Ask a New Yorker: I’m sitting here with Dorothy Wiggins in her lovely Greenwich Village brownstone. Hello Dorothy Wiggins, what a lovely sounding name, I feel as though your name has been peeled from the pages of a Somerset Maugham novel. “Mrs. Wiggins was passing a grove of bamboos and they leaned over the causeway strangely as if they would detain her…’ Is there a Mr. Wiggins?
Dorothy: Very much so. My Mr. Wiggins has been around me; well we’ve been married for 48 years. We had a very exciting love affair before the 48 years, for three years before, so all together he has been in my life for 51 years. We met because my mother collected his father’s paintings. He is a third generation painter from a famous family of painters.
Ask a New Yorker: Describe Mr. Wiggins. Why did you fall in love with him?
Dorothy: Well I guess I fell in love with my husband because he reminded me of Noel Coward and Leslie Howard. He was a combination of the two. His mother being English, he has a slight tilt to his voice. He is very witty and the most brilliant person I have ever known. He can recite reams of Shakespear and open up a book of A. E Housman poetry ,which he knows all by heart. And he is never cross. He has an extradinary humor; he is never in a bad one. Early in his life he was in the Foreign Service and we travelled all over the world. We had a great time. And then he wanted to quit the Foreign Service so that he could paint full time . He would paint wherever we lived.
Ask a New Yorker: Where else have you lived?
Dorothy: Well we lived in Geneva twice. We didn’t like Geneva, didn’t like the Swiss much. But we enjoyed Geneva because we could travel from there to other places in Europe. We lived in Mexico which I loved. We traveled all over Mexico. Our son was born there. I got laughing gas in the hospital. The medicine there is not quite what it is in the United States. We then lived in Panama. We had quite an exciting time in Panama. We had a three toed sloth as a pet which is very rare. Matter of fact the man from the Smithsonian came down to see how they ate. He was going to try to bring one up to America. He was very annoyed that we could keep the three toed sloth. I went out every day and got him ceropia leaves, which are the only thing he could eat. We had a monkey and a parrot. We had quite an exotic time. But it got too hot. And after a year, we were very good friends with the ambassador of the United States to the UN. His name was John, John Scali, who was involved in the Cuban missile crises, I said, ‘John you got to get us out of Panama, it’s too hot’. So he got us to New York.
Ask a New Yorker: Sounds as though you could have settled anywhere. Why did you choose New York?
Dorothy: Well, New York is the greatest city in the world and it happens to be where I was born. I’m a second generation New Yorker. My parents were born here too. I would not want to live anywhere else permanently.
Ask a New Yorker: You must have seen a few Broadway plays?
Dorothy: I was very involved in the theatre. Actually I studied with Stella Adler for three years and at one time was an actress. I grew up seeing the greatest theatre that has ever been in the United States. In fact I have a friend who runs a theatre and he just goes bonkers when he hears that I’ve seen the original productions of every great play that was produced in the United States. I saw all the original Tennessee Williams plays. I’ve seen all the great performances. I started going to the theatre when I was ten.
Ask a New Yorker: In all your theatre experiences is their one play or actor/actress that you thought never got their fare due?
Dorothy: I did have one friend who I was in show with Eileen Brennan. We were in Little Mary Sunshine together and she went out to Hollywood and made a couple of movies. She was a great, great talent. She, I felt, never really got to be the star that she might have been.
Ask a New Yorker: Let’s mix this up a bit. What’s your favorite cocktail?
Dorothy: I should say my husband has a favorite cocktail. A martini. If I wasn’t around he would drink too much. I don’t drink cocktails I gave them up along, long time ago. But I do have Johnny Walker Red every single night.
Ask a New Yorker: I read that you have a penchant for winning a certain costume event?
Dorothy: We always win. We win every year. I have two costume trunks in the cellar. My husband being an artist is very clever with makeup and putting things together. We belong to The National Arts Club and they have a Halloween costume party every year. This year our costume was a Chinese theme. We were dressed in very elegant brocaded Chinese clothes and my husband spent two days making a hat for each of us. The hats were chimneys. He had black smoke coming out of the top. One hat said, ‘Chang- Hai Coal Company and the other said,’ New China Power Company’.
Ask a New Yorker: I bet there was some dancing going on at The National Arts Club?
Dorothy: We both love to dance. My husband is a wonderful dancer and I’m a good follower. One place we went several people thought we were professionals. We have continued not only dancing but taking lessons so when we get up on the floor we can out do other people who just do the box step.
Ask a New Yorker: How about that other dance the international one, politics and the US and world affairs. Your thoughts?
Dorothy: Politics are absolutely crucial. Our country is in a downward spiral. It’s very troubling. I hope a democrat is going to win. No one likes Hillary. I go around asking people. I have not met one person that likes her. Although I assume that enough people will vote her in if she is nominated. But it is troubling. She has a very ersatz personality. Nobody seems to know who she is. And she has a very bad speaking voice. All in all, she is not a strong figure. Obama is too young. Edwards is just kind of blah.
Ask a New Yorker: And your friend Rudy?
Dorothy: I detest Rudy. He is a monster. We actually had a private tour of his house once because my husband painted a picture for him when he was in City Hall. And we went to the house and his two little sad children of his were sort of hanging around and looking very sad. And the little girl came up and said, ‘Would you like to see my painting?’ They were very sad and all alone in this big Gracie Mansion. I gathered neither one even talked to their father. That whole ridiculous thing he did with the Brooklyn Museum. He is a man of temper. The fact that at one time he was going to be a priest makes him sort of rigid in his thinking. And his friendship with Kerik is very bad. So he really would be a disastrous president.
Ask a New Yorker: So next question do you have an opinion about Rudy Giuliani,? OK seriously you look marvelous. How do you maintain such Uberchicness?
Dorothy: Well I was brought up on Health food. I had an aunt who lived with us. She was an amazing sister of my fathers. And she was a disciple of Gaylord Hauser who was a nutritionist and started the whole health food movement in our country. He is the one who said, ’You are what you eat’ I believe very strongly in moderation in all things. I always get eight hours of sleep, always. I try to have a good time. My philosophy of life comes from John Stuart Mill, Ethnical Hedonism. Have fun but don’t hurt anybody.
Ask a New Yorker: Beautiful. Happy Holidays and thank you for your time.
