Hollywood Studio Magazine (August 1969)

humidity and rain will rot a suit in less than a year. Elsewhere they will last approximately two years. In the last 35 years, Scotty has ordered 15 new suits. Each one has to be custom fit and takes months to complete. “I have some of the most expensive suits in the world,” Scotty points out, “and I don’t have to worry about someone else having one just like it.” Scotty is in demand for publicity appearances and shows at shopping centers, but not everybody thinks he is Hollywood Hills uttering growls and screams while the woman fled in terror. In the middle of a re-take, an off-duty policeman spotted Scotty crashing through the brush in hot pursuit of the frightened woman. Pulling out his gun, the man gave chase and was ready to blow Scotty into the next world when he was stopped by a shout from the camera crews. “That has been several years ago and I still get the jitters when I think about it,” Scotty told me. unattended. No amount of coaxing would get him to return and repair the torn foot. “He was just too superstitious,” Scotty remembers. After years of holding his slim wife over his head in the gorilla act and tossing her about the stage, Scotty has a barrel chest and arms to match, that would be the envy of all weight lifters. But he is a gentle man who would rather cook a fine gourmet meal or some other non physical pursuit around the house, than do body building. His meals are famous around the Sunland neighborhood where he lives, and in almost every nation his work takes him, he is able to whip up the national dish in short order. His home frequently resembles a United Nations, as friends STARTLED DRIVERS - Drivers on their way through the Sunland area are used to the sight of Del La Roche racing past in his gorilla costume. ODD JOB - In getting husband Scotty off to work, Diane Del La Roche sometimes spends an hour helping her actor-husband ready for work. the kind of ape they want to meet. At a pancake house opening, a public relations man asked Scotty to eat the first plate of griddle cakes t6 roll off the stove. But, when the waitress tried to hand him the plate, her hand shook so hard she dropped it. The next platter did the same, and by the time it was decided to abandon the whole idea, four sets of crockery lay in pieces on the floor. “That little girl was scared to death of me,” Scotty explained, “and nothing I could say or do would keep her from trembling with fear.” Movies have been a constant source of income for Scotty, but one picture had nearly fatal results. The script called for him to chase a housewife through the Once when he was given a booking in a remote part of Asia, Scotty demanded an air conditioner in his room. “Oh sure,” the promoter told him. “We will get you an air conditioner, don’t worry about it.” After he arrived for the engagement, Scotty found out too late the room had an expensive air conditioner allright, the problem was, there was no electricity to run it. When his gorilla suit foot ripped during a show in Ipoh, Maylaya, Scotty walked into a shoe shop run by a Chinese to have it repaired. Putting the torn shoe on the counter, the burly actor called for service. The owner came out, took a look at the gorilla foot and ran out the front door leaving the cash box open and store from around the world show up for a visit. There seem to be as many show people as ordinary folk in the lineup. At a recent dinner, a magician and his family were eating next to a former circus acrobat and next to him was a writer, while some other friends who had popped in to say hello were arriving. “I’m a Universalist,” Scotty grins, “I like people as people, I don’t need to know anyone’s nationality.” “Nobody can be mad at a monkey,” Diane smiled, giving her husband an affectionate pat. People are used to seeing a gorilla shopping in Sunland markets or reading the paper next to the living room window of the del la Roche home. A few still get a start when a black gorilla drives up for gas, but most of the time he is accepted without question. Of course the suit is a bit hot in the summertime, so Scotty hopes to land bookings in cool climates each new season. Continued on Page 29 Page 14