European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 02, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                New York time Pamela Harriman with Averell before his death in 198 5, is the subject of Christopher Ogden s life of the party. Pamela Harriman and the mystery of the  by jew Joy la Belle special to los Angeles times Many of us who have clawed our Way tothe Middle Are fascinated by women who have slept and bought their Wayto the  like Reading about the great mis tresses pretty witty Nell Gwyn in 17th-Century eng land influential Madame de Pompadour in 18th Century France Alma Mahler the most Beautiful woman in Vienna at the beginning of our Century. Mistresses Are a vanishing Breed yet one of the last of this endangered species Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman is vibrantly  her surnames Are even yet subject to change can most quickly be epitomized with a song Tom Lehrer wrote about Alma Mahler her overs were Many and varied " from the Day she began her. Beguine there were three famous ones whom she married and god knows How Many Between. _ Pamela was always attractive to and attracted by older Rich men. At the Start of world War ii when she was 19, the englishwoman wed the Only son of Winston Churchill. But life of the party Little Brown & co Christopher Ogden s recent biography of Pamela cites affairs with Averell Harriman 30 years her senior lbs broadcaster Edward r. Murrow and various British and . Generals during her Alliance with the alcoholic Randolph Churchill after the War Pamela divorced Randolph but Clung to the famous name and High tailed it to France where she rushed after pleasures and pos sessions by forming liaisons with a series of euro Pean playboys including Prince Aly Khan italian Auto magnate Gianni Agnelli and French banker Elie do Rothschild. Pamela was now approaching 40 and unmarried. She decided to take another husband so she crossed the Atlantic and swiped slim Hayward a Broad Way producer Leland Hayward. When he died after a dozen years Pamela reportedly had several Dalli ances including one with Frank Sinatra she then rekindled her old wartime flame Averell Harriman statesman and onetime presidential candidate. Through this marriage Pamela moved from the play boy mansions of the world to the Halls of Power. Biographers Are supposed to be objective but those who record the careers of courtesans Extraordinaire need to be a Little in love with their subjects. In Ogden s hands Pamela comes across As cold and greedy. True enough perhaps but these qualities could not have intoxicated such wealthy and talented men. What is Pamela s secret Power her biographer offers a few explanations. She s a Superb listener who focuses All her attention on the Man she s with. But most women know How to do this if we choose and yet we re not covered with pearls and Given apartments in Paris. Nor is Pamela s secret that she was a great Beauty. In Many photos she looks dumpy. She has neither a flashing wit nor an original mind sizzling sex bed mates  by the sort of men Pamela went after. Yet somehow she managed to Intuit what each Lover needed and Supply it. Maybe More than anything else Pamela s gift is her Chameleon like capacity to assume differ ent personalities and become the female Mirror _ image of he huge egos she fed and feasted on. Some celebrated courtesans end up dying Young of a dread disease or like Madame Dubarry being guillotined. But Pamela is the Phoenix. Many times she feathered her nest Only to see it scorched. But in her 70s, she has risen from the ashes. When Averell Harriman died in 1986, she inherited $100 million and like a widow in an Oscar Wilde comedy her hair turned Gold from grief. Ogden says that she used some of her Fortune to have her face lifted and some to lift the prospects of the democratic party. She was successful at both. Last year president Clinton named her ambassador to France the per feet appointment for someone who has spent dec Ades practising artful Ness in the conduct of affairs. Is Pamela a role Model for Young women today i think not. She hashed Many lives and donned Many masks but the one thing she has never achieved is an identity she can Call her own. La Belle is a Protessor of literature at California Institute of techno Ioco and author of herself beheld the literature of the looking Gla is Cornell University press 1988biggest secrets of Streisand Juk Stallone by Carolyn susjv1an Palm Beach Fla Post whoa did you know that barbra Strei Sand May have made a porno flick or that president Kennedy staged his own death in a Home movie jus two months before his assassination or that Frank Sinatra s real age has been a source of confusion for years probably not. Because they re secrets. Something somebody won t Tell and most everybody else wants to know. Leave it to author William Poundstone to spread the word about these titbits and More in his new Book biggest secrets Quill William Morrow. Much of the Book draws on previously published material but it s still a fun collection of facts not widely circulated. Probably the Juiciest chapter is Blue movies of the famous. Poundstone drags up every Rumor he can find about Hollywood s finest who did the bump and grind before stardom. Some of the rumours Are True he says some Aren t. And some Are just too close to Call. Like Streisand. Poundstone viewed a graphic Black and White print that is too Grainy of positive identification. But he says the footage shows a woman who looks uncannily like a younger Streisand having sex with. Her Boyfriend resemblance however proves nothing Pound Stone writes after reviewing the sex acts in detail. He tried to get the actress Singer director to re Spond but he says his letter went unanswered. The chapter also talks about Joan Crawford Rob Lowe and his infamous sex tape and gives the Low Down on Sylvester Stallone s Early foray into sex for the screen. Where there s sex there s food. And Poundstone devotes several chapters to exploring the secrets of mrs. Field s cookies the ingredients in hot dogs and the beginnings of the Kellogg s Cereal company. You might not want to eat again for Days. And if you re curious whether there s Saltpetre in army Coffee the secrets of Stagel hypnotism or How old Raquel Welch is look no further. Of news service stars of letters a hat do Marlon Brando Burt Rey nolds Barbara Bush Dolly Parton Vanessa Redgrave Lauren Bacall John Denver Robert Evans Marilu Henner Mary Matalin and James Carville Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Audrey Meadows and Emmitt Smith have in common All Are telling their life stories in books Beine published Thi fall v Ujj. Many of these books end up As Best Sellers some for epic runs. Barbara Bush a a noir is the hot one now standing no. 1 on the new York times list. Katharine Hepburn s me stories of myl be for which the Access received a reported $4.25 million was 1991 s no. 1 hardcover nonfiction Best seller and subsequent smash in paperback. The Success of Howard Stern s private parts May be viewed by some As evidence of the decline of Western civilisation but it was a Bonanza for Simon & schuster. Burt Reynolds forthcoming my life due this month from hyperion promises to reveal that Sally Field was the great love of his life. How his close Friend Nancy Reagan helped him to track Down and quash persistent rumours that he had aids that Loni Anderson destroyed their marriage Jocelyn Mcclurg Hartford courant Page 24 sunday. October 2, 1994