Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1963)

unDeR HeDDas Above: George Hamilton escorted me to the premiere of “How The West Was Won” — a really gala Hollywood affair. I gave George a lesson in how to win friends by taking him over to the bleachers filled with fans and introducing him. “How long have you been doing this?” he asked. “Ever since I’ve been coming to premieres,” I said. He won’t miss another opportunity to talk with his fans. Lucille Ball sent a horseshoe shaped floral arrangement with a card reading “Congratulations on both of you picking a winner,” when Desi Arnaz married Edith Mack Hirsch. Desi and his new bride, ex-wife of wealthy sportsman and dog food king Clement Hirsch, spend a lot of time at the race track watching their ponies run. Arnaz bought his wife a house not far from Lucille’s in Palm Springs. Matter of fact, both places face the same golf course. Let’s hope nobody gets teed off. Robert Goulet is a goner, girls. The handsome young singer, who will soon be a big movie star, will marry Carol Lawrence any minute. She was the girl he had in mind when he told me: “I have strong feelings toward a young lady. But I can’t allow myself to say more.” A few days later Mrs. Goulet went to Mexico and got a divorce so now he should be saying a lot more about his love for Carol. A well-known actor whose wife won’t let him out of her sight wistfully commented: “Richard Burton should never divorce Sybil. You just can’t get wives like that any more.” Fabian tells about the perils of being a teenage idol: “When I’m doing personal appearances, I find teenagers all over the place. Once I opened a bathroom door and two of them fell out. I usually wear my hair medium length. If it’s very short it sticks straight up. As I was getting into a cab on my way to a plane once, a girl slipped up behind me and snipped a handful of hair off the crown of my head. It stuck straight up for weeks afterwards. That was about three years ago. I didn’t think it funny at the time, but I do now.” Carol Lynley and Mike Selsman say it’s just a trial separation, but you can take it from me — it’s all over. Carol’s careerconscious again since she landed “Under The Yum Yum Tree.” Elizabeth Taylor collected $40,000 in her $5 million damage suit over the plane-crash death of Mike Todd, and all the money goes to Elizabeth Frances Fisher, Mike’s daughter who was adopted by Eddie Fisher. Pat Boone’s joke: “I’m just an old man to the current crop of young singers. Why, I was talking with Paul Anka the other day and he thought Rudy Vallee was a ski resort.” Pat’s in a hassle over “Main Attraction” and doesn’t want it released as is. I guess he’s going back to his old image. Vince Edwards has his troubles and they’re not all in the operating room. He’s been sued over some recordings he made before he ever heard of Ben Casey. Judging from the titles of the tunes — “Squealing Parrot,” “Hole In The Head,” and “Oh, Babe” — I’d say Vince is the one who should be seeing a lawyer. And I don’t blame him for not wanting them released. He’s very particular about his image as the crusading neurosurgeon, and you can imagine the field day the disk jockeys would have with that ditty about “a hole in the head.” Rita Gam, more beautiful than when she was being touted as a second Ava Gardner, shed her publisher husband Thomas Guinzburg. She’ll have another fling in Hollywood. She was a bridesmaid when her ex-roommate Grace Kelly married. That’s all the news for now. I’ll write more next month. •