Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1963)

boy needed all the encouragement he could get. She knew that, smart as George himself was, he needed good advice on how to avoid the pitfalls (she’d seen, during her agenting days, too many young actorhopefuls get themselves buried in that vast wasteland of a TV cemetery where, it’s said, they use old antennas as markers instead of tombstones). And Mimi knew, more than anything else, that TV itself was not the end-limit for her boy — but that George Maharis had at his fingertips that rare, very rare, chance to become a superstar one day soon, one of the biggest names in all of show business. If managed right. And so she managed him. And she couldn’t have done it right-er. Together, they formed a production company that would produce, among other movies, movies for George to star in sometime in the hopefully-near future, or at least as soon as his “Route 66” contract expired. (The name of their company is Geomi — half George and half Mimi.) Meanwhile, she encouraged him to follow the actorslike-to-sing-and-make-a-few-bucks-too trend. He signed a contract with Epic Records and his albums have done beautifully. She also began sitting in on many of George’s interviews with magazine and newspaper reporters (to nudge him on sometimes when he began to grow weary of telling and re-telling the incidents of his very incident-filled life). Even, in fact, giving out many interviews about George herself — much to the delight of writers at times hard-pressed for a story idea on a popular idol. Other managers of stars often complained. “Why don’t / get this kind of Mimi Weber treatment from the press?” The obvious answer was that most of these managers happened not to be as attractive as Mimi, nor as curvaceous, nor as charming, nor as genuine, nor as good a talker, nor as devoted to a client. Interestingly, though, and after a while, Mimi’s devotion to George Maharis seemed to begin to transcend the “business” end of it all and to veer, more and more, to wards the “personal.” That’s when these two began hitting the newspapers as an “item.” Says one writer: “Few women can be all things to all men, but not even the most jealous female would deny that Mimi Weber has become a good many to George Maharis: mother, sister, friend, manager and possibly sweetheart, to name a few.” The twosome Says a friend of Mimi’s, expanding: “They have the closest manager-client relationship /’ve ever seen. When George is sick, for instance, as he has been recently with hepatitis, there’s no one who suffers for him more than Mimi. And when he’s well, there’s no one who spends more time or energy seeing that he doesn’t get himself sick again. They are practically inseparable whenever George is in New York — which is lots, whether it’s just George and Mimi, or George and Mimi and Mimi’s nice young son, Neil. But mostly, let’s face it, it’s just George and Mimi. And I’ll tell you an interesting little story about their attachment for each other: Recently, Mimi, who hasn’t been too well (Editor's Note: she underwent a throat operation about a year ago, and obviously the recuperation is slow), went off to Miami for two weeks to be alone and recoup some strength. Now George, when he wants to get away from it all, he goes up to a farm in Connecticut which is run by some friends. Well, what happened here is that Mimi had to get away, and alone. And George was stuck by himself, with nobody. He went off alone to that farm in Connecticut. And I hear he couldn’t have been more lonely there, or more sad — or more anxious for Mimi to get back.” Says another friend, expanding even further: “Mimi’s gotten George so that he adores Jewish food and even uses Jewish expressions. He goes to Mimi’s mother’s house for dinner often, and sees all of Mimi’s friends and relatives. It’s she who makes all the dates for both of them, as a wife would. And George couldn’t be happier with the set-up. “In order to keep George happy, Mimi caters to his every wish. He likes her to wear her hair long and loose. So that’s the way she wears it. He’s crazy about black. So Mimi, she goes around looking like she’s in constant mourning — not that she doesn’t look like a very stunning mourner. And anyway, she shouldn’t be complaining. I know I wouldn’t. For instance, for Christmas this year George gave her a magnificent seal coat. So seal’s black, too? That’s the point.” Was this Christmas gift, one might ask now, a token of gratitude to Mimi from George, or of love — or what? (After all. for gratitude, most managers get an annual case of Scotch from their client — if that — and that’s it.) But in this case, a garment of ladies’ clothing was involved (very personal) and the garment was of fur (very expensive) and the gift was given at a crucial time (obviously very crucial) in Mimi’s life; witness this quote from still another friend of hers: “Mimi’s mad about George. It took a lot for her to decide in her own mind that she was going to come out and put up a fight for him. Not that he doesn’t need her or even love her and not that she has to fight another girl for him — but that all this time she’s been burying her head in the sand and not allowing herself to think about just how much she really is in love with him. She finally faced it over the Christmas holidays. She declared it to herself then, and once she did that she declared it to George. Now he knows as well as she does that she’s no longer kidding. She’s in there for keeps and he knows it. She’s finally come right out and made it plain!” Did George’s coat-giving, one might further wonder, take place “before” or “after” this announcement-of-affections from Mimi? Chances are the answer is “after” — since, as our source goes on to say: “George needs Mimi very badly. He realizes it. Whatever his capabilities of ‘deep love’ may or may not be, and that’s an indeterminate factor right now since lie’s still wildly wrapped up in himself, it is obvious that he requires the rock and the strength that Mimi signifies.” What the outcome of all this will be, no one knows for certain right now — least of all Mimi and George. But as any good show-business manager knows, it is good business to keep a handsome young client single. And Mimi Weber is a good showbusiness manager. If George did happen to meet someone who could make him know beyond all doubt that he wanted to march down the aisle, Mimi would not interfere. She loves him too much to do anything to hurt him. But George is not out looking for that Other Woman; he is trying to make up his mind about a very special woman — Mimi. Mimi knows it is good that she is not free to marry George yet. This way neither of them can rush, they’ll both have to be sure. To George, we say it would be hard to find a better wife for you than Mimi. To Mimi, we say best of luck . . . to you both. — Ella Ormond 74