HEART to heart

In your new book, you talk about growing up poor. What was that like?

We didn’t know that we didn’t have any money! My mother used to save every nickel to buy us matching outfits. There was always ample food on the table, even though we lived in a dilapidated house in

the Ironbound section of Newark, N.J.

You also open up about Bobby Darin in the chapter entitled “My First Real Love.” Take us back to the moment the two of you met.

It was hatred at first! I thought he was a wise guy, so arrogant. When I changed a couple things in a song he wrote, he became very angry and said, “I’m out of here. We don’t dance to the same tune.”

When did things get better with him?

He was the background voice at a recording session, and I felt I was watching a genius in the making. I realized his brass attitude was only a facade — he grew up in the worst section of the Bronx, [N.Y.] born with a bad heart and told he was only going to live to 25.

What about him won you over?

Everything he said! He wasn’t a phony.

Were you two intimate?

Are you kidding? My father would have killed us! It never even entered my mind.

And compared to your four husbands…

There is no contest. I wasn’t in love with my first two husbands — the only reason I got married to them was to get pregnant. I didn’t love anyone the way I loved [Bobby].

You were also friends with Elvis Presley?

No , I only met him once. I wish we’d have been friends. I think I could have helped him.

How so?

I think I could have had a positive influence on him. He was at my show one evening and having a wonderful time. Then I sang “Mama” and he ran out in tears. The next day, he sent me two dozen roses with a note: “I’m sorry about leaving your show but that song affects me so much. I think about my mother.”

Were you happy when you became a mom to your adopted son, Joey?

He came to me on Dec. 6, 1974, in a great big red room with a bow on [him].

You dedicated the book to your father, but said that while he was “the brilliant architect” of your career, he was “the source of [your] greatest personal pain.”

Because he broke up my romance with Bobby. He was extremely strict; I wasn’t even allowed to go to my prom.

You said he had you committed?

Yes, in five different states. They misdiagnosed me as bipolar when I was suffering from PTSD. My psychiatrist said when I was happy, I had every reason to be exhilarated, and when I was unhappy, I had every reason to be.

“Helping and giving something important to others is more gratifying

than anything you could receive.”

— Connie

One of those times was on Nov. 8, 1974…

Yes, when I was raped at a Howard Johnson hotel in Westbury, N.Y. It took seven years out of my life — I didn’t do an interview or a show, almost became a recluse and my [third] marriage [to Joseph Garzilli, from 1973 to ’78] suffered. I wasn’t the same person he married, and I don’t blame him [for the divorce] one bit.

Then in 1981, you lost your brother…

George started out as an assistant district attorney, and he was murdered by the mafia.

How did you get out of that bad period?

My brother’s death became my resurrection. I could no longer sit around in self-pity. I had to hold the family together. I decided to go back to work and help victims of violent crime. I visited the Oval Office and was [appointed] by President Reagan [to a] commission to fight violent crime.

Have you healed from that time?

I’ve healed; I don’t think about it every day.

You sang “My Happiness.” How would you rate yours today on a scale of 1-10?

About a seven. Basically, I’m happy. I have wonderful friends, and except for diabetes, I’m very healthy. Every day I say a prayer of thanks.