Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1957)

BY HOWARD EISENBERG ' This is the story of how an almost-broken engagement led to one of the happiest marriages in Hollywood and proved the wisdom of waiting for love • The low black sport car sped smoothly through the star-studded darkness of the desert night toward McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. It was four o’clock in the morning, and the man behind the wheel was Eddie Fisher. He was in town to look over the Tropicana, a new twelve-milliondollar hotel, where he was scheduled to begin an engagement within the next few weeks. He had stayed up late to drive two friends to the airport. But as the car drew up in front of a sign reading, “Parking to unload passengers only,” Eddie fell suddenly silent, as though he were listening for something — or to someone no one else in the car could see. A moment later he broke his strange silence to say abruptly, “I’m going back to Los Angeles with you.” As the three parked the rented car and climbed out, someone called, “Hey, Eddie!” They turned around to find accordionist Dick Contino running toward them. He was saying goodbye to his striking blonde wife, Leigh Snowden. She was returning to L.A., but he had to stay on for an engagement at a local night club. “Just the man I want,” Eddie said, when Dick told him this. “Do me a favor, will you? Take this car I came in back to town. I’ve just decided to go back home. This town is no place to be without your wife. And besides,” he grinned, “I think I hear the baby crying.” This is the marriage that climaxed one of the most talked-about, guessed-about, written-about engagements in history. (Continued on page 88)