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Parker Says Godfrey Owes Him Nothing won’t be 51 until August, is the father. Frank says: “I’m only the uncle.” As friendly and affable off camera as he appears on stage, Parker none¬ theless is a shrewd type of citizen. With some 30 years of show business behind him, fan clubs and autograph hounds are all old-hat to him now, but he recognizes their value to his new career with Godfrey and is happy to go along. And if that means look¬ ing soulfully into the pretty eyes of Marion Marlowe to give a bunch of housewife viewers a vicarious kick, then that’s okay with Frank, too. Told that hundreds of viewers have written TV Guide asking whether he and Marion really go for each other, Parker wisely hedged on the answer. “I take Marion out to parties occa¬ sionally,” he said. “And viewers see us together on the show. What do they think is the truth?” The fact is, of course, that there never has been, is not now, and never will be a romance between Parker and La Marlowe. Parker also has no illusions about building a new career for himself outside of The Godfrey’s protecting wing. He has no ambitions to strike out on his own. “I’ve had several offers to do a single,” he said, “but I’d never leave Arthur.” It was in 1945, shortly after his dis¬ charge from military service, that Parker decided to retire. “I was tired,” he said, “and I had saved enough money to be financially independent.” But, because of unfortunate invest¬ ments, his independence was short¬ lived. Six years ago he was flat broke. “Then I started all over again in 1949 with Arthur,” he said smilingly, “and got rich again.” Refuting publicity stories that God¬ frey lent Parker a helping hand be¬ cause he owed Frank a favor, Parker declared: “I never did anything for Arthur—we were just good friends. And he sure helped me. How else could a guy 48 or 49 get back into the business? Everybody else laughed at me. Then Arthur gave me a chance to do a guest shot on his show, and I’ve been doing that same guest shot now for 4% years.” That alleged favor that Godfrey owed Parker occurred when Frank was a star tenor with the Chicago Opera Company, about 1938. They were singing “La Traviata” one week in Washington, D.C., where Godfrey had an early-morning disc jockey program on a local radio station. “Arthur had heard me singing on the Jack Benny radio show,” Frank said, “and he plugged our Washing¬ ton appearance on his program all week. We sold out at every perform¬ ance. I went up to his studio early one morning to thank him in person,” Parker recalls, “and we sat and gabbed over his microphone for a few min¬ utes. I didn’t realize when he got up and walked out of the room that he had left me sitting with a hot mike. I caught the eye of the stand-by or¬ ganist and signalled him to accom¬ pany me in a few songs—anything to fill time. Then, while I was singing, I saw Arthur standing in the door- The boss: Frank Parker makes no secret of the debt he owes to Arthur Godfrey. 6