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Show MOVIES Patricia Neal She may win an Oscar next week—but more important to her NE OF PATRICIA NEAL’S rare motion-picture appearances—as Paul Newman’s housekeeper in “Hud”— may win her an Academy Award next week. Because of that and because I used to know herwell, I recently visited Pat in Great Missenden, a small village about two hours’ drive from London. My chauffeur had driven Patricia to and from the studio while she starred in “Psyche 59” in England a few months earlier. The vehemence with which he spoke against her didn’t conjure a picture of the same girl with whom I used to double. date in the late 1940s. She had come. to Hollywood then to star in some of Warner Brothers’ most important pictures, including “John Loves Mary,” “The Hasty Heart,” and “The Fountainhead” opposite Gary Cooper. “J have driven a lot of American actors and actresses,” the chauffeur complained, “but I nev- er met one like her. She never said thanks. She never offered me a cup of tea while I was waiting for her, although I picked her up every morn- ing at 6 o'clock for weeks. Once she reported me for driving too fast, another time because I talked to her. I got so mad I wouldn’t even get out to open the door for her. The only chauffeur she likes is a chap who has twofingers missing. They seem to have something in common!” He didn’t know howclose he cameto thetruth. If Patricia Neal has become brusque, it is because of her own traumatic experiences during the past three years—an almost fatal injury to one child, which has left him permanently scarred, and the sudden death of another. The moment I stepped into her modest, cluttered cottage, I noticed other changes in Patricia, both physical and mental. I first saw her through the kitchen window that faced the driveway. She was busy fixing something and looked at me in near surprise although she had expected me. She was dressed in a voluminous skirt and nondescript bulky sweater to protect her from the cold as well as to cloak her pregnancy. Her hair was pulled back tightly. She wore no makeup. Andshe didn’t remember me—althoughI had seen herjust a little more than a year ago when she had returned to Hollywood to make “Hud.” But Pat was friendly and seemingly glad to see |