Modern Screen (Dec 1949 - Nov 1950)

esther Williams . (Continued from page 40) what Esther ;! wants, because she needs them more than she needs anything else that the world can J give her, because, for one thing, babies ; keep marriages together where seven-year contracts don't, f Anyone who laughs off child-bearing in . Hollywood as a sort of hobby, like gardening or making furniture, is dumber iithan he thinks. More than one star's ; marriage has broken up because there ;l wasn't a baby to creep into the room as 1'Mama lifted the lamp to toss at Daddy's ; head. If there had been a baby in the .ihouse there wouldn't have been any lampt! lifting in the first place, because both par. ents would have known it isn't good for ; children. But to get back to Esther. A lot of peoc ple say that the reason her first marriage 1 failed is that she had a one-track mind, j She couldn't see her husband for the i( chlorine in her eyes. And she didn't have J a child to recall to her all the wonderful L traits her husband had when he wasn't Ir angry. And without a baby, a married 1 couple is responsible only to each other. That kind of responsibility you can write I off in Reno. With her marriage to Ben Gage, Esther jigot smart. She liked this man well enough ! to keep him even after he stopped sending L roses. So she planned a little marriage it, insurance, and a couple of ways to get ^dividends for herself, lifelong dividends, jt Sometimes, though, Fate throws a j whammy into the plans. A little over two -years ago, Esther lost her first baby. It swas a girl. j| At that time, Esther and Ben were on i their way to a football game in San Fran, cisco. Lou Busch and Esther's best friend Janet Blair were along with them, and they spent the night in a Monterey Hotel. Two hours after they checked in Esther I began to feel terrible. Pains raced all over jt her, but she didn't say a word. Finally, 1 though, she turned to Ben and said, "I 9 don't feel so good." j] The baby was three months off, but Ben wasn't taking any chances. One look at Esther and he called the doctor. The ^ doctor came on the double. He took one j] look at Esther and said, "We've got to get |H her to the hospital right away." li They rushed her to the hospital, where [j the baby died as it was being delivered. 1j C5 sther was grief-stricken for a while, ij but as the weeks flew by, her strength !:,i and her good humor came back, and she .'* went to work with a zest. Only, by that ,|time, they were beginning to talk at j Romanoff's, and The Brown Derby, and | Lucey's. "Too bad Esther lost her baby," , \ they said. "I guess she lost her marriage with it." "I don't give that Gage-Williams combo U much more time," one gossip would say i, to another. "You know how they met, don't you? Ben was dating Ginny Simms. He took her to this charity affair at Earl . Carroll's, and Esther was a cigarette girl J that night, just for charity, you understand, and the next thing anyone knew, || somebody came over and said that a big ft studio executive was taking Ginny home, fy and Ben wound up with Esther instead. ] That's how it started. I mean it was all . a mistake to begin with. If they don't . have any children I give them three years " together, maybe four. . . ." * . While all this was going on, Esther bef^j came pregnant again. She was making [ [Neptune's Daughter, and every day she jfelt more and more like a mother. She restarted being ill mornings, and came down J^late to the studio, which for her was very Uplifts and separates for the new rounded silhouette. STARDUST INC., Dept. T, Empire Slate Bldg., N. Y. 1 ^ 6IWUINE SticwW SUPS BRis fi,*0ifS. GARTER BlUS V*% "Indian Maid" . . . heap pretty moccasin for you and little sis Beat the Tom Tom for sheer comfort in these moccasins with soft cape soles, bunny fur trim and colorful, washable, mock beading. Sizes 4 to 9, medium widths. Little Miss Honeybugs, sizes 8 to 3, medium widths. Royal, Red, Black, Light Blue, Pink, White. £2 99 At your favorite store, or write to Honeybugs, Dept. II — 47 W. 34th St., New York I, N.Y.