Lauren Bacall brings tragic heiress to life
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from February 1999.
Brought to you by
What sounds like the dubiousplot of a romance novel is, infact, the true life story of tobacco heiress Doris Duke, who died under mysterious circumstances in 1993.
Duke is brought to life again by actress Lauren Bacall - in Too Rich - The Secret Life of Doris Duke. The two-part TV movie airs Sunday and Tuesday, Feb. 21 and 23, on CBS. Duke's life is retold via a death bed flashback. We see self-made man Buck Duke (powerfully played by Joe Don Baker) instill in his daughter a distrust of others that will haunt her to her dying day. We also meet Doris' uninvolved mother, Nanaline (Kathleen Quinlan), whose neglect will lead to Duke's lifelong unrequited search for acceptance and love.
It was the irony of Duke's story, in part, that led Bacall to choose the role. "She had a very isolated and sad life," Bacall explains. "She had all this money, and she still couldn't buy what she wanted. (With too much money,) suddenly you become much more demanding."
As the story unfolds, Duke repeatedly seeks comfort, love and approval from the men least likely to provide it, including notorious Latin lover Porfirio Rubirosa (Michael Nouri) and Hawaiian Olympian Duke Kahanamoku, with whom she had a daughter who died at birth.
"They were all interested in her money. And that obviously affected her," Bacall says. "Our backgrounds stay with us for the rest of our lives."
Duke's misfortunes make for scintillating viewing and a meaty role for the 73-year-old actress a rarity in Hollywood these days, according to Bacall.
"It's not easy to find good material," she laments. "There are a hell of a lot of good actresses, and many of them have been looking for parts to play for many years. I find it extraordinary that they are not writing a lot of (good) parts for women."
The chance to work with a first-rate cast, including Emmy winner Richard Chamberlain, who plays butler Bernard Lafferty, and Brian Dennehy, who portrays Louis Bromfield, Duke's one true love, was another enticement, she adds.
While Bacall once may have crossed paths with Duke, who had numerous celebrity friends, it was something entirely different to assume Duke's persona for the length of the shoot.
"It's very strange to play someone for three months," Bacall says. "You begin to kind of take on the aura of that person. It's weird, but that person is very much there."
What would Bacall like viewers to take away after four hours with her heiress? "I hope people have a sense of the life of Doris Duke," she says. "Money is what many of us want, but too much of it is destructive. I hope people understand what she went through."
