Margaret Ives contrasted the public narrative—“Margaret loved the camera”—with her own: the camera loved her, and she used attention as a tool. As a child, Margaret was outgoing while Laura Ives was shy; after their parents, Frederick Ives and Doris “Bernie” Bernhardt, split, Margaret discovered her “superpower” of attracting attention, often to divert scrutiny from Laura. She repeatedly staged bigger spectacles to keep focus on herself, from flamboyant outfits to getting expelled after setting a small school bathroom fire, even enduring Gerald Ives’s cold disapproval.

Margaret’s carefree persona was reinforced by cousin Ruth Allen’s example as a beloved TV comedienne. That ended in 1954 when Ruth and her husband, James Oller, died in a plane crash en route to Margaret’s sixteenth birthday celebration. The country mourned; Gerald grieved privately. The loss devastated Margaret and seemed to shrink Gerald’s domineering presence, loosening Margaret’s sense of obligation to the House of Ives.

In the aftermath, Laura reacted oppositely, drawing closer to Gerald. After Gerald suffered a stroke that left him mostly blind, Laura began visiting and reading to him, eventually taking over his care. She learned his routines and secrets and spent long hours with him in the library, while Margaret increasingly lived in public, photographed across Hollywood and Europe and celebrated as the “Tabloid Princess.”

Margaret’s public image grew through playful episodes, including a staged-looking moment on James Dean’s motorcycle with a gag wedding veil from the set of Bernie’s film A Western Wind Blows, which earned Margaret the nickname “Two-Date Peggy.” She enjoyed the control publicity offered and the buffer it created against loneliness, but the same scrutiny intensified Laura’s retreat from public life.

As paparazzi interest in Margaret grew, Laura became more reclusive, spending days reading to Gerald, debating rock ’n’ roll with him, and walking the grounds while describing sunsets. Margaret worried about Laura’s future once Gerald and their parents were gone, and repeatedly tried to coax Laura into social outings, which Laura refused, saying, “I don’t want to be photographed. I don’t want to be seen.” Their parents quietly discussed Laura’s wellbeing and agreed not to push her.

Everything shifted when musician Cosmo Sinclair, once “The Boy Wonder of Rock ’n’ Roll” and now dubbed “the Poor Man’s Elvis,” scheduled a performance at the Pan Pacific Auditorium. Laura adored Cosmo, and Margaret seized on this as an opportunity. Her concern crystallized into a plan to sneak Laura out for one perfect night at the concert, which Margaret believed could change their lives.