Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1963)

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WHAT GARY HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE WEDDING How did Gary Clarke feel about Connie Stevens’ marriage? I didn’t know what Gary would say for publication. Or whether he would say anything. But the public who’d followed their romance for seven years would want to know. On the other end of the phone, there was abrupt silence. Then, "I wish Connie all the happiness in the world,” Gary said finally. “You know that. You know the whole story. But why do people want to bring me into it now? Look, two people are getting married. And, given a chance, I’m sure they’ll be very happy. They will raise a fine family together. And they will have a happy life together. I’ve had a lot of queries from the' press and from people we’ve known. A lot of calls. A lot of letters from fans. All wanting to know how I feel about Connie’s marriage. How I feel about Connie. What I’m going to do now. “Why can’t people just let Connie get married in peace? Why keep reviving what’s over and done with?” Gary said earnestly. “It isn’t fair to Connie. And it isn’t fair to Jim. It takes a lot for two people to be happy in this business, anyway. Why bring up the past even before their new life has begun? This is the beginning of Connie’s new life. Of their life together. Why involve me? Why bring me (Continued on page 88) What Jim Stacy Has , That Gary Clarke Didn't! continued, course,” as if he’d been just about to say the same thing. That’s a silly thing — but you see what I mean, we’re in tune. He’s full of life and that’s wonderful, glorious, really, to be able to depend on someone else to keep the show going. His sense of humor is much keener than mine. He’s more full of hell, and so far as independence goes, we’re exactly alike. We can get like two bulls, pawing the ground. But I’m slowly diminishing my independence. It’s lovely to have someone else take responsibility. Above all, I’m free with him, free to be myself and he understands that self. He treats me like a woman . . . (I always felt that Gary treated her like a china doll) . . . if I don’t understand something and squawk about it, I get an answer. He doesn’t just walk out of the room and leave me to fuss. It may not be the answer I want to hear, but it’s an answer. He never leaves me in midair, never leaves me without communicating. This was what Gary Clarke didn't have. Gary is talented, Gary is bright. But he’s known a great deal of personal confusion — and why wouldn’t he? A boy who had the responsibilities of an early marriage, children, and a career that wouldn’t budge for a long time. He’d faced a lot of living Connie couldn’t possibly understand. He so disliked argument that he sidestepped issues instead of meeting them. The slightest altercation between him and Connie, and he immediately associated it with the pToblems of his former marriage. Jim Stacy’s not afraid of anything, including Connie. Born of a Syrian father and an Irish mother, he inherited a wonderful mixture of imagination, dreaminess and spunk. For example, he turned down some pretty good football offers to hitchhike across the country and ship off on a freighter for Europe where he worked his way through fourteen countries. And he tried his hand at advertising copy writing (still wants to write a top-flight novel) before he decided that writing was a pretty lonely business, and anyone as gregarious as he had better try acting. And he’s fought his way along, always vitally aware of himself and of the world. He’s stacked up ( Continued on page 87) 46