Radio and television mirror (July-Dec 1949)

§uiBFcIea =mfli]t]p Pleasant . . . real mint for taste and breath. Gentle . . . contains the finest known polishing ingredients. Effective . . • made with antacid later and say, "What in the heck is that guy's name?" Sometimes this habit of his can be a little embarrassing. A few months ago we got into an elevator at CBS and Arthur said, "Hi there, how are you?" to a fellow in the back of the car and chatted with him warmly until the man got off on his floor. Then Arthur said to me, "You know, I never can remember that fellow's name." I calmly reminded Arthur that "that fellow" had been our first engineer when we moved to New York and that he had been in service and a prisoner in a concentration camp for two years and had just returned to CBS. Many times I'm asked, "What kind of a person is Arthur Godfrey when he's away from the microphone?" And people are usually surprised and say "Really?" when I tell them he has exactly the same personality off the air as on. But it's absolutely true. He is just as straightforward and outspoken and has just as keen a sense of humor. Incidentally, his great humor is one of the things that has made my job so enjoyable all these years. One of the funniest tricks he ever pulled, at least to me, was the time he gave away the washing machine on our morning show. Every day for a week we had found refrigerators, dishwashers, deep freezers, etc., in our studio which the Winner Take All program had left there from the afternoon before, Arthur kept threatening, "If I find one of those contraptions in here tomorrow morning I'm going to give it away." Sure enough, the next day there stood a huge washing machine, so after we were on the air, Arthur told the audience how it happened to be on the stage, and he picked out ^ lady in the second row, asked her to stand up and tell him her name and spell it. She did just that and he said, "For answering my question correctly, the washing machine is yours!" As it turned out, the woman certainly had use for it because she had several small children. Arthur is also quite a practical joker in his private life, and the victim can be anyone from a vice-president to a sponsor. For instance, Mr. Robert B. Smallwood, who happens to be the president of the Lipton Tea Company, invited some friends of his, including Arthur and me, to a party at his tower apartment in one of New York's residential hotels. At the end of the evening he was showing his guests the skyline view from his terrace, which was just off his bedroom. We were on our way out to the terrace when Arthur noticed Mr. Smallwood's pajamas folded neatly on the turned-down bed. Arthur got a flash and when no one was looking he quick ly tied each leg in double knots and folded them back so they wouldn't show. Then I took my little perfume atomizer from my bag and we sprayed the whole bottle all over the sheets and pillow. The next morning Arthur could hardly wait for Mr. Smallwood to call so he'd know his reaction to the gag. P. S.— He loved it. But who else but Arthur could get away with something like that? But with all his joking and kidding, Arthur is the fairest man I've ever known and the most honest. He has never, even in the early days, plugged a product or worked for a client he didn't absolutely and completely believe in. On one or two occasions in the past, when he found out that a sponsor pulled a fast one on him with a phony commercial, he dropped the account right then and there and never would take it up again even though the clients tried to apologize in every way. If you once lie to Godfrey, he's through with you forever. With Arthur as a boss, I don't have the usual social life of the average career girl. Because of our schedule, it's impossible ever to plan ahead. But lack of a set routine in my private life doesn't bother me at all. If we broadcast from the farm on Friday I usually spend the weekend with friends in Washington, which is my permanent home. Several times a year I get down to Raleigh to see my folks. In the summer months I do a lot of sailing with Arthur, Mary and their kids at Larchmont, N. Y. And if I'm not sailing I indulge in my other pet pastimes, tennis, swimming and movies. During the work week Tuesday is actually our only free night and whenever possible Arthur will get a gang together from the program — Janette Davis, Archie Bleyer, Bill Lawrence, and we'll all see a Broadway show. Believe it or not, by some miracle Arthur even got tickets for "South Pacific." And of course he promptly gagged that the crowd at the box-oflice was so big there was one woman standing there with five children who wasn't even married when she got in line. All in all my job is a fascinating one and I love it. It's full of hard work, late hours, surprises, and a million laughs. I can't imagine anything more interesting and I'm never, never bored! Last July the Junior Chamber of Commerce of North Carolina invited me to Raleigh as a special guest for the annual Miss North Carolina Beauty Pageant. As they crowned the winner I couldn't help thinking, "I only hope that girl will be as lucky as I was and winds up with a career that is as wonderful and exciting as mine." Listen to "Wendy Warren and the News" Monday through Friday CBS Stations Check Paper for Time Read the fascinating feature, reported by Wendy Warren each month in TRUE EXPERIENCES magazine now at newsstands.