TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1956)

It's Always Jan (Continued from page 51) her way into her dressing room. Her managers and two closest friends, Ruth and Lyle Aarons, were there waiting. "Janis," said Lyle excitedly, "you continually amaze me. After 458 shows, I'd think you'd begin to get tired. Yet that was a real, live performance." "You're right, Lyle, I do get tired," said Jan, dropping down on a chaise longue. "There are times in life when we all do. But I've learned that's the time to give it all you've got." On the It's Always Jan set in Hollywood, Jan was still "giving it all she's got." Janis accepted TV as a demanding medium and, as with everything else in her career, she turned her heart over to the American TV audience with no strings attached. Jan's enthusiasm for her new role is illustrated by the way she accepted it. With only six days to report to Hollywood, she had to sub-lease her apartment in the East, pack her prized paintings and records, fly to Los Angeles and find an apartment that would take Jody, her dog, too. "Before I'd leave Jody," she says, "I'd sleep in the streets." Once in Hollywood, Jan barely had enough time to hang her paintings, spread out her records, and report to the studio. Sixteen weeks later, still living out of a suitcase, Jan was all enthusiasm: "I'm continually amazed to think we've been making a little motion picture every week for the past four months. Isn't it terrific!" But if Jan was too busy to unpack, there was still time to fall in love. Jan first met Arthur Stander in the fall of 1954, when he came to New York to see "Pa jama Game" and to talk to its lovely lead about starring in a television show. By March, they were partners in Janard Productions, a company formed to produce It's Always Jan, with Miss Paige as star and Mr. Stander as producer. By the time the new year rolled around, Jan and Arthur were set to extend the TV partnership to include marriage. The ceremony took place January 18, in Las Vegas, and their TV production schedule allowed time for a twenty-four-hour honeymoon. "My cup is spilling over," Jan glows. "I don't know how any woman can be happier than I am. Not only do I have my television show but, more important, a wonderful husband. He's not only my producer on stage, he's also the kind of guy who wears the pants at home — and that's what I need. "It'll be wonderful getting out of the apartment and into a house. We're moving into a little place in Bel-Air just as soon as it is ready for us." Then the brand-new Mrs. Stander adds: "My marriage will not affect my career in the immediate future. But sooner or later, it's bound to. I want children, lots of them, and when I have them I don't want to have to farm them out during the day while I go to the studio. To my way of thinking, there is one thing that is more important than a successful career, and that is a successful family. I mean to have one." Before her marriage, Jan had talked about a desire for roots and for a home, after her years of wandering the showbusiness circuits. "I'm not looking for any dream man, not a Prince Charming on a white horse. I've no preconceived ideas even on what he should look like, but the prerequisites such as understanding, gentleness and humor should be there." Arthur Stander has these qualities — plus modesty. When a friend congratulated the couple with "You two lucky people . . ." Arthur answered: "I know Jan could have done a lot better, but I know I couldn't have." Jan's personality, reflected in her many interests, is as varied and bright as a spring garden. She's a study in contrasts: She has a passion for the diverse arts of romance languages and baking; she collects fine paintings and sits before them knitting; she's satisfied with a few possessions, but has many friends; she's generous to a fault, and gets a blank check from her business manager only at Christmas; she is most proud of her classical records — racy new Thunderbird — and elegant crystal; she would like "any small house with a view"; on rainy days, she reads psychology — while listening to pop records. Music constantly surrounds her. She had an RCA portable in her "Pajama Game" dressing room. When Manny Sachs, vicepresident of RCA, walked in after a show to congratulate Jan, he saw the portable and said, "Since music is your life, you should have a bigger player than that." Next day he sent an elegant mahogany, three-speed, hi-fi player, plus albums and records. Jan is a bug on education. "I thought I'd never get through high school," she says. But her books and magazines cover every subject. • Jan has a wide fund of knowledge and interests, many of them developed as a result of the travel she has put in with appearances across country. "I am grateful to Warner Bros.," says Jan, "for they gave me my first train ride to Chicago and New York, for the opening of the picture, 'The Time, the Place, and the Girl.' " Because Jan had been such a hit on the personal appearances, Warners' sent her to New York's Bergdorf Goodman to buy two new outfits — "and," Jan adds, "two Walter Florel hats. The treatment spoiled me. I was very unsophisticated about the whole thing. Instead of eating in the dining car on the way home, I spent all my time looking at my reflection in the window — to make sure my new hats were on straight. But I learned on that trip that, when you travel alone on a train, you can't help meeting and talking to interesting people. I thank Warner Bros, for those train rides — a terrific education." Later in 1949, Jan went to Italy for five months, to do a picture, and there she developed her strong interest in both foreign languages and painting. She learned to speak fluent Italian. "But when I came home," she says, "no one would talk it with me." Now she wants to brush up on the Italian, and then learn Spanish, too. While in Rome and Naples, Jan's interest in painting developed. She is now an avid art fan. "My favorite boulevard in all the world is New York's Madison Avenue," she says, "because of the many shops and art galleries. You can get an education just walking down Madison Avenue." Once, while strolling down the street, Jan spotted a painting that appealed to her in one of the galleries. Walking in, she asked the price. "Four hundred dollars," the dealer said. Jan swallowed hard. That was too much. Then another picture, titled "Miss Otis Egrets," caught her eye. She liked its humor. "How much is that one?" she asked. "Sixty-five," said the dealer. "I'll take it," said Jan. "Miss Otis Egrets" was Jan's first painting. The others include a clown's head, by Ivan Rose, and Arthur Stander's painting of Jan's name in lights on the marquee of the St. James Theater, where "Pajama Game" played. Ruth Aarons, Jan's manager and one of her closest friends, knows that Jan is Now you can look smart and stylish with sensational low priced glamorous used dresses that have been cleaned and pressed — in good condition for i all occasions! A tremendous as " sortment of gorgeous one and two piece modern styles in all beautiful colors — in a variety of luxurious fabrics of rayons, cottons, garbardines, woolens, silks, etc. Expensive dresses — original value up to $40! FREE! 12 Different Sets of Button Cards! 5 to 8 matched buttons on each card. Worth a few dollars — but yours FREE with dress order. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE COUPON GUILD MAIL ORDER HOUSE, Dept. 915 One of the oldest and largest mail order houses ot its kind) 1 03 E. Broadway, New York 2, N. Y. Rush my 5 assorted dresses in size circled below with Free Button Cards. Enclosed find $1 deposit, balance C.O.D. plus postage. Money returned if not completely satisfied. Canadian and foreign orders accepted. Circle Size: Girl's Sizes 7. 8. 10. 12. 14 are 5 for $2.75 Junior Miss Sizes 9. 1 1 . 13. 15 are S for $3.7S Sizes 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 38, 40. 42, 44, 5 for $3.75 Sizes 14'/a. 16 VS. 18VS. 20 VS. 22 VS. 24 VS. S for $3.7S Extra Large Sizes 46. 48, 50. 52 are 5 for $4.75 □ Check here to save C.O.D. fee. Send full amount with 2 5(* postage. □ Please send FREE CATALOG FOR FAMILY Name Address City I City Zone .....State. 75