Modern Screen (Jan-Dec 1960)

1960's newest bestseller The town they talk about in whispers! The author of "Peyton Place" takes you back to the scandal-ridden New England town whose secrets shocked a nation . . . and to the people whose lives were rocked by sudden exposure. Written with the same startling frankness that made "Peyton Place" the most famous bestseller of our time. Be one of the first to read it! iVo* one word cut discovered her name was Betty Kalb. And for the next few days I just couldn't get her out of my mind. That's when I discovered I had to see her again. It wasn't easy, but after a lot of double talk I think I confused Betty into a date. "I sometimes think I didn't know as much as I thought about women, because now that I recall, Betty never did say no. She just didn't say yes. I've asked Betty about it a couple of times, but she just smiles and looks very wise. "Well, we got to dating pretty steadily and one night after leaving her at the door I walked home in one of those woozy trances. As the lady says, I wasn't sick, I was in love. "Lucky for me, Betty felt the same way. "Marriage? Why not? I had it made. There were plenty of parts around. And I was in love. "We were married. "Three days later I lost my job, as the show closed suddenly. I didn't work on the stage for a year. "A month later I was desperate. Our money was gone. I used to wonder how a man could love a woman so much and yet provide her with nothing but failure. You see, auditioning, for an actor, is both expensive and time-consuming. If he triesout during the day and works nights he looks like hell the next morning from lack of sleep. Casting directors want you fresh, clear-eyed and full of energy. And you can't fool them. They know all the angles. "Finally I gave up auditioning and took a job selling jewelry in a store. The boss decided I was no diamond in the rough. Then, odds-and-ends salesman in a department store. The floorwalker just didn't understand actors. Then I sold stove-oil from a truck. I swear I don't know how our marriage managed to survive. It wasn't the sad state of our finances — and let me tell you they were really sorrowful. But it was the frustration that was eating my insides. I was nothing unless I was up there making an entrance from stage left. And I knew it. That's what was tearing at me. And Betty knew it. "I discovered it was tearing at her, too. A woman in love "One morning I woke up and it was 10:00 a.m. " Tor crying out loud," I bellowed at Betty, I'm two hours late for work. Why the devil didn't you get me up?' " It was at this moment that Gene Barry discovered what a wise and wonderful woman he had taken for a wife. Betty sat down next to him. She looked positively grim. "Gene," she began, "you're going to be angry when I tell you. But please, hear me out before you splash all over the ceiling. "I've taken a job. (Sit down!) I've got the hatcheck stand at the Copa. (Honey, let me finish.) We've got to accept one thing about you because you are the kind of man you are. You don't belong in a store and you don't belong on an oil truck. You belong on the stage, you belong before an audience. Any audience, even if you only carry a spear. I've watched the last few months. If you could see what's happening to you, you'd agree with me. What I want to do is this. I intend to work for about four months. We can live on my salary somehow. Maybe even save a little. But more important, you'll have the days. You can sleep at night and look the way you're supposed to look at auditions, well-rested and eager for the part. Don't argue, Gene, please. I've made up my mind." "But my mind's made up too," Gene exploded. "What kind of oaf do you think I am? Whv do vou insist?" A DELL BOOK • 50c NOW ON SALE AT YOUR NEWSSTAND