Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1963)

Not only columnists and friends of the late Ty Power, but also his fans all over the world were disturbed and dismayed by this adoption-name-changing procedure. And for many reasons. Cholly Knickerbocker wrote in the N.Y. Journal-American: “Well, I know it’s none of my business if they rename Tyone Power IV something like Tyrone Goldwater Kennedy, but I still think it’s too bad that the late actor's widow, Debbie Minardos Power Loew, should allow her ex, Arthur Loew, to adopt Ty’s son and change his name from Tyrone Power IV to Tyrone Power Loew. If Mr. Loew is so mad about the baby, couldn’t he adopt him without tampering with his very famous name?” An interesting question. PHOTOPLAY columnist Hedda Hopper, writing in the N.Y. (Sunday) News, was even more indignant: “Debbie Power gave out some sentimental quotes about her son carrying on the Power name, so it's ironic that she's given her permission for the child's legal adoption — and since their divorce yet.” (Miss Hopper was using “divorce” in its nonlegal sense here — meaning a complete severance or separation. The actual legal divorce wasn't to take place until a year later, on December 18, 1962.) Ty Power's fans were, if anything, even more incensed than the columnists. Perhaps their dismay was increased when they read a brief out-of-the-way notice to the effect that the late actor’s furniture and furnishings were to be auctioned off. By a sad and far-fetched twist of fate, the date of the auction was to fall exactly on the fourth anniversary of the actor’s untimely death. Perhaps it was simply that their love for Ty Power was still very much alive. And perhaps they were (Continued on page 75)