Radio and television mirror (July-Dec 1950)

me get near the stove. He's a regular kitchen prima donna. Bill is full . of un-Gargan-like surprises. One much more important than culinary skill was his friendship with Leslie Howard. I believe that friendship was one of the most important things that ever happened to him. They seemed such an odd combination— this big, garrulous Irishman and the slender, quiet-spoken Britisher whose tastes were as delicate as Bill's were hearty. It was nevertheless a deep and genuine friendship and lasted until Howard's tragic death a few years ago. Bill met Leslie while working with the Theatre Guild during the middle Twenties. Bill > had developed an interest in the more cultural aspects of show business. (His "arty" phase I sometimes call it, though I know he was dead serious about it "at the time, and did learn a great deal.) He and Leslie Howard were doing a play called "Out of the Blue Sky" which, although it wasn't very successful, gave Bill a chance to give his abilities a wider range. Howard told him he had the makings of a really fine actor, and taught him things about the theater Bill never knew. That was the beginning of their friendship, and even though Bill's work with the Guild lasted only a couple of years, Leslie and his wonderful wife Ruth became a permanent part of our lives. When Leslie was in Europe one year, we learned he was returning to New York to produce "Animal Kingdom." He cabled us the date of their arrival and asked us to meet them at the boat. I got a copy of the play and read it. And it was the funniest thing, I just knew the part of Red Reagan was absolutely the role for Bill. He was it. Ordinarily I don't go about casting my husband into everything I read, but this was different. The only trouble was the role had already been assigned to Clark Gable. Bill agreed that it was the kind of thing he'd been waiting -to do all his life, but he saw no point in making himself miserable about it. If Gable had the part, that was that. Bill was used to the fact that Clark very often got parts that Bill himself was up for. They used to be rather close rivals in those days. Bill says when he'd see Gable coming out of a producer's office, he wouldn't even bother to go in. "You might as well forget it, sweetheart," he told me. "If Leslie had wanted me to do it, he would have flaked me." Being professional abont his career, Bill busied himself with other projects. But I very unprofessionally spent the days chewing away at some angle which would show Leslie right off the bat what a natural for the part Bill really was. Then, just a few days before the Howards were to arrive, one of those once-in-a-lifetime miracles happened. We were visiting my cousin Ellen on Long Island (she'd finally moved from Brooklyn) and were having one of those nice lazy afternoons in the yard, when all of a sudden we saw a yellow roadster come tearing down the road and smack head-on into a car that was parked across the street. 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