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Show Haver and there’s been no stopping him since Fred MacMurrayposes with a new film star, the canine of “Shaggy Dog” fame. Fred MacMurray Since then, he has counted every penny earned, spent, and saved, and has always put aside a certain amount for a rainy day. By the time his wife passed away, Fred had enough moneyin real estate—including a 2,500-acre cattle ranch in northern California, oil interests, and part-ownership with John Waynein a hotel—to live comfortably through his remaining years. Enter June, Bringing Happiness And then, all of a sudden, it was June. Pert and attractive, June had planned to become a nun after an unsuccessful marriage to musician Jimmy Zito and the sudden death of her next fiancé, a Beverly Hills dentist. Instead, she found herself a husband 19 years hersenior, plus an 11year-old stepson and 14-year-old stepdaughter. “Tt was difficult to feel like we were a family be- cause we had no memories in common,” she recalls, “but it grew easier as the years went by and we shared our own experiences.” June not only had beauty and youth, but also a vitality which rubbed off on her new husband, for whomshe readily gave up what could have been a resurgence of her once-successful career. The effect on Fred soon became apparent to his friends. His clothes, once ultraconservative, became gay and youthful. Where he had been known as quiet—one ofhis associates said you could be friends with Fred for 15 years and still know nothing about him—he now became talkative and zestful, the life of the party. Although June’s influence on Fred was evident in many ways, it was her determination to adopt a child that brought about the greatest change. WhenJune first suggested adopting a baby, Fred wouldn't even considerit. “I’ve been through all that,” he protested. “Now I'd like to watch someone else raise a family.” In fact, he was looking forward to becoming a grandfather, an ambition he recently realized when his daughter, Mrs. Tom Pool, presented him with his first grandchild. Fred good-humoredlyinsists it was a conspiracy that changed his mind, but June says it was pure coincidence that she accepted a party invitation from an obstetrician friend, Dr. Al Meitus. By the same coincidence,all the other guests were obstetricians and pediatricians, and the talk was about nothing but babies. By the time they left the party, Fred had agreed to adopt a baby! Instead, he got two. A few days after the party, Fred was playing golf when June excitedly called him at the country club with the news that Dr. Meitus knew of twins they could adopt. Fred clutched the telephone receiver. “Twins!” he shouted. June breathlessly explained how much easierit wouldbeto raise twogirls, and when the conversation ended, Fred wasreluctantly agreeing. “They were premature babies andstill in an incubator,” June recalls, “so we had a month’s time to get everything ready. Fred didn’t become enthused about it until we were fixing the babies’ room. Whenhe saw me clumsily trying to put up the bathinet, he took over and showed me howto do it properly. That’s all it took to get him excited about the prospect of having two brand-new infants in the house.” Fred was still a little wary when Katie and Laurie were brought home, andatfirst refused to hold them. But his enthusiasm increased quickly, and soon he was feeding, bathing, and changing them—even getting up in the middle of the night when he heard them crying. The twins, now four years old, responded to Fred, too. “They climb all over him whenhe’s home,” June says happily. “T try to be strict with Katie and Laurie, but I don’t think I am,” Fred admits. “I have too much fun with them to worry about discipline.” The twins also helped put Fred in the right mood to accept therole in “Shaggy Dog.” Although Fred was neverout of work, his career had sunk to supporting roles and low-budgetpictures until Disney offered him the part of the father of a boy who turns into a shaggy dog. The conservative Fred MacMurray of the old days would have scoffed at playing such a. role. The rejuvenated Fred MacMurray thoughtit would be fun, although he never guessed the impact the film would make on his career and private life. The subsequent success not only established him with the new generation butled to a lead in Billy Wilder’s tremendously successful “The Apartment,” the title role in Disney’s forthcoming “The Absent-Minded Professor,” as well as a new TV series of his own, “My Three Sons.” To Fred, .acting has become fun again, as has life itself, and Fred credits most of his new-found ~ happiness to luck—and June: Haver. “I just happened to-be in the right spot at the right time,”he insists. “Meeting a girl like June wasluck,and if I have any talent, that’s luck, too. I-didn’t have anything to do with it.” In his latest film, “The Absent-Minded Professor,” Fred shares a chemical discovery with his dog Charlie. Family Weekly, November 13, 1960 7 |