Movieland. (1949)

face of a mama doll, and the ambition of a Presidential candidate. Wanda is all of 19, but she doesn’t look a day over 13. Not because she tries to look young in fact, that’s the bane of her existen<-e — hut because she happens to be endowed with a pert, round face, wide, green eyes, a tiny figure measuring a little over five feet, a tilted nose and all the physical attributes of the perpetual jeune fille. But don’t let the baby face fool you. She s one of the most important young stars in Hollywood today, thanks to a will of iron you’d never suspect. Wan¬ da is a worker. She’s busy every day in a constant routine of diction, drama, and dancing lessons. It’s to her credit that despite looking like Snow White, Wanda has played such diversified roles as that of a dirty, Cockney urchin in “Confidential Agent”-’ a drunkard’s daughter in “Welcome Stranger”; a Spanish-Indian girl in “Ride ™ Horse”; and an English miss in My Own True Love.” Her next is the starring role in '“Abigail, Dear Heart” for Paramount. This miniature dynamo has a good sense of direction. She knew as a child in Jacksonville, Florida, that she wanted to be an actress. She entered little theatre work and that’s where a Warner Brothers’ talent scout discovered her. She had a brief fling at Warners and when her contract was ended, Para¬ mount grabbed her. Wanda is an only child and lives with her parents in a ranch house in San Fernando Valley. .She has an intense, animated personality and has a best beau, Audie Murphy. Young, goodlooking Audie is a boy any girl would be proud of, for he was the most deco¬ rated soldier of the World War II. Audie is beginning a screen career, himself, and the two kids have a lot in common. They go fishing together, like to dance in spite of a bullet-wound in Audie’s hip, and they get involved in long, hot discussions about what’s wrong with the world. Because Audie likes his girls sweet and wholesome, she doesn’t care to have herself referred to as a career girl. But she is — and a very important one. Al¬ ready she is being compared with such talented, pint-sized actresses as Helen Hayes, Maude Adams and Janet Gaynor. As for Audie, he’s plenty proud of his girl! Going out on the limb about any new player is risky business, but if ever a young actor had everything in his favor that boy is Donald Buka. Donald is, in a manner of speaking, the cum laude of the younger crop. He wasn’t discov¬ ered running an elevator, working in a drive-in, or posing for tooth-paste ads. Donald has the most auspicious back¬ ground of the younger crop for he can claim as his coaches the most important names in the theatrical roster. Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt, Helen Hayes, Maurice Evans, Ethel Barrymore, and Bette Davis have all had a hand in the fashioning of his career. Wait until you see him as the baby-faced gangster in 20th Century-Fox’s “Street With No Name,” and Howard Hughes’ “Vendetta.” Donald made his stage debut in Pitts¬ burgh at the age of 12 playing the part of a papier mache dragon in an amateur play. The costume almost asphyxiated him, but didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for acting. He wrote a letter to Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, which is the equivalent of asking for a trip to the moon. When that illustrious couple came to Pittsburgh with “Idiot’s Delight,” he crashed a rehearsal and read for them. The Lunts were enthusiastic and added him to their cast. That started it. He toured with the Lunts for years and when he felt it was time to get out from their sheltering wings, he tried Broadway. He starved for a while, but also got the best breaks a young actor could ask. He worked with the cream of the crop: Helen Hayes, Katina Paxinou, and Ethel Barrymore. He did a brief stint in Hollywood, in “Watch On The Rhine.” There Bette Davis herself told him he would be a success in pictures some day. Back to Broadway he went where Howard Hughes saw him and signed him up for the lead in “Vendetta.” Donald is all actor. He’s so thorough that before he began “Street With No Name” he wanted to learn first-hand how a criminal thinks and behaves. In prep¬ aration for the role he accompanied the Homicide Squad on cases and frequented the hangouts of hardened criminals. Donald is tall but slight of build. He is dark-haired and has a handsome, boy¬ ish face which makes him look younger than his 26 years. He has an engaging nonchalance which is his most striking personal characteristic, and a keen sense of humor. His hobby, you would guess, centers around theatrics. He collects all theatrical programs, posters, and has thousands of assorted mementoes of the stage. In spite of his seriousness in his work, Donald is a bachelor who likes to go dancing and have fun. He says he’s eager to be mar¬ ried but a girl will have to step plenty to keep up with him. The high road to adventure was the path that led tall, red-haired Lois Max¬ well into pictures. Lois, who played the pretty school teacher in “That Hagen Girl,” was bom in Toronto and had to go all the way to London to be discovered by Hollywood. Her parents wanted Lois to become a doctor — there are four medicos in the family — but when she was 16, Lois knew that it was an acting career for her. It was during the war and Lois, lying about her age, became a member of the Army Show and embarked for England. When D-Day came the others in the troupe left for home, but Lois was de¬ termined not to be shipped back to Toronto. She stayed in England and went straight to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, auditioned for the first Lady Mountbatten scholarship and nabbed it. Displaying the same kind of nerve that marked her progress up until then, Lois dropped in to the Em¬ bassy Theatre, biggest try-out house in London, and said, “I want a part,” to which the almost instant reply was, “You’ve got one.” She appeared in a series of English plays and it was while she was on the stage there that Sophie Rosenstein, Warner Brothers’ dramatic ccach on a talent-seeking mission to Britain, saw her and offered her a Hollywood contract. Lois is a serious girl who prefers drama to comedy. Her whole life is acting. All of her friends are of the theatre and she spends her time reading plays and learning languages. She is not married and isn’t thinking of it yet, but she is not afraid of the dangers of mar¬ rying an actor when the time comes for her to think of matrimonial matters. She has a quiet, firm, straightforward manner and knows just what she wants — which is top fame and stardom. Come to think of it, that’s the leit¬ motif of all the other five, too. And the chances are excellent that each will come into his own! The End ALL HOLLYWOOD IS STEPPING O.UT IN THE NEW PAIR "ZOMB-EES” FOR SPRING AND SUMMER WEAR A “natural” for sports and leisure wear. The ideal play shoe for town and country — beach or fun. Choice of W hite, Black or Multi-Color. Sizes 3 to 9. ORDER TODAY — coupon makes it easy. 3229 CASTERA AVE. Dept. B 'cVmTpa" GLENDALE 8, CALIFORNIA Send me— prs. California “ZOMB-EES” at $1.98 C W hite Q Black Q Multi-Color Q Sizes C Cash enclosed at $1.98 per pair. Sent prepaid. I C.O.D. I’ll pay postman, plus postage. 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