that show work? I liked that show.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It was a great show. You know what? I think it was just like one year before its time.
KING: Yes.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It was kind of controversial.
KING: Divorce attorney and...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It was fun. We had a great time making that show.
KING: Now to make "Star 80," you had your breasts enhanced. And then, took it out?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I -- look, I...
KING: Why is the question?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: First of all, I didn't have it done for "Star 80." I had it done for me. And I had them taken out because I didn't like them anymore.
KING: Had nothing to do with the part?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Nothing to do with the part. It was done for me. It was another thing that was -- you know, it was another time where people like to say, "Oh, this is, you know." Anyway.
KING: Why didn't you like it?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Actually, they were such controversy about implants...
KING: Were you afraid?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, I got very nervous and thought -- and it's kind of the antithesis of who I am as a person. So didn't need them anymore.
KING: So it was not you?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It was not me.
KING: Austin, Texas, hello?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Hello. Mariel, I'd like to ask you, do you think maybe Margaux accidentally overdosed on phenobarbital or was there no phenobarbital at all?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. I have no idea.
KING: So you don't know what it was?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I just know what I was told. And I know what I know about my sister. So I don't know.
KING: And if your sister had harmed herself, there's no doubt in your mind she'd have written a long note to everyone connected in her life?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Absolutely. Absolutely.
KING: Pompano Beach, Florida, hello?
CALLER: Hi, Mariel, how are you?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I'm good, thank you.
CALLER: What I'm calling about is I recently lost my sister, it'll be 10 months tomorrow. It was a suicide. There was no doubt in our family's mind, but I wanted to know, as a sister, how do you cope with it and how do you go on? It's so fresh for us that I find it sometimes hard to get out of bed in the morning. And I just wanted to know how you went on and how it's been years for you. And does it get any easier? Does it just get different?
KING: Your sister left no note either?
CALLER: She left no note at all, no.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: That's a hard question to answer. It's, you know, death and tragedy is something that happens. And you have to mourn it. It's not something that you can avoid. I don't have any...
KING: What about sibling loss? That's the -- I mean, we discussed parental loss and childhood loss?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: There's not much discussion about a brother losing a brother or sister losing a sister.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, I think it's a difficult thing. I think it's more intense than a friend. And I think it's...
KING: Blood.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: ...it's blood. It's kind of the stories and the history that you have together that nobody knows about. You know. And I think sisters know things about each other that people -- that other -- you know, that other friends and parents to children don't know. So I think it's a relationship that can be incredibly powerful and painful when you lose it. You know?
And you know, for -- in every family, sisters have roles. And you know, you -- I played the good girl. And my sister was a rebel. And you know, and so you -- it's a very complicated relationship, I think. I think sisters or siblings are complicated relationships. KING: Very. And you would've had a -- both being in the business, both carrying the name Hemingway, and close, you shared things probably no one knows?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: Your husband may never have known?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: Some of the things your sister knew?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: So that part dies with her?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, yes.
KING: So a little bit of you dies when a sibling dies?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Oh, yes. I think so. I think so. And you're not -- you don't expect it. It's not what's supposed to happen.
KING: Why didn't your career zoom after "Star 80?" Thought you were on top of the world?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You know why? I got married about...
KING: Blame him, huh?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: ...no, but you know what? I don't blame him. We have...
KING: You loved it.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: ...I fell madly in love with my husband. And I wanted to have children right away. And I pretty much did about 2 years later. And it was really important for me to be with my family, to raise these girls, to be a good mother. He's a wonderful documentary filmmaker now. And he has this whole life and things that he does. And I'm still raising these girls. And I work a lot, but not too much, so that I can a mother to them.
KING: So that motherhood became much more important?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Motherhood and being a wife was very important to me. I think that's an important thing that, you know, gets lost in this society where everybody works. I mean, I -- and people need to work. And there were times when I had to work, too, but I think that being a mother and being a wife is one of the greatest joys in our life.
KING: That clip we saw was from "Sex Monster" and "Londinium," both of which are coming to HBO, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. They're going to be showing on... KING: Showing them together?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: They're going to show them back to back on HBO on September 2. They're both comedies. They're made by a director named Mike Binder, that I worked -- did the two with him. And they're so much fun, both of them. And he's got a new series on HBO, "Sex and the Married Man" I think is what it's called. But they're good, good fun. Good fun movies.
KING: But children first?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, absolutely.
KING: We'll be right back with more of Mariel Hemingway, more of your phone calls, right after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "DECONSTRUCTING HARRY")
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Let go of me.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: What are you doing? Hey, stop it.
WOODY ALLEN, ACTOR: It's an emergency. I got to...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Come on. Hey, you stop. Stop it. You can't do this! Billy, get out of the car! Get out of the car, Billy! Hey, hey, somebody stop this man, he's an idiot. Somebody stop him!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SUPERMAN IV")
CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: Well, Ms. Warfield, I really don't think I'd be right for this.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You'd be perfect it. I mean, you're young. You're single. You're successful.
REEVE: Well, I'm usually in bed by 10:30.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Well, that's just it. See, you don't have to flaunt it. I mean, you're slave to fashion, although have you ever thought of using contacts?
REEVE: They make my eyes itch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Mariel Hemingway coming on with Clark Kent in "Superman IV." Was that fun?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: That was really fun. That was really fun.
KING: Do you keep in touch with Christopher? MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Not close touch. I've been a part of the organization and stuff, but not...
KING: You mean his...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, his foundation, yes.
KING: ...paraplegic, try to help that?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: And you've also got an TBS movie coming, "Hidden Target," a sequel for "First Daughter?"
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, which one of the highest rated cable movies ever, or at least...
KING: What do you play in that?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I play a secret service agent to the President. It was really fun. I had a great time doing that.
KING: And is it true you want to direct "A Moveable Feast?"
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, I want -- my father...
KING: Your grandfather's great novel?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. Which he wrote looking back on his life when he was 58.
KING: I remember when it came out.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. And he looked back on this life and remembered all these incredible things about Paris and when my father was born. And really, it's the coming of age of when my...
KING: Never been a movie?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, no, it's never been a movie. And my father took me through Paris when I was young, and took me to all the places that were written about. We read it together during the -- in Paris. And it was so powerful for me. And I really feel that this is a story that I need to tell. And I'm putting it together now.
KING: Have you directed?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, no, not yet. But I'm very confident about this.
KING: As you are about a lot of things.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes.
KING: Have you been to Key West?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I've only been to Key West once. And I have a funny story. I was going through the house, you know, that...
KING: That he lived in?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, and this guy was taking me through and telling us all these fantastic stories, like just totally bizarre and not true stories about my grandfather. And at the end of the thing, I think my husband told him that -- who I was. And he was very embarrassed, but it was a great place. It was good fun. He was like...
KING: Oh, God, who am I talking to?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, exactly. Who?
KING: We'll come back with our remaining moments with Mariel Hemingway. And we'll talk about turning 40. And is that traumatic? Tomorrow night, Pat Boone and attorney Steve Cron. He's the attorney for Paula Poundstone. And Catherine Zeta-Jones will be with us on Friday. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE CONTENDER")
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Will was in charge of Lane Billings first senatorial campaign. He was with her all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you suggesting the senator, the nominee, had an affair with your husband? Once again...
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: You can log at my Web site at cnn.com/larryking. And the answer to King's quiz will be revealed.
Let's get in one more call for Mariel. Providence, Rhode Island. Hello?
CALLER: Hi, Larry. Hi, Mariel.
KING: Hi.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Hi.
CALLER: I was wondering if you felt that your role in "Personal Best" affected your career later on?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I don't know. I think it was a -- I've always chosen that I do because I thought they were great parts, you know, and challenging. And I grew up so athletic in Sun Valley, that it was, you know, it just seemed a natural. I never thought it was a problem. KING: We were in a movie together. We were both in "The Contender."
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: We were both in "The Contender."
KING: There's a heck of a film.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: A great movie, really.
KING: Is it tough turning 40?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Is it tough turning 40? Well, I'm not quite there yet. It happens in November. You know what? It's -- there's wrong with it. I love being older. It's just gravity has an effect on you. It's just -- it's not nice. It's not nice, but that's OK. That's why we have kids.
KING: You'd rather be 30?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No.
KING: No?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, I'd rather be 40. I actually wouldn't want to go back a day. I really love my life and the way it is now. I'm...
KING: Would you want more children?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I -- no, I've got two great girls. I mean, we talk about periodically.
KING: Don't want a boy?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: You know, it would be nice. If I could -- if there was a guarantee. I don't know. But you know what? My kids are great.
KING: There ought to be book in Mariel Hemingway.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Well, there is going to be.
KING: Autobiography?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: I wouldn't call it that. I mean, it's autobiographical.
KING: Novel?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It's -- no.
KING: No.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: No, no, no. Want to stay away from that, but it's going to be -- take a journey with me on how I got here in my life and the path that I've taken, the things that I've had to do, my spiritual practice. I have...
KING: You're into yoga a lot?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Hatha yoga is very, very important to me. But what's even more...
KING: Hatha yoga?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Hatha yoga does -- actually, the most important me is Kriya yoga, which is I am part of Self-Realization Fellowship. And my guru is Paramahansa Yogananda. And that's a very important part of my life. And has actually been -- I think when you called me the rock, I think that's what helps me, because it's a meditation practice. Very solid. No woo-woo stuff.'
KING: Your husband into it, too?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. Yes. But it's just very solid, wonderful...
KING: So that will part of this book?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Yes. That's part of it. It's how I got here, the tragedy of my father's death and how it made me look at my life and how I got here, and all the things that I want to do with it and what I've done.
KING: Must've been kooky going to a school named after your grandfather, going to your own school name?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It...
KING: Hemingway Elementary. Here I am today.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: It was not easy. And try to write an essay in a school where your last name's Hemingway. You did, you know, the teachers like all look at it like...
KING: Try to write anything. Be careful with the book.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Exactly.
KING: Thank you, Mariel.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: Thank you so much.
KING: Thank you for coming on.
MARIEL HEMINGWAY: My pleasure.
KING: Mariel Hemingway, Oscar nominated, granddaughter late Ernest Hemingway, sister of the late actress/model, Margaux Hemingway.
Tomorrow night, Steve Cron will be here. It's his first media appearance to discuss his client, Paul Poundstone and her problems. And Pat Boone has a grandson who's in big trouble. And he's here to talk about that maybe you can even help. Catherine Zeta-Jones will be with us on Friday.
This has been another edition of LARRY KING LIVE. We thank Mariel Hemingway for being our special guest. We invite you to stay tuned now for "CNN TONIGHT" to get you up to date on everything in this oft crazy world on this July 11. For Mariel Hemingway, yours truly, our whole crew here in Los Angeles and CNN correspondents and bureaus everywhere, thanks for joining us and good night.
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