Radio-TV mirror (Jan-June 1954)

"I can use a nap," Luce said sleepily. "I think you'd better stand by to hold the boat together — or swim," said Alice. Luce just smiled, dropped into a deck chair and went to sleep. "And all that time," Alice observes, "I was looking around to find out where they kept the life preservers." Her admiration is not limited to Luce's iron nerves. She has a lot to say about Luce as a friend, and cites one particular incident. At the end of their motor trip, Alice stayed over in San Francisco for an extra week. Luce flew back to work. She phoned Alice's housekeeper to see how she was getting along, and learned that the woman had pneumonia and had refused to go into a hospital. "So Luce took over the nursing chores until I got back," Alice says. "And you can imagine how many other things she must have had to do, after being away!" An average day for Lucille Wall is a crowded one. Besides the Lorenzo series, she is always in demand for other drama programs. And every week she schedules three three-hour sessions at the gymnasium. Although she has part-time help, Luce particularly enjoys caring for her apartment. She has acquired furniture as a patron of the arts buys paintings. Many of her pieces are antiques and quite valuable. "Luce has had no training as a decorator," a friend remarks, "but you can put her in a store with both originals and fine copies, and instinctively she goes to the authentic pieces." She has real love for authenticity, and this extends even to her personal jewelry.. She doesn't own much jewelry, but what she does wear is good — and real. "Some people think I'm extravagant. But, when you buy furniture of real value, it's an economical investment in the long run," she says. "As for my jewelry, I can wear the same piece over and over, for weeks and years, and I never tire of it. I don't think I'd have the same feeling about costume jewelry." She has a reputation for being exceptionally well-dressed and notes that it is a very simple matter to look your best. "Best-dressed women dress themselves — that's the secret," she explains. "They don't let experts lead them blindly into new styles. I'll cling to a dress for five years, if the silhouette is right for me. And hairdos? Well, that's the same thing again. A woman should follow the dictates of her own mirror." Luce prefers simple clothes for herself and has little enthusiasm for dressing up. She frankly doesn't care for night clubs or even restaurants. A perfect evening of entertainment is good conversation and dinner in her own home or a friend's. "I have a male appetite," she says, "meats and potatoes and sea food. My taste in desserts ends with ice cream." Her taste in men is rather positive: not too young and not too short. "Luce is dear to her friends," Alice Frost says, "because she has something to give them in the way of a fresh viewpoint . . . and because she is honestly sincere. Many of her friends are actors, who often ask for her opinion about their work. With Luce, it's never, 'You were grand, dahling,' but always an honest estimation. And I guess that takes as much courage as anything she's ever done." That's the story of Lucille Wall, a remarkable person who decided as a teenager that she would be an actress, and then climbed to the top rung. Her success story is a reminder that there is no set pattern for achievement. It's not so much what a person does— but what she is— that makes her a "first lady." a treat for all the girls Nothing like soft, smooth cotton next to you... knit to fit and finished for comfort. The elastic waistband hugs your middle, the wide nylon-reinforced legband won't bind or ride up. And Lollipops are contoured to you, stay shapely as new. Always color-bright, never, never need ironing. Shrink stayed, unconditionally guaranteed, and priced for the penny-wise, too. Pick a different color for every day ...vanilla, strawberry, lime, lemon, grape, nectar blue, cherry, spearmint, huckleberry, licorice. ■4 R M 83