David Hartnell's Hollywood Gossip - Win Prizes

 
No-one is recognised as knowing more about Hollywood and celebrities than David Hartnell MNZM. He's not only spent a lifetime reporting on Hollywood's trivia, gossip and scandals, but he counts many celebrities among his personal friends. Every Monday morning David will give you an exclusive weekly update on the gossip, scandals and trivia of Hollywood's elite.
 
 
 
David is an award winning broadcaster and columnist he’s also the patron of The Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc. Her Majesty The Queen, awarded David the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (formerly an MBE) in the Queen's birthday Honours list 2011.

Visit David's Website

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by David Hartnell

Call 0800 688 726 to Order

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David Hartnell awarded MNZM in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List - June 2011

Her Majesty The Queen, has awarded David H. W. Hartnell the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's birthday Honours list 2011.

David was awarded MNZM in recognition for his services to the national and international entertainment industry, most notably as a celebrity journalist on TV, radio and in print. In 1976 he became New Zealand’s first full-time freelance gossip columnist in all media’s; he was the chairman of the Miss Zealand judging panel from 1982 -87. During the 1980’s he designed makeup for New Zealand stage productions of ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’, ‘Annie’ and ‘Half a Sixpence’ plus a number of television shows. In 1996 he was one of the original presenters of ‘The Express Report’, New Zealand’s first alternative gay lifestyle television shows. In 1998 he was awarded the Variety Artist Club of New Zealand’s ‘Scroll of Honour’ for his contribution to New Zealand entertainment. In 2009 he was made patron of the Variety Artist Club of New Zealand. In May 2011 Penguin published his life story ‘David Hartnell’s Memoirs of a Gossip Columnist’, in Feb 2011 his star was placed on the Boulevard of Dream’s walk of fame.

David regularly participates in fund-raising events for charitable trusts all over New Zealand. He was the first person in New Zealand to use multi-media messaging of his Hollywood gossip column which went straight to mobile phones. His columns are syndicated in newspapers and magazine around the world, he lectures at universities and other educational institutions on vintage and modern day television shows and celebrities. He is the author of seven books, David has spent a lifetime reporting on Hollywood’s trivia, gossip and scandals about the rich and famous. His saying "I’m Not One To Gossip But" and "My Lips Are Sealed" have now become part of New Zealand popular culture.

David Hartnell Interview on Close Up

Honours Interview on TV3 News

Read David Hartnell's Best & Worst Dressed List for 2012!

Courtesy of New Zealand Women's Weekly

David Hartnell Memoirs Interview on Good Morning
(2nd May 2011)

David Hartnell: Memoirs of a Gossip Columnist

David Hartnell grew up in a secure but unremarkable suburban life. His interest in things colourful and theatrical led him to championship roller skating and cabaret. On his big OE, he landed a job in Australia and then in the heart of the London cosmetics industry, and eventually attended to the makeup needs of A-listers. He went on to New York and Los Angeles where his career took a new course. Returning home in the mid-seventies led to screen appearances as a purveyor of celebrity gossip, and he continued to travel frequently backwards and forwards to Hollywood.

David rapidly became established as New Zealand's number 1 celebrity gossip columnist on television, radio and print. His visits to Hollywood established his credentials until he became an encyclopaedia of trivia and scandal about the rich and famous – and the public lapped up every word. Today no one in New Zealand is recognised as knowing more about Hollywood. Not only has he spent a lifetime reporting on Hollywood gossip, but he now counts a handful of international celebrities among his lifelong friends.

But behind the glitter and the showbiz glamour, David's story also reveals the private strains he has experienced behind the ever-confident public face. He writes about damaging family secrets, being bullied because he was gay, two name changes and being sued for defamation by a prominent New Zealand singer. Bursting with remarkable photos and stories of his encounters, including a surprise lunch with Alfred Hitchcock and Bette Davis, his close friendship with the legendary Phyllis Diller, little-known secrets about the Royal Family's crown jewels and many, many more, this book is for anyone who loves behind-the-scenes gossip and enjoys a rollicking good read.

This is David's story, and this time, his lips aren't sealed.

Published by Penguin New Zealand/Australia in store now at $45.00

If you’d like to read an extract click here.

David Hartnell on the Good Morning Show (3 August 2011)

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Read David's interview with New Zealand Woman's Weekly about his new book!

Friday 27th January 2012

I'm not one to gossip but.....Last week my computer crashed, so did my harddrive plus my harddrive back-up -  HELLO!  I lost everything and I mean everything, unfortunately, some pictures I will never get again. Of course I went into stress over drive like a mad man. Then I thought suck it up Hartnell what about the people in Christchurch who have lost absolutely everything.

My friend Nigel Kelly who published the wonderful book which I thoroughly recommend titled “Quentin Crisp The Profession of Being”  told me that he read an interesting story about the movie star Kim Novak who had written her autobiography on her trusty pc. Then the inevitable happened just before she was due to send it to her publisher. She didn't have a backup and decided life was too short to go through it all again and cancelled her publishing contract. So it could have been even worse for me, I could have been writing my recently published memoirs when the computer crashed.











 
So make sure you all (as they would say in the states) have plenty of back up on your computer. I now have three back up hard drives, I know very over the top, but I sure as hell don’t want to go through loosing everything again.

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It’s been 15 years since Ellen DeGeneres famously came out on her ABC sitcom and on the cover of Time Magazine and nine years since the debut of her popular daytime talk show.

But the Emmy winner remains a controversial figure to some, including a group called OneMillionMoms.com which is calling on JC Penny to replace Ellen as their new spokesperson.

‘Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families,’ the group states on its website ‘More sales will be lost than gained unless they replace their spokesperson quickly. Unless JC Penney decides to be neutral in the culture war then their brand transformation will be unsuccessful.’ G in Hollywood.

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The man who provided the voice for the robot from the hit TV series Lost in Space, Dick Tufeld, has died. He was 85 and a cancer survivor – suffered from Parkinson’s disease.

In addition to Lost in Space, Dick was also the opening announcer of The Judy Garland Show, The Red Skelton Hour, The Julie Andrews Hour, Zorro, Space Patrol, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Surfside 6, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Fantastic Four, Spider-Woman, Thundarr the Barbarian, and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. He also did voice work on Garfield and Friends, The Simpsons, and was the voice of the Acme commercial announcer on a number of Road Runner cartoons.

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Oscar-winning US actress Shirley MacLaine is to join the cast of Downton Abbey for its third series as the mother of Lady Grantham.

Her character will be named Martha Levinson - will begin filming with the rest of the cast next month. You can expect to see quite a few American actors start appearing in the show, as this next series features heavily on the American family connections.

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Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady, what can I say - a performance that earned her a 17th Oscar nomination last week and a Golden Globe Award last month. I

Meryl has two Oscars but has not won since 1983 when she took home best actress for Sophie’s Choice.

The American news paper called the Huffington Post has listed some of the other things that have happened since a presenter at an Academy Awards ceremony said: “And the Oscar goes to Meryl Streep.”

• Meryl Streep has appeared in 35 movies.

• There have been five sitting U.S. Presidents.

• Four different actors have played James Bond.

• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has handed out 680 Oscars.

• Meryl Streep has lost Oscars to Shirley MacLaine, Geraldine Page, Cher, Jodie Foster, Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet and, most painfully, Sandra Bullock.

Ohmigod! I really and truly hope that Meryl takes home and Oscar for The Iron Lady.

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Two great books landed on by desk both entirely different and published by Penguin.

Worth Fighting For

Lisa Niemi and Patrick Swayze first met as teenagers at his mother's dance studio. He was older and just a bit cocky; she was the gorgeous waif who refused to worship the ground he walked on. It didn't take long for them to fall in love. Their thirty-four year marriage -- which they explored together in The Time of My Life -- was a uniquely passionate partnership.

Now, for the first time, Lisa will share what it was like to care for her husband as he battled Stage IV pancreatic cancer, and will describe his last days when she simply tried to keep him comfortable. She writes searingly about her grief in the aftermath of Patrick's death, and candidly discusses the challenges that the past fourteen months without him have posed.

But while this is an emotionally honest and unflinching depiction of illness, death, and loss, it is also a hopeful and life-affirming exploration of the power of the human spirit. Lisa shows that no matter how dark the prospect of another day may seem, there are always reserves of strength to call upon, and the love shared between two people will never truly die.

I award this book four out of five stars.

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Trapped - Martin van Beynen

“The raw emotion of these personal stories makes for a moving and dramatic book. They provide a fascinating perspective from survivors who cheated death, some only just, and carried on.” — Paul Rodwell, Christchurch Central Fire Station Officer, who rescued survivors from the rubble.

On the afternoon of February 22, 2011 a massive aftershock devastated the city of Christchurch and its people. That day many lives were lost as people went about their normal daily routine. The randomness of this event is almost unfathomable. As it sunk it that we had lost 181 people in the earthquake there was another statistic less well known — the number of those injured. Hospital records indicate that around 250 to 300 people were treated for serious physical trauma in the hours following the quake. In Trapped, Martin van Beynen presents the stories of some of those for whom life can never return completely to normal.

Many people in Christchurch talk about what might have been, but many did not have the sort of dangerously narrow escape most of the people in this book speak of. They are survivors who very clearly cheated death. Most came very close to being killed by the first jolt or needed to take quick action to improve their chances of survival. Those who weathered the initial carnage but were trapped then had to wait many harrowing hours when they could have died at any minute under further collapses of building rubble that were triggered by the waves of strong aftershocks that followed the initial quake.

In some cases survivors lay trapped next to the dead and dying, and many now find themselves dealing with memories of those, who for no other reason than random chance or the arbitrariness of life, did not come home that day. It could so easily have been them. Many of the survivors in this book lost friends, family and loved ones. They have to cope with the huge gap in their lives and each day the fact that they are still here serves as a reminder of who is not.

Survivor guilt is a well-known concept. Many of the survivors felt it – for a short time anyway. Others continue to be wracked by it. A survivor in her sixties feels terrible she survived when so many promising young people with their lives ahead of them were cut down. A father struggles to understand why he is still here while his partner and baby died. Some look back on their actions and ponder the awkward question of whether they could have done more or chosen a better option. It has been hard to avoid the ‘what if’ questions.

For all the difficulties and burdens survivors must carry and overcome, the survivors who have been generous enough to provide their accounts for this book are, on the whole, glad to be alive. They are testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Author Martin van Beynen is an award-winning journalist for The Press. In the 2010 Qantas Media Awards he won the Story of the Year award for his feature on the trial and acquittal of David Bain and in September 2011 was announced Fairfax Media Journalist of the Year 2010-2011.

A portion of the royalties from Trapped will be donated to the Burwood Spinal Unit in Christchurch

This is an amazing book of some extraordinary people, real stories from the soul.

I award this book five out of five stars.

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HOLLYWOOD TRIVIA TO GO!

The Double
Roadshow

A tense thriller from the co-writers of Wanted and 3:10 to Yuma that will keep you guessing until the very last shot.

When a United States Senator is brutally murdered, the evidence points to a Soviet assassin code-named Cassius, who was long-thought to be dead. Two men who know Cassius best are thrown together to catch him. Paul Shepherdson (Richard Gere: An Officer and a Gentleman) is a retired CIA operative who spent his career tracking Cassius around the globe. Ben Geary (Topher Grace: Spider-Man 3) is a hotshot young FBI Agent and family man who has studied the killer's every move. Ben thinks he knows Cassius, but Paul knows he is dead wrong. Now, time is running out to stop this merciless killing machine before he finds his next target.

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When a City Falls
Frank Films

Roadshow Entertainment, on behalf of Frank Films, have released When A City Falls – a document of New Zealand’s greatest disaster as seen through the eyes of local filmmaker Gerard Smyth and the people of Christchurch.

Spring on the Canterbury Plains and all is well. Lambs, blue skies and daffodils. In Cathedral Square choir boys sings to their God. Punts push new season’s tourist along the Avon. They photograph the ‘Garden City’; The ‘Most English City outside of England’.

We get hit with a 7.1 earthquake. We stand up, wave our fists at the heavens and compliment ourselves on our ability to recover. And then we get hit even harder. Now the city has fallen. Many are dead. Many injured. Many narrowly escape.

A fragile people reappear in the following days. We have learnt from the first earthquake and once again a response is growing. Once again adrenalin is taking over. Now the whole country is rallying for Christchurch. It’s the energy of the people that’s unprecedented. Communities are rising from the sand. People are holding tight to each other.

But questions too are rising. What’s left? Where are we to live? What shall become of our city?

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Zen
BBC

"Compelling, stylish and intelligent drama" - Mail on Sunday (UK)

Rufus Sewell (Middlemarch, The Illusionist) stars as Aurelio Zen in this sexy, stylish detective series from the makers of Wallander. Set against the decaying grandeur of Rome, this is police drama as never seen before.

But as Aurelio Zen is about to discover, bending the rules doesn’t always have to mean immoral standards… and sometimes it’s best to let the heart rule the head. With a recent marriage break-up and a drifting career, Venetian-born Aurelio Zen is reaching the end of a bad part of his life. A formidable detective, he’s always put honesty before advancement. As admirable as this may be, it’s made him enemies and held back his career.

The arrival of clever and ambitious Tania to the team sees Zen’s vigour reawakened. Clearly there’s an attraction, but to win her, he knows he’s got to take a chance, be a bit more daring and maybe a little more ‘flexible’ in his approach to work. It’s a technique that serves him well. Driven by romance and re-energised, when offered a high profile assignment at the instruction of the ministry who are desperate to blame someone – anyone – for the murder of an eccentric billionaire, Zen decides to take it. If he’s to make a name for himself for all the right reasons, it’s now or never. Armed with a new confidence, Zen’s investigations take him from crowded Rome to the spectacular Italian countryside, as he negotiates a complex string of murder cases through three episodes, never afraid to question authority or use a few unorthodox methods to see justice done. Add to that the competing demands of Tania and his Mama, this is a man whose heart is mostly in the right place and who does his best to make sense of whatever confronts him.

Rufus Sewel brings passion and intrigue to author Michael Dibdin’s character in a sexy, warm series which provides an affectionate portrayal of Italian life.

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Nature's Miracle Babies
BBC

Join zoologist Martin Hughes-Games as he follows the stories of some very precious babies – precious because they are a vital lifeline for some of the rarest animals on the planet.

This emotionally charged, presenter-led, series takes viewers around the world to follow the dedicated and inspirational individuals working to save some very special babies – nature’s miracle babies – who are the lifeline to preserving some of our most critically vulnerable species. These are ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Each new life they help to adulthood is truly a precious bundle of hope for the future. But for some this is only the beginning of the journey. The ultimate challenge is to raise these animals, and return them to the wild. It’s a truly global series as zoologist Martin Hughes-Games visits projects all over the world, from the outback of Australia to the savannahs of East Africa, from some of the most prestigious local zoo breeding programs to relocation in the Amazonian region of Brazil.

Each episode follows three or four key animals and their stories, as Martin’s knowledge and experience brings insight into fascinating details about the biology of these amazing creatures; and he discovers how extraordinary hi-tech science is being used to help miracle babies, and how treatments developed for people are being adapted for animals, from IVF to ultrasound. It’s an intimate, yet ultimately uplifting series that touches all our emotions; there’s anguish as Rupert, the two week old Sifaka, a member of the lemur family, fails to thrive – vets struggle to find the reason and time is running out. There’s joy and humour as we witness the seemingly madcap antics of German ornithologists as they take to the sky with a paraplane to lead 12 highly endangered Bald Ibis on a journey of discovery to their over wintering ground. And there’s elation when a Caracal kitten is conceived through cloning – the surrogate mother is from the same genus, but none of her DNA is involved.

Includes the Natural World film 'Bringing Up Baby' narrated by David Attenborough. 

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Doctor Who: Sensorites
BBC

The TARDIS arrives on board a spaceship in orbit around a planet called the Sense-Sphere. The alien Sensorites have trapped the ship's human crew, Captain Maitland, Carol and John, in a state of semi-permanent paralysis. When the Doctor investigates, the aliens steal the lock mechanism from the TARDIS, thus trapping him and his companions.

The Sensorites allow all but Maitland and Barbara down to the planet, where Ian falls ill from a sickness that has been wiping out the Sensorites. The Doctor finds a cure. His investigations into the cause of the sickness are hampered by the subversive activities of the City Administrator, but eventually he uncovers three deranged human survivors from a past expedition who have been adding deadly nightshade to the water supply. The Sensorities first transmitted in 1964.

Extras:

• Commentary: With actors William Russell, Carole Ann Ford, Joe Greig, Martyn Huntley and Giles Phipps, director Frank Cox, designer Raymond Cusick and make-up designer Sonia Markham. Moderated by Toby Hadoke.

• Looking for Peter – actor and comedian Toby Hadoke goes on a journey to try to discover something – anything – about the enigmatic Peter R Newman, writer of ‘The Sensorites’. With the assistance of Hammer Films archivist Marcus Hearn and researcher Richard Bignell, he manages to uncover much more than he bargained for…

• Vision On – vision mixer Clive Doig talks about his work on early Doctor Who and explains how the vision mixer and director worked together to produce the finished programme essentially ‘as live’.

• Secret Voices of the Sense Sphere – Clive Doig explains the origins of the mysterious voices occasionally heard in the background of The Sensorites.

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HOLLYWOOD TRIVIA TO GO!


The budget for the original 1931 “Frankenstein” movie was $262,000 (US), the budget for the 1994 remake; $40 million (US).

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In 1990 Whitney Houston underwrote the cost of two lion cubs at the Bronz Zoo for the first year of their lives.

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TV mogul Aaron Spelling paid $10 (US) for the Bing Crosby former estate, which he bulldozed down. He spent $40 million (US) building his 52,503 square foot, 123-room house on the property.

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In February, 1996, Joan Collins, who was 62 at the time, sued the New York publishing giant Random House for the return of a $1.8 million (US) advance paid to her for manuscripts it claims were unfinished and unpublished. Joan won the case.

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In April 1996 Tina Turner gave a hush-hush performance for the family of the Sultan of Brunei. She sang for 300 at the birthday party of the niece of Sultan Hassanal Bilkiah, the world’s richest person. So how much did she get nobody is quite sure?

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On December, 12th, 1995, Lady Penelope, star of the British TV puppet series “Thunderbirds” was parted from her pink Roll-Royce and Parker, her once devoted chauffeur and butler. A British collector at an auction in London bought the upper crust Lady puppet for 13,000 pounds.  Parker went for 19,500 pounds and Lady Penelope’s 2.74-meter-long Pink Rolls Royce went for 23,000 pounds.

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When Michael J. Fox landed to role in “Family Ties” it’s rumored he was $35,000 in debut.

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In august, 1998 Mimi Rogers - Tom Cruises ex-wife - filed a $10 million (US) libel suit in the Los Angeles Federal Court against the American TV Home Shopping Network. Mimi claimed the cable station planted an article in the tabloid “National Enquirer” which said that she wrecked the network’s waiting room after they cancelled her appearance. She was there to front two promotional commercials for her exercise machine.

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In May, 1998, Matt Damon lost $10,200 (US) in five hours in the $1.5 million (US) World Series Poker Championship in Las Vegas. Professional poker players defeated Matt.

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Hollywood loves to give out awards for just about anything. In 1999 alone the entertainment industry bestowed a whooping 3,182 trophies on itself at 332 separate ceremonies. That works out to nine awards were handed out every single day of the year. Only in Hollywood!.......but my lips are sealed!

Also - if you'd like to read about David Hartnell's house in the NZ Woman's weekly, please scroll down.

Copyright David Hartnell 2012

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WIN...

Billy

Billy is a personal story of New Zealand’s most loved entertainer, Billy T James. This feature length drama goes beyond the public facade to reveal the man behind the chuckle.

Based on the biography “Billy T” written by Matt Elliott, award-winning producer Tony Holden brings a fresh vision and understanding to who Billy was. BILLY is a love story set in the changing culture of New Zealand in the seventies and eighties. It also portrays the journey of a shy, loyal and musically gifted boy who married his first love and went on to achieve extraordinary success. A Maori boy who, within a few short years, lost everything, including his life.

This week's question: How much did Matt Damon lose in the Poker Championship in 1998?

Please send your answer, along with your name and address details to us here.

[Please also note that you must be a GrownUps member to enter the draw - please register Free here if you are not currently a member]

Click here for recent winners.

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Friday 27th January 2012

I'm not one to gossip but.....Here’s some inside gossip on "head in a bag" found in the Hollywood Hills, beneath the Hollywood sign. Since the murder victim was identified as Hervey Medellin, 66, a retired airline employee, investigators are looking for people who used to frequent the Spotlight dive bar in Hollywood, the bar is no longer in action it closed this past September. This sleazy but popular and well-known bar was almost half a century old – Keifer Sutherland drank there and Brad Pitt tried to buy the place at one time. L.A. Police are following a tip that the murdered man met someone there awhile back and he may be a suspect. This case will go down in Hollywood as another weird happening in the Hollywood Hills, people will be writing about it for years to come.

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Will there be another major celebrity to come out of the Carrey clan?

Jane Carrey, 24, daughter of star funnyman Jim Carrey, auditioned for the judges of "American Idol" in the episode that aired last Sunday night.

Judge Jennifer Lopez remembered Jane from her time working with Jim on "In Living Color," which caused a bit of a crisis over all the years that have passed since the show aired. That didn't prejudice Lopez from letting her pass, though; Jane's rendition of Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About" got the trio of judges saying yes.

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Unfortunate title for a book!




 


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Downton Abbey will see an influx of Americans — and TWO weddings — for its third series.

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I would have thought, they could have found another page to have placed this cruise advert.

















 

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You’ve got to kidding!

Leonardo DiCaprio gave, in my opinion, the best performance of his impressive career in J. Edgar. And yet, he was not one of the five nominees for best actor when the Academy Award nominations were announced this morning.

He was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award, the Golden Globe Award and the Critics Choice Award but was snubbed by the Academy this year.

Instead, the best actor field is George Clooney for The Descendents, Brad Pitt for Moneyball, Demián Bichir for A Better Life, Jean Dujardin for The Artist and Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

It really is a shocker and kind of outrageous to not include DiCaprio. Obviously J. Edgar, directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, did not resonate with voters overall but DiCaprio was absolutely outstanding as J. Edgar Hoover.

DiCaprio has been nominated for Oscars for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator and Blood Diamond.

(Greg in Los Angeles)

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The 78-year-old comedienne Joan Rivers gets it in the neck - she went under the knife to "tune up" her neck, despite protests from her daughter Melissa who feared the op would kill her.

Of course all the dramatic scenes were captured by the crew shooting the second series of her reality show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best.

As Joan was waiting for her appointment with a surgeon, concerned Melissa told her: "I don't want you to die."

She also tried her best to put her mum off undergoing the procedure.

Joan replied with a typically witty response, saying: "My body is a temple, and my temple needs redecorating."

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HOLLYWOOD TRIVIA TO GO!

When Joan Crawford bought a new house, the first thing she did was to remove all the bathtubs. She said it was totally unsanitary to sit in one's dirty bathwater.

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Jean Harlow bought her first house in 1931 at 9820 Easton Drive, Beverly Hills. At the end of each rain gutter spout she had the builder place hand-carved, head-sized wooden likenesses of her friends Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford.

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Robert Vaughn and his family live in a three-story classic twenty-three-room mansion in Ridgefield, Connecticut, which was built in 1905 by the Houdini family.

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The first swimming pool ever built in the Los Angeles area was at the famous home of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. The pool was so large that Mary and Douglas could go canoeing in it. The pool is still at ‘Pickfair’.

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Sammy Davis Jr. and his wife Altovise had a real talking point at the bottom of their Beverly Hills garden. lt was an ape-man statue that dominated everything. It came from Planet of the Apes (1968), a gift to the Davises from the producer, Arthur Jacobs. It was given as a joke, but they liked it so much they had their entire garden redesigned to feature the twelve-foot-high white statue.......but my lips are sealed!

Copyright David Hartnell 2012

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An exclusive look at David Hartnell's Home. (From NZ Woman's Weekly)

Celebrity gossip guru David Hartnell has lunched with film director Alfred Hitchcock along with some of the most glamorous movie legend's of all time like Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Dame Edna Everage, Princess Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Mr. T and Joan Collins to name drop but a few. He's busier these days than he's ever been, recently shedding 21 kilograms in last eight months, front's his own weekly celebrity TV show, writes a gossip column for NZ Truth, presents a daily Hollywood gossip spots on NewsTalkZB, Style Consultant to Citizen Watch's in New Zealand, his own web page on www.grownups.co.nz and still causes a stir with his kiwi Best and Worst Dressed lists which he's been doing for the past 26 years.

He's a celebrity in his own right, but when he relaxes in his lounge, drinking from fine English bone china, he knows, only his long-term partner Somboon could love living in their eclectic Auckland house.

"The house doesn't have a theme but a Thai flavour," David says, glancing around. "People say our house is like a dramatic museum. We don't think so because we live in it."

David and his Thai partner met 16 years ago a year after David bought the inner-Auckland city house.

"I knew the chap who owned the house and said if he was ever going to sell to let me know," David remembers. "About six months later he said he was selling and I responded, 'I'll buy it'. I didn't need to do any renovating except put a new roof on." The house had a very grand opening by David's cousin The Earl of Mt. Edgcumbe, with a guest list of the who's who.

From the first day they moved in, David and Somboon felt a strong connection to their inner-city sanctuary.

"I've been here for 15 years and have great memories," David says. "We have good neighbours and have watched the families grow up and get married. We all do our own thing but we're very supportive for security reasons."

Their favourite room in the house is the deck they made into an enclosed terrace.

"We have had some wonderful dinner parties out there," David says. "Somboon is an excellent cook and I'm an excellent washer. I don't mind how many pots and pans I have to clean because the meals are always magnificent."

Nearly every room in the house is decorated with photographs of famous friends, which David could never bring himself to throw out.

"The pictures in the lounge are special ones of people we love and like," David says. "Everyone likes them but they are dust catchers. We recently moved a lot of the signed Hollywood pictures, memorabilia and my awards into the toilet because there were so many of them. We decided everyone stands or sits in there and now has something to read. It's become quite a talking point," David laughs.

The house is character filled with Buddha statues and mementos of the couple's world travels hanging from its walls.

David and Somboon, who owns an organic rice cracker business, work from their Westmere home office. But while many couples would feel pressured both living and working together, the duo have devised out a winning formula.

"We have one golden rule that no work comes out of that office," Somboon says, "We don’t seem to get on each others nerves.”

The most dramatic thing the couple bought recently is a beautiful poster embellished with a huge golden frame. David believes the stories behind how furnishings came to be are some times more interesting than the objects themselves.

“We have a house in Thailand we visit a few times a year,” David explains. “Earlier this year we went to stay and ended up at a Chinese restaurant. Magnificent posters lined the wall, which I loved so much I photographed. I thought nothing of it until I bought a poster from a Chinese emporium in Auckland about six months later. I felt like I’d see the poster before, so got my camera out – I’d bought exactly the same poster I’d loved in Thailand. Funnily enough, the poster cost next to nothing but the frame cost a bomb.”

The entertainment reporter is as flamboyant in character as he is in his décor taste. Pictures of Somboon and himself have been transformed onto canvas using an Andy Warhol pop art theme.

“Everything has to be over the top, otherwise feature pieces just look like a pea on a drum,” he says.

One of David’s most prized possessions is an oil painting by his comedian friend of 40 years Phyllis Diller. The couple were gifted the original piece of art to hang proudly on their wall. To this day, David visits Phyllis, 91, in America and reminds her his beloved painting is hanging pride of place.

The pair also values a special Buddha statue in their pretty back garden among their special treasures.

“This Buddha was erected in memory of Somboon’s mother who passed away,” David says. “Her photograph is also on a beautiful hand-carved Thai table with our collection of other Buddha’s. An interesting fact is Buddha’s have to be higher than people’s heads, which is why they are all placed high in our house.”

David admits their house isn’t for everybody but neither Somboon or he care. Just like fashion and interior trends come and go there a firm believer one has to be happy and confident in their surroundings.

“I absolutely adore our home,” David gushes. “I couldn’t imagine living any where else. It’s a perfect haven for Somboon, me and our dog Miss Cele.”

Story and pictures courtsey of NZ Woman’s Weekly.

Steal David and Somboon’s style

David and Somboon’s five favourite things:

Their house in Thailand which the built from scratch 40 minutes out of Chang Mai in Northern Thailand.















David was stoked to find this oriental poster at a Chinese emporium in Auckland.









Not everyone can be a firm friend with famous comedian Phyllis Diller. David and Somboon love their dear friend’s oil painting.








Somboon’s Thailand-based sister Sudarat spends hours rolling, folding and linking the pages from the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly into beautiful origami-like swans.















David loves this Freda Stark doll made by Hamilton doll marker Marshal Watt. Freda picked the fabric for the doll from one of her dressers.















David was gifted this Baker Light Mickey Mouse antique toy. When the string is pulled Walt Disney does Mickey’s voice. “I love this toy because Mickey Mouse never turned into a rat ,like so many Hollywood actors,” David says. “He is a Hollywood survivor.”















The Buddha statue was in memory of Somboon’s mother.
 

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