Screenland Plus TV-Land (Jul 1959 - May 1960)

Hugh is the first to admit it when he does make a blooper, refusing to pass the buck to anyone isn't this address ninety-eleven thirty-twelve Hillock Road?" "Oh, no," answered the stranger-host. "This is ninety-eleven thirty-twelve Hillock Drive! Hillock Road is up at the end of the block. It circles around the mountain before joining the Drive again, right where it started." Hugh, who recounted the wacky tale of woe in his dressing room at Desilu Studios where he was making a Playhouse 90 film called, "Chain Of Command," shrugged resignedly. "I goofed," he grinned. "Just plain goofed. But it turned out all right My date and I drove up the hill and around the mountain to the wedding reception. We toasted Bob and Jean in champagne, and went back to finish up the evening at the other party — this time as properly, if accidentally, invited guests." Despite this incident — and others — Hugh is the least likely candidate in town for goofs. He's a demon about details . . . never forgets to wind his watch . . . keeps birthday lists . . . remembers anniversaries . . . writes thank-you notes . . . and pays his bills — on time. HE isn't sure what started him off on this business of being so thoughtful and thorough, living his life with a place for everything and everything in its place. "I guess — " he hesitated a moment, like a man on the point of making an embarrassing admission, " — I guess I must have a compulsion about wanting to do the right thing." He thought that over while he fiddled with some new pipes on his dressing table, and added, "Well, maybe it's better than having a compulsion to do wrong!" No argument there. But even with his good intentions, every once in a while Hugh goofs. When he does, he refuses to dodge behind the due-to-circumstances-beyond-our-control gambit, and admits he pulled a boner. He doesn't pass the buck, though he easily could, now that he has to delegate some of the details to his associates because he has so many things going since his ABC-TV "Wyatt Earp" success. And he never makes the same mistake twice. No encores for O'Brian in the blooper department. "Wouldn't you say once is enough for a booboo like this?" he asked. "It happened a while back when I was feeling my way along, trying to get something solid behind my characterization in 'Wyatt Earp.' I wanted it to be real and human, but I wanted it to be 'good theatre,' too. A director friend of mine let me use him as a sounding board, and he spent a lot of time listening to my problems. "To thank him for his kindness I sent him a gift — a case of the best bourbon I could buy. Next day I discovered that he had just gone into Alcoholics Anonymous!" Hugh thinks a minor goof can be worse than the major variety, especially when it involves someone of the opposite sex. A few years ago he had a bad time of it with a girl he'd been squiring around for a couple of months and who had begun to feel she had a secure place in his little black book. She confidently believed her name was inscribed there in indelible ink. "I took her to a New Year's party," he remembered out loud. "By the time we arrived, everybody was already seated at our table for fourteen in the hotel ballroom. Most of the guys were bachelors who were there with their girl friends. As I recall it, there were only two married couples. That meant I had a lot of names to remember in introducing my date who had never met any of them. continued on page 62 35