Silver Screen (Nov 1938-Apr 1939)

Having Pleasant Dreams By Julia Gwin In "Cafe Society" Shirley Ross sets the style in cigarette girls. WE WERE sitting around a table in Sardi's, just off New York's Times Square, talking about Hollywood, movie actors now on Broadway, and clothes. "Imagine," said Shirley Ross, one of the now famous 'Two Sleepy People,' "being in New York at a time when the shops are full of such wonderful things, when the windows alone are worth a walk up Fifth Avenue, with all the places to go and the things to see and do and having five shows a day to keep me indoors." The dancing grey-blue eyes, which could turn serious with the suddenness of a blown candle, belied the wail in the low vibrant voice with its rich undertones of happiness. As I watched Shirley Ross I became aware of a vital expectancy in her manner, a sudden reaching out as each new arrival entered the restaurant. It was a kind of eager, silent waiting for something secretly precious and important. Shirley was still in makeup. She had been singing, at the Paramount Theatre, the songs she had helped make famous. It is an important fact that every song which Shirley has introduced has become a number one hit throughout the land. When she first sang most of those same songs, she had been little more than a very pretty girl with a laughing lilt in her voice which carried audiences from the theatre humming or whistling her melodies. Now, she was stopping every show. Not such a far call from her early ambitions at that. * Shirley Ross Was One Of The Famous "Two Sleepy People" And Now Her Career Is Really Getting Somewhere. For Shirley, born Bernice Gaunt in Omaha, Nebraska, not so many years ago, had planned to be a concert pianist. She started studying piano when she was six years old and from then until she was well into maturity she spent five hours a day in practice for the career which she still thinks she may some day follow. But, perhaps, her movie fans may have something to say about that and Destiny, too, which has a way all her own of calling her sons and daughters to the careers she wants them to pursue. Shirley's family moved to Hollywood when she was nine and she started her schooling there. She had a normal childhood with little thought that some day the town's famous first industry would claim her. Later, in Hollywood High School, she was rated among the best in its amateur theatrical activities. She was nearly always cast in the leading role in the school plays. She was not only lovely to look at, with her blonde hair highlighted with red glints, but her piano playing and her nice voice gave her an advantage over her contemporaries. Even this did not instill in her thoughts of a movie career. Her singing came about by accident rather than design. She loved her music but the endless hours of practicing became irksome just the same. To relieve the monotony, she began to sing scales, to improvise words, anything to make the work more attractive. Her mother, listening, soon became impressed with the beauty and quality of her daughter's singing voice. She would ask her friends in to hear Shirley sing, generally without the girl's knowledge. . . . From this small beginning grew her reputation as a singer. When she graduated from high school, and before she entered the University of California, she gave ten public concerts, ten definite proofs that she would succeed on the concert stage. She felt quite satisfied with her progress and happily continued her piano, singing and dramatic work at the university. Her fame spread and during her second year, Destiny, in the person of the band leader, Gus Arnheim, stepped in, auditioned Shirley and then signed her to a nine months' contract to sing with his band. I asked how she happened to choose the name of Shirley Ross. "I was almost named Shirley," she replied, "and I always liked the name. I have an aunt [Continued on page 66] for April 1939 51