The Brussels Post, 1962-07-05, Page 2....•.**Iereineresen
(z,rtdolin.e D. Clo.,:olke
'Mostes. in Apartments, T
vy
y
v
v
y
¤
Photo Courtesy LUFTHANSA German Airlines
FAMES COMING DOWN? Less than half a cent per mile was the fore for this cot
"Bonzo" fora quarter trip around the globe. For $25.38 from. Vancouver to Berlin includ-
ing a refreshing drink of milk served by Lufthansa hostess Elau. Roos during a stopover in
Montreal was the travel bargain for this tiny passenger.
Perle Mesta, Washington's legendary "hostett
with the mostest," hat new quartets for her
rieW career as writer-lecturer. Mrs. Mesta
tjave up her mansion, "Les ()tents," to Vice
President enid Mrs Lyndon Joirson, Arid now
liveit with her themeritet and collectors' 'tont
Remarkable Story
Of Ed Sullivan
11 esee danced, and so did the
teeeeeil Danish Ballet, Ray Bolger,
ilia Moiseyese Fred Astaire, the
Salzburg Marionettes. and Mar-
got Fonteyn; the D'Oyly Carte
Opera Company sang, as did
Bobby Darin, the Obernkireben
nituldreees Choir, Julius La Rosa,
Melia Callas, the Air Force
Academy Glee Club, Elvis Pres-
ley, Edith Plat, Cesare Siete, and
the Melle•Larks; dummies crack-
ed jokes, as dtd Bob Hope, Jerry
reetwis, Noel Coward, Carl Sand-
berg, Victor Boege, Yehudi Me-
whin. lietiny Youneman, Oscar
Hammerstein. .lack Pear, and
Ben Hogan. The list goes on for
14,000 names (although not right
here), and includes all but a
handful of those who have pre-
sented the nseives to the Western
world as performers in the past
fifteen yews, rule hem accepted
as such. And thee have all. at
One time or another, acrd their
high-priced names shottted at the
television-watching pubic in the
same ringing, metallic, New 'York
Irish tones of Ed Sullivan, prop-
rietor of the longest-lived and—
Ott it how yeu Site-
cre-sfu: program in televisi,::it's
brief hietory.
Sullivan ;31'd ::"1:;, variety show
will have been on the air for
teurteen eenseeutive years, al-
oeough CBS, a temk-big network,
refers to it as "the beginning of
the fifteenth.' F. the occasion,
Sullivan had lined up a parti-
eularie ;:d13.11i.' array of mums
Xftml•::, amen; them. Jack Benny,
Smith Bing Crosby, and
Steve Allen. plus a gimmick: He
does not know, he says. what any
of these stars will do on the
program, asses he has beer. ban-
nee from rehearsal so he cannot
einal out.
If the glittery cast of perform-
ers is nothing new for Sulli-
van's show, his own fogginess
about their intended japery is
a radical departure. Week after
week, summer and winter,
through 724 shows that have
cost his sponsor's about $50 mil-
lion (and earned him perhaps
$5 million), Sullivan has run his
tit Palace as a personal fief.
e books all acts himself, with
son-in-law and producer Bob
Precht, and has traveled more
than a million miles scouting
Australian jugglers, Polish glock-
Ipielers, Nigerian jazzmen,
6,19iffs yodelers, and Catskill com-
edians. He "routines" each snow
himself, decides which act will
follow which, and serves as well
as a booster, tonfessoe_ assistant
director, and a particularly hard-
eyed unofficial member of the
Catholic Legion of Decency. "All
comics . . ." he says and then
stops, spreading his arms to in-
dicate the size of the comic con-
spiracy. "I have to tell them,
this is not only dirty, it's vile.
That's where I got ray ulcer
from."
If the glittery cast of perform-
ers is nothing new for Sullivan's
show, his own foginess about
their intended japery. is a radi-
cal departure. Week after week,
summer and winter, through
724 shows that have cost his
sponsors about 850 million (and
earned him perhaps $5 million),
Sullivan has run his petit Pa-
lace as a personal fief. He books
all acts himself, with son-in-law
and producer Bab Precht, and
has traveled more than a million
miles scouting Austtalian jug-
glers, Polish glockenspielere, Ni-
gerian jazzmen, Swiss yodelers,
and Catskill comedians. He "rou-
tines" each show himself, decides
which act will follow which, and
eerees as well as a booster, con-
fessor, assisant director, and
a patticuiarly hard-eyed unoffi-
cial member of the Catholic Le-
gion of ecency. "Ail comics ..
he says and then stops, spread-
ing his arms to indicate the size
of the comic conspiracy. "I have
to tell them, this is not only
dirty. it's vile, That's where I
got my ulcer from."
Suievan hes also, of ceurse,
served as his own master of cere-
monies for all these Sundaes. and
this is where the wonder begirs
to pee up like one of hi human
pyramids. Stonv-faced, baggy-
even so stiff through his bull-
neei and shoulders that he is
frequently as: umed te have brok-
en h1 back, a mangler of thought
and languatte, a stumbling, bun-
gling, fumbling perpetual &me-
tre.. who has yet to master the
smallest gesture, the simplest
phruee. Sullivan is the most pain-
fully unlikely stage figure in all
the nizarre history of vaudeville.
SALLY'S SALLIES
For rei
tin endearing fin: t,, itymg
in his cm:stint:rate alt
the sincerity, straightforward-
ness, and democratic virtues
that slicker articles lark. Per.
farmers see in him not oele g
shencase and pas:miner tas
mull as $10,000 for the biggest
nanee), but a champion fan. "He
is so aware of talent," Helen
Hayes has said, 'so struck with
the splendor of it, so altogether
stage-struck in the true sense of
the elmase, that one can feel it."
Binn 5i) years :we—a:though
he look; only about 45, even
the '20s, with The New York
without make-up — Sullivan
caught on as a sportswriter in
Evening Mail then the Graphic.
His Broadway column, begun in
the late '20s, is now syndicated
by the Chicago Tribune-New
York News Syndicate. Sullivan
organized countless benefits for
servicemen and hospitals during
the war. He also played host on
the News's harvest Moon Ball,
where he was seen in 1947 by a
CBS official who was looking
for an ni.e. for a prospective
variety show ea:led "Toast of the
Town."
Sullivan's first show went on
the air, carried by six stations,
on June 20, 1948, with a budget
of $1,350 and a east that includ-
ed Rodgers and Hammerstein,
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis,
singer Monica Lewis, and the
June Taylor dancers. The critics
liked the show but howled
about Sullivan, in who they saw
a certain indefinable nothing.
Nevertheless, Lincoln - Mercury
picked up the show—as ,,,did a
sizable audience—and Sullivan
settled in for the long siege:
NBC threw every star it had
against him and beat him for
awhile with "The Colgate Com-
edy Hour": "Maverick" came
along later and for two seasons
crushed him in the ratings.
Neither of them could keep it
up. "The turning point for Ed
came when he signed Julius La
Rosa after Godfrey fired him in
19a3," says an executive on a
rival network. "That brought
him tremendous empathy, and
since then he's been right up at
the top."
Sullivan has always had what
he calls "a newspaperman's eye"
for the timeliness of a performer,
and he often signs up do-nothing
guests—especially athletes—for
walk-on appearances solely be-
cause they are in the news. But
his best eye is that of a show-
man. An enthusiastic if untutor-
ed opera lover since his youth,
he found that grand opera would
step the show cold "if you put
the high-class stuff in with the
pop." (Soprano Roberta Peters,
with 35 appearances, has been on
his show more often any other
performer except the Canadian
comics Johnny Wayne and Frank
Shuster.) Just once he tried to
make culture carny the main
load, hiring Callas, Dimitri Mi-
tropoulos and the Metropolitan
Opera orchestra, for an eighteen-
minute version of "Tosca." "The
reaction to this single achieve-
ment," he says, "was ghastly. I'd
made a deal to do six operas. I
did three and got the hell out."
Sullivan has enormous faith in
his ability to gauge public reac-
tion. "Public opinion is the voice
of God," he says. "The greatest
thing for this show is the dress
rehearsal. One act can give
strength to another, or it can
come on and go boom. What the
hell, until I play it in front of
an audience, I never know, I've
never once gone on at night (all
but a few shows are done Jive)
with the same running order I
had that afternoon for rehearsal."
After all his exposure. Sullivan
is unruffled by "my lack of per-
forming talent." and in fact re-
gards it as a secret weapon. "If
I bring Jimmy Durante to your
home," he said last month, ex-
ploding the words "Jimmy Du-
rante" as if they were Ten Com-
mandments, "and then I do all
the talking, you'd say, Heaven's
sake Edward shut up. The audi-
ence is the same way. They say,
why don't you put the act on?
Every other variety show has
always had a star, a performer,
I don't think you could ever get
anybody but me content just to
introduce an act and get off.".
Front NEWSWEEK
Modern Etiquette
By Anne Ashics
Q. Is it all right for a young
man to smoke his date's cig-
arets?
A. It is excusable to smoke
one or two, if he happens to be
out of cigarets. But certainly
not all evening. He must, as
soon as possible, buy some fresh
cigarets for himself and his girl.
Q. Is it considered proper for
a woman to shake hands with
her gloves on?
A. Quite proper — and rte
excuses for the gloves are neeees
sary either.
When a Orsini 'Who Si Make
ing ati ititroduotillit fails to Speak
a hunt olearly, and It Ise itepors
taint that you know the 'utilise of
Whom do yoti ask that the nuns
be keistated?
A. Always ask the `patent Ins
&educed, not the Otte who leis
Made the ititrodttetbere
Being Different
In Hollywood
I was not quite bug we s'
elarema moved all of us and all
our wordly goose to Hollywood.
Mamma's sister's hantsand, Uncle
Trax, first arranged for ane
tees, and then for me, to get
work as child-extras in motion
pictures, and Menune to open a
Boarding House.
What we kids earned at the
studio was very welcome in the
family kitty. Mamma was as se-
lective of her paying guests and
as solicitous cre tben. comfort and
convenience, once then passed
her Kentucky-bred standards, as
though they were her house
guests, and in no way connected
with anyone's livelihood.
So we never hai. such money.
But we always had a lien abun-
dance of all the things money
can't buy. Love, trust, discipline,
religious training, And we had
lots and lots of fee! .
I remember when. transferred
from the first school be the
other. At the first one we had to
wear uniforms, at the second
one we didn't.
I had the uniforr -s. Our funds
being what they well:, the cost
of the uniforms was enough that,
baying them, I had no dresses.
No problems, I thought. I simply
wore my uniforms to the new
school. They marine: me as dif-
ferent, set me apart. Nem of my
classmates made me mallet this
fact and then I did have a prob-
lem. The day that one of the girls
asked, "Haven't you any dresses
at all?" her tone "...ay shriv-
eled my pride and I care home
crying.
I sobbed my story to Marrma.
She put her arms around me, but
without any excess of sympathy.
She said firmly: "No',, tee here,
Gretchen. Whatever you wear is
always neat. It is always clean.
The other children may have
very fine clothes, but they can-
not be more immaculate than
your uniforms. It's nee. to have
fine clothes, but it's not import-
ant. It is important to be clean.
•
made for use at the cottage so I
don't feel I should as., help in
doing what is actually, nee awn
work. Se there it is — fascinet-
ing work for anyone but I enefect
I shalt wind up• doing most of
the work myself. I shall enjoy
doing it — but it does War time
Goodbye . Partner is ceiling
me • . we are on. our waif to
vote!
'Cleanlinne is next to enellle
nesse "
As far ae Mamma *as concern-
ed, that Wli3 the end of it.
Of coutee her arms were com-
forting, but there was no non-
sense in her attitude. She expec-
ted me to adjust to the fact that
the uniforms had to be worn.
She made me feel proud of their
cleanliness. She made me proud
to be different. And I know that
gave me an independence which
has helped me In my work and
in my life.—From "The Things
had to Learn," by Loretta
Young as told to Helen Ferguson.
Wer.0•••••11,....
Beautiful Models
Appear At The Etc
Toronto's prettiest girls did a
promenade on the stage of the
Queen Elizabeth Theatre at the
Canadian National Exhibition as
models were chosen for the
women's division fashion shows
for the 1962 C.N.E. More than
100 girls arrived to compete for
the nine available openings for
senior female models,
Judges were Wm, Wheeler of
Gordon MacKay Walker, Elsa
Jenkins, Manager of Women's
Activities and Pearl Varey,
C.N.E. Fashion Co-Ordinator
Mrs. Jenkins reports there will
be more than a dozen daily fa-
shion shows on the stage of the
beautiful Queen Elizabeth Thea-
tre this year during the Ex. Each
will be like a capsule musical
comedy, with lavish sets, story
themes and musical backgrounds.
The shows will use one senior
male model, one matron, and 14
child models of the Estelle Mod-
elling School including three
pre-teens, in addition to' the nine
senior female models selected
in June. There will be five coin-
mentators.
The nine beautiful girls who
'were selected are: Ulla More-
land, Marianne Lenchak, Barb
Ellis, Queta Robinson, Christa
Matt, Alberta Hawkins, Jean
Williams, Marj Carter, Bev
Clarke,
REALLY TAKEN
At a fashionable nightclub, a
girl-about-town boasted to a
friend in the powder room, "I
had my nose bobbed for eight
hundred dollars and already I've
been taken for Kim Novak."
"You've been taken all right,"
sneered the friend — "for eight
hundred dollars."
ISSUE 27 — 1962
Laboring forces are getting to
be so contradictory we 'hardly
know what to expect any more.
We hear of strikes and rowdyism
and then we run into a situation
that makes us wonder if white
collar outfits will soon be the
universal garb for all workers. It
came about this way. Township
workmen were doing a tar-pat-
ching job along the suburban
roads. When they stopped out-
side our place one of the fellows
asked Partner if he would get
him a drink. of water. • "Sure."
said Partner, and he went off to
the house, put water into a small
aluminium pot and added half a
dozen ice cubes. When he hand-
ed it to the man the fellow look-
ed from the water to Partner and
said "How am I supposed to
drink it?" Partner just about
blew a fuse. "Holy Moses," he.
exclaimed, "didn't you ever
drink out of a tin can?" When
Partner told me about it I re-
membered when the children and.
I used to run out to the field in
haying time with a can of fresh,
cold water, straight from the
well. No one ,asked then how he
was supposed to drink — nor in
the army either. Partner said
maybe this fellow would have
known better how to deal with.
a bottle! —"
Well, thing;: moved so fast last
week we could hardly keep pace
with them. Weather-wise we had
everything — cold weather, hot
weather, thunderstorms . . . and
even rain! Everything in he
garden jumped about three
inches. More of our shrubs have
come, into bloom, including a
climbing honeysuckle. As a re-
sult we now have humming-birds
to visit us. Socially, there have
been teas, garden parties and
such like. Maybe in some cases
they are a welcome alternative
to political meetings and tele-
vised broadcasts. Now at long
last they have come to an end
and this week we shall know
which party the people have
chosen to guide our destiny for
the next few years. I only hope
there will be a working majority
of some kind so we are not faced
with another electior. inside of
six months. That would be awful.
To me one of the most inter-
esting events last week was the
running of the Queen's Plate
with her Majesty, the Queen
Mother, awarding the prize to
Mr. E. P. Taylor, owner of the
winning filly, "Flaming Page".
We, had visitors' here yesterday
who had been there and they
said the Queen Mother, young-
locking and charming, yeas still
her gracious "self and quite
obviously interested in the set-
up for running the race as com-
pared with similar events in
England. As often as she must
hear the National Anthem I
would imagine that even the
Queen Mother must be conscious
of a certain thrill every time she
hears it — to think the -Queen
referred to in the Anthem is her
• own daughter. Young 'members
of the Royal Family are also in
the news these days. The latest
is Princess Anne spending her
first week-end• in a Girl Guide
camp, helping with. the cooking
and washing the dishes. Girl
Guides everywhere will be proud
of the fact that Princess Anne is
now one of their number.
Well, in my last column I was
telling you I had been making
pyjamas for some .of my grand-
sons. That meant a Tot of cut-
tings left over so I went to work
and made up most of the pieces
into four-inch blocks until I had
enough to make a top for a
single-bed quilt. By Saturday I
had the top finished. The next
problem was setting up the quilt ,
— how and where was I to find
room for it? I thought about our
big rooms at the farm — one
room sixteen feet square — in
which we thought nothing of
setting up two quilts at one time.
Here even .one single quilt is a
problem although our rooms are
by no means small. Partner •
wanted to sthift things around in
'the livingroom and put it there.
But I wouldn't consider it be-
cause• I knew. exactly -what
would happen — I would be
Working at it ev.eny spare minute
to get it out of the way4 I finally
set it -up down in the-basement •
where there is plenty of .room
and it is also cool. Now I find.
our neighbours are very interest-
ed in my quilt. "Oh, I remember
my mother used, to have quiltse
like that!" "Well, for goodness
sake, is that how quilting is
done?" But not one of them•
knew how to quilt! It is becom-
ing a lost art. If this quilt were
for some organization I could
invite a few old-timers in to
help me. But this quilt is being
Anietne wt. of thee, beer*
Zen MAO"
in a 15 room penthouse atop a a do-operative
apartment overlooking Washington and Si
portion of the Virginia countryside. At-leff,
Mrs. Mesta poses with a French figurine in the
music town Cebihetlike piece it a desk tined
used by Marie Atoinette At right, she surveys
the WcAington scene from tine df two 40=
MONROE SIRED — Lee itemick, left, was slated to replace
Marilyn Monroe, right, in n new movie after Miss Monroe's
studio fired her and sued her for $500,000 for breach of
contract in Hollywood.
foot- long terrace-type balconies. to meet
Mrs Mesta's requirements, four two-bed,
raerei units were changed to provide living,
dining, music and .drov,Ing roams, 'seven bed.
toottit. and. baths Tit' penthouse apartment
includes tart . -of flee, in-W.1611n and butler's
pantry,
gv.