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Show | Lunch with Joan Crawford The place—New York’s and her parents were divorced when “21.” My luncheon date— she was a baby. Her mother worked sion—they don’t make them like her any more. in a laundry, and Joan herself did menial work at a convent school in return for lessons, At 15 she won an amateur dance contest that changed herlife. Almost 63 years old butstill attractive and smartly dressed, Joan flowed Winningthe contest landed her a $25a-week job in a Chicago night spot. into the posh restaurant as if she were the Queen of England. Waiters and the This led to a job as a chorus girl in Joan Crawford. My impres- maitre d’ lined up to welcome her. Before we were settled in the dining room Joan had received an award as one of “The Ten Outstanding Womenin Business,” and she apologized for delaying lunch. Then she glided to her table— where the waiter had already been briefed by her secretary on what she wanted to eat and drink—but throughout the meal a constant stream of people stopped by to kiss and be kissed, hug and be hugged. Joan had brought with her the atmosphere of Old Hollywood—the days when stars were stars, the embodiment of glamour, grooming, and impeccable manners, “It’s all part of training and disci- Detroit, then to a chorus line in New York, to an MGM contract. Wren Lucille LeSueur—renamed Joan Crawford because the studio decided her real name didn't “sound right’—came to Hollywood, studios spent time cid energy grooming their new talent. Of all the newcomers, Joan was mosteager to absorb knowledge. Joan’s other early lessons in sophisticated behavior came from her fatherin-law, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (She had married Doug, Jr. despite his parents’ objections.) “When we ate at Pickfair, there were so many wine glasses and dishes and pieces of silverware lined up in front of my place, I didn’t know whichto use. So I followed Doug, plining yourself,” Joan told me. “I’ve Sr.’s Jead. It wasn’t until he burst out always felt it important to work at being a star and to live up to the responsibility it entails.” Much of this attitude may stem from her own experience, in coming up the hard way. She was born Lucille LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas, laughing one day that I found out he had used the dessert fork for his shrimp cocktail just to watch me copy him.” Years later, when she was presented to the Queen of England, she was more concerned than any of the other young- What in the Worid! Nieet Bernie Birdlegs New actress Angel Tompkins (who plays ithe sexy other woman in “I Love My Wife”) talked recently about her name and after my parents divorced. My mother died when I was 14, and I changed my name to Angel as a tribute to her. I had all the records at school changed.” How do people react to the name? Angel: “A little of both” her ownaititudes about wives and husbands. Born Angeline Bernice Stromberg, she was called Bernice in high school. “Actually, it was Bernie Birdlegs,” Angel recalls, “because I was very skinny. I lived with my father traveled executives; yet she will star in a picture or tv show whenever the right opportunity presents itself. In spite of that fact that Joan resented “Most executives get flustered and say, ‘I can’t call you that.’ Some women ask, ‘Are you really?’I tell them, ‘There are two kinds, andI'm little of both.’ ” Angel’s ideas on marriage are quite different from those brought out in the film. “Marriage is a one-to-one commitment.It’s sharing, consoling, developing.” Having just broken up a threeyear relationship, she is not interested in romance now. But watch out for 1972: “I think I may be ready for marriage then.” her own mother’s demands for total er actresses about how to curtsy, when to talk, what to say. “Your wife is the only one who was ever THAT con- children—Christina, Christopher, and cerned,” her late husband Alfred Steele the twins, Cathy and Cynthia—with strict discipline. She tried to compen- was told. “That’s because she varts to be perfect,” he said. sate for this, however, with love. Joan's children didn’t always appre- board memberof his companies. Today ciate their mother’s efforts. “They loathed me for a while,” she frankly admits, “It would have been simple to give in, but I didn’t. Children need love. But they also need guidance or they will have no aims nor purpose in life.” Whenwe left “21,” I couldn’t help overhearing one of the waiters remark: “What a woman! They just don’t make them like her any more.” she is one of the busiest and most- —PEER J. OPPENHEIMER than three dozen firms are experimenting with a four-day, 40-hour week. The bonus of a three-day weekend incurs no loss of an employe’s pay. According to a new book edited by Riva Poor, entitled “4 Days, 40 Hours,” most workers like the new plan. Pro-andcon comments: “I have more time to spend with my family”; “I get home too late to have supper with my family.” One economist is convinced the whole idea will lead eventually to a three-day work week of 12’ hours a day. In fact, one life insurance company in Syracuse is already experimenting with such a schedule, as is a computer service in Indianapolis and a harpsichord firm in Boston. + house on the watercalled “Spithead.” elon’: first marriage lasted four years. It was followed by marriages to actor Franchot Tone andto Phillip Terty. When she married Steele in 1955, she decided that from then on, her act- ing career was to be subordinated to her responsibilities as Mrs. Steele. When her husband died in 1959, Joan became a Ghost Story It is said to be the lively spirit of a young French girl who'd been kept Bermuda has a history of resident ghosts dating back to the 16th century, when the island was un- inhabited. Sailors avoided the reefs because “evil spirits live there.” Then a Spanish explorer named Juan de Ber- Thank God It's Thursday? There is mudez—who gave the place its name a trend underway in the U.S. toward a new kind of weekly working schedule. It may have started with the announcement by various labor unions’ that they will seek a four-day, 32-hour week oy 1974. But right now more —landed, but took off in a hurry be- , obedience, she raised her four adopted cause of the “devilish” shrill noises in the hills. (There was indeed highpitched sounds, but they proved to be the squeal of wild pigs.) One ghost who hasn't been explained still haunts captive in the cellar by a privateer. She now confines her pranks to causing odd shadows and movements from boats moored in utterly calia waters. Among those who have sworn they “felt her presence” is British writer Noel Coward. He felt it strongly enough to be inspired to write his famous play, “Blithe Spirit.” ° |