Edition: U.S. / Global  At Home With: GREGORY PECK; A Glamorous
Movie Idol's Gracious Semi-Retirement  Published: May 4, 1998
On an El Nino-soaked afternoon, Gregory Peck, white haired,
bearded, still matinee-idol handsome, was strolling around his
Bel-Air home, showing a reporter some of the art that he and his
wife, Veronique, have collected during their 41 years of
marriage.  On one wall was a David Hockney pastel. On another, a
Fernand Leger oil. On one side of the room was a large Milton
Avery painting. Most of the dozen works in the room were
representational; many of the pictures were of couples.  ''We
used to have abstract paintings,'' Mr. Peck explained while
giving the tour, ''but we realized that had become wallpaper to
us, and we weren't looking at them anymore. One day, we shipped
them off to the Los Angeles County Museum. Now, we only have
things here that speak to us, that have some kind of emotional
content.''  He seems to have whittled down his life like the
paintings on his wall, so that ve