Under Hedda’s Hat
I told Vince Edwards he must be the world’s greatest runner, since he’s still single. He replied, “I’ve been to the starting gate several times but I balked. I guess I’m just evasive.”
Hollywood certainly was short-sighted about Edwards. He kicked around town ten years before Howard Koch and Jim Moser put him into “Ben Casey.” Now strangers stop him on the Street to ask him to diagnose their aches and pains.
I’m sure something dire’s about to happen. This peace-and-quiet-isn’t-it-wonderful between Marlon Brando and his ex-wife Anna Kashfi will surely bring on some catastrophe.
Blond wig and baggy pants—recognize her? That’s Gina Lollobrigida (above) with her son. What’s the purpose of the get-up? A movie—naturally.
When La Monroe (above) turns her back, photogs still get a great shot. In Florida with Joe Di Maggio when news broke that Arthur Miller had remarried, Marilyn beamed and said, “I wish him the best.”
Unless my eyesight’s failing me, that new home Glenn Ford’s building will welcome a bride—and I’m betting it’ll be Connie Stevens. Glenn won’t admit it, but take it from me, he’s more in love with Connie than with any girl he’s dated since Eleanor Powell. He insisted she go with him to Paris for the premiere of “Four Horsemen,” then on to Washington, D.C., for the premiere there which got her into hot water with her studio, Warner Brothers. She then asked to be released from her contract, and even repaid a $7,500 loan they’d made her. Naturally, warners refused to release her—she’s a very valuable property.
When Glenn took Connie to the Star-a-Minute Ball, he bumped into his ex-girl friend Hope Lange who was escorted by Steve Boyd. This was before Hope and Glenn took off for Europe to do “The Grand Duke and Mr. Pimm,” a commitment he’d made when he was dating Hope, and Hope and Steve were saying “we’re just good friends.”
Shirley MacLaine’s daughter is in school in Japan: “She’s very bright,” says mother. “In fact, I think she was twenty-three when she was born.” When I caught up with Shirley on “Two for the Seesaw” set she said, “Remember how hard you tried to get me to dress up? Well, Audrey Hepburn took over where you left off when we were working together. I taught her to cuss in return. She came in with ten pairs of shoes for me one day. I could squeeze into a couple of her dresses if I let out the seams. But it confuses me when I dress up. I’ll just never be the high-fashion type.”
And it confuses me when I keep hearing so many rumors about Shirley’s marriage.
Debbie Reynolds’ announcement that she was having a baby threw a monkey wrench into two pictures, and there sure was some stirring around when the studio heads found out about it. This will make five children for Harry Karl. He has a twenty-two-year-old daughter Judy by his first marriage and three by Marie McDonald. With his five and Debbie’s two by Eddie Fisher, that makes seven for Karl to buy shoes for!
Juliet (above) returned the ring to Frank Sinatra, but he insisted she keep the mink coat and diamond and ruby bracelet that he’d given her!
Joan Collins, who claims “marriage is a trap,” came back to Hollywood on business, but didn’t even get a rose from ex-boy friend Warren Beatty.
“Didn’t he even call to say hello?” I asked her.
“Oh no, boys don’t do that sort of thing any more,” she told me, sounding not at all forlorn. She was busy making plans to rent a place in New York to be there when that brilliant Anthony Newley opens in September in his hit play, “Stop The World, I Want To Get Off.” As for her dates with Bob Wagner, she says he’s just a “dear friend.”
And Bob, meanwhile, has no homecoming plans. He wants to stay in Europe to try to find himself. “I want to go places where nobody knows me,” he said. “I want to meet real people, hear new sounds, mature. I’m separated from my wife, I’ve got a great lover-boy reputation behind me and I’m confused.”
I sent Mamie Eisenhower a copy of this picture taken of us lunching at Romanoff’s (above), and she was amazed at how young we looked. All I can tell her is that the re-toucher who used the air-brush on us has already received three Oscars for raising many stars’ chins!
Pier Angeli has a new husband (above)—but she has an old problem with Vic Damone— custody of their son Perry!
Jayne Mansfield sure got mileage out of her near-drowning off Nassau when she spent a night on a narrow strip of land with husband Mickey Hargitay and a press agent. When we heard their boat had capsized and she might have drowned, one comic said, “Impossible. She carries her life savers with her.” But Bob Hope had the topper of them all. “They threw Jayne Mansfield a Mae West and she threw it right back.”
Rita Hayworth and Gary Merrill have had some monumental rows, but are going ahead with plans to co-star on Broadway in “Step on a Crack.” Over the holidays both of Rita’s daughters (Rebecca by Orson Wells and Yasmin by Prince Ali Khan) visited her at Chateau Marmont, where Merrill had an apartment on the same floor. She’s amazingly courageous about appearing on Broadway. Some of our greatest stars quail at the thought of that firing line of tough New York critics.
Marie McDonald is busy working on a new night-club act, but she claims it’s boredomsville with her—no boy friends. The two guys she’d most like to meet are Vince Edwards and Efrem Zimbalist. (Who wouldn’t!) Efrem’s ex-wife moved in next door to her in the Valley, which might prove embarrassing if Efrem and Marie ever do meet!
Dorothy Malone wasn’t too emphatic when she denied rumors that she and Jacques Bergerac were about to separate. “We’ve had our fights, yes, but it’s just that Jacques is anxious to get back to Europe. There are several things for him in Italy and he loves that country,” she said. Humm.
Don’t make any bets that the Rod Taylor-Anita Ekberg romance will reach the altar. Rod’s happy with her—but even happier with his freedom. When I asked him about her, he said, “I love her for what’s she’s attempting to become . . . the kind of inner thing Ingrid Bergman has . . . a kind of womanliness.” (I’m still trying to figure what he meant by that!) Then he added, “I just like to act. I have my public and my ‘Swede,’ so what more do I need?” He has her, but I wonder how much longer she’ll hang around if he continues to be altar-shy? After all, a girl can’t wait forever—even if she is in love with the guy.
When Rocky Cooper put her Bel-Air home up for sale and took a penthouse apartment on Park Avenue, she told me, “Unless you’re in show business there’s nothing for you in Hollywood. Nobody’s rich enough to maintain a home like ours here and live in it for only a few months of the year.” However, I’m sure Maria will spend much of her time here because her best beau is handsome Peter Mann who played in “Pocketful of Miracles.” In a strange way, Peter resembles her father.
Princess Grace, above with little Caroline, continues to keep us guessing. She hired a Hollywood press agent, but she still denies having any plans for resuming her once-great career.
Horst and Myriam Buchholz’ (above) new-born son Christopher has triple citizenship—German, French and American.
Newton Minow made Fabian a big man, the way he kept harping on the producers of “Bus Stop” for putting a nice boy like Fabian into such an unpleasant role. Career-wise it’s done more for the young singer-actor than anything he’s attempted thus far. But morale-wise, Fabian’s taken a nose dive since his split with manager Bob Marcucci.
The divorce of Evie and Van Johnson will be an expensive one. Evie demanded $4,531 monthly from Van, plus $750 child support for their daughter. That’s high for any actor, but Evie has always lived high, spending as much for clothes, living and jewels as a top star. Evie and Van have separated several times in the past, but they’ve always reconciled. This time Van’s English friends are hoping the separation will go through. They adore him over there—and over here, too. Even Evie’s friends feel she’s been a little hard on easy-going Van.
The “Cleopatra” producers were rooting for Colonel Glenn to get into orbit so the Liz Taylor story would get shoved off the front pages. It was, for a while, but don’t go away—the Liz headlines will be back. They say one picture is worth a thousand words, and Eddie’s face, after Liz’ last stay in the hospital, was a revelation. And his reluctance to be photographed indicates that there’s more here than meets the eye.
“Cleopatra” won’t be finished until July so the fireworks might be timed just right. The hints of a romance between Liz and Burton (which he denied) are amusing. Burton is a wild Welshman. Jean Simmons once called him “an enviable cross between Groucho Marx and John Barrymore.” Who knows what will happen—I’ve known Roman holidays, but this is ridiculous.
I never would have believed it, but George Hamilton (above) popped the question to Susan Kohner. I’m certainly happy for her. She knew what she wanted, and waited for it. Other girls I know weren’t quite so lucky!
That’s all the news under my hat now. See you next month.
It is a quote. PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE MAY 1962
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