First Lady Has Lots of Company

Even as political observers’ jaws dropped over the use of horoscopes in the White House, astrologers who cater to high-powered clients were saying that Nancy Reagan is hardly alone in her pursuit of schedules timed to the stars.

Indeed, they claim the Astroturf is mighty crowded with celebrities from the worlds of show business, politics, literature, high finance and more.

Astrologer Jacqueline Stallone, for instance, says she routinely advises her son, Sylvester, on whether his films will be successful and chooses the most favorable dates for releasing his movies to the public. Other celebrities she has prepared astrology charts for include Farrah Fawcett, Elizabeth Taylor and the late Richard Burton, Patti Labelle, Grace Jones, Al Pacino and the late Grace Kelly, says Stallone.

But, for her son, she scrutinizes the planets relentlessly, sometimes advising him on a daily basis.

“Everything (regarding his films) has been done on the basis of astrological prediction,” the astrologer says, recalling that her son has had to wage “big battles to get these movies released on specific dates.”

As for the actor’s films that were considered box office failures (“Over the Top” and “Rhinestone”), she says, “The only movies that were not good were the ones he did when I was mad at him. The bombers were the ones when I wasn’t speaking to him.”

During the filming of her son’s most recent film, “Rambo III” opening this summer, Stallone reveals that because of assorted dangers associated with the film making, “he was fearful the whole time he was in Israel. He called every day. I’d throw the Tarot cards and do astrology and numerology. In case one thing doesn’t fly, it’s good to check the others.”

In addition to working for celebrities, Stallone has worked for many business clients, both in and out of Hollywood, she says. For instance, for Fairfield Farms (now known as Marriott Ranches in Virginia) she “advised them when horses were born if they’d be winners and which horses to buy.”

Socialites, too, have sought her counsel, among them C. Z. Guest of New York and her daughter Cornelia, the “Debutante of the Year” turned actress who’s recently dated Sylvester Stallone.

“She’s very accurate,” the younger Guest says. “I’ve asked her about jobs and stuff and different decisions I’ve had to make. She’s generally on the money, I’d say 90%.”

Comedian Phyllis Diller reports that she, too, has found it worthwhile to consult an astrologer: Chicago-based Katherine de Jersey, for the last 28 years.

Diller says she checks with De Jersey “maybe if I get interested in a new man. I get her to do a rough chart and she throws a few things at me about the character. She warned me not to marry my second husband and she was right but it didn’t keep me from it.

“I had (the charts of) all my children done so I could better understand them. And Katherine has warned me about people I considered doing business with,” Diller recalls. “She warned me once when two guys came after me to do a sitcom. She said one was sleazoid and the other was suicidal and she was right. I don’t consult her often enough. I once opened a restaurant and didn’t consult her and it bombed.”

Television Announcer

Contacted in Chicago, De Jersey acknowledged that she has several well-known clients but would only name one who is now deceased: Arthur Treacher, who for many years was Merv Griffin’s television announcer.

Not all stars who’ve had their charts done pay much attention to them. Actress Anne Jeffreys, for instance, had her chart repeatedly done by astrologer Carroll Righter, who died earlier this month and was known for analyzing the horoscopes of numerous celebrities.

Though Jeffreys gave the eulogy at Righter’s memorial service, she says she doesn’t “really follow astrology that closely.”

“Carroll was just a good friend over the years. I’m not a non-believer, but I’ve never lived by it,” she continues. “But I know a lot of them (Righter clients) who were fanatical about it. Marlene (Dietrich) wouldn’t get out of bed without consulting him. She’d call him from Germany almost every night.”

While he was alive, Righter acknowledged that his clientele included Dietrich, Lana Turner and Clark Gable. And it is still widely rumored that Righter prepared charts for Ronald Reagan. When Righter was asked by The Times in 1985 if he consulted with Ronald Reagan on astrology, he replied, “No comment.”

Astrologer Linda Goodman acknowledges that she gave then-Gov. Reagan some astrological advice in the early ‘70s. “I sent Gov. Reagan a telegram around the time that (former Vice President Spiro) Agnew resigned in which I told him he’d be the President of the United States in 1980,” she recalls, adding that she received a personal response from Reagan’s chief speech writer at the time--then about a year or two later a phone call from another Reagan aide, asking if the prediction was still good.

Goodman, author of “Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs” (which has sold 7 million copies over the last two decades), says she doesn’t have the time to do many astrological charts. But she reveals that “Nelson Rockefeller was a client of mine,” along with Merv Griffin, Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Sonny Bono and the late Grace Kelly.

According to many astrologers, politicians at many levels of government have sought their services throughout history. Ed Helin, who teaches astrology classes at the Carroll Righter Institute in Los Angeles and consults with celebrity clients, says he was hired by the California Lottery Commission to choose the date on which lottery tickets would first be sold to the public. “It (the date) was intentionally delayed,” he recalls, “to get the best chart.”

Santa Monica-based astrologer and syndicated columnist Sydney Omarr points out that astrology is nothing new to politics, in California or elsewhere.

“When Goodwin Knight was governor of California (1954-58), he called me in to his office and showed me charts of people he was dealing with,” says Omarr, an author and syndicated columnist.

Foot-Soldier for Astrology

During World War II, Omarr says, he was “the only soldier given full-time duty as an astrologer” and conducted a radio show for troops in the South Pacific in which they could ask questions and receive astrological answers.

Though like Goodman, Omarr maintains that he gives few private astrological readings, he says that living clients who have allowed him to reveal their names include Kim Novak, Angie Dickinson, Susan Strasberg and Tom Smothers. Among his deceased patrons, he says, are writers Henry Miller and Aldous Huxley.

But astrology use is hardly limited to those in the arts. New York City-based financial adviser and astrologer Sam Crawford, whose financial predictions have been written up in the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, says his days are routinely peppered with calls from big business types from around the world.

“I get calls every day from the Middle East, London and other parts of the world, as well as from traders in the United States,” says Crawford, who says he dares not mention the names of his callers.

In addition to private consulting, Crawford publishes his financial predictions in the newsletter, Crawford Perspectives. Among its subscribers, he says, are a Middle Eastern bank, a Swiss brokerage and “the president of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Tokyo.”

But Crawford doesn’t kid himself that his readers are that impressed with the power of astrology. “Whatever (financial) letter is really hot, they’ll subscribe to,” he says. “They don’t necessarily subscribe because I have a deep and abiding interest in astrology, they take the letter because it’s accurate.”

Some psychologists and psychiatrists, particularly Jungian analysts, have also found astrology to be accurate enough for use in clinical work.

Beverly Hills psychologist Weyler Greene, for example, says he has used individual horoscopes with about 10% of his clients over the years, some of whom have sought his help specifically because of his serious regard for astrology.

Another View of a Client

A Jungian analyst, he says it’s not uncommon for fellow Jungians to use astrology in their practices as Jung himself used horoscopes extensively. “But a lot of them are skittish about it,” he says. “I find it has a value. It’s another way of getting a picture of the client. . . . I’m not one who believes that every decision you make should be made by something in the stars, but it has a value.”

But knowing when to consult the stars and when to ignore them can be a problem for even devoted followers of astrology. Jacqueline Stallone remembers that she urged her son, Sylvester, not to marry Brigitte Nielsen until after a certain eclipse when he would “see her in a different light.”

The marriage lasted 19 months and recently ended in divorce. “If he’d waited for the eclipse, he wouldn’t have married her in the first place,” she laments. “Astrology can only predict, it can’t prevent.”