Modern Screen (Jan-Dec 1960)

LOU continued Esther and Fernando: seen together lately in quiet restaurant corners. Esther and a New Beau? The first rumor that Esther Williams had said farewell to her boyfriend of three years, Jeff Chandler, was surprising news since all Hollywood believed they were preparing to marry. In fact, Esther and Jeff hinted they were headed in that direction. Their romance started when they made a picture together in Rome and continued to be one of our most steady flames. Then came word that Esther had fallen hard for another of her leading men. Just as in the case of Jeff, this leading man also was married. He was with her in her TV Spectacular, Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens. I speak of Fernando Lamas. The gossip didn't seem possible until, out of the blue, redheaded Arlene Dahl sued Lamas for divorce on the ground of extreme cruelty. Then Esther and Fernando were seen together in guiet corners at smaller restaurants. Whether this romance will continue no one can say, but as this is being written the Latin lover seems to have fallen hard for the movie mermaid. Poor Taina Elg (left). Ont Larsen: the next she disco oment she ivas looking forivi ■ed he had just married acti visit from Keith •a Miles (right). Backstage Drama The vivid redheaded star stood in the wings of the Redhead show at the Dallas State Fair waiting for her cue music that would bring her onto the stage. But first she paused to read again the telegram which had brought such a big smile to her face: ARRIVING OVER THE WEEK END. LOVE, KEITH. Once again she quickly read the message which had made her so happy before shoving it into the hands of her dresser. Then Taina Elg whirled onto the stage to the sound of much applause. Two hours later, sitting in her dressing room, removing her make-up, she switched on the small radio on her dressing table to a news broadcast. "Flash from Hollywood," came the voice of the announcer, "Keith Larsen, TV star, and blonde actress Vera Miles were just married in Las Vegas in a surprise move that caught most of Hollywood off guard. The newlyweds will return immediately to the bride's home in Thousands Oaks in the San Fernando Valley where they will join Miss Miles' son by a previous marriage to Gordon (Tarzan) Scott, and two daughters by her marriage to Bob Miles." As they say in the scripts — Cut. And that's about all there is to this strange little story except that when Taina returned to Hollywood someone connected with Keith's TV show Aquanuf, who probably was unaware of the situation, offered her the lead in his next chapter! Shrugging, she said, "Everyone will say that I refused it because of other reasons — but honestly the role wasn't up my street." Jean and Stewart Reach a Settlement Although I had known for a couple of years that the marriage of Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger was in shambles, they persisted in denying it. Then, out of the blue, from London Jean announced that a divorce was contemplated— and about three weeks later she slipped quietly into Nogales, Arizona, her legal residence, and filed for a divorce. Why all the long drawn-out shenanigans? In the beginning I think the British Stewart was determined that his lovely English bride of over nine years would not get a divorce with his approval. He seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown every time I called to j: check him over persistent reports that he and Jean were through. This may have been partly due to the fact that Jean's screen career is soaring and Granger's has slipped in recent years. He was very unhappy about not working more. Finances were another hurdle. They had bought jointly a 10,000-acre ranch in Arizona stocked with the finest cattle and the investment took a big chunk of Jean's earnings. There was also the big difference in their ages. Granger being forty-one when he married the young teen-age actress in London. These tensions mounted over the years and even the birth of their loved little daughter Tracy after six years of marriage did not bring the happiness they hoped for. It seemed for a time as if this marriage had reached an impasse that might drag into years of Jean going her way and Stewart going his without benefit of real freedom — when suddenly a fine thing happened. MGM signed Stewart for three big pictures and the frustrations he had felt, and the bitterness, seemed to melt away in the glow of contentment he found in again being a busy and active man. A settlement was reached between him and Jean — and their friends hope there is content |I6 ment ahead for both of these Britishers, now American citizens. Although their marriage was long on the rocks, Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger persisted in denying it. 12