Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1963)

know, I’m the seventh Tyrone Power, actor. There’s always been one in my family, and it’s like a trust, an unbroken line for seven generations, that one boy will be named Tyrone and that he’ll act. You’d be amazed at how much of my life is wrapped up in that idea. And now, at last, there’s going to be an eighth.” Two days later, though not feeling well, Ty insisted on going through with a dueling scene with George Sanders. The cameras had been set up, the extras were waiting, and Ty, always the professional, didn’t want to hold up production. In the midst of the action he suffered a heart attack, and Tyrone Power III died. (The manner of his dying was tragically reminiscent of the death of his own father, Frederick Tyrone Power II, who was stricken fatally before the cameras on a Hollywood set back in 1931.) When Debbie was told that her husband had died, she did not say a word. Instead she crossed her arms on her breast and rocked back and forth . . . back and forth . . . back and forth. Finally words forced their way from her lips. “ It isn’t true,” she moaned. “1 don’t believe it,” she screamed. Then the tears came. Debbie accompanied her husband’s body when it was flown home for burial. Bill Gallagher, the actor’s secretary, said about her at the time, “I didn’t know that women came with such stamina. Her only reason for wanting to live is Tyrone Power’s child.” The mob of three thousand men and women (some of them even brought their children) that invaded the funeral was not made up of Ty’s friends or fans, but consisted of morbid curiosity seekers. A circus for the mob p 76 They milled about outside the Chapel of the Psalms at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery at seven o’clock in the morning, swinging hula hoops, clutching box lunches and cameras. They thrust autograph books at the stars arriving for the ceremony. They clapped and bellowed, “Hooray Yul,” when Yul Brynner stepped from a limousine. They cheered wildly and yelled their approval when one woman crashed the police lines and ran forward to kiss the hearse that was bearing Power’s body to its grave. They hooted and hollered outside as the service went on inside, with Debbie kneeling beside the casket and holding her dead husband’s hand during the entire ceremony. They massed together and broke through barricades and snatched flowers from the grave, when the funeral was over. Then, hardly had Tyrone Power been laid to rest, when the Hollywood rumor manufacturers were busy linking his widow with Rock Hudson. In desperation Debbie turned to Louella Parsons and told her the following, which Miss Parsons printed in her column. “I am seven months pregnant. Ty hasn’t been dead a month and yet they’re saying that I have another man in my life. I am sorry, too, for Rock Hudson, because it is very embarrassing for both of us. He was a good friend of Ty’s and he’s a good friend of mine, and if you don’t see your friends when you’re in trouble, whom do you see? Couldn’t you please say marriage is the furthest thing from my mind?” On January 21, 1959, two months and six days after Ty’s fatal heart attack, Debbie gave birth to the boy her husband had prayed for. The five-pound, twelveounce infant was immediately named Tyrone William Power IV, in keeping with his father’s last wish. The story should have ended at that point, or at least there should have been a lengthy intermission before the next act. But the story did not end. and the intermission was very brief. “It was such a short marriage,” Debbie BLAST OFF FOR SUMMER ROMANCE Continued from page 61 The Photoplay beach fashions shown on pages 58 through 61 are available in better stores throughout the country. For your convenience , we have listed some of these stores below. If you cannot find the suits you desire, you can write to the manufacturer. Jantzen Swimsuits new YORK, n. y Bloomingdale’s Omaha, Nebraska ). L. Brandeis wilkes-barre, penna Pomeroy’s Jantzen One-Piece Suit Only miami, fla Burdine’s Jantzen Two-Piece Suit Only Richmond, va Thalhimer’s or write: Jantzen, Inc. 261 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y. Marina Del Mar Suit NEW YORK, N. Y MACY’S Rose Marie Reid, Jr. Suit los anceles, calif The May Company or write: Rose Marie Reid & Marina Del Mar Orion Park Plaza, P.O. Box 3367 Van Nuys, Calif. Catalina Suit BOSTON, mass Jordan, Marsh Chicago, ill Carson, Pirie Scott or write: Catalina, Inc. 6040 Vandini Blvd. Los Angeles 22, Calif. Cole of California Suit miami, Florida Jordan, Marsh Write: Cole of California 2615 Fruitland Ave., Los Angeles 58, Calif. Maidenform Bikini allentown, penna Hess Brothers boston, mass Filene’s Cleveland, Ohio.... The Higbee Company Pittsburgh, penna Kaufmann’s or write: Maidenform, Inc. 1407 Broadway, New York, N. Y. Sea Nymph Suit Philadelphia, penna John Wanamaker or write: Sea Nymph 1410 Broadway, New York, N. Y. Richard Rust can he seen in ABC-TV’s “Sam Benedict.” Yvonne Craig’s in MGM’s “It Happened at the World’s Fair.” Fabian is in “The Longest Day” for 20th CenturyFox. Lynn Loring is in CBS-TV’s “Fair Exchange.” Paul Petersen is on ABC-TV’s “The Donna Reed Show.” Lori Martin records for Delfi Records. Tucker Smith’s in UA’s “West Side Story.” Mikki Jamison is this year’s Warners Deb Star. Dodie Stevens sings on Imperial Records and can be seen in Allied Artists’ “Reprieve.” said. “I knew after Tyrone died I’d have to make a new life for myself. After all, I was only twenty-five.” Her new life revolved around one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors, Arthur Loew, Jr., the handsome, wealthy . thirty-five-year-old grandson of pioneer motion picture magnates Adolph Zukor and Marcus Loew. On October 26, 1959, just a little less than a year after Tyrone Power’s J death. Debbie became Mrs. Loew. When Ty’s still-grieving fans were dis I turbed by the speed with which his widow : had remarried. Debbie commented, “I am i| sure that people who would have qualms ; certainly aren’t any friends of mine. My I friends wouldn’t have any reservations.” 4 Debbie bore Arthur Loew a son, Gerald Zukor Loew; but nevertheless, eleven months after they were joined in marriage , by a Las Vegas justice of the peace, the Loews separated. It was shortly thereafter that little three Jj year-old Tyrone William Power IV lost his 4 late father’s most precious heritage — his fl name. For upon separating, Debbie and Loew "( made an agreement: Debbie would give up j custody of both her sons (that means the < son that Loew fathered and the son that Tyrone Power fathered) to Loew. and ' Loew would legally adopt Tyrone William Power IV and change his name to Tyrone Power Loew. Obviously, this was a very | unusual agreement. In most cases, the ;j mother keeps the custody of the children. And in this case, Loew also received cus 1 tody of a child he hadn’t even fathered. Their reason for this action, as explained in their petition to the court, was this: “We $ consulted child psychiatrists and case | workers for the Los Angeles County Adop j tion Board to see what was best for the I boy’s emotional security and decided that this was the thing to do.” But some insiders claim that Loew would have refused to even consider granting Debbie a divorce if she hadn’t let him adopt his stepson and change his name to ; Loew. Debbie very much wanted the legal $ separation — and the divorce that was to 1 follow, according to these insiders, because 1 she was then rumored eager to marry I twenty-eight-year-old Brett Halsey, the tall, well-built, handsome (thick black j hair, smoky blue-gray eyes) star of the j now-defunct TV series, “Follow the Sun.” Debbie vigorously denied this at the 1 time. “He is a wonderful friend.” she said. “But my friendship with Brett Halsey is 1 just that — friendship.” And she added wryly, speaking for her j self and Arthur Loew, “Neither of us have j any plans to remarry. In fact, I am just I about fed up with marriage.” Accepting her statements on their face I value, the question still remained: Why | did Debbie consent to give up her son? Well, young Tyrone and his step-brother 1 Gerald had been raised as crib mates to 1 gether, and Debbie and Arthur said they 1 didn’t want the boys to be separated. Debbie explained it this way. “I think it will be the best thing for my son by Ty. 1 He and Gerry are very close, and they will ( be always together, raised as full brothers. J “Arthur is just as much a father as little Ty’s own father could have been. It would be different if his father were alive, : but this way I believe it will work out well and his future will be in safe hands.”