TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1963)

'"And it's certainly important to me" he added firmly. "Because I think the one really big loss for some people, even though they may be wonderful entertainers and wonderful human beings, is that they don't give themselves the time to do everyday things. "I'll tell you one example." he confided. "He's a very dear friend of mine, and I lived next door to him for five years, even though he was never home. "I'm talking about Bob Hope. "This January, Bob and I played in the Bing Crosby Golf Tournament. At the time. I hadn't worked since June, because I had nine months off between the time I finished my old show and the time I started this one in March. I was already living up here, though. We were walking along the fairway, and suddenly Bob said to me. 'All right — tell me what you're doing now." "And I said. 'Nothing.' "He said. 'What do you mean, nothing?' "I said. 'Well. I'm just playing with the kids.' "And he just shook his head in amazement and said. 'I'd have to have an applause machine in my bedroom!' " "Obviously you don't feel that way." I said to Ernie. "No, I don't," he replied. "Not that I dislike doing TV. It's a lot of fun! But when you start to think there's nothing else in the world, and that you can't get along without it, you're headed the wrong way. Because there is something else. That's why Perry Como always keeps his barber tools handy!" Then his voice grew serious again, as he added, "I'd rather look forward to taking my kids deer hunting for the first time than win nine Emmys. Really . . . honestly! If I ever win an Emmy, fine. But if I don't, I'm not going to sit in the corner and suck my thumb and cry that I've been a failure.' He leaned forward intently. "Don't get me wrong. I don't want to be under my boys' feet all the time. Betty and I are able to get by ourselves more, too. We're really getting acquainted again. The change has been good for all of us. His own boyhood "Now I can really plan things with the family. We may want to go up to our ranch at Clear Lake for some fishing or hunting — we have 540 acres up there. There's time for it — because, in addition to having four days off a week, I get three months off every summer, what with pre-taping. ABC really gave me everything I wanted, and I've got no complaints." Ernie had more to say about the boys' new life away from Hollywood. "They go to school right here in the Portola Valley, and Buck attends classes at a little red schoolhouse that's been there since 1894," he said. There was pride in his voice — and there was something else, too. Perhaps one of the reasons he moved was that he wanted his sons to get back to the kind of life he had led as a boy? He nodded. "Yes . . . although Portola in 1962 is a lot different from Tennessee thirty years ago! When I lived on a farm, there was no electricity and no plumbing. And I have to keep fighting the temptation to cram my past life down the boys' throats. I'd like to preserve some of the values we were taught in those days, without being too literal about recapturing the past." He grinned. "Let's face it . . . my boys don't have to go to the bathroom out in back of the house or carry water like I did. or light an oil lamp to go to bed. But they've been back home and seen how I used to live, because our farm is still there. And I see that they have plenty of chores to do. They keep the barn clean, feed three head of horses, take care of the calf, and keep the stalls clean. And they know that when you fish you've got to clean 'em, and when you hunt you've got to dress it out. They're not spoiled — no. sir!" Show business? Maybe . . . Right now. neither of the boys seems to want to follow Ernie into show business, but if the yen comes later on, he wouldn't try to stop it. "Not if they were in earnest." he said. "On the other hand. I wouldn't try to shove it down their throats. If they want to get into this business, they're going to have to pick it for themselves. Right now, both of the boys are interested in sports. And their 4-H work keeps them pretty busy." He paused, and then he added thoughtfully, "I'm only glad I can be around to share their interests with them now.* Because there's that one great question that comes to those kids, when another boy comes up and says, 'Where's your dad?' ' Ernie wants to be sure his sons always have an answer to that one. He remembers back to his own boyhood. "I never had the opportunity to make any really bad mistakes, because I was working too hard," he says. "But I had things that I wish they had. The outdoors . . . the things that were free, and for which appreciation today is dwindling. That's why every window in our house has got a view. And you know what? They're beginning to appreciate it! They appreciate the trees and the hills, and the deer coming by so close that you can almost touch them." His eyes shone . . . part of it was the reminiscing, part of it his delight at the life to which he was introducing his boys. He was saying, "Sometimes it's hard to realize that it's 1962, when you see your boy getting up at 6:30 in the morning and putting on an old pair of jeans to go down and clean out the horse barn. I did it over thirty years ago, and now he's doing it. . . . "You love to see them become worried over little things, too — things which to some people may not have any importance. To worry if the calf is sick. And you're glad that they know at last what the rain means. It doesn't mean T can't go out to play.' It means that things are going to grow. It means they're going to grow, and be all right. . . ." — James Gregory "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show" is on ABC-TV. M-F. 11 a.m. (all time zones) . PLAY RIGHT AWAY! 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