Radio stars (Oct 1937-Sept 1938)

RADIO STARS '.['. this liappened but three or four •lis ago! Today Tommy Riggs is Ml from coast to coast and discusM-d kitchen to drawing-rooni. And fanu : 't increased Tommy's hat size. \re you bothered much with autograph . rs, Tommy?" I asked. ■ hey don't bother me, although I never igure out why they want mine. To.^ I'u'lty can't write. I'd let her do it. inmy Riggs is friendly and obUgiiiL; his greatest pleasure is the happiness he and his little character bring iiiti' \ es of others. He spends many hourc script, writes and rewrites, tests and 1 IS. He is careful that each word BrUy mors rings true to a tiny person of lur \ IK', and if you will listen closel\-, xmi I notice that it is she who gets the lion s of the prize lines in any situation Tommy and even Rudy \'allee serve >er feeders and stooges. "How do you like working with Rudy bailee on the I'aricty Hour?" I asked him. "He's a swell fellow !" Tommy answered nipiiatically. "He pitches right in with oil and plays right along. He doesn't go cmperamental and he doesn't complain bout some of the things the script calls liim to do, like the time he rolled up ■ousers above his knees before a howltudio audience. He's a regular guy!" en today Betty is not merely a studio naracter with Tommy Riggs. Despite the act that fame is his, he still entertains his r.any friends, much as he did in the old a>s in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The catchy 'tt!e stories Betty tells go over big at a • and the duets she and Tommy do rounds of applause. Harriet Hilllard and Ozzie Nelson "Of course I like Xew \iirk,' said Tommy in response to my que-ti'Hi. "It's been kind to me." And knowing Tommy Riggs as a radio star and a person, I had to admit that perhaps Xew York was kind to him because he is so genuine and so sincere. "Nonsense," was his answer. "I guess I just came along at the right time." Right or wrong time, men such as Tommy Riggs always make the grade. I'i i>pk' arc instinctively "kind" to them. I 1 In is the sport of which he is r-|in i,i:i\ fond and his hobby goes hand in a:iil with it — collecting fishing tackle. He hkes popular and light classical music and i not ashamed to admit that he hates opera. "Too much noise," he says. "M\ favorite book is Phillip Gibbs' yraiid story. .Voic It Can Be Told. It would make a great motion picture," he added. "While we're on the subject of motion pictures," I interrupted, "who are your favorite stars?" "Jean Arthur and Clark Gable. I never miss one of their pictures." "People al\\a\s wonder about luck and breaks in the radio business. How much of it has been responsible for vour success?" "It's ninety percent hard work," was his answer, "and the other ten percent is good iriLiuls and lucky breaks. You can't rely too much on luck unless you go out and do something about it. That's the best way." Somehow, when you hear Tommy Riggs sa\ this, and you know how hard he works to make his part in the \'allce liour as perfect as possible, you believe that effort and not mere hoping is the recipe for getting ahead. Tommy will never just sit and wait for the breaks to come along. With his little imaginary Betty at his side, his ninety percent recipe has put him just where he is ! iC5 Cj.i-\RDEli\I.\ an undertone of warm uscious fragrance for Jays of joy outli and laugliter. I" ashion's ♦newest dictum Is to suit your (perfume to tlie occasion. Choose warm, friendly Gardenia for st)arklln^ days; suttle, inviting N o. 3 (Dcrfume wlicn you j^lay tKc cnckantress of romantic C C niglits. /\t all Icadin* drug stores and dejiartmcnt stores . . . . ^ Smart tiickawav size for lOc in all ten-cent .stores PARK & Tl LFORD FINE PERFUMES FOR H flLF fl CENTURY