TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1957)

to grow up. I never did. When I was fourteen, I wanted to be twelve again. I've always been aware, I think, that life is short and precious. "Otherwise," Pat continued," I'm as normal as they come in background, bringing-up, everything. My folks — my daddy's in the contracting business — are people of modest but comfortable means. I have one brother, Nick. He's in David Lipscomb College back home, where I spent my freshman year. And two sisters, Margie and Judy, who are still in grade school. I'm the oldest of the family. "When I was born my parents were hoping for a girl. They decided on the name Patricia. When I fooled them by being a boy, they named me Charles Eugene, but called me Pat. "As a kid, I did all the things all kids do — played sandlot ball, swam in the Cumberland River, sang some, too. But so do lots of kids in school and in church and in neighborhood movie houses where, if they want to perform at a Saturday matinee, they're invited to do so. In high school, I was fortunate enough to letter' in all the sports. And if I have any regrets in my short and happy life, the main one is that I've not been able to play college sports. "It's normal, too, to fall in love in your teens, want to get married, meet up with narental opposition — and elope. When we were both nineteen that's what Shirley and I did. We'd gone together for three years, all through high school. But when we talked about marriage, the cry was, 'Too young!' I was emceeing a local teen-age show. Youth On Parade, on radio. Shirley, who planned to be a nurse, was starting her course. 'Marry at nineteen,' our folks said, 'and you'll have a hard time amounting to anything.' It got to the point where they even discouraged our dating because they were afraid we might get married too early. Then Shirley's daddy, who is Red Foley, one of the stars of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, quit the 'Opry' to become the star of his own network TV show, Ozark Jubilee, which comes out of Springfield, Missouri. Shirley was going to have to move to Springfield with her daddy. So we eloped. Came as a shock to our parents, both sets. Now they're very happy about the whole thing. But for a month or two after we eloped there was uneasiness and tension, which is why we skimmed off to Texas where we could be alone, work things out for ourselves. A freshman at David Lipscomb when we eloped, I transferred to North Texas State in Denton. By means of such extracurricular activities as host of WBAPTV's Barn Dance, I was able to earn about fifty dollars a week. On that money, even after Cherry our first baby was born, we lived fine. We were just as happy, every bit, as we are now. We learned to cook hamburgers all kinds of different ways — hamburger patties, meat loaf, spaghetti and hamburger, several kinds of hash. "We don't splurge money now. Only sort of real money we've spent is for our average-sized red-brick with greenroof house in Leonia, New Jersey. It's not a big house but big enough for us and for otir three babies — Cherry, now two, Linda Lee, one, and Deborah Ann, who came to us the twenty-second of last September. We hope to have six children in all. We have two cars, because we need two cars. I've had to buy some nice clothes. And a good hi-fi set which, like the clothes, comes under the head of business necessity. And I've just ordered every record Bing Crosby, Perry Como and Frank Sinatra ever made. Which comes under the head of pure pleasure. Actually, though, we have very few lux uries. No maid — but blessedly, Eva, a family friend who helped raise Shirley and is now helping us raise our generation! Works out beautifully because Shirley loves to cook, does not love to wash dishes. Eva'd just as soon wash dishes, does not like to cook. "Most of our fun is at home. We play with the babies. We have a ping-pong table in our recreation room downstairs. At ping-pong, Shirley beats me to a pulp. At anything that calls for physical coordination— baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, swimming — she's a whiz! We play the ukulele and sing together. Shirley, when she sings, sounds just like Jo Stafford. She hasn't an ambition — my luck again — to have a singing career. But she does have a lovely voice. One of these days we may make some records together, perhaps an album. It would be fvm. "Apart from loving her as I do, she's a wonderful wife for me because her background as Red Foley's daughter helps her understand my work and what it requires of me. Being away from home a lot, I mean, and the temptations you meet up with in show business. I don't smoke or drink, and have no temptation to do either. But there's a lot of pressure, especially when you're getting started, from people who offer you drinks, feel uneasy with you if you don't drink. Actually, though, not drinking didn't hurt or hinder me any because I found what I am sure is the right way of handling it. If, when people offer you a drink, you say, 'No, thanks, or, not today,' they keep after you. You're always on the spot. But if you just say, 'I don't drink,' first thing you know people just say, 'Oh, yes, you don't drink,' and let it go at that. "On Sundays Shirley and I go to church — drive from Leonia to the Church of Christ which is on East 80th Street in New York. Always active in church work, I'm still active. I join in the congregational singing and, when our minister is obliged to be away, sometimes preach the sermon. "My greatest fear in life is of not amounting to anything. I'm not afraid of physical danger, or of the dark, or of death — none of those phobias. But if, when the time comes to call it quits, I have to say, 'Well, what do you know, you haven't been of much use or value to others beside yourself,' I will know I haven't amounted to anything. "Because this is my greatest fear. If I can't have, as a singer, the kind of influence I want to have, I'll turn to teaching. In a classroom, perhaps. Or as a producer of educational programs on television. I could teach, using the TV set as a classroom. "If I can keep on singing, if people keep on wanting to hear me sing, I can do more good, I've now begun to realize, than I can do in any other medium. For if you are a top entertainer, such as Perry or Bing, you can raise a million dollars a year for charity, such charities as the Heart Fund, the Cancer Fund, Cerebral Palsy and so on. Keep on doing this for a few years and you can be nearly as instrumental in healing people as the doctor who spends his life at it. "A popular and beloved television entertainer, who lives a good life, has a good effect on people, the millions of people he can reach, does good in the same sense as a preacher who spends his life at it. "And so, as of now, my hope is that I can keep on singing, that people will want me to keep on singing. Then I can look back and say, 'Well, I hope I've been able to bring some good to others, as well as to myself.' " lASTI YOUR CHANCE FOR SUCCESS. 1 -» No High School Necetsgry; No Age LImtt ''''^T Seod for sample lesson and nurse's bookleb It's FREE , , . no obligation. Just mail coupon» See for yourself how easy it is to gei BIG PAY . . , gain social prestige and financial independence at • POST GRADUATE HOSPITAL trained PRACTICAL NURSE. Learn at home while you earn. Don't delay. 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