Hollywood (Jan - Mar 1943)

**M9m Glad M Didn't Mamry AU* Actor" — Geraldine Fitzgerald Sparkling-eyed Geraldine Fitzgerald explains frankly why she's glad husband Edward Lindsay-Hogg, director of the Irish Red Cross in America (shown with the actress at right), is not an actor. Geraldine's in Warners' Watch on the Rhine | "I'm glad I didn't marry an actor — for lots of reasons," said lovely Geraldine Fitzgerald, "but the most important one is because I'm an actress!" Geraldine's Irish eyes sparkled with amusement as she tossed her long auburn hair. We were sitting in the semidarkness of the Watch on the Rhine set at Warners, waiting for her to be called for a scene. She smiled. "I like actors. I suppose I could love one — if I weren't already in love with my husband — but because I'm an actress, I am convinced it would be a mistake for me to be married to one. "Before I hurt any of my friends' feelings, I'd better explain that I know many actors and actresses who are happily married within the profession. But for me — no. There are too many obstacles." The gaiety was gone now. Geraldine was completely serious. "An actor and actress married to each other would know one another too well, and I believe a husband and wife should have some little secrets and not be too apparent to each By DOROTHY HAAS the world, and when I say 'actors' I include the female of the species, too. Think of the dinner conversations when husband and wife are both in the same profession! It's always on the same subject, there is ho variety. My husband and I have completely different things to discuss, and it prevents our being 'single track.' "When I'm in Ireland with Eddie, I'm in an utterly different world — his world — away from acting and actors. It's respite from my work. It. adds up to our 'singing different tunes.' How dull it would be if we both sang the same song continually. "And don't forget temperament," Geraldine went on. "To be a good actor, one usually is a complete extrovert. Self-interest and a degree of egomania go along with it, for an actor's stock in trade is his personal appearance, voice and physical fitness. Imagine two such temperaments under one roof! "The time element is important in this problem, too, especially if both husband and wife are acting in pictures. They can't see very much of each other, for when they are working they go to bed almost directly after dinner, to be rested for the next day. Vacations often conflict, due to different picture assignments. If an actress' husband were a businessman, it's possible he might manage a few days' vacation with her after she has worked hard for eight or ten weeks on a picture. "Another thing: When you're working on a picture, there is always extreme nervous tension. You're always keyed-up and nervous in the morning in anticipation of the day's work. I think one person having the jitters over breakfast is enough. Two would be one too many." "What about children," we asked Geraldine, "and the effect on them if both parents are actors?" "Personally, I think it's bad. It goes back to that highly emotional, singletrack atmosphere in the home which I just mentioned. If one parent is interested in some other field of work, children have broader interests, too, and greater emotional stability. They grow up knowing two worlds instead of only one. "Don't under-estimate the matter of competition," Geraldine warned. "If I were married to an actor, I would worry that I might do better than my husband. I couldn't bear it if that happened, and probably he couldn't either. That has broken plenty of marriages. As it is, the better I do, the more delighted Eddie is, because he is proud of me, not competing with me." Geraldine illustrated her point by telling the story of a famous English stage couple, jealous of each other's successes. The husband had witnessed his wife's performance as Lady Macbeth, rushed backstage and congratulated her on her magnificent acting. "Tell me, dear, [Continued on page 67] other. Even in private life actors use their little tricks, pretenses and exaggerations, which are obvious to another actor. When a husband and wife recognize these in the other — there's trouble!" An interesting, if somewhat startling, point, certainly. Geraldine, who is Mrs. Edward Lindsay-Hogg, wife of the director of the Irish Red Cross in America, went on. "For another thing, the world of makebelieve is sometimes more real to an actor than the actual world; and if two people in one household are living in illusions, there is more difficulty. I'm convinced it is much better if one member of the marriage partnership is a realist; there is better balance. "There's also the matter of conversation. Actors are the greatest shop-talkers in 38