Editing James Whale (section)

==Post-film life==
With his film career behind him, Whale found himself at a loose end. He was offered the occasional job, including the opportunity to direct ''[[Since You Went Away]]'' for [[David O. Selznick]],<ref>Hofler, p. 97.</ref> but turned them down.<ref>{{cite web| title = James Whal| publisher = Turner Classic Movies| url = https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/204821%7C78327/James-Whale/| access-date = 15 January 2009}}</ref> Lewis, meanwhile, was busier than ever with his production duties and often worked late hours, leaving Whale lonely and bored. Lewis bought him a supply of paint and canvasses and Whale re-discovered his love of painting. Eventually he built a large studio for himself.<ref>Curtis, p. 347.</ref>

With the outbreak of [[World War II]], Whale volunteered his services to make a [[training film]] for the [[United States Army]]. He shot the film, called ''Personnel Placement in the Army'', in February 1942. Later that year, in association with actress [[Claire DuBrey]], he created the Brentwood Service Players.<ref>Curtis, p. 350.</ref> The Players took over a 100–seat theatre. Sixty seats were provided free of charge to service personnel; the remaining were sold to the public, with the box office proceeds donated to wartime charities.<ref>{{cite news| title = Hollywood Today| work = The Kingsport News| page = 8| date = 26 June 1943 }}</ref> The group expanded to the Playtime Theatre during the summer, where a series of shows ran through October.<ref>Curtis, p. 351.</ref>

Whale returned to Broadway in 1944 to direct the psychological thriller ''Hand in Glove''.<ref>{{cite news| last = Garver| first = Jack| title = Up and Down Broadway| work = San Mateo Times| page = 12| publisher = United Press| date = 21 December 1944 }}</ref> It was his first return to Broadway since his failed ''One, Two, Three!'' in 1930.<ref>Curtis, p. 353.</ref> ''Hand in Glove'' would fare no better than his earlier play, running the same number of performances, 40.<ref>Curtis, p. 421.</ref>

Whale directed his final film in 1950, a short subject based on the [[William Saroyan]] one-act play ''[[Hello Out There]]''. The film, financed by supermarket heir [[Huntington Hartford]], was the story of a man in a Texas jail falsely accused of rape and the woman who cleans the jail. Hartford intended for the short to be part of an [[anthology film]] along the lines of ''[[Quartet (1948 film)|Quartet]]''.<ref>{{cite news| last = Parsons| first = Louella| title = Hollywood April 27| work = The Lowell (KS) Sun| page = 27| publisher = INS| date = 27 April 1950 }}</ref> However, attempts to find appropriate short fiction companion pieces to adapt were unsuccessful and ''Hello Out There'' was never commercially released.<ref>Curtis, p. 367.</ref>

Whale's last professional engagement was directing ''Pagan in the Parlour'', a farce about two New England spinster sisters who are visited by a Polynesian whom their father, when shipwrecked years earlier, had married. The production was mounted in [[Pasadena]] for two weeks in 1951. Plans were made to take it to New York, but Whale suggested taking the play to London first.<ref>Curtis, pp. 369–71.</ref> Before opening the play in England, Whale decided to tour the art museums of Europe. In France he renewed his acquaintanceship with [[Curtis Harrington]], whom he had met in 1947. While visiting Harrington in Paris, he went to some gay bars. At one he met a 25-year-old bartender named Pierre Foegel,<ref name = cineaste /> whom Harrington believed was nothing but "a [[male prostitute|hustler]] out for what he could get".<ref name = fir /> The 62-year-old Whale was smitten with the younger man and hired him as his chauffeur.<ref>Curtis, p. 374.</ref>

A provincial tour of ''Pagan in the Parlour'' began in September 1952 and it appeared that the play would be a hit. However, [[Hermione Baddeley]], starring in the play as the cannibal "Noo-ga", was drinking heavily and began engaging in bizarre antics and disrupting performances. Because she had a run of the play contract she could not be replaced and so producers were forced to close the show.<ref>Curtis, pp. 375–76.</ref>

Whale returned to California in November 1952 and advised David Lewis that he planned to bring Foegel over early the following year. Appalled, Lewis moved out of their home.<ref>Curtis, pp. 376–77.</ref> While this ended their 23-year romantic relationship, the two men remained friends. Lewis bought a small house and dug a swimming pool, prompting Whale to have his own pool dug, although he did not himself swim in it. He began throwing all-male swim parties and would watch the young men cavort in and around the pool.<ref name = curtis3778>Curtis, pp. 377–78.</ref> Foegel moved in with Whale in early 1953 and remained there for several months before returning to France. He returned to California in 1954 permanently,<ref name = curtis3778 /> and Whale installed him as manager of a gas station that he owned.<ref name = curtis380>Curtis, p. 380.</ref>

Whale and Foegel settled into a quiet routine until the spring of 1956, when Whale suffered a small stroke. A few months later he suffered a larger stroke and was hospitalized.<ref name = curtis380 /> While in the hospital he was treated for depression with [[Electroconvulsive therapy|shock treatments]].<ref name = anger211>Anger, p. 211.</ref>

Upon his release, Whale hired one of the male nurses from the hospital to be his personal live-in nurse.<ref name = curtis381>Curtis, p. 381.</ref> A jealous Foegel maneuvered the nurse out of the house and hired a female nurse as a non-live-in replacement.<ref>Curtis, pp. 383–84.</ref> Whale suffered from mood swings and grew increasingly and frustratingly more dependent on others as his mental faculties were diminishing.<ref>Curtis, p. 383.</ref>