Modern Screen (Jan-Dec 1960)

Eddie Named Father of Liza (Continued from page 33) out a little silver comb and started to. comb Liza's hair — right there at that big party with the big white cake on the table with all the other pretty things. Mama made Liza feel like the party was for her. Then Liza saw Eddie kissing Mama and the three of them were in a huddle of love. They laughed and it made Liza so happy. She reached out her arms for Eddie and clung to his neck with sheer joy. He said lovely things to her in a tender voice — not like that other mock-stern voice she couldn't quite remember. That older voice that was there, and then suddenly, wasn't there anymore. This was the man who put her on top of a pillow in a bicycle basket and took her for fun rides when they were on a vacation in England. This was the man who swung her way up in the air, calling her "baby doll," "sweet princess" and "pumpkin." This was the man who held her tiny hand so very gently in his. The man who sang at the top of his voice just for her. Mama had said once, "Daddy has gum." And Liza had trotted over to his knee, put her fragile little hand on it and asked, "Daddy, gum, please, gum, Daddy." And Daddy just sat there, eyes riveted May Britt's Own Story (Continued from page 21) being performed and I shall be forbidden to work: should this happen, I should go back to Europe to work, where these race discriminations do not exist or are not so deeply felt. Some other people foresee that, marrying Sammy, the demand for my services as actress on the cinematographic market will suffer a heavy loss and I will find work with more and more increasing difficulty. And also this is a risk that I feel like running. It is true that I am fond of my work, but it is true as well that I would give it up for Sammy's love: because I love him more than any other thing in the world. And Father says that had I been an American girl, perhaps my point of view would have been quite different. But I have been brought up in a family and in a country where a complete race tolerance exists and where the color of the skin does not represent a barrier. Perhaps it is due to this that I was not afraid of the judgment of my family about the decision I had taken. In fact my father came to London where Sammy had accompanied me: they made their mutual acquaintance and they took a liking to each other. They understood each other and joked as if they were two old friends. Sammy is for me a very good boy: honest, open-hearted, sincere, dynamic, always ready to make fun of everything and everybody, including himself. In America and in Europe, when his performance begins and the searchlights brighten up his face, the public remains as if they were hypnotized. And they laugh during the 90 minutes of his performance, are moved, enjoy themselves. It is just as if he had a radar, suitable for getting the spectators' moods every evening and just as if he commanded all their reactions. This is the sixth sense that only great actors have and Sammy, who is a dancer, 78 singer, mime, actor, juggler, possesses it on Mama — both of them breathless. Then Daddy said, "Here's the gum for Daddy's girl," and hugged her so tight it hurt. That could have been the moment that Eddie Fisher decided to adopt Elizabeth and Mike Todd's daughter as his own. It could have been later when they lived in New York. It could have been one night when Eddie came home tired and found a child waiting with eagerness for his hug and kiss. It could have been one morning when a little person that looked just like a bunny walked into the bedroom and said, "Daddy, wake up, play with me." Or it might very well have been the day Daddy held her up in front of the big picture of Carrie Frances and Todd. Daddy told her who they were. Then he played a game with her and asked her who the sweet faces were. And Liza knew. Liza said, "That's Carrie Frances and that's Todd." And Daddy said, "That's right, Liza, those are Daddy's babies." And his voice sounded awful funny. Then Liza said, "Liza is Daddy's baby, too," in a worried little voice and Daddy squeezed her close — knowing her need for reassurance that she had a daddy too. After that, Mama and Daddy used to have long talks about Liza. Mama and in the real complete sense of the word. I think that when people see Sammy work they find him beautiful and nice, because behind his grimaces, his burst of laughters, his imitations, his plays, there is the man who has understood the secret to overcoming the obstacle of the race barrier, to start from nothing and reach the stars, to be a star in the most absolute sense of the word, in spite of his origins and of the narrow mind of many people. The Americans have nicknamed him "the running man," because he is always in a hurry, he is always busy, always active, always in a mood for joking, for amusing other people. His biographer says that all his life has been a continual defiance aiming to prove to other people and to himself that his skin does not mean "inferiority" at all. Instead, I am of the opinion that Sammy has always felt tremendously lonely, since he was a boy, a poor boy in Harlem (some more than 30 years ago) till when he obtained the first great successes with Sinatra and Mickey Rooney in 1951. The more famous and successful he has been, the more lonely he has felt. Sammy's performances are almost never over later than two o'clock in the night, but he usually never goes to bed before eight o'clock in the morning. Two lonely people After the stage, the rejoicings, the jokes, his friends' uproars, for him the moment comes, with dawn, to go to bed and it is then that he feels lonely more than any other moment. Sometimes he says to his friends or to his audience in a loud voice: "Let us take a taxi and let us make merry at home." Everybody thinks that this may be a witty remark to conclude the night, but most times it is a friendly invitation that few people or nobody understand. On one of these occasions I was near Sammy and for one moment I hoped that the invitation would be addressed only to me, because I felt terribly lonely — like he was, and I could not disclose my feelings with anyone. I too needed much love. So we began by walking about the Daddy had talked to Michael and Christo pher and they understood why Eddie wa Liza's Daddy. They never called Eddie "Daddy"— onl Liza could. And how she loved her Dad dy. Then Daddy told her one day that he name was Liza Todd Fisher. And she re peated it, Liza Todd Fisher. She knev something special was happening becaus< Mama and Daddy were so happy. Anr there was a nice man there from California who said it was all official. He sak very solemnly, like a lawyer would "What a charming pixie you are, Liza Todc Fisher," and suddenly her Daddy wa: bowing from the waist and asking her t< dance with him even though there wa: no music on the record-player. His arms were guiding her so firmly she didn't even lose her footing once. She felt safe in her Daddy's arms even if sh« could not comprehend the complexities o Life that had wrought happiness for hei out of tragedy. When she is grown, Elizabeth and Eddk will tell Liza about the father she nevei knew. And Liza will know that she toe has given happiness to her adopted Dadd> who had to bear silently the pain of separation from his own babies. end Liz stars in 20th-Fox's Cleopatra United Artists' Two For The Seesaw, and Liz and Eddie are both in MGM's Butterfield 8. largest and the most charming city in the world, getting to the general markets already in excitement, meeting men washing the streets, sleepy workers going to their work, poor people, who after having slept in the park, resuming their begging life. Talking, keeping silent, walking, enjoying ourselves to follow this or that nice scene, this or that character, we began feeling that we were quite happy together, that both of us were a complete unique thing, that we were no longer so lonely and sad. Contrary to what happens for most human beings, our love began at day-, break, with the first sunbeam. Now I know that when we go back to the United States, anything may happen. Sammy will do his best not to rouse hatred of violent men, who intend creating some clamorous incident around us. Sammy is a quiet boy, who has never hurt', anyone and who wants to live in peace, loving his fellow creatures. The incident, which took place in London, where some violent people tried to provoke him to anger, has tranquillized me in this sense. They had gathered in small groups in front of the place where he was working, carrying placards with outrageous writings against him and against me. Sammy did not want to hide himself in order to avoid that hostile manifestation, entering through a small back door; he had not asked the police to dispel these demonstrants, because everyone is free to profess his own ideas politely and without any violence. Therefore at the fixed time he went to his work, crossed the crowd of demonstrants and went to prepare his scene. It is understood that he, that evening, was not the happiest man in the world, because he did not expect to find so much intolerance even in London. But, in fact, for every demonstrant who intended offending us, there were many other English people who have written to us, apologizing for their fellow country people who had ill-treated us. END May's last film is Murder, Inc., /or 20th-Fox: Sammy's next is Warner Bros.' Oceans 11.