Under Hedda's Hat - June 1963
A local photographer zeroed in on Doris Day and came away with
an amazing series of photographs showing her in all moods—from gleeful to glum.
But the eye-catcher was another of those candids showing how skillful she is with
bubble gum. Doris’ next job is the part Marilyn Monroe didn’t live to finish in
Something’s Got to Give. You can bet there will be no nude bathing in it.
Rex Harrison and wife Rachel share a moment of quiet before the
storm. Rex was in a dither when he saw the ads for Cleopatra. They were very
subtle—just a huge photograph of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton—not even a
title was mentioned. Rex’ contract for playing Caesar called for “similar ad art
treatment,” so he had his New York attorney fire off a letter to 20th reminding
them of this. The studio, which at the time was busy re-shooting the picture, may
have to re-do ads.
Battling the pounds are Kim Novak and Shelley Winters. I don’t
know how Kim’s keeping her calories down, but Shelley’s taken up hypnosis. All those
men running in and out of Kim’s door at the Dorchester Hotel weren’t boy friends—they
were drama coaches getting her shaped up to tackle the Bette Davis role in Of
Human Bondage. She’s out to prove something in this one, and is leaving no stone
unturned. When asked if she might pick an Englishman for a husband, Kim said, “Men
are all the same the world over. And I love variety.”
Frank Sinatra’s present to his parents, the Martin Sinatras, on
their fiftieth wedding anniversary: A $60,000 home in New Jersey. Frank dumped his
hill-top house here for $200,000.
Handing out Photoplay’s Gold Medal Awards on Johnny Carson’s TV
show was a romp. Bette Davis, a sneaky one when it comes to stealing the show,
got the biggest hand from Johnny’s audience. In case you missed the awards on TV,
Bette’s story of how she lost out on the part of Scarlett O’Hara is worth
repeating.
She’d been raising cain with Warners to get her better stories
and was pretty angry with them. So when the bosses called her in and said they could
get Gone With The Wind, and told her it was a wonderful book, she
snapped, “I’ll just bet it’s a dilly!”—and stalked off to England to sit out her
contract. “It was one of the biggest boo-boos I ever made,” she recalls.
Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue threw a unique party. All their
friends had been sick, so they had them come as their favourite disease. They rented
wheelchairs, had an ambulance outside the house, set up the cocktail bar like an
operating table, and served wine in plasma bottles. Suzanne was crushed to
learn that the idea wasn’t original—Carole Lombard and Bill Powell did it once
long ago.
Lucille Ball sent a horseshoe shaped floral arrangement with a
card reading “Congratulations on both of you picking a winner,” when Desi Arnaz
married Edith Mack Hirsch. Desi and his new bride, ex-wife of wealthy sportsman
and dog food king Clement Hirsch, spend a lot of time at the race track watching
their ponies run. Arnaz bought his wife a house not far from Lucille’s in Palm Springs.
Matter of fact, both places face the same golf course. Let’s hope nobody gets teed
off.
__
From the June 1963 issue of Photoplay
Comments
Post a Comment