Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1963)

and say, ‘Gee, Holly, I saw Ann-Margret’s movie the other day and she was great. And she’s still wearing her hair that lovely way!’” “There were a few people who I guess, were jealous,” says Ann-Margret, dismissing that subject with those few words. ( “But more important to me were the people who were my friends — girls like Holly and Joannie and Sharon. And the teachers who helped me. There were so many. I couldn’t begin to list them all for you. But I guess the one I remember most is Dr. Peterman, head of the music department at Trier. He believed so much in me. He was the one who told me my career might well be in movies one day. Of course, I hate to say it, but there was a time I resented him. It was my freshman year. I tried out for the role of Ado Annie in “Oklahoma.” And Dr. Peterman turned me down saying I wasn’t right for the part. I was crushed. I really thought he had something against me. When I got to know the show, however, I realized that he’d been right. . . .” “Of course I was right,” Dr. William Peterman told us, smiling. “I could see from the beginning that Ann-Margret had great potential, was loaded with talent. But she had to learn early that while she could do much, she couldn’t expect to do everything. “She was thirteen the first time I met her. It was a very impressive meeting. I was sitting in my office the first or second day of school, I remember, and a few of the kids came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Doc, do you want to hear somebody who can really sing?’ “Now, New Trier is a large school — I think we had nearly eight-hundred kids in the freshman class that year— so I don’t have time to see everybody. But this day, for some reason, I managed to make an exception. “They took me to this room, I remember. “I saw her standing there — pretty girl, long hair, bright and very intelligent eyes. “I said to her, ‘Okay — sing.’ “She said, ‘I wish there were somebody here who would accompany me on the piano.’ “I said, ‘Forget the piano, just sing.’ “And she said — I’ll never forget it — ‘Fine. I don’t need a piano anyway.’ She didn’t say it in a brassy tone of voice. She said it as though she really meant it. And when she started singing, believe me, AnnMargret Olson didn’t need a piano. Not all glamour “I coached her as much as I could during the next four years, as did others in my department and in the drama department. She learned a lot here, too — despite her innate talent. I hear that she’s considered one of the most professional young people in Hollywood today. Well, she should be — because she got good training here at New Trier. She learned, first of all, that show business is not all glamour. She knows you’ve got to study to get anyplace in it. She knows her left foot from her right, and upstage and downstage, and what a light board is. “I told her she’d be in movies one day? Yes, that’s true. It was after she did ‘Plain and Fancy’ for us here. She was excellent in it, truly excellent. Afterwards I had a talk with her and I said, ‘Look, gal, I predict big things for you. The movies, probably.’ “She began to laugh. “ ‘Don’t think I’m just being complimentary,’ I said. ‘You’re photogenic. You can act and you can sing and you dance well. If the break comes, I predict just that — Hollywood.’ “And she said to me, ‘Impossible, Doc. Just impossible.’ “Well, a year-and-a-half later she sent me a telegram. ‘You were right,’ she wired me, ‘. . . I made it.’ ” —Ed De Blasio (To be concluded next month) Ann-Margret’s in Col.’s “Bye Bye Birdie.” FRANKIE AVALON Continued from page 46 the railing. There has never been a Hollywood wedding quite like this. There are no stars here, and no fans. I count twenty-three guests, each person related by blood or by love to Frankie and Kay. They exude a sort of radiance, the place is luminous with it. Above the doorway is graven Mateo Dei Vallis Regina Ora Pro Nobis. Here comes the bride . . . the wedding march fills the little chapel. Gretchen Wayne, Kay’s sister, comes slowly down the aisle, her suit bright yellow raw silk, a sheaf of white roses on her arm. Her daughter, three-year-old Elisha, tries to attract her attention, Gretchen smiles se renely and walks on. Bob Marcucci joins her at the second row, steps with her to the altar. Michael Wayne puts his arm around his daughter and keeps her close. Curlers in her hair Now it is Kay and her dad. You see the look on Frankie’s face as he awaits her, all glowing and tender. Here she is — the girl he proposed to when she had curlers in her hair — and here she is now, a Dresden figurine in white peau de soie and lace, her veil a bouffant halo. He nods to her, takes her from her dad, draws her hand through his arm and keeps his hand over hers. They genuflect, rise and stand before the priest, who is assisted by two handsome little acolytes in red collared surplices. “ You are about to enter the union most sacred and serious, established by God . . .” the priest says. Frankie keeps his hand on hers. “. . . aligning you together for life. What is to come, success and failure, pleasure and pain, is hidden from your eyes, you know not what lies before you. But truly you are sincere, willing and ready. . . .” Boating? Enjoy it for less in Missouri This fast-growing sport is at its best on Missouri’s eight big lakes. Or floating in a john boat with an overnight camp on a gravel bar will be a memorable experience. 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