Radio-TV mirror (Jan-June 1954)

a radio program there in Manila, and I was asked to play the part. Only because no one else was around. The show was a take-off on Burns And Allen. I played Grade's brother, a goofy guy. This was the first thing in acting I'd ever done. I'm not going to tell you I was great," Joe sounded threatening, "or that people patted me on the back. I wasn't — and they didn't. What it did for me, however, was to clarify things. "I always had acting in the back of my head. But I never," said actor Mantell, "made a forward move toward it. No one in my family had ever had such an idea. Just a romantic desire, for all I knew. Still, there it was . . . "I knew now what I wanted to do and where I wanted to do it. I came back to' the States. "When I got back, I played the subway circuit — invaluable experience for any young actor. Then came the draft. Before it got me, I enlisted in the Air Force. In December of that year came Pearl Harbor." Then one day, four and a half years later, at the end of World War II, Technical Sergeant Joe received his discharge in California and headed for Hollywood. There he helped form an acting group known as The Circle Players. Joe's remembered pride is that The Circle Players was the first group to take "central staging" out of the colleges and make it commercial. "We were the first in the country to introduce theatre-in-the-round to the legitimate theatre. It caught on. It is used now by stock companies all over the U.S.A." For Joe's portrayal of Mr. Zero in The Circle Players' production of Elmer Rice's "The Adding Machine," he was awarded Theatre Craft Magazine's Best Actor Award, and Columbia Pictures signed him for a feature role in "Undercover Man." This was followed by roles in "Port of New York" (which was King-of-Siam Yul Brynner's first film), "Barbary Pirate," "Baby Makes Three," "Fourteen Hours," "Gentlemen's Agreement," and others. "In my spare time between pictures," Joe continued, "of which there was plenty, I directed a Christmas musical comedy for The Circle Players. Simon Seminoff, the ballet director, who was then producing at Mutual Broadcasting Company-TV, came down to see the show and offered me a job directing musical comedy on television. I told Mr. Seminoff that I didn't know anything about television, had never done anything in television. He said not to worry about it — 'just keep the actors close together.' (This was early television.) So every night after rehearsals, I would say to Mr. Seminoff: 'Mr. Seminoff, I don't know anything about television directing.' And he would say, 'Don't worry, Joe. All you have to remember is to keep your actors close together.' The results were awful. It was a real fiasco. However, it made me realize how little I knew about television, that television was something I wanted to know more about, and that Hollywood, far behind New York in television, was not — not then, anyway — for me. "I came back to New York. Others, I soon found out, had done the same. A lot of people I'd known in Hollywood were here; some of them at CBS-TV. Danny Mann, for one, who directed 'Come Back, Little Sheba,' both on Broadway and in Hollywood, was directing at CBS. He introduced me around and was responsible for the gangster role I played, my first real break, on The Web. "Things began to work out for me . . . Arthur Hanna, the director of This Is Nora Drake, also directed a course in radio acting I took at the American Theatre Wing. It was Mr. Hanna who auditioned me for the part of Cass Todero on This Is Nora Drake ... a young John Garfield character, I'd call Cass," Joe said of the character he makes so lifelike, "born on the wrong side of the tracks, wanting to beat the world because he feels unwanted. Yes, I understand Todero. I know his trouble. I know his problems. That's how I work on the character. My knowledge of him dates from 'way back . . . from the dark, uncertain days of my own boyhood. But I don't feel that way, his way, any more. Don't feel that hopelessness, being closed in . . . that need to escape. Fact is, I'd like to do comedy now. I'd like to get away in my work, as in my life, from the frustration, routine, the rebellions, complexes, unreasoning fears, th<jt ride a guy like Todero. ..." "You were scared silly just a few months ago," laughed Mary, "at the thought of getting married. We both had serious doubts in that direction. By the very nature of Joe's profession, marriage would be a big gamble. Acting is not like going to work in an office every day — the pay check coming in at the end of the week. R M 78 statement of the ownership. management, and circulation required by the act of congress of august 24, 1912. as amended by the acis 0* march 3, 1933. and JULY 2. 1946 (Title 39, United States Code, Section 233) Of RADIO-TV MIRROR, published Monthly at New York, N. Y., for October 1, 1953. 1. The names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business managers are: Publisher: Macfadden Publications. Inc., 205 East 42nd St.. New York 17, N. Y ; Editor-in-Chief, Kred R. bammis. 205 East 42nd St., New York 17, N. Y. ; Editor, Ann Higginbotham, 205 East 42nd St., New York 17, N. Y.; Secretary-Treasurer, Meyer Dworkin, 205 East 42nd St., New York 17, N. Y. 2. Ihe owner is: {If owned oy a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a partnership or other unincorporated firm, its name and address, as well as that of each individual member, must be given.) Macfadden Publications, Inc., 205 East 42nd St., New York 17, N. Y. : Abraham & Co., 120 Broadway, New York 5, N. Y; ; Meyer Dworkin, c/o Macfadden Publications, Inc., 205 East 42nd St., New York 17, N. Y. : King & Co., c/o City Bank Farmers Trust Co., 22 William Street. New York 15, N. Y .: Henry Lieferant. The Ansonia Hotel, 2109 Broadway, New York 23, N. Y. ; (Mrs.) Elizabeth Machlin, c/o Art Color Printing Co., Dunellen, N. J.; (Mrs.) Margaret Machlin, Beaver Dam Rd., Mratford Conn.; Irving S. Manheimer, 1841 Broadway, New York 23, N. Y. ; (Mrs.) Ruth B. Manheimer, Somerstown Rd., Ossining, N. Y. ; O'Neill & Co., P. O. Box 28, Wall St. Station, New York 5, N.Y. ; Samuel Scheff, 1841 Broadway. New York 23, N. Y. ; Joseph Schultz, 205 East 42nd St., New York 17, N. Y. ; Arnold A. Schwartz, c/o A. A. Whitford, Inc., 705 Park Ave., Plainfield, N. J.; Charles H. Shattuck, Box 422, Pharr, Texas; Harold A. Wise. R.F.D. 1, Box 159, Onancock, Va. 3. The known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: (If there are none, so state.) City Bank Farmers Trust Co., Trustee for Mary Macfadden, 22 William Street, New York 15, N Y. ; James John Johnson. Box 115, Suring, Wisconsin; (Mrs.) Mary Macfadden, 406 E. Linden Ave.. Englewood, N. J.; Charles Mendel, 720 West End Ave., New York 25, N. Y. ; O'Neill & Co., P. O. Box 28, Wall Street Station, New York 5, N. Y. ; (Mrs.) Braunda Macfadden St. Phillip. 400 Linden Ave., Englewood, N. J.; Braunda Macfadden St. Phillip and L. Arthur St. Phillip, Trustees for Braunda Macfadden St. Phillip. 400 Linden Ave.. Englewood, N. J.; Arnold A. Schwartz, c/o A. A. Whitford. Inc., 705 Park Ave.. Plainfield, N. J.: Charles H. Shattuck, Box 422„ Pharr, Texas. 4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 include, in cases where the stockholder or security bolder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting; also the statements in the two paragraphs show the affiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona fide owner. 5 The average number of conies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the 12 months preceding the date shown above was: (This information is required from daily, weekly, semiweekly, and triweekly newspapers only.) (Signed) MEVER DWORKIN Secretary-Treasurer Sworn to and subscribed before me this 25th day of September, 1953. TULLIO MUCELLI (SEAL) Notarv Public, State of New York. Qualified in Bronx County No.03-8045500. Certificates filed in Bronx and New York County Clerks and Registers Offices. (My commission expires March 30, 1954) We realized that there might be difficult times between theatre and television assignments." "That's so," Joe said. "We had fears, of course, and they were well-founded. Everyone knows that there's no security in this business. You have your good years and you have your bad years. Yes, we realized there were plenty of problems to consider. And it's not an easy decision to make. But we decided that the important thing was for us to be together. That we'd go along in the good times, and make the best of the bad times." "On a sunny morning in April," said blonde Mary, with the dark, dark brown eyes, "we were married. It was a simple ceremony, with only our immediate family and closest friends present. With only one week for our honeymoon because of Joe's radio commitments, we drove to the Silvermine Tavern in Connecticut — an old and storied place, just made for honeymooners — where, all by ourselves, we had a little wedding supper, sparked by two bottles of champagne given to us by our friends on the Garry Moore Show. It was a lovely week. And then we came home." Home, for the just-married Mantells, is the 2V2-room apartment on West 95th Street off Central Park. "Since we've been married," Joe said, "we're working toward a goal. Someday, when we're ready to start a family, we want to have a home in the suburbs where the kids will have a little room to grow up in. However, we don't expect to start raising a family for a couple of years and, in the meantime, Mary is staying on with her work in public relations at CBS." "At home," Mary said, "Joe and I share the household jobs. It's more fun doing things together. . . . Though Joe never took a hammer or nail in hand' before we were married, now he's become quite a handy man around the house. For instance, when I came home one day with an antique brass lamp for the kitchen, Joe just climbed up a ladder, spliced a few wires, and installed it himself. . . . And, when our collection of books and records began dripping off every available bit of shelf space, Joe got some lumber and in a couple of hours we had a six-foot storage unit to hold them. We're planning now to get the components for a high-fidelity sound system, since we both love good music. In the city and in the country on our weekends, we browse and burrow for antiques . . . we've found some wonderful pieces — an Early American washstand that we converted into a marble-topped bar for our living room, a beautiful old mahogany drop-leaf table for our dining room, and a whole collection of Ironstone china, graceful shapes that look fine with our modern pieces. ... I do most of the cooking, and love it. My specialty is a divine Beef Stroganoff. But Joe's the 'company' cook." "I learned to cook in Hollywood," Joe explained, "when I stayed with friends there and watched the lady of the house, who had the know-how in a kitchen, prepare the dinners. Picked up most of what I know from her. I can cook, but actually I'm not crazy," Joe wrinkled his well-cut nose, "about being in the kitchen!" Mary makes most of her own clothes (size 7), and the draperies for the apartment. "Often at night, when I'm stitching something together," Mary said, "Joe reads plays to me. The last one he read was Milt Lewis's new play (Milt writes the Nora Drake show) which Joe (this is a 'news flash!') will play the lead in. "In short, we're happy," laughed Mary, brown eyes shining, "chough married!" "Because married," Joe corrected, and his voice was gentle. "As I said before, I never wanted to get married — that is, until the day I got married."