Radio-TV mirror (Jan-June 1953)

PHOTOPLAY Gold Medal Awards To Gary Cooper and Susan Hayward, as top actor and actress of 1952, go the coveted PHOTOPLAY GOLD MEDAL AWARDS. Chosen in a yearlong, nation-wide poll, these and other award winners, including the outstanding pictures of 1952, are announced in March PHOTOPLAY Magazine at newsstands note And don't miss the year's most exciting exclusive! "Marilyn Monroe Was My Wife" by James Dougherty Get March PHOTOPLAY at newsstands noiv 80 have a sort of special beau. He goes to Stanford and we've known each other for years, in fact, sort of grew up together. Rod was kind of like "the boy next door," you know, with braces on his teeth and, when he wasn't all smiles, he'd have his face buried in a book. Imagine my surprise when he came back from Stanford . . . braces gone, natch, and with a crew cut, a terrific smile, but no more books, about a head taller and . . . gee! What a change. Wow! That Stanford must be some place. Naturally, we saw a lot of one another, for he came back from Stanford a different boy! He must have thought I was a different girl, too, because one evening he said, "I don't think we should see each other any more, Gloria. You're too much of an icebox!" Icebox indeed! Although he's an older man of twenty-one, he plainly doesn't know that a girl can't go around displaying her emotions to a man no matter how long they've been friends. So all I could do was laugh. Comine from your oldest friend, a quip like that is funny. Rod laughed, too. Which is a good thing, for we naturally kept on seeing one another. After all, we have a lot of fun together since we have so much in common, like football, and Chinese food, and dancing. This only goes to prove that you can keep a relationship better when you have lots of things to share. About that "refrigerator" business — whether a girl's an "icebox" or not, I think, is really her own affair. Yet, I feel most girls are too smart not to know the penalty of letting the ice melt. It just doesn't pay. She is apt to find herself on an awfully low level in an awfully short time. Again, it's just a question of brains. But temptation surrounds us like gnats and it's a problem, a real poser in fact, for all teenagers to know what to do in all situations. Again, I think a teenager with a personal knot to untie should take it first to her parents — for support, if not for help. The thing is, so many teenagers don't talk to their parents about anything. Maybe it's because they think they're not close enough. A parent should be ready to cry when you cry and, when a question has to be solved, everyone should be pulling together. If they don't, and if, because of it, the teenager keeps problems to himself, then I think it's the parents' fault. Everyone has to work at keeping the family together on a friendship basis, and the only way to purchase friendship is with more friendship. I know Janet and I never used to mention the word "kiss" in front of Mother. I guess we thought we wouldn't be understood or something. But, as the old saying goes, Mother learned a lot about the birds and bees in no time. We didn't have to break her in. But, best of all, we quickly learned not to try and keep things from Mother. First, because I have nothing to hide, and second, I share everything with Mother because I know she's my backer. Dating, as an example, is something I like to share with Mom. I feel it only fair that she meet my boy friends, and I would never think of making a date to meet them someplace other than in my own living room. Speaking of friends, I do have one special gang that I practically live with . . . the Del Rey Players at Loyola University. They are a terrific bunch who love the theatre and acting as much as I do. We spend our time putting on plays, rehearsing and just yakking about the theatre. When you're an actress (and striving to be a really good one, as I am), you often find that people expect you to be nothing but an extrovert. This isn't true at all. Janet (who often pinch-hits for me when I can't make a radio date) and myself, we have personality problems just like other young people. Although actors and actresses are all expected to be extroverts, I, for instance, am not. I'm shy! Going into a strange group, or a new school, or even a new play group, used to leave me tongue-tied. Finally I discovered, or perhaps I read it or heard it somewhere, that the easiest way to overcome this was by talking to the person nearest me. Pretty soon I got so interested in what she, or he, had to say that I forgot all about myself; I was soon having a whale of a time. And best of all, so was my new friend. I've met some wonderful people this way — some of them are my best friends now. I remember when I first started working with Eve Arden on Our Miss Brooks — I was terribly self-conscious. But Eve is so warm and wonderful, in no time I felt as though she were my dearest friend. Not only did I learn a lot about clothes — I used to be a rather careless dresser — but I learned a lot about a philosophy of life. Eve is the kindest person I've ever known. I've never seen her angry or blue. Nothing gets her down because she just doesn't let it! I try to be like this, too. I think Eve has been mentioned on many fashion lists as a "best-dressed" woman. She deserves the award! Of course, what would be right for Eve wouldn't necessarily be right for me, but by observing her clothes, I learned some "whatto-do's" and "what-not-to-do's." Clothes are a special problem for me, a problem most girls my age don't share. I have to have different outfits for each week's TV show. Thanks to Mom and the wardrobe mistress, we are able to find dresses that serve a double — sometimes triple — duty. Buying so many clothes presents money problems. Mom and I budget out of my salary, so that we don't go overboard in any respect. Thanks to my mother's good business head, we're in the black. Because she acts as my unofficial business manager, Mom feels I should be able to handle money, too. Therefore, I get an allowance — called "pocket money" because it will fit in any pocket, no matter how small — every week for my own needs. I'm just as interested as the next teenager in cost-of-living advances, although, in my case, the advance can't advance very far. Whenever I mention a "raise" to help meet rising costs, Mom suggests1 work a little harder around the house to earn it. I'm only afraid costs are going to go beyond my capacity. I must admit I don't like housework. But I guess the bargain is fair enough. The soundest base from which to view life, I'd say, is religion. I really feel that religion offers a teenager the most sound, rewarding values upon which to build a life. Here I go, sounding awfully serious again — but religion is something I believe in. I've found that having a religion to lean upon doesn't take away from any fun in life. It enlarges it. Today, religion can be as much a part of a teenager's life as dancing, jalopies and dating. I found that out for myself. Perhaps because I've had a close family relationship, I learned at an early age about trust and faith. However it came about, I'm grateful for it. I've found that most teenagers who take an active part in religion are the happiest ones. It's another step in helping to make us understanding, stable adults. After all, let's face it, being a teenager is a necessary step to becoming an adult! And I believe teenagers are bright, wonderful human beings. I know I wouldn't have missed the experience for the world!