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Show The Cat Who Stars on Tv How good can your mm cream me h if your hands are Mil chaRped? (Continued from page 7) -- a picnic table on Martwick's grounds and Morris is brought over to be in- troduced, he'll stroll confidently around the top of the table, nudging first Martwick's cheek with his head, then yours. He also likes to butt his head into your hand or fist. Morris carries himself proudly, with an assured air, as if to inform the world he has no intention of taking a back seat to anyone feline or human. When the Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago was auditioning cats for the Morris role, many were brought in but none looked grumpy enough or proud enough. "I was beginning to think we were losers until Martwick brought his cat," says MacKenzie Ward, the producer. "He walked into the room like Clark Gable, and we knew this was the one." various technicians bustle about and keep calling out orders or responding to them. A big camera keeps moving in and out on a truck, wires are strewn all over, and the heat from the four large stage lights is stifling. None of this bothers Morris as he quietly goes about his business, following his nose to his dishes of tuna. Even the most cooperative star will act contrary once in a while, however, and Morris is no exception. In one commercial, the dialogue had him saying, "I'll eat when I'm ready. First I want to play with the - ' Last Chapped hands need more than just smoothing. They need healing, and protection that won't wear off. d They need Jaquet's surprisingly light, quickly-absorbe- Lemon Hand Creme. With its special ingredients to help heal rough hands, and with silicones to protect them. Jaquet's Lemon Hand Creme. It has everything you need, if you flfer w.,r - don't need chapped hands. Lemon Hand Creme: $4. ft.... j Kit i iilLff J VI l M igmor CE e W HAND yi 0 JACUET COSMETICS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING FINE STORES: IDAHO CALIFORNIA Kimball & Stone Bakersfield J. W. Robinson Glendale Capwell's Hayward Indio The Clothesline I. Magnin Monterey J. W. Robinson Newport Beach Bullock's Fernando San Valley Santa Ana Torrance Whittier - COLORADO - I. I. Magnin Magnin I. Magnin May Co. - Colorado Springs May D&F Crews Beggs Pueblo Boise Bon Marche NEVADA Las Vegas House of Beaubriand White Cross Drug OREGON The Hub Salem Meier & Frank Walla Walla -- Book Nook Coos Bay UTAH Ogden-Z.C.- M.I. Provo Taylor's WYOMING Casper Kassis winter, after Morris was well established as a video personality, the cat:food sponsor bought him from Martwick for the total he had spent to board him for the three years the commercials had been running. Martwick continues to board the cat at his kennels in Lombard (for a dollar a day charge) and draws a handler's fee during the filming of the commercials. He estimates Morris's current value to be about $1,000. What moves Morris most is food. He loves to eat, although he's muscular and there's no excess fat on him. His favorite dish is seafood, especially tuna and mackerel. Because he always seems hungry, food is the bait used to persuade him to do what the creators of the commercials want him to do and to keep repeating his act until they feel they have the right take. If the script calls for the cat to go from Point A to Point B, Martwick will place a small pat of seafood at Point B and Morris will go there. The pattern will be repeated a few times, and Morris will keep doing his thing and devouring the food each time until he gets tired. Then, if the scene isn't locked up, he'll take a catnap before going through the routine again. Ihe set is the real test of Morris's uncanny ability to keep his cool. There are usually at least 15 people present, including the lone human model, Morris's mistress, who shows only her hands and feet on camera. And there are always a number of onlookers from the advertising agency. The producer, director, and the 12 Family Weekly, November 1, 1970 Morris, on camera, making the pitch. drapes." But he just wouldn't play with the drapes, no matter what inducements were offered, and the dialogue had to be changed to: 'Til eat when I'm ready. First I want to check the weather. I'm stepping out tonight." Morris's 10 different commercials have drawn approving letters from all parts of the country. Many televiewers have written that although they tune out most commercials, they look forward to see- -, ing Morris. The validity of Morris's character is enhanced by the fact that Tom Rogers, who does the scripts for the commercials, owns two cats himself. Morris's appeal is not limited to cat lovers, however. Dog owners, too, say they dig him. One day recently, after completing a commercial, the production staff decided to have an impromptu champagne party. Morris strolled in and somebody poured him champagne. At first the bubbles made him squint, but he kept coming back for more, obviously enjoying the heady wine of stardom. From an animals "Death Row" to a champagne fete is an astronomical distance, but Morris has covered it with ease. Though he's known bad days as well as good, he seems to assume that champagne is properly due a cat who never loses control of his owner. 60-seco- nd |