Aaron Tracy

Decades later, she says if she had only one thing to do over in her life, she would have had that baby.

And you gotta wonder, if she had, would she and Dahl still have gotten together?

Would he have been ready to be a stepfather to Gary Cooper's love child?

I don't know.

But soon after the abortion, Neil and Cooper break it off for the last time.

In Hollywood terms, Neil writes in her memoir, he was not going to pick up my option.

That's literally how she phrases it.

When I read that in her book, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Neil decides she needs to get the hell out of LA.

So she moves to New York and meets Dahl.

But for the first many years of their relationship, they're just not alone.

Cooper's presence is there too.

It really screws Dahl up, which is a little surprising.

Dahl always had a thing for dating women who've just broken up with, or are currently married to, famous, powerful men.

Remember the French actress Annabella?

She was married to movie star Tyrone Power while dating Dahl.

Or Claire Booth Luce, who was married to one of the most influential men of the century.

Dahl also dated Phyllis Brooks, an actress in a relationship with Mr. Suave himself, Cary Grant.

But this was different.

For whatever reason, this was the first time that Dahl really felt inadequate in comparison to the other man.