It was one of those legal facilities that
was to give so much ammunition to M.P.s when they later
battled to get the new Divorce Laws through Parliament.
In order to stay of of trouble, let me say that I took advantage
of a kind offer, stayed a night in a hotel in Russell Square,
waited diligently in bed until the maid came in in the morning
- and there was the required evidence. The lady who obliged
(not in every conceivable way, may I say) was connected
with a fashion photographer friend. It wasn't Dorothy Squires,
of course, but it was about this time that I met her. I
met Dorothy during a party at her home. Without qualification
I must say that I found her and her side of the entertainment
business absolutely fascinating. My prime concern had been
with acting or modelling but I had experienced some of the
feeling of the variety side of our business through musicals.
The fascination was powerful enough for
me to have already attemptedtrying out a comedy knockabout
routine on stage. I even feel a twinge to have a go at it
nowadays. But I had opened one rainy night in Pontypridd
wearing a Burton's (not Richard's) dinner jacket and a prepared
line of patter as a compere-cumcomedian. there were about
a dozen people in the audience, none sitting together, all
scatered about, all wearing raincoats with steam coming
off them. Comedians know tat laughter builds. One you get
them laughting they'll go on laughing. Laughter builds.
In my case silence built. Worse still, I kept forgetting
the names of the acts I was supposed to introduce. One I
even wrote on the palm of my hand, which did no good at
all. The only way I ever indicate nervousness is when my
palms sweat. That was a nervous evening and when I glanced
down at my hand, standing there in the spotlight, all I
saw was an inky blue mess. I did no more variety after that
week in Pontypridd. But I still had the feeling for variety
performers. That's one of the reasons Dorothy attracted
me.
I was naturally flattered when Dorothy showed
interest in me. But neither of us made all the running.
It was entirely mutual; it developed swiftly and we had
been together about a year before my divorce came through
and we were able to marry in America. Careerwise, things
started happening. Dorothy, of course, was a very still
determined to make my own career my own way. I'll discuss
it in more detail later but the long znd the short of it
was that Dorothy went to America to help promote a new record
and I went over as well to try my luck. Within five days
of arriving I was in a TV play with Diana Lynn and Phyllis
Kirk, in which I played a Frencg diplomat - an example of
American casting. The big revelation for me was the power
of the advertiser on American TV. In this play one girl
talks to the other about meeting me. I am supposed to work
at the United Nations and one girl says: "be careful
how you go. The last man I met from the United Nations came
down Fifth Avenue on a camel, wearing a fez."
This line was changed at rehearsal to a
man on an elephant coming down Fifth Avenue. It was pointed
out that we were sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes and
under no circumstances should we refer to "Camel"
- the name of a rival cigarette firm. Incredible, isn't?
But it's true. And what about this then? In another play
someone says: "you should be happy." This was
dropped at reahearsal. The feeling was we couldn't use the
word "happy" because it was a connotation of "be
happy-go-lucky" which was a slogan of Lucky Strike
- and what that play was sponsored by Pall Mall cigarettes!
Surprisingly, it seemed to me, I had calls
from Warner Bros., Paramount, M.G.M., Fox and Columbia all
indicating that they wanted to meet me. It was all a big
put-on as far as I was concerned. I couldn't resist sending
the whole thing up. Already I had given up any idea of having
a motion picture career. Nobody wanted me in England, why
should they want me in America? If they wanted me for films
or TV I'd have some fun with it. I simply could not take
the profession seriously. If they offered me a part I'd
ask for double the money - and get it. I would return down
interviews and parts like they were going out of fashion.
All that happened was I became more and more in demand.
The whole business was too ridiculous to take seriously.
After all, if you take yourself too much to heart in this
business you become so bloody pompous it's not true. Your
life isn't your own any more. Dorothy's reason for going
to the States was the issue of her record "I'm Walking
Behind You". Eddie Fisher recorded the same number
and Dorothy's didn't do as well as it deserved, but she
was still a very considerable hit.
I was mainly in the role of acting as Dorothy's
manager, but my visa and permit allowed me to work - and
in fact I never stopped. When I tried to get it renewed
they said it wasn't possible, but there was a legal way
round it if I became an American resident. American Equity
and the Actors' Guild seemed quite content to let me work,
but oddly it was one of the English acting community who
complained.
