Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1952)

Look Out, Tony ( Continued from page 44) find him looking exceedingly like Valentino — especially in those scenes in which he does the tango. In spite of this Tony says, “Even though in ‘The Brigand’ the camera sometimes catches a resemblance to Valentino, I think the public will forget Valentino in connection with me after this movie is shown.” It is to be hoped Tony is right. Since the beginning of show business those who have found success by impersonating someone else and then have attempted to hold their success by continuing the impersonation, have been doomed to oblivion. . . Robert Alda, who played Gershwin in “Rhapsody in Blue,” was a forgotten man for years — until he returned to Broadway to star in “Guys and Dolls” . . . The pretty girl, whose name is long since forgotten, who finished the late Jean Harlow’s role in “Saratoga,” following Jean’s sudden death, never was heard of again. . . Larry Parks, playing A1 Jolson while A1 Jolson was still alive, brought A1 back into the limelight. But Larry himself never equalled the success he found singing “Mammy.” TONY, coming to the screen as Valentino, got off to a bad start with the press. Producer Edward Small, in an understandable effort to conceal anything and everything being done in connection with the Valentino movie, forbade Tony to see reporters. Whereupon Tony was considered difficult. Other rumors, too, more vicious, soon sprang into being. It was said that Tony, to increase his resemblance to Valentino, had dyed his hair and had undergone plastic surgery. Tony did not dye his hair. Neither did he have plastic surgery. The facial scars, which lent credence to the surgery rumor, are the result of an automobile accident. Just the same the studio went to great lengths to present Tony in the Valentino image. So much so that Ern Westmore, the make-up man, once suggested, “Let’s dig up Valentino, make a mask of his face and let Tony play the part wearing it.” Everyone laughed and relaxed. And goodness knows Tony couldn’t have looked more like Valentino, with a mask! Tony thinks Edward Small is wonderful. “The Boss,” he says, “surely knows what’s best for my career.” In Hollywood such deference to any boss is all too rare. Not that Tony lacks a mind of his own. They tell at Columbia Studios how, during the filming of Valentino, he told off a member of the high echelon in a calm, quiet and final tone, and how for several days afterward he avoided talking to the gentleman in question, to the amusement of the crew who knew how eager the Brass was to make up. Tony points out that in spite of his physical resemblance to Valentino he couldn’t be more different psychologically. To Rudy the most important business in life was Romance. His glance told every girl, “I think you’re wonderful.” With a glance he could turn a baked apple into forbidden fruit. “This was the character I sought to interpret when I played the role,” says civ, IZefaifouZr to Tw MARCH OF A PATIENT jBSKL CARE DIMES j RESEARCH JANUARY 2-31 EDUCATION Tony. “But I sought only to interpret Valentino, not to mimic him. “Had I played the Valentino role on the stage,” he adds, “by now it would be over and done with — last season’s portrayal, a thing of the past.” To be a convincing actor is the goal upon which Tony has set his heart. To achieve it he is willing to give everything he possesses. However, he has not completely closed the door on his old academic life. He’s now on an extended leave from the College Faculty of High Point, North Carolina, where he was head of the Speech Department. In college life, he remembers, he found peace and contentment. This in itself marks the great psychological difference between Tony and Rudolph Valentino. So does the life Tony leads in Hollywood. He still prefers to be called by his stage name of Walter Craig rather than by the unquestionably more famous name of Tony Dexter. He and his wife, the former Marjorie Jeanne Todd, share a small unpretentious rented home in the Valley where their friends are largely from other walks of life. One of Tony’s closest pals is a dentist with whom he goes hunting. Also, conservative and meticulous about his appearance, Tony has yet to be seen in a sweater or a T-shirt. The day his daughter Kimberly was born Tony went quietly about his business. “Isn’t it Exciting about Walter’s baby?” asked actress Gale Robbins of one of the publicity men on the set. “What!” screamed the man. “Has his baby arrived?” To this day Tony doesn’t understand why the publicity man was so excited. The increasing interest in his private life puzzles him. “On the stage,” he says, “your private life is your own.” Those who go out with the Dexters always are more aware of the commotion Tony creates than either he or Marjorie. They never think of themselves as celebrities. Once, when Marjorie and Tony were being photographed with a starlet and her husband, Marjorie told a friend that she was tongue-tied. “What,” she asked, “does one talk about to so famous a person?” Tony won’t pose for “cheese-cake” pictures.. And he won’t pose washing dishes. “I’ve washed enough dishes in my college career to last a lifetime,” he explains quietly. An athlete in college, he’s now past active sport participation. But he never misses a football or a basketball game. He’ll never be a typical Hollywood actor. For he promises always to be concerned first of all about pleasing the members of his father’s Lutheran parish in Colorado where, growing up as Walter Fleischmann, he knew poverty and hardship. He has not one iota of dashing temperamental Latin in him. Columbia Pictures says that ninety per cent of his overwhelming fan mail comes from youngsters or adults who never saw Valentino; and the minor portion of mail from old Valentino fans, while approving his portrayal, accepts him as Anthony Dexter. Fair enough. But looking at the picture of Tony in “The Brigand” on page 44 and noting his very Valentino-ish appearance and manner — in spite of all that he and his studio have to say to the contrary — we ask will he be given a chance to survive as Tony Dexter, actor — or will he be doomed to Valentino type roles for the rest of his picture career? And if so, how long can the Valentino craze be expected to last? Look out, Tony! The End Ugly BLACKHEADS OUT IN SECONDS Keep your complexion free of Blackheads this new way — look attractive instantly ! 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