TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1961)

WHAT'S NEW ON THE WEST COAST (Continued from page 8) for public sale. Roger, whose biggest ambition at the moment is to have a Churchill seascape hanging in his home, says, "I don't care whether it's great art or not. When I think of the great man whose hand did it, I couldn't care less about how how good or bad art critics might consider the picture to be." Playing the Field: Opening of the newest International Pancake House on Sunset Strip brought out almost every top TV star in town, most bringing along the entire family to eat it up and join in the fun. Among them were the Bob Stacks, Chuck Connorses, Bob Denvers, John and Luana Smith, Bob Conrads, and Clu Gulager. Clu, wearing his regalia from The Tall Man, took a royal ribbing for it. He laughed it off by saying, "Some actors resent being associated off-screen with their roles. I don't. I'm grateful to the series and figure every time I plug it I'm plugging myself." Clu swears the following story of his pre-"Billy the Kid" video days is true. As he was driving along Sunset Boulevard one day, a police car hailed him over to the side. Clu couldn't figure why and was certainly surprised when the officer told him to raise his arms, put them on the roof of the car and proceeded to frisk him. Clu showed his driver's license and explained he was an actor. "Maybe," said the cop, "but I've seen a mug shot of you somewhere." Suddenly it dawned on Clu. "Did you see The Untouchables last week?" The officer admitted he had. "Well," grinned Clu, who'd played a heavy on the show, "that's where you saw me." . . . With her return to professional life this month — via a splashy, beautifullystaged revue at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas — Eleanor Powell says she'll let no more grass grow under her feet. Eleanor has had offers from every network to do a TV spectacular, and the star — who gave up her fame as Top Dancing Lady of the World when she wed Glenn Ford fifteen years ago — says, now that her marriage is ended, her career begins anew. "It will be many years before I hang up my dancing shoes again," she promises the many fans who've missed her. Heard Around: Will Sugar foot Hutchins has his first on-screen kiss in Warners' feature, "Claudelle Inglish." The closest he ever got to it on TV was a peck on the ear from his horse. "I've nothing against kissing, either on or off screen," explains Will, 70 Kingston Trio prove themselves globe-trotters as well as prom-trotters (see page 31). Camera snaps 'em at Waikiki Beach with stewardesses of Japan Air Lines, after seven-week concert tour of Far East and South Pacific. Left to right — Emi Ikawa, Bob Shane, Michiko Ishii, Dave Guard and Nick Reynolds. "but TV kisses, at least for Western stars, seem to be taboo. I've done my own census of television shows and, in watching twenty -four Westerns in one week, not one star kissed the girl. Guess it's proof that the home viewer prefers shooting to smooching." . . . Petite Brenda Lee, now enrolled in Hollywood Professional School as well as high school in her hometown in Tennessee, still has one great frustration. Every time she gets to California, she's so busy between school and professional appearances, she hasn't been able to get to Disneyland. She got up at six one morning, during her last Western stay, dressed, and was all set for a trip to Walt's fairyland — when the rains came and the junket had to be cancelled. "I'll make it yet, though," she sighed. "That and a trip to Russia are my big desires." Brenda's next recording will be a hymn, with a choir as the only background. . . . Mike Connors was already in Europe shooting backgrounds for Riviera, a new series, when called back for Tightrope, which will now go to a full hour and be back on the networks come the fall. . . . Jane Wyatt thought she'd enjoy the rest from weekly shooting of the cancelled Father Knows Best, but grew restless instead. So, she returned to the stage — for the first time in eight years — playing "Candida" at the Phoenix (Arizona) Sombrero Playhouse. Now she's reading scripts with the hope of going to Broadway next season. . . . Ken Murray has donated his fabulous collection of show-biz artifacts to the Hollywood Motion Picture Museum. The collection includes every autobiography ever written by film and TV stars. . . . Alan Mowbray, who plays the maitre d' on Dante, admits that his TV role is "getting to him." Sighs Alan, "I went to a restaurant one night, noticed the silverware had been wrongly placed, and corrected it at every nearby table." . . . Robert Ryan's burro has become a celebrity. The animal, only one of its kind in fashionable Holmby Hills, roams the Ryans' front lawn all day long, and is now included in the new movie-star tourist maps. . . . Gary Cooper — who, on his thirty-fifth anniversary as a major star, was honored by the Hollywood Friars with a testimonial dinner — was the first film personage to be elected to their Hall of Fame. A sculptured bust of Gary will be the first to be lodged in their new $750,000 building in Beverly Hills. The new three-story headquarters is expected to be completed in August, and the opening will be a gala fundraising affair — all monies to go to the many non-sectarian charities supported by The Friars Club.