Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1962)

I i pose. Being thirty, I tell myself, isn’t the end of the line. So it must be the picture business that makes me feel this way. It’s been a relatively short time since I’m free from contractual binds, and this takes terrific adjustment. I love everything about acting, but the sitting and waiting drives me nuts. That waiting for the phone to ring — waiting for a producer to nod his noggin in my direction. About Opportunity . . . Many people have extended a helpful hand along the way, and I'm eternally grateful. But in the final analysis, you really have to make the scene yourself in the local rat race. I’ve paid dearly for my mistakes — sometimes in dollars, other times in sense — which all adds up to experience. It cost me $100,000 to buy off my Warner Brothers contract — paid in full at long last. How I hated those immature SmilingSam roles that seemed to be my lot on the Warners lot. I wanted to work for teachers, with directors where I could learn. I needed to learn. Since then I’ve luckily worked with such directors as Sidney Lumet, John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn and George Seaton, who directed “Pleasure of His Company.” So I know I did the right thing. Am positive my longdrawn-out hassle with Warners could have been settled much quicker had I kept my mouth shut. Alas, my temper and my stubborn jaw-bone betray me. But I am learning self-control. Far be it from me to knock Hollywood. It’s given me much more than it’s taken away. Still. I guard against becoming material-minded, against becoming smug and spoiled. It can happen here! Our fans, bless their hearts, spoil us. Studios spoil us by lavish build-ups — flattery and attention out of all proportion. They create PHOTOGRAPHERS' CREDITS Pg 16: Los Angeles Examiner-UPI ; pg 19: SuttonGalaxy; pg 20: Hammond-Pictorial Parade; pg 30 (left): Hamilton-Globe; pgs 34-35: Stern-Globe; pgs 36-37: Trindl-Topix; pg 38: UPI; pg 39: AlienGlobe; pg 40: Bob Gomel; pgs 42-45: GuntherTopix; pg 47: Bez-Globe; pgs 48-49: Stager-Globe; pg 50: Levin-Topix; pg 51: Stager-Globe; pgs 5253: Vivien Crozier; pgs 54-55: Pix; pg 58: GuntherTopix; pg 59: Sylvia Norris; pgs 60-63: StagerGlobe; pg 64: Ornitz-Globe; pg 65: Black Star. their own “monsters” in a certain sense. When you spring up out of nowhere and too much happens too fast, you’re scared stiff. You try to please everyone, try to live up to it all. Being new and green and anxious to please, you’re afraid to fight back. Wish I’d had the guts to fight against the name they gave me. All those lousy jokes still make me cringe. But I compromised, so I’m stuck. The answer is — I guess — become such a damn good actor that everyone respects you as much as you hope to respect yourself. Getting out of town helps to reduce ego and put values in their proper place. One memorable trip was a three-day trek through the jungle by jeep, before we reached a factory in northern Thailand where the natives live in shacks on stilts. No electricity, no sanitation, no nothing. We came across a ragged kid walking along a dirt road. He carried a stick, dangling from the far end — a dead cobra. When our interpreter asked what he was going to do with it, the hoy answered : “It is a present for my mother. She is very hungry.” Pride was written all over his face. I guess that horrible snake really was going to be served for supper. From that native boy I learned a real lesson — the great joy of giving. Hail And Farewell . . . So these are the truths about me as I am today — if anyone cares. I hope someone cares. These are my thoughts and feelings as I face the future and ask the good Lord. “What next?” Professionally, I may remain in Europe for a cameo role along with Bill Holden, Robert Wagner, Fabian, Tommy Sands, etc. in Darryl Zanuck’s “Longest Day.” Personally, I guess I can only hang on and pray. At least all is quiet on the ulcer front — and brother am I cursed with one that acts up when the going gets too rough! Obviously, confession is very good for the soul. It takes an eternity to learn Iww to live with one’s self, does it not? Seems like. There is an Oriental saying, a great favorite of mine that says it all so simply: “We cry when someone comes into the world, but it is beautiful when they are going away.” I can only add — ah sol — Jerry Asher Jab’s in “The Golden Arrow,” M-G-M. NEW 2-STEP WAY TO HELP A PROBLEM SKIN CLEAR ITSELF □ussy imm ON6 Smooth on Tussy Medicated Cleanser. Helps clear your skin of excessive oils — the oils acne pimples thrive on. TWO Follow up with a cover-up: Tussy Medicated Lotion hides those spotsand pimples while helping to heal them. (In 3 shades — one’s for you ! ) Do it in minutes every day till you 2-step every woe away. Sets are just $2.00 everywhere. FREE ! "spots away” booklet — write T ussy, Dept. SD., 445 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. © 1 962. TUSSY. INC., 445 PARK AVE.. N.Y. P 6[)