Radio and television mirror (Jan-June 1950)

Ivy's best work is in neurotic charac ter parts. IVY BETHUNE Ivy Bethune's a tiny brunette who has been in and around radio for five years but hasn't managed to grow very much older in that time. Five years ago, she started out at NBC, playing the part of a nine-year-old girl. She has come far enough to land jobs as a character ingenue nowadays fairly regularly on My True Story — ABC, Monday through Friday at 10 A.M., EST — and a host of other programs. Ivy was born in Buffalo, but her family moved to New York while she was very small. Theatrical tradition is strong in her family. Ivy's mother, an actress, was well-known in Europe and her father was a talented singer. They met while on the stage there and came to America shortly after their marriage. With this background, theater, music and acting were the favorite topics of discussion at Ivy's home. She didn't get any formal training in acting as a child because she was quite ill most of the time. But in New York's Julia Richman High School, Ivy began to emerge as an actress. After finishing school, Ivy set about looking for work in radio. She made the usual rounds, doing general auditions for all the networks and agencies. "And I got my first part at NBC through such a general audition," she said. "In fact, that's the way I always get work, the plain, ordinary way of knocking on someone's door. I never got any part either in radio, or on the stage through any contacts, or luck, or special favors. "An interesting thing," she said, "is that I'm always being cast in Irish parts. The funny thing is that I can't convince the Irish themselves that I'm not Irish, no matter how I try to prove that I'm of Russian descent. Not that I mind. I love the Irish people so much and I'm with them a great deal, so that I've come to feel the way they speak. As a rule I'm not a very good dialectician, but with Irish, it's different. I really speak it and I enjoy playing the parts." Ivy is married and she keeps house for her interior decorator husband in a five-room apartment where she manages to deal with a small baby, two dogs and three cats. The animal section of this menage is very happy and productive, so that the house is always full of puppies and kittens. It's a rich, full life that Ivy leads, but she still finds time for home and work — and — to study at the American Theatre Wing, where she works as a volunteer actress, in what she calls her spare time. CONTAGIOUS DISEASES CALL FOR SPECIAL HOME PROTECTION How Mothers Help Guard Family Health TO HELP PREVENT disease germs from striking at family health, alert mothers, the country over, take this simple precaution : they disinfect with potent "Lysol" brand disinfectant when cleaning their homes. Floors, walls, woodwork . . . everywhere. IF SICKNESS should be carried in from outside, then dependable "Lysol" becomes even more a must in the sickroom. The patient's bed, bedding and utensils all need disinfecting with "Lysol". . . 2V2 tablespoons to each gallon of cleaning water. Look to your Doctor and your Druggist Call on their knowledge and skill whenever needed. Be prepared, before sickness may occur, with basic Sickroom Needs ! Your druggist is featuring these items now. Check with him today 1 TAKE SPECIAL CARE, with sickness in the home, in cleaning bathroom and all sickroom utensils. Use potent "Lysol" disinfectant solution, to fight disease germs. edbl"*""'» doctor, Ih'M HELP PROTECT your home against disease germs. Remember— many healthy, happy homes, coast-to-coast, depend on powerful "Lysol" to help guard family health. 27