Radio-TV mirror (July-Dec 1954)

Small-town Guy (Continued from page 39) to do and they do them. I say they are all fine men, great organizations, dedicated to keeping alive certain values inherently American — like freedom of thought, our American way, and the corner church. I say if you're small towners, if you're part of that family of men, you should be proud of it. You're the backbone of America." On That's My Boy, Eddie is a character comic. But he approaches his serio-comic work seriously. Though Jarrin' Jack's behavior comes out funny, it went in as a heartache. No one knows better than Eddie the feelings — the failures and triumphs — of Jarrin' Jack Jackson. He is Jarrin' Jack. They both came from small prep schools and small towns, in Eddie's case, Norwalk, Connecticut. "They call it 'Clam City,' " says Eddie, "but, when my dad was around, friend, you had to smile when you said it." Jiiddie knows Jarrin' Jack's idiosyncrasies because he grew up with him. Eddie's father was typical of the American Eddie is trying to present. He was a joiner, a doer, and a giver. He was one of the responsible people who cared. As Eddie says, "He was part of the backbone of the country. He was a typical Babbitt, the sort some people made fun of. When I first developed my act, I poked fun at the type, too. Until one day I realized I was poking fun at myself. "Then I tried to go to the rescue. There's nothing wrong with Babbitt that a little understanding won't cure. Sure he wants to own property. But he works for it. What's wrong with work? The Bible's for it. Besides that, fifty-four percent of Americans own their own homes, and more are buying them every day!" Eddie thinks that people similar to his dad — and like television's Jarrin' Jack Jackson — are the real burden bearers of the country. They're not to be made fun of. If you are one of them you should be proud of it. "Take my dad, for example," says Eddie. "Together, my dad and mother built the first hospital in Norwalkr They v/alked the streets, knocking on doors to raise money. They telephoned. They campaigned for months. As soon as some of the money was in, they started building. Their sweat went into the mortar between the bricks. But the town's hospital was built. That's the sort of thing small towners can be proud of." Small towners have a variety of opinions. Eddie feels that is healthy for a democracy. "We're all equal under the law," says Eddie. "A small towner's opinion is just as important as the President's. My dad felt the same way. 'Those congressmen and senators,' he said, 'are the servants of the people. It says so in the Constitution!' "When he had a problem he took it straight to the top. The year didn't go by that he didn't visit President Coolidge. They even got to be friends. My dad would have a business problem — he was a clothing manufacturer — and off he'd pop to Washington. Whenever he came in, President Coolidge would say, 'Well, Mayehoff, how's trade?' and my dad was o?i for an hour and a half." Eddie feels that the middle-class people are protectors of certain values inherently American. "Take our churches, for example," he says. "One reason the Pilgrims came to this country was for freedom of worship. It's part of our heritage. My dad and mother appreciated this fact. When they didn't find the church of their choice in our small town, they built one. They did the campaign bit, the fund raising, the door-to-door routine for the church just as wholeheartedly as thej did for the hospital. "The wonderful thing about it was that other townspeople were happy another church was rising in their midst. They even helped it along. Those Clam City people were just ordinary folks, but they were the ones who cared enough about our American heritage to keep working at it." The sad fact is that, as a child, Eddie was unconscious of the mantle of middleclass responsibility which was falling on his shoulders. Rather, he was embarrassed at being called a "Clam City kid." He felt it made him different. He wasn't old enough to realize that, across the country, there were thousands of other small towns much like his own Clam City — fifteen million other kids, just like himself, who were growing up to be the backbone of America. So when he was old enough to go out on his own, Eddie left Norwalk, Connecticut. He went first to a small prep school. The Principia, and then on to Yale, the big-city school at New Haven. There, he inherited the leadership of the Collegians school band from Rudy Vallee. This was his introduction into show business. In 1932, Eddie was graduated from Yale. He'd wanted to be a popular song writer but, in 1932, the pickings were lean — so he went back to the steady and sure routine of small-town life. He worked for his dad for a year, managing a factory in Augusta, Maine. But show business was too important to Eddie. It had become part of his life. With his bandleading experience, he started a band and toured for five years. Traveling with his dance band across country, a funny thing happened. In his effort to escape one small town, he visited them all. Instead of Main Street rubbing off, Main Street rubbed inl Out of his travels and observations of the American middle class, Eddie built a composite character. He developed his character into an act. He became a monologist in night clubs and variety shows. 1 hen the light dawned. One day Eddie realized that the character he was poking fun at was himself — no matter how he tried to hide it, even by poking fun at it, he was still just a Clam City kid at heart. "The awakening came as a surprise," says Eddie. "Though I realized I had an honest right to take liberties with the character, because I was the guy, I also realized he was an honest guy — an honest guy people made fun of. It was time Babbitt had a champion and was shown in a sympathetic light. This I've tried to do." Eddie's big break came in 1951 when he was first cast as Jarrin' Jack Jackson in the Martin and Lewis movie, "That's My Boy." It was a logical step in 1954 for Eddie to go into the television version of the same name. Today, Eddie's pleased that television offers him a chance, as Jarrin' Jack Jackson, to spread his philosophy of life. "Be proud of what you are," he says. "Jarrin' Jack is! Sure he's a small-town operator, but he's proud of his place in the community. Some folks make fun of his small town. He wants to protect it. He likes his little church on the corner — he helped build it. 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