OCR Text |
Show J . ' ' v- ' ' '" i k ' - , ' r t" : This romantic film star remains an enigma to his fans; but to his wife, he's no What You Dont "TTThat's it like for a French woman to be married to an W American film star? Were there difficult adjustments to make? Don't you miss your newspaper career?" These are some of the questions I've been asked by reporters, friends and sometimes perfect strangersrsince I married Gregory Peck five years ago. The lastqfiestion I'll answer first, and the answer is no, not even a little bit The others 111 try to answer by telling you; a few things about Greg, which to my knowledge, he has , never revealed before. of being a hard man to interview. Greg has a reputation Actually, he enjoys talking with the few writers he respects, but he is fearfully shy of the prying type of reporter. Early in his career, he once told me, he was terrified by a finishing-scho- ol type female who jockeyed him into a corner at a Hollywood party, glared at him through her horn-ri- m glasses, and declared she would not let him out of the corner until he told her exactly what made him tick. Greg has never v ' ' fully recovered. Freudian interviews, and once He has no use for said to me, "I don't bore my close friends with my complexes, so why inflict them on perfect strangers from coast to coast?" Greg's sense of fun and dry humor can, on occasion, be brittle and sharp. It often surprises those who suddenly become aware of it. For example, a young member of what school of Greg calls the reporting" came to us during .the filming of Carl Foreman's "The Guns of Navarone" in Greece. He was determined to draw Greg out. UI was just talking to your costaiy Anthony Qiiinn, Mr. Peck," he said. "We both agreed that you are one of the shyest men in show business. Then Tony said, 'Actually, I'm just as shy as Greg, only, Idon't show it.' How- do you feel ' about that,Mr. Peck?" Gregory studied the young questioner for a moment, grinned, then said slowly, "Actually I'm just as tough as Tony . , Quinn, only I don't show it." . Those who have seen Greg on the screen might tend to cling to the prototype of the rather stalwart, taciturn, and hero he portrays. Nothing could be sometimes - more at variance with the facts. About Husband .so-call- ed : "What-makes-you-what-you-- i It -- long-sufferi- x is 4 V ' ng ; . 1 can be as quiet as a meditating monk. But he also Gregory a blue streak. He is very sophisticated; he also is a person of basically simple tastes. He is methodical and also unregmiented. He can confound the man who has classified him as a confirmed introvert by breaking out in a surge elbow-nudgig, of extroversion. He is conservative about financial matters. But he can spend money with reckless abandon. In other words, he is more complex and contradictory than Hollywood shows him. When he finished work in 'The Big Country," Gregory decided he would give a party for the cast and a few friends. but in a sudden vein Gregory is not addicted to party-givin- g, of enthusiasm he decided to fly Ted Straeter's orchestra from New York to Hollywood. He gave directions for the parking lot at Romanoff's restaurant to be transformed into a minia-- 't ture Versailles and ordered thousands of roses and enough caviar and champagne to have stocked Maxim's for months. Greg didn't blink an eye when he picked up one of the biggest restaurant checks in local history especially after such connoisseurs as Cary Grant and the late Clark Gable told him it was the best party ever given in Hollywood. Greg's impulsiveness, unsuspected by many of his friends, , is prone to pop up at any time or place. invited the David On a free day in England last summer, we to go with us to the annual ..Nivens and some other friends "v Gold Cup races at "Ascot, a fashionable event where morning coats and other formal attire are considered de rigueur. We joke-tellin- 18 I r ng Family Weekly, June 4, 1961 v By MRS. GREGO RY PE CK |