Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1948)

When They Need a Friend (^Continued from page 41) the wedding reception for her? Not anyone she went to school with, not any friend she might have made during her aquacade swimming days, not any star actress. It was her press agent, Malvina Pumphrey, who gave the party in her own home. Then take the Jane Withers-William Moss wedding. Jane’s bridesmaids made a very pretty picture surrounding her at the reception. But one of them told me she’d met Jane only the week before, for the first time. She didn’t have the heart to say “no” when Jane begged her to be her bridesmaid! And Jane has lived most of her life in Hollywood and should have hundreds of bosom girl friends! When Susan Hayward eloped with Jess Barker, she had to fall back on that good old stand-by^her press agent. At that time it was Henry Rogers. Taking your press agent along to the wedding kills two birds with one stone, so to speak. You get a paid witness and you also get a guarantee that your best profile is attached to the orange blossoms! Press agent Maggie Ettinger stood up for Joan Bennett and Walter Wanger; Helen Ferguson did the same for Gene Raymond and Jeanette MacDonald. Paramount press agent Lindsey Durand was not only maid of honor at Betty Hutton’s wedding to Ted Briskin, but she is godmother to Betty’s first baby — named after her. DON’T get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong in having a press agent for a friend. It’s just very peculiar that movie stars don’t know other movie stars intimately in the way that big business shots are friendly with other big business shots. Why don’t the stars have people as famous as themselves for their confidantes and close friends? They seem instead to prefer the friendship of those who work for them or with them. However, the younger players in Hollywood are not bothered quite as much as their older colleagues about friends in their own strata of life. Shirley Temple, for instance, is a member of the Junior League. Her close friends are girls she went to school with at Westlake. Diana Lynn, Guy Madison and Gail Russell have fun without fear of rivalry or whatever it is that keeps ninety-nine per cent of the stars in Hollywood in a state of isolated splendor, with no friends except the people they pay to be their friends. Hairdressers for instance. If you really want to get into the heart of a movie star actress, get a job as her hairdresser or make-up girl, or wardrobe girl. Ann Sheridan is in love with Steve Hannagan, but ask her who her best and only friend is and she’ll tell you Martha Giddings. Martha is Ann’s wardrobe girl, and I’ll bet she knows more about Annie than Stevie does! When Ann went to Mexico for a vacation, she took Martha. When Ann’s in Florida or Connecticut seeing Mr. Hannagan, Martha lives in and looks after Ann’s home in the San Fernando Valley. Like all of the top stars Ann has dozens of acquaintances, but Martha is her only woman friend. Bette Davis is a hard girl for any other girl to know — with the exception of Agnes Flanagan, her hairdresser. When Bette was about to have a baby, the only woman outside of her family that she wanted to see, was hairdresser Flanagan. And when Bette was in the hospital, a few hours before the Caesarian operation, she called BOURJOIS More swiftly than the eye, more clearly than the spoken word, this sweet and gentle fragrance tells the story of your charm. None can forget its haunting perfume . . . nor resist the appeal of the one who wears it. It Whispers Lovely Things About Perfume 75c to S12.50 Eau de Cologne 65c to 11.50 Bath Powder $1 .25 All Prices Plus Tax You