TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1963)

of going into singing. I just thought of it as a communication, not as a professional kind of thing. But when I went from job to job to job, I had my argument with myself. I said, "Why don't you hold a job?" And myself said, "Well, you're shiftless; you can't settle down." And I said, "No, I'm not; I'm just not finding the right kind of work." And he said, "Well, what kind of work do you want to do?" And I said, "I want to sing." So he said, "Go out and sing." And I said, "I don't know how." He said, "Learn." So, I quit my job and I started singing. And I got to the point where I was doing well — but then I lost my singing voice. In the back of my head, I said, "I will sing again." Like MacArthur said, "I shall return." That was me. Ten years it took. Fred: The singing led into the acting, didn't it? George : That's right. I turned to acting because I still felt that I wanted to stay in the expressive arts, and I turned to acting only to hold me over. And then, as I got into acting, I saw that I had an ability and a feeling for it, so I went on to study. And, as I got more involved in it, I found that I had a true expression for it. Fred: Actually, the big springboard for you was an off-Broadway show, wasn't it? George : Yes. They came down to see somebody else in the show — for "Naked City" — and they saw me and asked me to do the part. Then they became involved from the standpoint that they liked what I did, and from the fact that I was what they called "unconventional." So they talked to me about doing another show, and then they — I remember the producer saying, "This kid has a possibility." And everybody else saying, "He's not commercial. He doesn't smile." You see, the part didn't call for me to smile. So then they gave me a part and called me down, and said, "Can you smile?" And I said, "Of course, I can smile." And next they said, "We want to do a series with this boy," and they put me under contract. They were think MAX BAER JR. (Continued from page 29) "You see," Max tries to explain, "a man — or, for that matter, a woman — is an act of creation. There is a touch of originality in all of us, and we ought to give this quality every chance to grow and develop. It's what makes us the thing we are which nobody else can be. It's our only real claim to identity. And I don't think I'm the only one who has made a life's work out of finding just who I am and where I belong in the world. It's the reason Adam and Eve probably were tempted by the apple. They wanted to know who and what they were . . . and why God had created them . . . and whether there was some special meaning or quality that set them apart from the other animals in the Garden of Eden." ing of a series then, called "The Searchers," which was going to be about two guys. And they wrote in this guy, Buz Murdoch — you know, I lived in Hell's Kitchen, and he was kind of a rough guy with a big heart — but they didn't know I could sing. When they found that out later, they got mad at me, because why didn't I tell them? So then they tried to get Tab Hunter for the other guy. And they couldn't get him, and they tried to get another boy called Buddy Morris — he's dead. Then they spent a whole year looking. In the meantime, the format on television changed from a half-hour to an hour; so they had to change the format to an hour show. I was supposed to have first-star billing in this "Route 66." They kind of connived, and I didn't end up with first-star billing, as you can well see. I was a little disappointed in them . . . because I said, "Talk to me; I can understand that Milner has more credits. Don't tell me to read the small print in the contract." Well, that was my first inkling. But there were other things they didn't give me in my contract which I insisted on . . . because, even at that point, I did not want the series if they owned me. In other words, I had to have freedom to be able to create, or I wouldn't work. The contract they wanted to gi 3 me would own me, lock, stock and barrel, and I wouldn't sign it. They had the pilot made, and sold, and a sponsor . . . but they didn't have me under contract — I was in Israel making a picture, "Exodus." Finally, they came through with my vacation period and other things which were promised to me. And then I signed the contract. Fred: Do you get a lot of kidding when you're driving around and people recognize you? George: Yeah. They always say to me, "Why don't they let you drive the car?" And I say, "Well, you know — I don't know." And I don't! — The End "Route 66" is seen on CBS-TV, Fri., 8:30 to 9:30 P.M. EST. George sings on the Epic label — and his recent album is called "Just Turn Me Loose!" With this, Max Baer gives you that on-camera grin, his handsome features seem to expand in simple glee, and he is transformed before your eyes into Jethro of the "Beverly Hillbillies." With a wink and a vast flap of the arms, he declares, "I'm getting into deep water there. I'd better watch it or I'll drown. Just call me Cousin ... set a spell . . . and let's you and me have a good laugh." But it's too late for that. In Hollywood, the word is out that Max Baer Jr. is "a nonconforming performer. A rebel with a cause." He has made a life's cause out of an idea — the idea that every human being is unique, an original, and is duty-bound to live accordingly. To anyone who knows him, it is clear that Max is trying to live this idea to the hilt. In his private and family life, in his relations with friends and women, TRUST YODORA For those intimate moments • . , don't take a chance. ~ trust Yodora and feel confident. 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