Aileen Pringle and Valentino, of which Mencken wrote an account, some weeks after Valentino had died. Mencken does not name her but describes her as "discreet as she is charming." Ralph Barton, American artist, was also a devoted friend and used her as the model for "Dorothy" in his illustrations for "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" by Anita Loos. Another admirer was George Gershwin who met her in Hollywood and wrote much of the Second Rhapsody at her Santa Monica, California, home. Her wit, keen intellect and sparkling personality made her a sought-after companion. After her 1926 divorce from Charles Pringle, Aileen Pringle further
Anita Loos look up", she lamented, "but what a terrible let down it would be to find out that I was smarter than he was." The pictures for Famous Players-Lasky were not as successful as their previous films, partly because they starred Broadway headliners not adept at screen acting. In addition to their film "collaborations" the couple wrote two books: "Breaking Into the Movies", published in 1919, followed by "How to Write Photoplays" in 1921. Though the scripts carried both names, they were mostly products of Loos alone. Later Loos would claim that Emerson took all the money and most of the