Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I met my present wife's ex-husband. His name was
Robert LeGon. We developed a liking for each other. I remember he told
me that he will give his wife a divorce if I promise that I would marry
her. A very charming fellow.
Mr. JENNER. Did you and your present wife live with each other before
you were married?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes, we did, for a relatively short time, because
we couldn't make up our minds whether we should get married or not. We
both had experiences in the past. We decided that we would see if we
wanted to be married or not. And we eventually did.
Mr. JENNER. Now, I think you can remember this.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. In the name of God we were married, because I
remember we went on a trip to Mexico and decided that here we are
married--in the name of God, we are married. Then, later on, we put it
in the name of----
Mr. JENNER. You had a civil ceremony?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. After your wife had become divorced from her former
husband? His name was Bogoiavlensky?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes; but he changed his name to LeGon.
Mr. JENNER. Can you spell that?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. That name was a discovery for me, also. In the
States they used the name of Le Gon.
Mr. JENNER. When you and your wife married--by the way, her given name
is Jeanne, is it not?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. That is right.
Mr. JENNER. When you and she married, did you continue to live at the
Stoneleigh, or did you take up residence somewhere else?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. No, we kept on living at the Stoneleigh for
awhile, and then we took a house in University Park, on Thackery. We
took a house because both our daughters came to live with us. Actually,
her daughter lived with us a little while before, and then my daughter
came to live with us. She came from France to live with us.
Mr. JENNER. You mentioned her daughter. Now, you make reference to your
daughter. That is your daughter Alexandra?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. That is right.
Mr. JENNER. And she had been living in France?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. She had been--she was brought up by her aunt in
Arizona, because her mother----
Mr. JENNER. And her aunt's name is what?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Nancy Clark--and eventually she became Nancy
Tilton III. Anyway----
Mr. JENNER. She lives where?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. She lives in Valle Verde Ranch, near Tucson,
Ariz. And that is where my daughter was brought up. She was brought up
and spent most of her childhood in that place, with her aunt and her
husband, Mr. Clark.
Mr. JENNER. Her aunt's husband?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. This is the daughter by your marriage to Miss Pierson?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. That is right. Her mother, more or less, left
her with--it was with what we call her aunt, because it is a European
way--that was her first cousin, so, therefore, we call it an aunt--my
daughter's aunt. I guess in English you would call it a cousin. We
call it an aunt--whether it is cousin, second cousin or third cousin,
it is still an aunt. Anyway, she calls her "Aunt" also. And she spent
practically all her childhood there.
Mr. JENNER. Did you visit there?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes; very frequently I went to visit her there,
as often as I could. And Mrs. Clark and her husband wanted to adopt
her. So we had a litigation there. I objected to her adoption.
Mr. JENNER. Did your former wife consent?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Which one?
Mr. JENNER. To the adoption?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes, for awhile she was willing to accept that
adoption, because she was not interested in her any more. She lived
away from her, and married somebody else. She was not interested in the
daughter.
I objected to that adoption, and very fortunately, because eventually
both my ex-wife and myself had to ask back for the custody of Alexandra
because her aunt became an alcoholic and became an impossible person
to live with. And Alexandra asked me and her mother to take her away
from her. We had a lawsuit--not a lawsuit, but whatever you call it--a
custody case.
Mr. JENNER. Where was this, in Tucson?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. No, that was in Palm Beach--because Nancy took
Alexandra with her to Palm Beach, and tried to keep her away from us.
And we caught her there in Palm Beach and eventually the judge decided
that she should be with us.
Mr. JENNER. When was this?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. That was in 1956.
Mr. JENNER. Now, you say "with us." Who do you mean?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I mean either with me or with the mother--with
the mother who became Mrs.--what a complication--Mrs. Brandel--my
ex-wife, the the mother of my daughter Alexandra, became Mrs. Brandel.
Her husband is a Dutchman who lives in France and in Italy, and is a
television producer.