Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1958)

“HEY! WE’RE ENGAGED” Continued from page 36 known him about ten and a half months,” answered Diane. “About ten and a half months!” exclaimed Peter. “We met September 26th, 1957.” “We met on a double date,” Diane added. “He was with Connie Stevens and I was with Edd Byrnes. He’d wanted to meet me, but I didn’t like him at all. We fought. And now I’m glad! If it starts out with a bang it can only go down. We started with a big thud and built up.” “It was a thud, all right,” Peter chuckled. “We fought like cats and dogs.” “Did we have any romantic obstacles? Obstacles — smoptacles!” Diane grinned. “Peter was the obstacle. He was so serious, he wanted to explore the ‘inner me.’ He dreamed up big problems. You see, I’m the happy, frivolous type, and Peter hurt my pride. He crabbed my act and I resented it. I finally decided: All right, as long as you’re going to poke you’ll get to know me — the bad as well as the good. Then things got awfully confusing. He wanted me to like him, so he kept changing. For about three months I didn’t know exactly who was going to show up for a date. Finally I got through to him.” “She sure did,” Peter agreed, “and I liked it. I’d been so overbearing, so overpowering, because I was one big glob of love. I didn’t give her a chance to say or do anything. Thank God, finally she was open enough to say, ‘Look, you jerk, this is wrong.’ When she yanked me out of myself with her frankness, I learned to love life — not pick it to pieces.” “Maybe,” Diane pondered, “it took time because we come from different backgrounds. Peter was born in Manhattan, but he’s lived all over the place. His mother is a former Broadway actress. She has her own TV show in Yakima, Washington. So acting is in his blood. Then Peter is close to his three brothers, while I’m like an only child. My brother, Norman, and sister, Lucile, are so much older. I was born in Minneapolis and went to grade school and junior high there. Then we came to North Hollywood — I graduated from Hollywood High. I started my career with Jimmy McHugh’s touring company as a singer, dancer and actress.” Peter went along with her, nodding after her words had been repeated to him. “That way, I guess we are different. All of my background with Mother was theater. I was in plays she directed. She taught me stage knowledge. When I was in the infantry in Alaska, we five fellows and two gals put on twenty-three plays for the personnel. I was doing littletheater work in Hollywood when Albert McCleery gave me the first of four ‘NBC Matinee Theater’ roles, which started me on TV. But I can’t say Diane and I worried much about backgrounds. We got together, didn’t we? It’s the present that matters — and the future.” Even after we’d been going together awhile,” Diane continued, “I didn’t know it was love. To tell you why, I’ll have to explain about me. I’m very independent, and I thought it would be deadly to be caught in the trap of marriage. While I was doing ‘Island of Lost Women,’ Peter hung around all the time, and people would nudge me and say, ‘He’s f real gone on you.’ I’d look at him and think, ‘No!’ Then I read it in a column, so I looked for the signs. Sure enough — he was gone. Little by little, when I didn’t see him I missed him. I started looking forward to our dates. If something good or bad happened, I wanted to talk to him. I started depending on him and my independence flew out the window. It was harder to tell me I was in love than it was to tell him, but when I finally admitted it to myself it was all right.” “It took her long enough!” said the “gone” guy. “Me, I didn’t want to mess around. I knew she was what I wanted. I made sure before I tried my heart out, then I just told her she’d have a heck of a time getting rid of me.” “Did Peter ask your parents’ permission to marry you?” “He had to!” Diane said. “You see, I confessed to a columnist that we were getting married, and then I was scared to death she’d break it before we told my dad. I expected a big explosion. I thought wildly, ‘He’ll kill me!’ But when Peter and Dad finally had a man-to-man talk, Peter came out with a strange look on his face. Seems Dad was tickled pink. He had left my groom-to-be with this comforting thought: ‘Her mother is beautiful. Diane can’t hold a candle to her.’ ” The recollection amused Peter. “Diane’s dad was so happy to give her away that I thought something must be wrong with her. All kidding aside, I wasn’t as worried about that talk as she was. Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I’d been groom Who’s the girl ROCK HUDSON is dating? See October PHOTOPLAY ing him for it. I had it well thought out and I was well rewarded.” “Do Peter’s parents and yours approve?” Diane bristled slightly. “Oh, they approve all right— with the usual reservations. Mother’s throw-away lines are: ‘Do you know all about him? Does he have a good future? What sort of habits does he have? You want to make sure you’re right. Does he know how extravagant you are?’ And then, of course, the old bromide ‘You know you haven’t met his family yet.’ “Why can’t parents think of something new? I’m not marrying Peter’s family, and his mother and stepfather on the phone sound just like Mother and Dad. His mother points out that we shouldn’t take it lightly, that this is a hard town to stay married in. His stepfather says, ‘If he gives you any trouble take a baseball bat to him.’ So what’s the problem?” “No problem,” Peter said cheerfully. “Everybody loves everybody.” “When it came to the wedding plans,” Diane went on, “Peter was pretty sneaky! My idea was to have a quiet little ceremony in Santa Barbara or Carmel. He agreed. A few days later he’d ‘thought about it.’ He wanted us to have the white gown, church and all the trimmings! Most men shy away from that, and I was overcome at his thoughtfulness. So we’ll be married in the All Saints Episcopal Church, October 11th.” “She said I was sneaky? I was not!” Peter protested. “I was just so overwhelmed when she said ‘Yes’ I would have agreed to anything. I suppose I had it in the back of my head to suggest a big wedding later. It’s going to be our only wedding, and I want it right for both of us.” “At least,” Diane said, “we’ve agreed not to look for a home — not for a while anyway. Peter has an apartment — actually it’s a little house, the lower end of a hillside duplex. There are two big rooms in knotty pine, with a huge wall of windows and a gorgeous view. The owner’s former husband was a seaman — everything is nautical. We even have a ship-to-shore radio. And Peter built a beautiful table with a big hole in the middle. He lined it with copper and then put a Japanese willow tree in it, then surrounded it with white pebbles that look like moth balls. It’s just gorgeous!” “Thank you, dear,” Peter grinned, “wherever you are. The place is convenient, too. I drive right down the hill to Warner Brothers. In about a year, we’ll buy a house, but we don’t expect it to be the house. We want to make our home-decorating mistakes early, so when we finally build we’ll know exactly what we want.” “How many children do you plan on having?” That question didn’t faze Diane, “Probably two, but, of course, right off the bat I could have triplets and spoil everything.” “Nonsense!” Peter laughed. “I love kids, too. Diane has me outpointed, with her five nieces and three nephews. But I’m a pretty good uncle, even with only two nieces and one nephew.” “Careers,” Diane stated firmly, “will be no problem in our household. I might be the star to my parents, but not to anyone else. I think it’s going to be fun with both of us working in the same field. We both want to travel — together. When I was in New York I was asked to do a Broadway show starting August 22nd, and I wouldn’t do it. A quick marriage and separation immediately if the play has a long run? No!” “Amen! No wifeless marriage for me!” “Anyhow,” Diane continued, “now I think of Peter’s career as being partly mine. I loved the first thing I saw him do, ‘Darby’s Rangers.’ Then he took acting lessons and I hated it. When he stopped he was great again. His pilot film of ‘Lawman’ was sold in one day. This series will be seen over ABC-TV, right after ‘Maverick,’ at 8: 30 on Sundays. When viewers get a load of Peter Brown, Lawman, it’ll be all over but the shouting — better contracts, more publicity. Peter has impact, personally and professionally. “As for me,” she said, “I love comedy. In fact, 20th signed me after my comedy role in ‘Teen Age Rebel.’ Peter says when I try to look sad I look like Cleo, the basset hound. Still, I haven’t had a chance to do comedy since. In ‘High School Confidential’ at M-G-M, I was a marijuana addict, which, believe me, is not funny. So I feel like a klunk. I feel so inadequate. I wish the producers that signed me would remember I’m a comedienne.” “All they have to do,” Peter suggested, “is look at ‘Teen Age Rebel’ again. They show that to new kids as a perfect example of how to get everything possible out of a funny line. That’s my girl! The ‘Lawman’ series starts on October 5th, my birthday — six days before my wedding day. New life, new love, new show, new world!” “Along with acting,” Diane said, “we have lots of things in common. We both like to go to the movies, and we love the same kind of music: background music, classical, some progressive jazz