PORTRAIT of a man WALKING ALONE

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 27, 16 December 1938, Page 20

PORTRAIT of a man WALKING ALONE

@ BY

JENNIFER

QUENTIN

Our Hollywood correspondent gives us impressions of Nelson Eddy-the bachelor who rates himself as a cynic and still reads fairy tales-Nelson Eddy, who is high-strung_ and moody... . likes to dance . ... hates interviews . . . has leonine ease at all large © social gatherings. rte ’ 9 E is built like a heavyweight champion and he likes the pungent odours of a delicatessen. . He is easily deceived by people. His philosophy is one of compromise and tolerance which finds its root in his grandfather’s maxim that circumstances alter cases. , His highest note is A-natural--very exceptional for a baritone. He dances the tango and rhumba execrably. He is known as. Nelson Eddy. .. He never wears white shirts and as a boy he was very self-conscious with girls. He is a bachelor. | wl . , His complexion is unusually fair and he eats very light lunches. He is difficult to interrupt in a.conversation, . , , He doesn’t play the piano and consequently cannot accompany himself.. He dislikes giving interviews and off s¢reen he wears hornrimmed glasses. ' ‘He has no desire to be a gentleman farmer. He is extremely optimistic and considers "Rosalie" his worst picture. His hair is blond and naturally wavy, imperceptibly grey around the tempies since his youth. _ He is physically robust and maintains an apartment in Philadelphia where he lived for many years. He has never known defeat or failure. He believes that most people are motivated by sincerity. He never wears panamas or straw hats. . has no superstitions and has 4 passing command of French, German and "A Italian. He drinks champagne only on occasion and actually enjoys hits motion-picture work. He dislikes playing cards with women and thinks they play well. He likes to play the ukulele, the ‘‘sweet potato’? and old folk songs on an accordion. He smokes cigarettes. He is easily depressed. He has not read "Gone with the Wind" or "Anthony Adverse." He never carries a walking stick and thinks many sulcides are justifiable and : He is highly introspective and self-analytical. He has never carried a fountain pen. He travels by air only when he is pressed for time. sy He is particularly fond of handkase-a peculiar, translucent. cheese which comes from the Harz Mountains in Germany. He scrubs his teeth alternately with paste and powder. He never gets headaches. He avoids large crowds and thinks that women, blondes or brunettes, are fundamentally alike. He rises about nine o’clock when not working. He has great difficulty remenibering names and faces. . He never uses a cigarette holder and Raphael’s Sistine Madonna has him more than any other work of art. He does not like surf bathing. He is very quick to criticise. He has broad shoulders and slim legs. ’ He considers the habitual use of big words bad taste. He expresses a leonine ease at large social gatherings. His middle name is Ackerman, and his education consists of grammar school, night school and correspondence courses. His grandmother, Caroline Kendrick, was a famous singer in her day. He worked for five years as reporter and copy-reader on the Press, Bulletin and Evening Ledger of Philadelphia. He has to wear make-up on the screen because of his light colouring. He has NEVER been married and he thinks motion pictures should avoid {subjects of social significance. ; He has a deep regret that circumstances have always prevented him from hearing Paul Robeson or Marian Anderson. He has an abnormally developed diaphragm worthy of a giant. NELSON EDDY forms hasty judgments and exhibits very little interest in governmental affairs. He has never been in a turkish bath. He always shaves before he dresses. He likes to sing and will on the slightest provocation. He is a poor student of polities and has a positive mania for buying antiques. He wears @ wrist-watch, is good at spelling and listens to advice easily. He would rather be the talker in a discussion than the listener. He is a good manager of his own business. . He thinks women have lost nothing by affecting mannish styles. He spreads his feet and braces himself as if for a fight when he Sings. . He does not like being guest of honour at a large function and it is easy for to admit he is wrong. His knowledge of history is rather disjointed. He spends most of his time when at home in his own bedroom which Is fitted out with all the conveniences of other sections of the house. He carries a lighter and his favourite flower is the rose. His beard is heavy and he does not like to watch soccer or basketball. He is able to sing in French, German, Italian, Russian, Yiddish, Spanish and Latin. . He thinks Kirsten Plagstad the last of the great dramatic opera stars. He con aiders himself a realist, a sentimentalist and a cynic with a slight predominance of © the first. He never uses oil on his hair. . HE was born in a New England type house and does not like highly spiced " foods. He reads the comic strips, loves museum's and never attends the eoncerts at the Hollywood Bowl. ; . _ . He is frank and forthright. His father was a machinist engaged in maval work. He does not like to read publicity about himself. His rarest possession is a cook who welcomes big parties. He dislikes taking long walks and remains unflattered by autograph hounds. Bilis outlook on like is optimistic. ‘ He has a particular hatred, for being interviewed by women.

He is _extremely nervous at ‘his own previews and has never worn silk underwear. He enjoys prize fights, tennis matohes and loves the travesty of modern wrestling. He is not of a suspicious nature and caitiot stand Hawaiian music. He has an aversion to singing by request at the homes of friends. , He is addicted to considerable whistling, humming and singing when by himself. He has no preference in suit colours and he thinks human nature has not changed fundamentally during the last hundred years. He dislikes writing letters, likes wearing neckties, and his eyes are blue. He has been happiest in Hollywood and thinks war will never be abolished. He is not a fatalist, He still reads fairy tales. He has a radio in. his car and likes.to hear symphonic recordings, He has no thought of retirement or escape from anything. He hates starched collars. He likes sea travel and makes no point of seeing all the pictures made by other singers, Nelson Hddy is high-strung. He has grown an inch in the past four years, making him six feet, one inch . tall, He makes no pretensions at being an actor and never goes in for winter sports. He thinks radio has raised the average of music appreciation in the United States. ‘ He is very moody and prefers doing his reading in bed. His favourite number is Wolfram’s Song to the Evening Star from "Tannhauser." HE practically forced himself into a taste for Brahms. He has no ambition to climb a mountain and he prefers bathing under a shower rather than in a tub. Nelson Eddy learned many operatic arias from phonograph records. His first. job was as a telephone operator in an iron works and he was fired from an advertising agency because he paid too much attention to music. He voted the Jast time fifteen years ago, He is very sensitive to other people’s opinions, and he is addicted to soft-collared He never wears jewellery, doesn’t like hamburgers and is always punctual. -He was a boy soprano in a church choir and if he had not been a singer he would rather have been a fiction writer. He respects the work that colleges ‘do and believes that an educated man is more receptive to the finer things of life. He owns a Weish terrier and had great difficulty studying dialogue when he first came into pictures. He is systematic, easily depressed and wears both jacket and pants of Byjamas to bed.