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Show But does this teeii-ag- e idol possess the talent and ambition to stay on top? by Feer J. Oppenheimer Howard Hawks the Nelson for signed Eric,Hilliard part of "Colorado in "Rio Bravo,n he had never heard of the tall, old, brown-haire- d youngster known to millions of fans asiust plain 44Ricky." Yet he paid a fantastic price for his services. Why? 4Td never heard of Ricky because I never watch his family's TV show, The Adventures of Ozzie and mmet, ana 1 aon t reaa ran magazines. 1 goi uiieresiea in him only after I heard that his appearance at a midget auto race held up proceedings for half an hour while he was mobbed by fans. I figured that anyone that popular must have a terrific drawing attraction with the younger set. Rick isn't expected to act; hisx appearance in the picture will sell at least an additional 500,000 tickets." Hgwever, before he was willing to pay as much money as Ozzie Nelson demands for his youngest son, Hawks maris a four rnnro inrmirioc in nciiro himsftf that Rirlcv would be a safe investment. Hawks learnedthat Rick already has three gold disks to his credit (which means three of his recordings topped the million mark in sales) , appeared on every movie magazine popularity polland has four permanent secretaries answering up to 10000 -fan letters k week. If Hawks needed any further assurance, he got it while the "Rio Bravo" company was on location at Tucson, weeks before three I producer-direct- or 18-ye- ar- -- m a ft . w m f m . - m m t i i jbi mf Jl. jr - ; j - -- ft f : 'i 'V : n stars in the picture- - including John Wayne and Dean Martin but Rick was mobbed by fans to such an extent he had to change hotels three times. What makes Ricky Nelson so popular? Next to a pleasing voice and good maimers, Rick's greatest asset is that he's completely unimpressed by his tremendous popularity. This modesty jcomes across in his relationship with everybody even those critical of his talent He is well-likbecause he's never been heard to make a caustic remark; because he's a kid; because he can take a joke without getting mad about it . if acts his as success is as much a surprise to Ricky him as to everyone else, anjl that it can't last According to one of his publicists, the latter opinion is shared by Ozzie, who gives Rick two years at the most though he may have revised his estimate upward in recent weeks. or even Ricky may not be clever, he but inborn has for an what feeling talented, young people like. And what they like is rock 'n' roll a la Elvis Presley complete with hip swinging, sideburns, undipped hair, garish clothes, and stand-u- p collar. Although Rick never went quite as far, he readily admits that he set out to imitate Presley. Even his manner of speech has begun to resemble that of. the young Tennesseean. who became almost as famous as Andrew Jackson. It wasn't only commercialism that made Rick follow in Elvis' footsteps. From the day they first shook hands, it was a case of hero worship." (Continued on page 23) . ed good-natur- ed f : . : i .' ! i l , , V ' , well-educat- ed, . 20 , |