She's ruining her health in foolish dieting to keep her figure. . . .
Extravagance! This girl, little more than
a child, is spending every nickel she makes
on glamour clothes and living like a movie
star earning ten times her salary. . . .
Those are a hatful of charges against a
youngster who just four years ago at the
tender age of fourteen had arrived in
Hollywood, well known as a child model
in New York, and had clicked big in her
screen debut in Until They Sail.
I loved Sandra as the "little girl" sister
in this war drama starring Jean Simmons
and I wrote glowingly of the baby-faced
little blonde newcomer in my column.
The day the item appeared, I received a bowl of roses from Sandra with a
charming hand-written note: "Your kind words made me so happy. A girl
really isn't in the movies until she's been mentioned in Louella Parson'
column." Hmmmmmm, I thought—a nice
thoughtful and pretty smart little girl!
But when I actually met Sandra, not too
long after, at the home of producer Ross
Hunter (who has since guided the little
Dee to her biggest hits and has become her
closest friend and mentor) I was surprised
at how very unspoiled and refreshingly
youthful she was, not at all the cagey
prodigy.
AMBITIOUS, YES! The driving urge to
become tops in her chosen profession
marked this child even before her young
mother, Mary Douvan, permitted her to
wear the slightest trace of lipstick or to
stay up past ten o'clock.
But with all her "dedicated" interest in
her work, Sandra at fifteen, was the
widest-eyed movie fan I ever saw. You'd
never suspect that she spent her days in
intimate contact with big movie stars on
the studio lots. Her particular "crush" was
Cary Grant. She referred to "Miss" Turner
(Lana) as "gorgeous" and to Jean Simmons
as a "great artiste."
At this time she had an autograph book
which she produced at the drop of a
celebrity. She saved programs from premieres. And she wrote fan letters—most
of them to Cary Grant. She was required
by law to attend school on the studio lots
and just like other girls, she mentioned
"cramming" for her exams.
And so those brief years of typical
Hollywood childhood passed quickly by.
Now and then I would see Sandra at Ross
Hunter's poolside or some other social
affair attended by the younger set. It was
noted she was "dating" Mark Damon, John
Saxon, Edd Brynes, Mark Goddard and
sundry other young eligibles, but these
items always sounded like ice cream soda
sippings to me. Occasionally I felt her
dates were studio inspired. Most of her
escorts were in Universal-International,
her home studio, films.
The change from childhood to girlhood
came gradually. Already Sandra had scored
dramatically as Lana Turner's daughter
and love rival in Imitation of Life and in
Portrait In Black. Her little girl figure had
rounded into curves encased in beautiful
clothes designed by Jean Louis who also
did Lana's gowns.
Lipstick appeared on her soft curving
mouth and flat shoes were replaced by high
pointed heels on her smartly shod feet. No
longer was the autograph book brought
out.
In place of the movie child—suddenly
there was the movie star.
But I had not realized how sweeping was
the change until Sandra planed back from
Italy, where she had been starring in
Romanoff and Juliet, for a brief week of
rest and conferences in Hollywood before
returning to Europe for Come September.
At my invitation for this story she came
to see me—and the girl who walked into the
"playroom" where I have interviewed so
many of the glamour girls of the screen
took her official place in my book as one
of them!
SANDRA LOOKED SLEEK and beautiful in a blue silk gown with matching blue
shoes—her only jewelry was one ring. She
said her luggage had been lost in transit
and she had neither jewelry nor clothes!
(A week later it was all located—so no
harm done.)
But even this temporary misfortune
didn't glim Sandra's glow. She was like a
little magpie chatting about Italy, Paris,
London (this had been her first trip to
Europe). She talked "girl talk" of the
loose Paris fashions which she did not like.
She talked of the sleeker hairdos, of the
places she had been and the sights she had
seen. With all her bubbling enthusiasm
there was a new maturity about her and
her figure was that of a model's. Which
reminded me of something—
"Sandra, do you remember when I
paddled you in print after that terrible
experience of having to be rushed to a
hospital by ambulance because of your
drastic Salts dieting? You aren't doing
anything that foolish to keep thin now,
are you?"
"I promised you I wouldn't, remember?
And I have kept my word," she smiled. "I
have come to my senses. I eat what I need
without starving myself or taking drastic
elimination medicine."
"Are you sure?" I pressed on. "Ross
Hunter told me you still actually do starve
yourself."
She laughed, "That Ross! Unless I eat
huge platefuls, Ross thinks I'm not eating
anything. I don't require as much food as
he believes I should eat." I looked at her
slender wasp-like waist. "What's your
waist measure now?" I inquired.
"Nineteen inches," she proudly replied.
I am grateful that my mother,
Mary Douvan, made a new and happy life
for me while I was still young enough to
be impressionable and that as a little girl
I grew up under the guidance of a kind
and devoted man like Eugene Douvan.
"Thanks to my mother's courage and
love—I knew a happy childhood and I shall
be everlastingly grateful to her for it. The
most wonderful thing I can say about my
young and pretty mother is that she is my
best friend and closest pal."
This, I knew for a fact. Mary Douvan,
who is as dark and pretty as her daughter
is fair, is one of the most popular young
matrons in Hollywood. Although she has
been widowed for the years since Douvan's
death, and Sandra is her whole life—Mary
is a far cry from the typical stage or movie
"mother."
Time after time I have seen Sandra and
Mary whispering, talking and even laughing together like a couple of teenagers.
Although Mary advises her daughter—she
does not keep her bound with cords of
silver. In fact, Mary once laughed to me,
"My bedroom in our new house looks more
like a movie star's than Sandra's—and
that's saying plenty!"
This new home is described by both
Sandra and Mary as, "What every fan
thinks a movie star's home should be—
white, modern and expensive!"
Which brought me to another topic—the
way Sandra spends money.
"Your home—your imported sports cars
(for herself and Mary), your expensive
clothes, that full length white mink coat
you bought before leaving for Europe—
Sandra, do these things mean that you are
spending everything and saving nothing?"
—I had warned her my questions would
be blunt.
NOW SHE LAUGHED OUTRIGHT
"Even if I were foolish enough to want to
spend all my money—and believe me, I'm
not, I would not be permitted to. Under
California laws I'm still a minor and required by the courts to put away 25% of
my salary. This is held in trust until I am
of age at twenty-one. My mother and I
have decided that this is a very good thing
for me to continue even after I am twenty-one. We've decided to set aside this same
amount of savings whatever my salary
becomes.
"By movie standards—actors in the star
brackets are now getting anywhere from
$250,000 to $1,000,000 for a single picture—
my salary at U-I is moderate. I'm not up
in the big money bracket. So when the
compulsory savings, withholding tax, charity and other deductions are taken out—
my take home pay isn't too big."
For a "legal minor," I'd say Sandra
talked a very sensible financial line. She
was smiling, however, as she went on:
"I'll confess to you that after taxes and
living expenses are taken out—I feel every
cent I have left is an investment in my
career. And I spend it on clothes, furs and
everything that will help me seem glamourous and interesting to the movie fans.
I'm not apologizing that I do this."
I know that on Sandra's shopping jaunts
she has spent as much as $1500 for clothes
in one session (a story that shocked some
people). But she actually is following the
advice of her close friend, the astute and
"boy wonder" producer, Ross Hunter.
Not long before talking with Sandra, I
had dined with Ross at Romanoffs and he
told me:
"I've told Sandra over and over like a
Dutch uncle that the public wants movie
actresses to be glamourous and exciting.
The dullest thing in the world is this current sloppy fad—or even worse, looking and
acting like that mythical girl next door! I
told Sandra the worst thing she can do is
to pose for 'kitchen art'—whipping up
cakes she can't cook, pretending to be an
expert on household tips. If the fans want
household hints—get a recipe book!"
Ross really was on a soapbox. "One of
the most terrible things that ever happened
to screen stars is this fad for being 'average.' People have been kind and called me
a successful producer of such movies as
Imitation Of Life, Pillow Talk, Portrait In
Black. I believe that a big part of that success is that my pictures deal with beautiful
and exciting women wearing expensive
clothes in costly backgrounds."
"Did you have to work hard to sell
Sandra on this philosophy, Ross?" I
chuckled.
"No!" he admitted with a big smile.
I repeated this conversation to Sandra
and she admitted she had listened to Ross
and believed what he said.
"Even so," she dimpled, "I was scared
when I bought that full length white
mink—and I had cause to be. Ross was
just a bit"—she pinched her little finger
and thumb together indicating a smitch,
—"taken aback. He reminded me, 'It's one
thing to be glamourous—but first keep out
of the poorhouse!' "
Sandra was completely enjoying herself
as she added, "So—before he could lecture
any more—I was given a new contract by
U-I with more money on a seven year
deal—and each year it goes higher. Even
Ross had to admit the poorhouse isn't
right around the corner for me."
I LOOKED THOUGHTFULLY at this
young goddess as she suddenly rose,
walked to the window and looked down at
the world of average people, the world in
which she had decided she would never
be able to live—and thought of the sad-
ness, unhappiness and even tragedy that
has stalked the paths of the women who
have trod it. One has been closely associated with Sandra in movie making—
Lana Turner.
"Sandra, are you too young and happy—
or have you ever looked around you at the
private lives of these exciting actresses you
admire so much? Have you wondered if
the heartaches and some of the bitter
things that have happened to them are
worth it? I mean, will you be willing to
go through the same fate, if need be, for
the same heights?"
Again I was almost bowled over by the
insight of this girl who still looks and
sometimes acts like a teenage novice.
She answered in that soft voice of hers
with its little girl pitch, "Most of the big
heartaches that come to girls and women
are based in unhappiness in love. Movie
actresses, particularly, seem to be unwise
or unhappy in love—at least, through their
first loves.
"So far—love hasn't happened to me
although it has often come to girls even
younger than I. I've had crushes, yes—
and yens, and things like that. But I've
never been seriously in love.
"Who knows what it will bring when it
comes? I want to love and to be loved—
and any girl who says differently isn't
telling the truth."
I didn't want to interrupt her for she
seemed eager to talk about this subject
which fascinates women of all ages.
"I hope I won't be badly hurt by love,"
she went on, "but who am I to expect that
heartaches will never cross my path? I
can tell you this: If real love comes along,
something I know in my heart is real and
wonderful—I won't test it, or question it
or dodge it because it might not last forever. I will welcome it for whatever it
brings."
Recalling that some love experiences can
be pretty bitter and unwonderful, I asked
Sandra if she and Lana (an expert in
heartache) ever had any talks on the subject during the making of two films together.
"I wouldn't presume to ask questions of
Miss Turner," she answered immediately,
"because she does not wear her heart on
her sleeve. I have been working with her
when she has gone through some pretty
terrible troubles and worries. But, on the
set, you'd never guess her unhappiness—
except for an unguarded moment or two
when I've caught her face when she didn't
know anyone was looking.
"What I like so much about her is that
she never seems to wallow in self pity.
She wears courage like a Jean Louis
gown!"
I repeated what I had previously asked,
if Sandra and Lana had talked about 'the
price of love' in the glamour world.
"Not exactly in the way you mean,"
Sandra replied. "After all—while Miss
Turner does not treat me like a little girl
and we are very good friends, I am only
two years older than her own daughter.
She'd hardly speak disillusioningly to
either of us, her screen daughter or her
real daughter."
"DO YOU KNOW CHERYL CRANE?"
I asked.
Sandra said, "I've met her. Cheryl has
come on the set when we are working and
when she is with her mother, surrounded
by the people her mother works with,
Cheryl seems happy. You can tell just by
watching them together—Lana Turner
loves her daughter deeply and she is a
devoted and loving mother"—Sandra said
this as though she defied anyone to challenge her statement.
One more important question remained
to be put to my young friend.
"Sandra, you are a child of divorce—of
a broken home. Do you think it has had
any unhappy effect on your life, any lasting hurt?"
She shook her head emphatically. "No.
None at all. I know this isn't what a lot of
moralists contend—but I can only speak
from my own experience. I believe that
real happiness can be built over the lessons we learn from unhappiness. My
mother has told me this and I have seen it
with my own eyes—and heart. If we learn
wisely from mistakes and unhappiness—
we appreciate even more the happiness that
comes into our lives." Talk about "out of
the mouths of babes"—Sandra was proving
with each new thing she had said to me
how truly she is "grown-up."
WE HAD ENJOYED a long and to me
illuminating talk. It was time for Sandra to
leave. There was much for her to do before taking off again for Europe. As for
me, my telephone calls had been backing
up as they always do when I "close off"
for an hour or so.
I gave Sandra a little hug and bade her
godspeed. I wished this baby star well
and hoped that life and love would be
good to her.
Come to think of it—I think I shall file
away this interview carefully. It may be
very interesting to bring it out in say—
five years—and see what the fates have
brought to Sandra against these hopes of
hers when she was inexperienced—but a
willing glamour girl!
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