Lillian Burns Sidney (wife of Director George Sidney) MGM head dramatic coach, and the "power behind the throne" at MGM for twenty years, starting in 1936- the week that Irving Thalberg was buried. 1996 Interview Part 5 of 9. Videographed by Luke Sacher, interviewed by Carole Langer at her home.
"Burnsie," as she was affectionately known to the stable of "more stars than there are in heaven" had the very respectful ear of Mr. Mayer, as he was referred to by all who worked for him, and because of that for many many years she was the highest paid (earning $100,000 in the 1940s -- more than a million in today's dollars) and most powerful woman executive in Hollywood (late 30s through the early 50s). As the wife for three decades (40s, 50s, and 60s through the early 70s) of director George Sidney, she wielded a social power in the film community too.
George Sidney dumped Lillian very unceremoniously after the death of their friend Edward G. Robinson, and married his widow Jane. Jane had been a receptionist here in New York for a designer named Nettie Rosenstein who catered to society and movie stars. The first Mrs. Robinson, Gladys, who, like a lot of Hollywood women, used to come East to buy her wardrobes, and took a liking to Jane whom she invited to visit her and her husband in Beverly Hills. Jane accepted the invitation and ultimately moved in, ending the first Robinson marriage.
The Robinsons' divorce settlement was a sensation at the time because it caused the breakup of the Edward G. Robinson art collection, then considered one of the greatest in the world. Much of it was sold in one transaction to Stavros Niarchos, the shipowner, creating the foundation of his great collection. The proceeds from the sale were split down the middle, community-property style and was a crushing blow to the sensitive art-loving actor who became famous as a tough guy mobster in "Little Caesar."
Mr. Sidney, who was several years younger than his wife Lillian, already had a long time behind the scenes reputation for chasing the ladies, especially the starlets on the casting couch. Their marriage breakup was a devastating blow to the little woman (she was 4'11" in her youth) who had so much power in the Hollywood studio system and who had guided her husband, among others, to and through many cinematic successes. To make matters worse for her, Mr. Sidney and Mrs. Robinson also helped themselves to much of the couple's joint financial assets as well as much of the 18th-century English antiques that Lillian acquired in London auction houses over the years of their marriage.
The divorce left Lillian, then close to 70, in dire financial straits as well as emotionally bereft. Three women came to her rescue: Debbie Reynolds, Donna Reed, and Janet Leigh. It was principally Debbie, who initiated the assistance, and who relied profoundly on Lillian's unerring eye and theatrical know-how. For the rest of Lillian's life (almost thirty years -- she died in 1998), in varying degrees of financial participation (principally Debbie's), the women assumed many of Lillian's living expenses, including the cost of the daily maid, communicated with her daily and included her in family gatherings on holidays and special occasions. When Donna Reed died in 1986, the responsibility shifted more to Debbie and Janet who gave even more of her time to looking after Lillian, since Debbie (who called her every night of her life) was on the road as much as forty weeks a year with her nightclub act.
DPC and Lillian Sidney in 1988 at a book party in Los Angeles for Debbie Reynolds
Lillian, despite the havoc her former husband wreaked on her finances, remained, thanks to these women, ensconced for the rest of her life in a very comfortable co-op on the Wilshire corridor, smartly decorated with the little that was left after the big house on Tower Road was vacated and emptied by George Sidney and Jane Robinson who liked her predecessor's taste.
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Lillian Burns Sidney MGM head dramatic coach 1996 Interview Part 9 of 9by soapbxprod233 views
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