Hold the Roses (34 page)

I told Bobby about it and he said, "Take it. If it starts in July or
August, you'll have plenty of time after the baby."

So I went up to see them. Irving Berlin was there. We all shook hands
and Irving said he was a big fan and thought I would be just great for the
part. I said it was my favorite show-which it is. I never mentioned that I
was pregnant. I didn't look it, and when they said July or August, I said,
"Fine. I would need an apartment and a nanny for the baby, my secretary,
and so on." They said fine to everything and the money was great! So I signed the contract. Then in March they called and said something about
the theater. They were having trouble and would have to move up the date
to May! I said I couldn't do it in May-I was pregnant.

They said, "You can't do that. You signed a contract."

I said, "Act of God [well, Bobby anyway] and I'm due in April."

So between phone calls and letters, I got out of the show. Dolores
Gray got the part and was one of the biggest hits in London. I had my
beautiful daughter and I wouldn't exchange that for anything.

After the graduation we went out for a bite to eat. She took me to the
airport and said, "I'll see you in three days." She was coming to Dallas for
the opening. Peter met me in Dallas and I went to the hotel. My bags were
in a beautiful suite of rooms. I unpacked and we went out to dinner. He
was charming and had that lovesick look in his eyes. Hey! I loved it, but I
wasn't taking anything too seriously. I still felt married to Bobby. Ben Gold
called every day and the four of us went out to dinner every night after
rehearsal. Ben would pay the restaurant owner to stay open and if they had
an orchestra, he paid for them to stay until we left. He was too much!

Opening night was great. Roger Smith, who played Albert, was wonderful and Raul Julia was Birdie. I think it was his first comedic part. Noop,
Bernice, and Bill Loeb came in. Margaret, the wardrobe lady, was with me
at the theater and Kuz was with me backstage. I got lots of flowers and
three dozen red roses from Peter.

Bill Loeb looked at the card and said, "What's this?" The card read,
"My dearest darling: Know you will be great. My love always, Peter." I
looked at Bill and smiled.

He said, "Serious?"

I said, "I don't think so, but I love the attention!"

They had a big party after the opening. It was the Dallas Summer
Musicals, and of course it was all so chichi. I wore one of the gowns Ben
Gold made. It was powder blue with pearls and white sequins. I wore my
little white mink jacket. Bernice said I looked like a princess. We went to
the party-Ben, his wife Tina, Bill Loeb, Noop, Peter, and me. It was so
crowded that we left early and went to some restaurant and had our own
little party.

The show was going well and I would see Peter at the hotel during
the day, go shopping, things like that, and then go to the theater. Ben,
Tina, and Peter would pick me up at the theater after the show and we'd go
out for a bite to eat. I can't eat before a show. I feel bloated and can't breathe properly, so I have some toast and tea about 4:00 P.M. and eat after
the show.

I started to like Peter. He was very kind and tender. But I felt like I
was cheating on Bobby. I still felt married.

Closing day we had a matinee at 5:00 P.M. and no night show. I decided to throw a party for the cast. I dumped it all on Kuz to take care of.
I told Ben the night before that I wanted him and Tina at the party.

He said, "Maybe." He didn't want to interfere with the entire cast.
He felt like an outsider.

I said, "Baloney, it's my party and you're my friend. I want you there."

He said, "We'll see, but regardless, we'll go out after and celebrate on
our

Closing day arrived. I went down for breakfast with Peter. Kuz was
running around like a chicken without a head. He was so nervous.

I said, "What's the matter?" He said he was worried about the party
and the caterers.

I said, "It will be all right," and gave him a blank check to pay for
everything.

I had my light snack and Kuz drove me to the theater. Peter would
come down for the party and so would Ben and Tina, I hoped. We did the
show at 5:00, and it went well. Elaine Dunn, who played Rosie, came to
me after the first act and said, "What's wrong with Kuz?"

I said, "He's nervous about the party." By the end of the second act
and finale bows, I saw Peter in the wings and ran into the dressing room.
Peter sat to the left of the dressing table and I started taking off my makeup
to get ready for the party.

I said, "I bet Ben didn't come, I knew he wouldn't from the way he
talked yesterday," and Peter looked at me really strangely.

Kuz was in the doorway and said to Peter, "I didn't tell her."

"Tell me what?" I said.

Kuz said, "She had a show to do."

"Tell me what?" I yelled.

Peter said, "Ben played golf this morning and when he was through,
he backed out of the driveway at the country club and a big truck hit and
threw him sixty feet!"

I said, "Oh my God! I can't believe it. Is he all right?"

Kuz said, "He's in the hospital. I've been keeping in touch with Tina.
That's why I was so nervous."

I said, "Let me get dressed and we'll go to the hospital."

Peter said, "You can't, you have a party and you must be the hostess."

I said, "I can't host the party."

Kuz said, "Tina said she'll call and tell us what's what. There's really
nothing any of us can do."

So they got out of my room. I cried and got dressed and the three of
us went to the garden in the back of the theater, where the party was. I said
good-bye to everyone, had some iced tea and said, "Let's go."

We went back to the hotel and Kuz kept calling the hospital. Dear
Ben was holding on. There was really nothing we could do but wait. It was
early, so we ate at the hotel and by 1:00 A.M., Tina had called and said he
was the same. If anything happened, she would call.

So we went to our rooms to go to bed. I know that I didn't sleep. I
was up at 8:00 A.M. I called Kuz-he had heard nothing. I said, "Meet you
downstairs for breakfast." I called Peter. He was in his office. He hadn't
heard anything either. The three of us tried to eat breakfast and at 10:00
A.M., the call came. Ben had died. I couldn't believe that this had happened. Tina called and asked me to stay a few extra days, just to be with
her. I said I would. Kuz and Margaret went back to California. Bernice,
Bill Loeb, and Noop had gone back after the opening-so there I was,
going through another death of someone I cared about.

I stayed at the hotel and stayed with Tina most of the time during the
days. Peter would take us out to dinner, and then we'd spend most of the
evening with her. I stayed for about a week, but then I had to get home.

Peter and I talked to each other every day, and we would write every
day. I think it was getting serious, but what a situation-him in Dallas, me
in California, although he wasn't happy with his job running the hotel.
But it paid well, and it was a job. His parents were in Copenhagen, retired
and not doing too well. So there we were. I called Tina every other night to
check up on her. She said she would sell their beautiful house and get a
small apartment. Ben's two grown sons from another marriage ran the
business. I guess Tina was sort of an outsider. After all, Ben had been seventy-five or eighty and Tina was in her early forties.

Peter kept asking me to come up for a weekend. I wasn't sure. I loved
being with him and he was really romancing me-flowers, gifts, Elizabeth
Barrett Browning poems in a beautiful book, European beaded evening
bags. As I say, very romantic.

I decided to go up for a weekend. I had a great time. He was devoted. We went to great restaurants... different affairs that were going on. He was
very well liked by "the right people" in Dallas.

I was doing Squares, so I had to be home most of the time. One
weekend I went to Dallas. He met me at the airport and said, "We're going
to New Orleans."

I said, "What?"

He said, "We'll transfer your bags to the New Orleans flight!"

I was floored, but it was exciting. We got to New Orleans about 8
o'clock and the town was jumpin'-my kind of town. He had booked
rooms at the New Orleans Hotel, right on St. Charles Street. It was like a
fairy tale. He booked two rooms, but they were connected, which worried
me. I hadn't let him kiss me yet. Well, on the cheek, yes-but nothing else!
The rooms were beautiful, with a wrought-iron balcony overlooking the
city. You want to talk romantic? Of course, we went out for dinner-during our time there, we hit every well-known restaurant and tried every
house specialty. We went to Brennan's for Sunday breakfast, which is a
must. We went to Pat O'Brien's for his hurricane drink, and we went to the
Court of the Two Sisters, which was just wonderful.

He never tried to come to my bed; he came close, but no cigar! Yes, I
finally did let him kiss me, but on the first kiss, I pushed him away. It was
stupid, but it felt strange to kiss someone else. We had a great time and
then we went back to Dallas. I stayed overnight in Dallas and went home
the next day. I had to, I had to go to work.

I went to Dallas about once a month, and then finally he came to
L.A. He stayed at a hotel even though I had a guest room. I didn't think it
was a good idea for him to stay at the house. Noop was still living at home.
While in L.A., he came to Squares with me. I introduced him to everyone,
and everybody seemed pleased that I had someone. Art Alisi, with whom I
got to be very close, said, "He seems very nice. I'm glad you met him. Now
have a good time."

Of course, I had to meet his friends-I called them "the Danish
Mafia." Scandia, a very famous restaurant on the Sunset Strip, was their
hangout. The owner, Kenneth Hansen, and his wife, Mousse, owned the
place, and every Dane in Hollywood hung out there. It was a nice restaurant. I met Carl Anderson and his wife Caroline, whom I liked very much.
But I really couldn't "cotton" to the others. I was pleasant and all that,
because of Peter.

I found out that Peter had worked at the Beverly Hills Hotel as the food and beverage manager a few years earlier, so I figured he must know
his business. But, to me, they treated him like they were doing him a favor,
and I didn't like that. He looked up to them as if they were the only people
in the world. I think they tolerated me because, after all, I was in TV-an
actress! But I went along with it. The Dick Van Dyke Show was in reruns
and I was doing The Dean Martin Show and The Red Skelton Show, so that
kind of impressed them. We went on like this for about a year. I went to
Dallas-he came to L.A. We'd go out and have wonderful times, but he
always stayed at a hotel while in L.A.-and we did get together in Dallas.

He finally got so disgusted with what was going on with the hotel
owners in Dallas that he quit and came to L.A. No-he didn't stay at the
house. I thought it would be wrong, and it would mean that maybe we
were living together. I didn't want that for Noop. He thought it was silly,
but I stuck to my guns.

By now he had asked me to marry him. He bought me a beautiful
engagement ring. It was a cluster of diamonds on a wide gold band-an
antique. I wore it on my right hand! Of course, the Danish Mafia kept
egging him on: When are you going to get married, and so on. I really
think they thought that I was very rich and that I would support him. But
they didn't know this gal.

I kept saying, "When he gets settled with a good job, then we'll get
married." He got many jobs, but he only stayed with each one for about
three months, which bothered me. Even Lucy Ball, one night at Squares,
said to me, "What are you waiting for?"

I said, "I want him to get settled with his own job."

She looked at me and said, "You're not ready yet," and she was right.

As I said, he had many jobs, but never really settled in with anything-this went on for five years! In the meantime, I was doing Squares,
guest shots, and then I got The Doris Day Show!