Hollywood (1942)

are the action itself. And Bill looked like a juvenile. "Sure, Bill Henry could play the role, and play the pants off it!" producers would say when casting, "but he looks too young!" Bill didn't take it lying down. He tried everything under the sun to age his appearance. He experimented with mustaches, he tried trick make-ups, he dyed his hair. It was all to no avail; he still looked like a kid barely out of his teens. Even the make-up wizards of the studios were baffled and defeated. Now, at long last, nature is beginning to take a hand in the job. Bill's face gradually is gaining the strength and character which comes with maturity. And more important, he has found a producer who isn't going to let that baby face stop him. After Bill finishes the role of the artless young brother (again!) of the girl Mark Twain marries in Warners' Adventures of Mark Twain, he is going to play the title role of — hang on to your hats! — Dillinger, king of killers! His youthful face, however, was only half the answer to why Bill Henry is not a star today. He also admits he has confined his acting to the screen. In Hollywood that's a fatal mistake, as witness the material benefits Victor Mature, Bob Stack, Jack Carson and countless others have received from off-screen antics and exhibitionism. Quaintly enough, Hollywood frequently is fooled by the very make-believe in which it deals; if a guy yells long enough and loud enough that he is terrific, Hollywood is prone to accept him at face value. Yelling about himself, or even edging into the spotlight, is something Bill never has been able to do. By nature he is shy, preferring to keep in the background and let the other fellow do the talking. "I still think an actor's ego is an overrated excuse for bad behavior and manners," Bill said. "Every person in any field of business must have a certain amount of ego but it should be used to sustain himself, not forced on others. However, it doesn't seem to work that way in Hollywood, and so I've started a campaign of asserting myself a little more. I speak up now and then and let people know I'm around. I force a little attention on me and make myself move in for my share of the spotlight. It's an act and deep inside me I still don't like it and never will, but if it's necessary, I'll do it if it kills me!" Bill was sitting in the crowded Mocambo the other night when he saw an important studio executive whom he knew coming toward him. Ordinarily he would have waited for the executive to speak first, and then murmured a quiet and simple greeting. In line with his new policy, however, he called a cheery hello first and tossed off a bit of bright chit-chat as the executive stopped by the Henry table. "Hmmmm," the executive murmured later, "I hadn't thought of Bill Henry for . that role but he would be perfect. Nice chap and darned fine actor. Wonder if we could get him under contract to us. I'll look into it first thing in the morning." The meek may inherit the earth, but, as Bill has learned, they get no part of Hollywood. ■ Maria Montez Co-starring in Walter Wanger's Technicolor Production "Arabian Nights A Universal Picture Complete your make-up in color harmony wi/ft Max Factor Hollywood Rouge and Tru-Color Lipstick. • MAX FACTOR MAKE-UP STUDIO. HOL LYWOOD. CALI F | J Send Purse-Sue Box of Powder. Rouge Simpler ind miniarur 9 Lipstick in my color hjimony shade. I enclose ten cents for postage a "' ic. Also (end mc mv Color Hifmunv MakeUp Chart m<' "' --tf Mob-Up" FREE. 5-10-73] In.'criKlii) ThSt 51