Modern Screen (Jan-Dec 1960)

Conversation With A Goddess (Continued from page 45) column." Hmmmmmm, I thought — a nice thoughtful and pretty smart little girl! But when I actually met Sandra, not too long after, at the home of producer Ross Hunter (who has since guided the little Dee to her biggest hits and has become her closest friend and mentor) I was surprised at how very unspoiled and refreshingly youthful she was, not at all the cagey prodigy. AMBITIOUS, YES! The driving urge to become tops in her chosen profession marked this child even before her young mother, Mary Douvan, permitted her to wear the slightest trace of lipstick or to stay up past ten o'clock. But with all her "dedicated" interest in her work, Sandra at fifteen, was the widest-eyed movie fan I ever saw. You'd never suspect that she spent her days in intimate contact with big movie stars on the studio lots. Her particular "crush" was Cary Grant. She referred to "Miss" Turner (Lana) as "gorgeous" and to Jean Simmons as a "great artiste." At this time she had an autograph book which she produced at the drop of a celebrity. She saved programs from premieres. And she wrote fan letters — most of them to Cary Grant. She was required by law to attend school on the studio lots and just like other girls, she mentioned "cramming" for her exams. And so those brief years of typical Hollywood childhood passed quickly by. Now and then I would see Sandra at Ross Hunter's poolside or some other social affair attended by the younger set. It was noted she was "dating" Mark Damon, John Saxon, Edd Byrnes, Mark Goddard and sundry other young eligibles, but these items always sounded like ice cream soda sippings to me. Occasionally I felt her dates were studio inspired. Most of her escorts were in Universal-International, her home studio, films. The change from childhood to girlhood came gradually. Already Sandra had scored dramatically as Lana Turner's daughter and love rival in Imitation of Life and in Portrait In Black. Her little girl figure had rounded into curves encased in beautiful clothes designed by Jean Louis who also did Lana's gowns. Lipstick appeared on her soft curving mouth and flat shoes were replaced by high pointed heels on her smartly shod feet. No longer was the autograph book brought out. In place of the movie child — suddenly there was the movie star. But I had not realized how sweeping was the change until Sandra planed back from Italy, where she had been starring in Romanoff and Juliet, for a brief week of rest and conferences in Hollywood before returning to Europe for Come September. At my invitation for this story she came to see me — and the girl who walked into the "playroom" where I have interviewed so many of the glamour girls of the screen took her official place in my book as one of them! SANDRA LOOKED SLEEK and beautiful in a blue silk gown with matching blue shoes — her only jewelry was one ring. She said her luggage had been lost in transit and she had neither jewelry nor clothes! (A week later it was all located — so no harm done.) But even this temporary misfortune didn't glim Sandra's glow. She was like a 70 little magpie chatting about Italy, Paris, London (this had been her first trip to Europe). She talked "girl talk" of the loose Paris fashions which she did not like. She talked of the sleeker hairdos, of the places she had been and the sights she had seen. With all her bubbling enthusiasm there was a new maturity about her and her figure was that of a model's. Which reminded me of something — "Sandra, do you remember when I paddled you in print after that terrible experience of having to be rushed to a hospital by ambulance because of your drastic Salts dieting? You aren't doing anything that foolish to keep thin now, are you?" "I promised you I wouldn't, remember? And I have kept my word," she smiled. "I have come to my senses. I eat what I need with-mt starving myself or taking drastic elimination medicine." "Are you sure?" I pressed on. "Ross Hunter told me you still actually do starve yourself." She laughed, "That Ross! Unless I eat huge platefuls, Ross thinks I'm not eating anything. I don't require as much food as he believes I should eat." I looked at her slender wasp-like waist. "What's your waist measure now?" I inquired. "Nineteen inches," she proudly replied. "Sandra," I put in quickly, "I'm going to level with you and do an interview with some pretty hard-hitting questions — the way I do with the grown up glamour stars. I know you're wise now and mature in your thinking — and there are many things your fans would like to have you answer straight." As she had listened her beautiful young "doll" face became serious. "For one thing you mean about my real father, John Zuck," she said quietly. "Yes, exactly," I answered. "About the stories printed that when you appeared in your birthplace, Bayonne, New Jersey, that you refused to see him and did not contact him." Indignation flashed in her eyes but her voice was soft and level as she said, "I would like to ask those fans and others who have criticized me what each one would have done in my place. "HOW CAN I LOVE A FATHER I haven't seen since I was five years old? I have never in all those years since my mother and I left Bayonne received as much as a postcard from him. I didn't even know I had a half-brother until one of the magazines printed that I had refused to see my father and brother!" The words were fairly tumbling from her lips beginning to tremble. "Was there anything that prevented my father from telephoning me? I was appearing for the studio in Bayonne and I was in the newspapers. He knew where I was staying and contrary to all those reports that I wouldn't see him, he never even telephoned or wrote or sent me a telegram. "You must remember that my wonderful stepfather, Eugene Douvan, whom my mother married years ago, is the only father I have ever known. I wouldn't know John Zuck if I met him on the street!" She caught her breath, again very much like a little girl. "I have no ill feeling or hatred toward anyone in the world," she said with sincerity. "I have never tried to defend myself against these unjust accusations— that is — until now." I had a feeling Sandra was going to cry so I quickly said, "Thank you for trusting me, Sandra. I will try to make my readers understand your position as I understand it. I agree with you — your father should have tried to reach you some way during those years when you were growing up." She had completely regained control of herself. "I don't want to sound like a sob story. I am grateful that my mother, Mary Douvan, made a new and happy life for me while I was still young enough to be impressionable and that as a little girl I grew up under the guidance of a kind and devoted man like Eugene Douvan. "Thanks to my mother's courage and love — I knew a happy childhood and I shall be everlastingly grateful to her for it. The most wonderful thing I can say about my young and pretty mother is that she is my best friend and closest pal." This, I knew for a fact. Mary Douvan, who is as dark and pretty as her daughter is fair, is one of the most popular young matrons in Hollywood. Although she has been widowed for the years since Douvan's death, and Sandra is her whole life — Mary is a far cry from the typical stage or movie "mother." Time after time I have seen Sandra and Mary whispering, talking and even laughing together like a couple of teenagers. Although Mary advises her daughter — she does not keep her bound with cords of silver. In fact, Mary once laughed to me, "My bedroom in our new house looks more like a movie star's than Sandra's — and that's saying plenty!" This new home is described by both Sandra and Mary as, "What every fan thinks a movie star's home should be — white, modern and expensive!" Which brought me to another topic — the way Sandra spends money. "Your home — your imported sports cars (for herself and Mary), your expensive clothes, that full length white mink coat you bought before leaving for Europe — Sandra, do these things mean that you are spending everything and saving nothing?" — I had warned her my questions would be blunt. NOW SHE LAUGHED OUTRIGHT. "Even if I were foolish enough to want to spend all my money — and believe me, I'm not, I would not be permitted to. Under California laws I'm still a minor and required by the courts to put away 25% of my salary. This is held in trust until I am of age at twenty-one. My mother and I have decided that this is a very good thing for me to continue even after I am twentyone. We've decided to set aside this same amount of savings whatever my salary becomes. "By movie standards — actors in the star brackets are now getting anywhere from $250,000 to $1,000,000 for a single picture— my salary at U-I is moderate. I'm not up in the big money bracket. So when the compulsory savings, withholding tax, charity and other deductions are taken out — my take home pay isn't too big." For a "legal minor," I'd say Sandra talked a very sensible financial line. She was smiling, however, as she went on: "I'll confess to you that after taxes and living expenses are taken out — I feel every cent I have left is an investment in my career. And I spend it on clothes, furs and everything that will help me seem glamourous and interesting to the movie fans. I'm not apologizing that I do this." I know that on Sandra's shopping jaunts she has spent as much as $1500 for clothes in one session (a story that shocked some people). But she actually is following the advice of her close friend, the astute and "boy wonder" producer, Ross Hunter. Not long before talking with Sandra, I had dined with Ross at Romanoff s and he told me: