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RP: Sumi, tell us about your clientele at the flower shop during the '30s.

SK: We had some beautiful clients, customers, I tell you. In the old days, that was in '29, '30s, you know Greta Garbo? She used to come in a big, her beautiful car. Where she sat was closed and where the chauffeur sat is opened, so I don't know what kind of car it was. She used to buy armfuls of sweet peas. We used to grow sweet peas there in Los Feliz, and she loved sweet peas, so every week, weekend, she used to buy whole armful of sweet peas. She used to come in herself. In those days she wore slacks and just a sweater over her [touches shoulders], and she used to carry the whole, come in by herself and carry the whole sweet pea out to the car by herself. Yeah, she was a wonderful person, a beautiful person, beautiful voice.

RP: How about Mae?

SK: Mae West is another. She was, she lived not too far, and she always sat in, up front with her chauffeur with a little tiny monkey on her shoulder here. And her sister sat in the back; she used to come in and buy the flowers. Mae West in the seat, she used to, always waved at us. She was really nice. We had a lot of nice customers. And also the director, Cecil DeMille, 'cause he lived right there in Los Feliz, and then he used to --

RP: What kind of flowers did he like?

SK: What I like?

RP: No, what, what kind of flowers did Cecil B. DeMille like?

SK: He like simple flowers, very simple flowers, not exotic flowers. But he used to come in, see how we were, just to chat. Yeah, he was nice. I don't know what kind of flower he used to buy, just a simple bunch of flowers. That made him happy. Maybe just came to see how we were. He had a Japanese fellow, he used to work as a, like a houseboy for him for the longest time, and I know his wife used to teach Japanese language school. Yeah, that was out in San Fernando Valley. So we used to go to Japanese language, Japanese school every Saturday. That was our... but you know, I learned, I've forgotten most of my, I just forgot. I even forgot how to speak Japanese, more or less. In Japan, of course we had to speak it in a very elite way. I've forgotten all of that. It's altogether different. And up in the imperial palace it's worse yet. I mean, I shouldn't say that, but it's very difficult. It's altogether a different type of language. You do a lot of bowing. That's what I did. [Laughs]

RP: Who else, Jim Carrey was a client of yours.

SK: Yes, he lived up in the high rise, and his wife Alba, she was, she's a beautiful girl, young, she must've been about twenty years younger, but real cute, real vivacious person. She's an artist. Yeah, he used to come. He used to come almost every week, getting flowers for the apartment there. I haven't seen him lately, but maybe he's still, I hope he's alright. I've known him since Los Feliz. He was a young, handsome fellow then. Yeah. And then there's that... what's his name?

RP: Bud Cort?

SK: Bud Cort, yeah. He used to live up here with the, one of the Marx brothers, right up, several blocks up here. I met him at, across the street in a grocery, in this store, and he said he bought a home up here on, near Astro's Restaurant, "So I want you to come up and see me sometime," he says. I said, "Alright. Thank you." [Laughs]

RP: The other one you mentioned earlier was Mickey Rooney.

SK: Oh yeah. He was just a little boy then. And then Mrs. Marshall, they had a liquor shop and she had a bar there, right on Vermont, and then also, gosh, they were the nicest people, though. Every Sunday, Mickey Rooney used to bring us gallons of ice cream or a big cake or something, Mrs. Marshall, Mae Marshall used to tell him to bring it to us. He was just a little kid. He says, "Hi, hi." Mickey Rooney, it's the same Mickey Rooney. He was such a nice guy, though, real, lot of fun. Yeah, yeah. [Laughs]

RP: Joan Fontaine?

SK: Yes, Dillon Fontaine, Olivia de Havilland was very, very nice. Joan Fontaine was a little bit, I didn't see too much of her, but Olivia de Havilland -- that's the sisters, you know -- they lived right up here in Los Feliz and she was a really, what would you call her, real friendly person. She used to get little flowers, and many times... when she bought her first car, it was one of these Ford, with the wood panel like a little station wagon, the old cars, that was her first car. It was a used car she bought. She was so proud of that car. She showed me the car. She says, "That's my car, my first car." And then when she, that Gone With the Wind, when she made that, then she came one day with her first mink coat. She wore that and she showed me her mink coat. [Laughs] She was the cutest person, though. She used to show me all that, and we were, we became really good, real close friends like. She used to tell me a lot of funny things, like what was going on in the studio. She was really a, really a, I don't know what it was, but she's, I just loved her. She was so nice. She'd always see how we were and if everything was okay. And then when Gone With the Wind, we sent her this, I think three dozen long stem roses, and she says that was the happiest moment of her life. She said she was so happy. Then she sent us a great big box, that must've been a good four pounds of chocolate -- we don't see those big chocolates anymore -- for, from I. Magnin Store. That was a big surprise. That was a big... yeah. As a thank you, she gave us, she sent that to us. Well, she was really a sweet person.

Yeah, we used to have a lot of people. The other one was... oh god, there were so many people. Remember that person that wrote the music, "I Love You Truly"? She wrote that story, or she did something. 'Cause she's over in Forestland now, but she used to come in a big black limousine, and she used to sit in the back, always with a young fellow always sitting by her, and with a chauffeur. And the chauffeur used to come and buy the flowers for her. She never got out, though. She always wore white, as I remember. I can't think of her name now, but she wrote that beautiful song, "I Love You Truly." But she wasn't a very, she was a cold person, though. Wasn't a friendly person. She was just a, I don't know. Like, well, I guess she was prejudiced. She didn't like the Japanese, that's what, probably what it was. Kind of snubbed us. But the chauffeur was okay. He was nice. I guess he just bought what he, what she wanted him to get. That was okay. But yeah, we had a lot, we had a lot of people.

RP: You had a lot of, yeah, lot of good relationships.

SK: We did. Yeah.

RP: Did your mom ever become a citizen of the United States?

SK: No, she was just happy the way she was. Yeah, she did the best she could, I know. I asked her about that and she never answered me. She was just happy the way she was, I think.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright &copy; 2011 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.