Charlie’s Girls
Although former Rep. Charlie Wilson missed the Washington screening parties for the movie version of George Crile’s New York Times bestselling book, Charlie Wilson’s War he wanted to make it perfectly clear that his recent heart surgery has not affected his love life. The book-turned-Hollywood-flick was based on his covert dealings in Afghanistan. Deemed the largest undercover operation in history, Wilson decided to bring down the Soviet Empire “his way,” and he did. The operation bore all of his trademarks: A stiff drink, beautiful women, and a lot of nerve. He was called the wildest man in Congress, a rogue CIA agent and a man who changed history. But what Wilson likes to be called best is a ladies’ man. It’s no wonder that female guests at the screenings were all asked the same question: “Were you one of Charlie’s girls?” Now, there were Charlie’s girls and there were “Charlie’s girls.” The former is what it seems; the latter were the staffers who would come to be known as “Charlie’s Angels.” Both types were represented at the screening, and although the former weren’t talking, the latter were. The “Angels” were Charlie’s foxy staff who ran his office during his 24 years in Congress. More than a dozen showed up at the December screening at the Warner Theatre, and they had a blast reminiscing about their “Charlie Days.” Still looking “hot” despite the passage of time,
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Janet Ginsburg and her former colleagues carried on like school girls. What most people didn’t realize is that the “Angels” were brilliant and knew more about the issues than their boss. The Uptown Theatre screening to benefit Woodley House was preceded by a party at Spices packed with Charlie’s friends. “I used to visit him in his office,” said former colleague Jim Symington. “You’d walk in and think you had happened in on a Hollywood set. I never saw so many beautiful women in one place in my life.” The evening was dedicated to late MPAA chief Jack Valenti, and his widow Mary Margaret was there sharing her Charlie stories, as were so many of the guests. “Everyone knew him and his
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flamboyant Texas parties,” said Barbara Boggs, to which Ann Hand added, “I just remember that there was a large cowboy boot hanging from his front door, and when we walked in, the first thing I saw was this big hot tub in his bedroom where people would mill around.” “It’s a great book and a great movie,” said Ray Benton. “Yes, I knew him, but nothing we can talk about in public.” “The joy of seeing Charlie Wilson’s War in Washington is that we all knew him,” said Cokie Roberts. “The question is, can Tom Hanks possibly do Charlie Wilson well?” While historians link his operation to the rise of the Taliban, perhaps a quote of Charlie’s from an unrelated article in The Lufkin Daily News says it best: “I’ve always considered myself a selfmade man. And that relieves the Lord of a lot of responsibility.”
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