Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1948)

From Hut 67 to Hollywood (Continued from page 49) scare me. In the first place, I discovered him long before Hollywood did. He wasn’t thrilling then — he was a tired, sweaty guy holding down a sack in Hut 67 on Saipan. This sweltering, canvas-covered joint was crowded with six other transient GI’s, several large rodents, empty beer cans, a wire recorder, guns and duffle bags. I had just returned from I wo Jima when they tossed me in with these characters. Sergeant Duff was sitting on the edge of his sack. He was very untidy, wearing a three-day beard and brooding like one of his Scottish ancestors. This sullen mood was caused by the fact he’d used up his beer ration and was uncommonly thirsty. “You get your beer ration card, yet?” he said. His voice was neither low, nor thrillingly vibrant. It sounded sort of tracked and parched. “Yeah,” I said, “but where do I get the beer?” The face of Sergeant Duff became amazingly alive. His grin was magnificent to see. “Come on,” he said, “let’s take off.” rHREE cans of beer later (a can and a half apiece) we were on our way toward a beautiful friendship. He told me what was wrong with the Army. I told him what was really wrong with the Army. We talked about women. This led to nothing. We talked about officers. This led to profanity. We talked about places we would like to be, about food, politics, books and the heat and got back to women again. It was a very illuminating conversation, as you can see. I learned that his home was in Seattle, Washington. Then, a couple laf days later, under the influence of more peer, he admitted to being an actor. ; That was in 1945 and he was twenty-nine Vears old. He looked then just about the way he does now, being a 185-pound sixboter, with light brown hair, blue eyes, regular features. He had none of the charlacteristics you associate with an actor, no fancy talk about the drah-ma, and he made 10 attempt to turn on the charm. The others sweating it out in Hut 67 were a weird representation of civilian iccupations. There was a bus driver, two ;arpenters, an insurance salesman, a bar;ender and a rosy, happy-faced corporal i lamed Barron Polan, who had been a jSollywood agent. One night, Corp. Polan made the observation that Sgt. Duff would probably be terrific in pictures. Howard’s reaction was wildly enthusiistic. He stretched and yawned and said le would give his right arm for a juicy steak. “I really think so,” Corporal Polan went on. “Duff could be a big thing in lictures.” That was about all of that. But lipparently Howard was not as sleepy as he appeared that night, because he is on the way to becoming terrific in pictures, and Barron Polan is his agent. 1 It never occurred to me in those days Po ask friend Duff anything about his past life and times as an actor. I only remember asking him how he managed to stay single. ;He said that he’d like to be married, but it was rough making a steady dollar in radio, bat he’d get married when he was financially solvent and the right girl came along. He said he liked kids and a home life. ;Mow he writes that he is going out only (with Ava Gardner, a yoimg lady I do not snow, but who looks all right to me. My first real respect for Duff as a peri:ormer was based not so much on what he lid, but the way he did it. One day I lelped him lug a wire recorder out to Guam’s Agana Air Base, where he did in'.erviews with GIs who were waiting to be shipped Stateside. The guys who came to be mike were nervous, anxious, war J I APPLY FITCH directly from bottle * onto the hair and scalp before any water is added. Massage well with hands, making sure shampoo reaches each part of the scalp. O ADD WATER gradually, continuing " to massage. Remove the cleansing lather. 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