sign in sign up
<<
Home , Bette Davis, Bette Davis Eyes, The Whales of August

!ette's Maine nterlude ew glimpses of 'Witch Way," the Cape Elizabeth ~eanfrontestate shared by actors ld Gary Merrill, have just surfaced in the estate the couple's Maine cook. By Matt Barker ho hasn't heard of famous many will return a blank stare. Still, it's Hollywood actress Bette Davis? true - Bette Davis really did live here, at r. \I Even younger generations know "Witch Way," throughout the with through "." But her husband, Gary Merrill, after the ntion she lived in Cape Elizabeth and couple fell in love on the set of All About 13 nieces and nephews to visit whatever mansion she was working in at the time, but never took my mother to Witch Way, so early on our family sensed it was something of "a bumpy ride" out there. It was at Witch Way that little Margot Merrill, who had been adopted, became more than a problem child, displaying severe emotional and mental unbalance. She once stripped down to nothing and threw her clothes in the driveway on a particularly cold day. Another time she tried to choke a kitten Bette had recently given her. She also pulled the hair out of her brother Michael and cut him up with a piece of broken glass.At Witch Way, you might look out a picture window toward the sparkling Atlantic and see a piece of furniture come plummeting earthward from an upper floor - Margot would throw heavy chairs and tables out of windows, thankfully without injuring herself. Margot's behavior took a bad toll on Bette's health and on her relationship with Gary. Finally, they took Margot to New York's Presbyterian Hospital, where Margot was pronounced to be severely brain damaged, probably since birth, with an I. Q. of about 60. After many disputes, Bette finally agreed Margot would be placed in an institution at Lake Geneva, in northern New York, where she remains to this day. Bette Davis and Gary Merrill were very active in the Maine Democratic Party, the Children's Theater, and a number of Eve, the Oscar-winning motion picture, Portland ... "but never Gary." local charities. Gary formed a hockey along with their children B.D., Michael, Ruth Newell, the same age as Bette, was team called Merrill's Marauders. The and Margot. my mother's aunt and regaled me with team was composed of former college ere in the salt air of the Cape, on a many stories of her time spent living and players, and they played right at Witch dirt road off Old Shore Road on a working at the Cape mansion, where she Way on a large pond in front of the house. H dazzling multi-acre peninsula with was their cook. Ruth would cook for huge Bette, after semiretirement in the mid- its own rocky headlands and beach, Bette dinner parties and was frequently kept 1950s, again starred in several movies and Gary "embarked on life in their new busy round the clock. during her time living in Maine, residence with enthusiasm, remodeling, Ruth was employed most of her life by There was a lot of love at refurnishing, working on the garden, and wealthy families in the Greater Portland keeping a succession of servants in a area. She was the cook for Theodore and Witch Way, even though dither of excitement followed by joyous Adelaide Wasserman, who perished in the for the acid-tongued Davis anxiety," according to Charles Hingham infamous Coconut Grove fire of the early and hard-drinking, kilt- in Bette, the Life of Bette Davis. . But, of course, her biggest employer wearing, Maine-loving At least two of these "excited, anxious" was Bette. Ruth's lawyer called her into his attendants were locals here in the Port- office one day and said, "I have a new Merrill, star of 12 O'Clock land area, including Ruth M. Newell client for you." In walks none other than High, it was something of (1908-1981) and Catherine Connolly the great actress, and Ruth nearly fainted. "a bumpy ride." Feeney (1900-1995). Both ladies were Ruth was quite feisty and strong-willed, from large Irish families from St. Dom- just like Bette, and surprisingly they got including 1955's The Virgin Queen, in inic's Parish in Portland. Mrs. Feeney along well together. She liked Bette but which she played Queen . often did the laundry for the Merrills, and rather disliked Gary. He was often a pain The movies often had huge premieres at Bette would personally drive her home to in the neck. Ruth occasionally took her the many theaters in Portland, including

16 • PORTLAND MONTHLY MAGAZINE • APRIL the State Theater. In 1959 she and Gary kilts in the Portland had a nationwide tour in "The World of area, saying he believed " which premiered here at in wearing "no clothes the time. The piece featured excerpts at all, and this is the from the poet's works. closest you can get to it Although Bette and Gary had some in public." Although rough times in Cape Elizabeth, Gary Gary played in 42 remembered their Maine interlude movies, he never reached fondly. He lobstered off his back yard and the level of fame of Bette in his 1988 autobiography, Bette, Rita, 6- Davis, although he re- The Rest of My Life, said the best times of corded breakthrough his life had been spent with Bette and successes in 12 O'Clock their children at Witch Way. This is in High and . direct contrast to the less-than-idyllic Gary did win a 1970 picture painted by B.D. Harmon in 1985. " Monte Carlo 1V Film In 1960 Bette Davis and Gary Merrill Festival award for his were divorced, and they sold their Cape portrayal of a Maine home and moved away. lobsterman, and until Gary returned to Maine in 1965 to live, his death performed after escorting movie star Rita Hayworth lucrative voiceovers for for several years. Gary, whose mother had major firms such as once been a Westbrook teacher, had Volvo and IBM. many Maine ties, including summers From 1970 until 1985, growing up on Black Point in Bette Davis did not Scarborough and a stint at Bowdoin speak to Gary. She College. He made an unsuccessful bid broke the silence when for a Maine Congressional seat in 1968 Merrill, Press Herald and considered a run for the Presidency photographer in tow, in 1976. Merrill was often seen wearing stood outside Falmouth

BEAUTY, WARMTH & RELIABILITY

• Long lasting quality and beauty of • Remote or thermostat capable. cast iron. • No electricity required. • Freestanding or built-in fireplace • Direct venti chimney vent and vent free. model available. • Vermont Castings models are available • Convenience of propane or in a variety of colored enamel finishes. natural gas. • Majestic models are available in a variety of brass fronts or bay windows.

Pine Siale Plumbing & Healing • 207883-1200 • www.sdnsvc.com

6 US Roule 1 • Scarborough, Maine 04074 • iii] I VISA I •

18. PORTLAND MONTHLY MAGAZINE' APRIL , and Harry Carey, Jr. movie, stage, and television actor, an ette Davis, who good-naturedly amateur politician, author, bon vivant, named Witch Way as a joke on war protester, and lover of Maine. He died Bherself, passed away in 1989 at the of cancer at his Falmouth, Maine, home." age of 81, and Gary Merrill, whose life I do not know if my aunt Ruth Newell ever kept in touch with Bette after the From 1970-1985, Bette actress removed from Maine in 1960. I do did not speak to Gary. She know my aunt fondly recalled her days spent at Witch Way. I recently discovered ~~_.f"_ broke the silence when a photo (see page 15) in my aunt's Book Review with a sign urging people Merrill, Press Herald collection showing Bette Davis and her not to purchase My Mother's Keeper, a photographer in tow, stood children on the beach in Cape Elizabeth critical biography of Davis written by her outside Falmouth Book in 1954, a never-before-published photo, daughter B.D, who attended Waynflete Review with a sign urging of course. Ruth Mary Newell, who was at during the Witch Way years. one time the cook for Turner Jones, Ironically, a year later Bette bumped people not to purchase My president of the local Coca-Cola Bottling into Merrill on an airplane when she Mother's Keeper. Company, was the housekeeper for came to Portland to film The Whales Ironically, a year later William S. Linnell, a prominent local of August. BOettebumped into Merrill attorney, until her retirement in 1971. She After leaving Maine, Bette went on to passed away in December 1981 at 73. star in What Ever Happened to Baby on an airplane when she A detailed account of Bette Davis'stime in fane? a 1962 classic featuring Davis as a came to Portland to film Cape Elizabeth has yet to be written. Many sadistic sister to , 1978's ... do not know the storyat all, and now, Death On The Nile, and 1980's The unfortunately, even her house isgone. It Watcher In the Woods, among others. In seemed at times entwined with Bette's for was razed a few yearsago, much to the 1987 she costarred with in 40 years, followed her into the great dismay of many. A huge modem house has The \Vhales of August, a rather lackluster beyond only a few months later. since been built there, but to loversof piece filmed entirely on an island in The Portland Press Herald for March 5, Maine, that dramatic property will always Casco Bay. It also featured , 1990, called Gary Franklin Merrill, 74, "a be remembered as Witch Way.

APRIL • PORTLAND MONTHLY MAGAZINE • 19