A Notorious Hollywood Sibling Rivalry; a Vanishing Movie Star; the Rise of a Wealthy Summer Enclave

  [A special delivery from the Vanity Fair Archive]( [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf)   [Vanity Fair's Cocktail Hour logo image]( Cap off your holiday weekend with tales of forged identity, disappearing movie stars, and a gruesome killer in this edition of the VF Archive digest. [The Little Prince]( [Mike Romanoff claimed he was a Russian prince, educated at Eton and Oxford, and a former commander of a Cossack regiment. In reality, he was a tailor’s son from Vilna who spent miserable years as a deportee, con man, and thief. But his ultimate identity was forged by Romanoff’s, the legendary Beverly Hills restaurant he opened in 1939 with the backing of Jock Whitney, Alfred Vanderbilt, and Laurance Rockefeller.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [Camp Life]( [In the late 19th century, architect William West Durant spearheaded the conquest of New York’s Adirondacks, building vast, rustic lakeside estates for plutocrats such as J.P. Morgan and Alfred Vanderbilt. About 35 “great camps,” tucked away in the woods, are still inhabited by descendants of the original families or by the new extremely wealthy.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [The Roots of Evil]( [When serial killer Ted Bundy went to the electric chair after 10 years of scrutiny on death row—and countless reports, television programs, and books—he was still a chilling enigma. Composed, lucid, personally charming, the man who defended himself at his own trial seemed to have no connection with the other Ted Bundy, the depraved monster who lured at least 30 girls to gruesome deaths. Myra MacPherson reconstructs the formative roots of a serial killer.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [De Havilland’s Bumpy Flight]( [A golden age screen goddess, Olivia de Havilland entered the pantheon as Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind, won two best-actress Oscars, then decamped to Paris in 1955. What made her walk out on Hollywood? The actor spoke with William Stadiem about that enduring mystery, and about her side of the most notorious sibling rivalry in film history—with her sister, Joan Fontaine.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( [Gone Girl]( [When Fan Bingbing vanished without a trace, the film industry in China was thrown into a panic. May Jeong explores the mysterious disappearance of the world’s biggest movie star.]( [R E A D M O R E »]( Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now]( [Vanity Fair Logo](www.vanityfair.com) [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( This e-mail was sent to you by VANITY FAIR. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.