TV Radio Mirror (Jul - Dec 1956)

(Continued from page 26) to Iona together — that's the Irish Christian Brothers School here in New ftoehelle." "He's with a manufacturing company now," Mary says, getting in the last word about Frank Donahoe. For Frank doesn't really come into the story. All he did was take Mary, who was under contract to 20th Century-Fox, to meet Peter, who was under contract to Paramount. And nothing happened! A short time later, however, Jimmy Fidler, the Hollywood columnist, took a unit of young Hollywood stars on a theater tour. Mary and Peter were both part of the group. "We were thrown together for eight weeks," she points out. "It gave us a chance to know each other." At the time, Mary had had her first big break in Hollywood — the second feminine lead in the Sonja HenieTyrone Power film "Second Fiddle." Before that, however, after a year of nothing but bit parts, she had been tempted to go back home to New Orleans. There, at least, she had been a successful young secretary — even managing the office when her boss was out of town. As a matter of fact, she had never been too serious about being an actress in the first place. She had held the title of Miss New Orleans. She had sung in a church, choir and on the local radio station. But, when a 20th Century -Fox talent scout spotted her, it had taken her several days to make up her mind to sign the contract. On the other hand, Peter had been in show business all his life. His mother, Grace Lind, was a vaudeville headliner billed as Grace Hayes. Peter, born Joseph Conrad Lind, was only nine when he broke into the act. "Mother would sing 'Dirty Hands, Dirty Face' to me," he recalls, "and then I'd run and jump into her arms." At eleven, he did an impersonation of Jackie Coogan. On his sixteenth birthday, he appeared with his mother at the famed Palace Theater on Broadway. It got him expelled from school, but it made him a full-fledged member of the act — with billing and everything. Only the billing read Grace Hayes and Joseph Lind. "I'll never forget the day Mother and I were taking our bows, when a woman in the front row remarked to her companion" — and Peter imitates her in a loud stage whisper— " 'Get a load of that cradlesnatcher!' " That was the day young Joseph adopted the name of Peter Lind Hayes, to make sure everyone understood: He was Grace Hayes' son! By the time he joined the unit touring with Jimmy Fidler, he was a well known night-club entertainer, and an up-andcoming film actor. "I decided he had a good act," Mary says. "This is for me, I thought." And so, eight months later — on December 19, 1940 — they eloped to Yuma, Arizona. From the very start, they began working together— right in Grace Hayes' Lodge. And here, the story goes into a flashback to 1939, when Peter's mother first opened her night club in the San Fernando Valley. It was a shoestring venture. On opening night, there wasn't even enough cash on hand to change the first twenty-dollar bill. And, while Grace came out to welcome her guests, she had to keep dashing back to the kitchen to help cook dinners. The Grace Hayes Lodge not only became a success, it became a showcase for the T talents of both mother and son. Grace was v cast in the Paul Whiteman movie, "The R King of Jazz," and Peter got a chance to develop his songs, jokes, dances, comedy skits, and especially his impersonations. It led to a contract with Paramount, and a 78 Time for Laughter career which was to include sixteen feature films. Now that Mary was part of the family, she used the Lodge as a testing ground and outlet for her talents, too. She also continued her own film career. But then World War II interrupted the young couple's plans for being together. In July, 1942, Peter enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Assigned to Special Service, he became a member of the "Winged Pigeons" — a group which included a host of names now famous in show business. "We hitch-hiked all over the South Pacific," Peter recalls — a bit wistfully. "We put on six hundred and twenty shows to an audience of over a million men." His wife is the one who proudly rounds out the story. Peter received a Bronze Star for meritorious service, and two battle stars — to say nothing of a good part in "Winged Victory," the Air Force movie. Mary, in the meantime, had gone to Broadway, where she appeared in a number of plays and musicals, including "Around the World in Eighty Days," with Orson Welles. On Christmas Day, 1945, Peter was discharged from the Army. He broke in a new act, polished it on a six months' road tour, then brought it to New York's Copacabana for a smash success. Both their careers were flourishing. What with the war, however, and individual bookings, Mary figures they were "separated four years — off and on." That might be show business, but it wasn't marriage. "There was a widening breach between us," Peter says. "I suddenly decided that the one way to heal it was to start working together." As a husband-and-wife team, Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy made theatrical history. They have toured the better night clubs and theaters of the United States and Europe. In television, they appeared on the Chevrolet show in 1949, CBS-TV's Stork Club series, then their own Star Of The Family show. It was in December, 1953, that they signed a long-term, exclusive radio and television contract with CBS. In addition to their own radio series, the contract called for Peter to substitute for Arthur Godfrey during his absences. Offstage as well, Peter and Mary have been a successful team. Working together, they found the same need to relax together. And, when Peter advises other married couples to "share as many interests as possible," he is speaking from his own happy experience. Not that he and Mary have time, when they're working, for many interests. But, every afternoon they can, they play golf together. And, every night, they watch television. Occasionally, they give parties, but only for "very close friends." For to the Hayeses, home is sanctuary — a private refuge where they escape their public life. And they're happiest there when they're alone. That is, alone together. But it isn't because they're together so much that their marriage is "a happy and lasting one." Get Mary aside for a moment and she'll give you the real "secret formula." It's — having a sense of humor. And she gives Peter full credit for the fact there is never any friction between them. "If we're having an argument, for example, he'll start answering in ridiculous cliches," she explains. "Or he'll do a takeoff of an uncle of mine who always has to get in the last word. That does it. That shuts me up. Or ask Peter about my mother, and he'll probably tell you: 'Mary's mother is with the Marines now, teaching them how to fight dirty.' " Actually, Mary points out, the remark is funny because Mrs. Viola Healy is one of the "shyest, gentlest creatures alive." But it also eliminates any possibility of taking the mother-in-law situation seriously. Watching the two in operation, however, it soon became apparent that Mary uses the same technique on him. Their humor seems to be based on a thorough knowledge of each other — and a complete love. "You're doing your psychologist bit now," she'll point out. Or, you should hear the two argue about the motor boat Peter wants to buy. He hates commuting to New York in the summer— "fighting all the traffic and heat at that hour of the morning. And wouldn't it be heaven," he sighs, "to just cruise down the East River to Fifty-Third Street every morning." Mary is against the idea. Her arguments are both logical and realistic. And yet she admits — when she's sure he can't hear — "He'll get the boat. I always let him win." : With all this kidding, they never take themselves too seriously. Neither can get mad at the other, not when each has the ability to make the other start laughing at himself. And that is why they can be together endlessly without strain. For them — far from breeding contempt, familiarity has only bred contentment. And that is why the two don't work together as much as they used to. Mary is a completely contented woman. Having everything she really wants, she has lost her drives. "My wife has reached the stage of life where she doesn't like to work as much as I," Peter says, accepting it calmly as a fact of nature. And Mary nods in slightly shamefaced agreement, trying to explain the difference between them. "He's a businessman," she points out. "I'm — emotional." She doesn't mean, of course, that anyone as creative as Peter is actually a businessman. She is referring to his approach to his work. He's a man with a job to do, a living to make. The fact that he enjoys what he's doing, more than anything else in the world, doesn't keep his approach from being strictly professional. Mary, on the other hand, can no longer "take the pressure" of constant radio and television appearances throughout the year. "It's different," she explains, "with such programs as Masquerade Party. I don't have to do it. And, being on the panel, it isn't work. There are no preliminaries. You just show." This, however, is far from being "emotional." All she means is that — "after twenty years of show business" — it's hard for her to get worked up about it any more. Her approach is completely feminine. To a woman, other things become more important. And, instinctively, she glances in the direction of the bedroom where Peter Michael, aged seven, and fiveyear-old Cathy Lynn are asleep. Mary still plans to appear with Peter in his night-club act, but less and less on television. Suddenly, she wants time. Time to spend with the children. Time to think — not of the next show, but "of the next vacation, or a new rug." Already, there are evidences of Mary's "thinking." Recently, the Hayes — all four of them — took a week's vacation in Bermuda. And the living room and music room have been redecorated, complete with wall-to-wall carpeting. And as they sit there, hand-in-hand on their newly doneover pink couch, it's plain to see: Whether or not they continue as a show-business "team" indefinitely, the Hayes -Healy marriage only grows stronger with every passing day. ■ ■