Christmas with Charlie, Paulette, and Lita

I arranged to have a private room at the Ambassador Hotel for a party for the boys. It consisted of about fifteen boys from Black Foxe, with party favors, cake, and the things small children like at a party. before I came west by train, I had telegrammed Charlie that I was having a party for the boys and would he like to attend, just to be polite. He surprised me by coming. I opened the door of the party room at the Ambassador and there was Charlie, tanned and looking very well. He acted like an old friend, very pleasant--after all the terrible stuff we had been through--he was just as polite as he could be.

I offered Charlie a glass of champagne. He said, "I think I better leave now. I have Paulette waiting in the car outside, and she is probably getting impatient."

I said to him, "Why don't you invite her up? Maybe she would enjoy a glass of champagne? I'd love to meet her."

"Would that be all right?" he said like a timid little boy, totally unlike the man I married.

He brought in Paulette Goddard. I had never seen such a beautiful woman, with her dark, soft, shoulder-length hair. She wore a black velvet dress and a string of pearls. While Charlie was visiting with the children, Paulette and I had a pleasant conversation.
"You probably don't remember this," she said to me, "but I used to model clothes in New York, and I used to model clothes for you."

The comment endeared her to me right away. I don't think most people in her position would have admitted that. She was humble and very likable.

Paulette was wonderful to my two boys. I really don't think her relationship with Charlei would have lasted as long as it did if it hadn't been for my children because she had such a good time with the kids. She would take them down to San Diego on Charlie's boat, the Panacea, or skiing. She would always send me a little note, keeping me informed of what the boys were doing. Paulette also encouraged Charlie to develop a relationship with the boys, which might not have existed without her.

--Lita Grey Chaplin, Wife Of The Life Of The Party, Scarecrow Press, 1998