Jerry Torre was 16 in the Summer of 1974, when he ran away from home and found employment as a gardner on oil billionaire J. Paul Getty’s East Hampton estate. That same year the young man Little Edie Beale called “The Marble Faun,” stumbled across Grey Gardens, and into pop culture history when his visits to the decaying mansion were captured by the Maysles Brothers in their famous 1975 documentary. Drew Hampton is currently playing Torre in the musical version of Grey Gardens, which is on stage at Circuit Playhouse through April 17, but here’s what the original “Marble Faun” had to say about life at Grey Gardens, and its various translations to the stage and screen. And if this interview isn’t enough Bouvier/Beale to quench your thirst for staunch characters, there’s a second interview with Grey Gardens star Carla McDonald below the fold.
Intermission Impossible: Your proximity to the Beales makes you a fair judge: of all the versions of Grey Gardens we’ve seen in recent years, which one is most accurate in getting who the Beales were and what life was like in their peculiar corner of the universe?
Jerry Torre: The First film Grey Gardens [the documentary] is my choice with the two films. The conditions of the mansion were actually improved upon before this. Yet it does take the viewer into a brief understanding of the personalities, living conditions, and complexities of the women.
Intermission Impossible: What’s it like to see your love of corn immortalized in song?
Jerry Torre: When I did hear the song “Jerry likes my corn” I was in awe of the interpretation’s gravity into our relationship through a song. It captured what I had known about our relationship: a moment in our life at Grey Gardens. One of concern. I’m honored with [the] tender interpretation of our relationship. There was a young boy who shared the simplistic joys of caring about one’s dear friend. Mrs.Beale was a mother to me. Only a few days into our relationship and I knew that I was home.
Intermission Impossible: Does the world’s seemingly unending fascination with the Beales surprise you? What do you think it is that keeps people coming back for more?
Jerry Torre: Once I shared my thoughts on [the documentary] Mrs.Beale looked at me [and said], “Years into your life people will find our relationship to be one of interest.” It has been 35-years since. It is one very fascinating event. One that begins with a grand old mansion on the East end of Long Island where estates have great history. When I walked into the mansion my very first day I felt the history of a family. Of a place where time had stopped. There were no people quite like Mrs.Beale and Edie. Their appeal lives on. One of individual expression in ones own choice of lifestyles. The appeal is one of individuals who seek to live.
